A War On Two Fronts

Morning in Acksyuk was unlike anything Turner had seen in Equestria, the sun cresting over the distant somewhat mountainous horizon and illuminating the landscape in its pinkish and purple hues when it passed the clouds that almost always occupied those mountains… It was as if the sun itself was shining through a massive arrangement stained glass, and were it not for the war, Turner would’ve been happy to just sit and watch as the sun continued its ascent through the sky.

To think, all the defenders of the town were under the command of a single 2nd Division Captain thanks to the cowardice of the Equestrian Colonel and a loophole in the regulations that hadn’t been updated in forty years. Majors, Lieutenant Colonels, all refusing to take charge and thus beholden to a Captain and the Staff Sergeant that served as his second in command. The sun rise was the only thing that helped Turner keep his mind off the fact that in for the next week it was up to Thomas and him to maintain the lines… Mainly Thomas, a job that Turner didn’t envy in the slightest.

Turner leaned against the sandbags of the trench, looking out at the landscape quietly before looking back up at the airships overhead. He wondered why they hadn’t blown them sky high yet, but he did know one thing, if they managed to survive the next week Thomas would be one big damn hero. Turner had to admit, the Captain had a lot more gumption for tactical planning than he’d originally thought. The trenches, the tank traps, the tiger pits, all were ordered by Thomas.

The Staff Sergeant slid down and took a seat on the ground in the trench with the rest of his men. Specialist Quartz and Garnet were chatting, Birch, Longhorn, and Ironwill were playing cards, and Willow was merely sitting and staring at the wall. They had no idea when the battle would begin, and just standing around would’ve driven them crazy. That was the worst part about everything so far, not the shelling or the attacking enemy, but the waiting… Waiting to hear the shells overhead, to hear the battle cry of Griffon Soldiers.

“With your guns and drums and drums and guns, hurroo… Hurroo...” Turner sang quietly to himself as he listened to the birds chirping and the distant conversation between Garnet and Quartz. The man took his harmonica from his breast pocket, it was a bit more battered and beaten up than it had been when he’d left home, but as long as it still played he wasn’t about to get rid of it.

Along the Equestrian Defensive Line, the notes of ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye’ filled the air. First from the harmonica, but later picked up as more soldiers caught on to the melody. They likely didn’t know the lyrics, or even the meaning, maybe it just gave them something to do to keep their minds off the deafening silence out in the land beyond the trenches.

Truth be told, Turner was concerned that the trenches would be indicative of the war in its entirety. Twice he had stood in defensive trenches, now the enemy was using gas and artillery bombardment, he feared that he would be caught up in this world’s version of the First World War. As history told, it didn’t end to very well for the guys on the front lines. The Staff Sergeant wouldn’t admit it, but he wanted nothing more than curse out every single Griffon he could see.

Turner had to keep a cool head, he had man depending on him. He wasn’t going to go off halfcocked when they needed him calm. It was his job to get them home home in one piece, at least, that’s what he told himself. So he continued to play, hoping that it would calm some nerves and lift some spirits. When he reached the end of his song he hesitantly lowered the harmonica from his lips and tucked it back into his pocket, from within he took a crumpled folded piece of paper and his last pen. The others had been destroyed or stolen over the course of the night.

Sam,

I don’t know if you’re alive, and once again I find I may be stepping up to the gates of heaven sooner than expected. I’d like to think that this won’t be the last thing you read of mine, but between the shelling and tanks I’m forced to face some pretty staggering odds. The men I’ve served with here are some of the finest, I only wish I had more paper so I could tell you everything about them. It’s been difficult keeping up appearances that I’m some sort of tough guy, truth is I’m scared out of my mind. If I stay tough, maybe they will, and maybe we all get out of this in more or less one piece.

Despite all the destruction here, I still try to find the beautiful things… The sunrise this morning, for instance. I like to think that if this is my day to die, it’s on a day that started with something pleasant than one with a rainstorm or windstorm. If I somehow make it through this, I’ll be able to describe it all to you someday in person, or maybe even show you when this war ends.

It will end, Sam. It has to. I know that we will win this damn thing. After it’s over, when the shelling and fighting has stopped, when we put our life back together and raise our kid… It’ll all be worth it then. Know that you are the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last thing before I go to sleep. If this is the end, though, I want to take this last letter to say something I’ve meant to since I first met you. Thank you, Sam… Thank you for the wild adventure you’ve taken me on. I’d write more than that, but as you can see I’ve just about run out of paper.

Forever yours, Paige.

“Staff Sergeant, are you crying?” Birch’s voice caught Turner off guard as the man finished writing the letter. He folded up the paper and slipped it back into his pocket before wiping his eyes quickly and clearing his throat.

“Must be some of that tear gas leftover.” Turner said simply as he stood up and stretched, his back popping a couple times before he straightened his helmet. He gripped his SMG and looked out over the sandbags at the horizon again, the sun was now rising higher in the sky. “Where the hell are they? What’re they doing up there?”

“Contacts above!” A voice shouted from along the trenches, Turner gripped his SMG and silently cursed his big mouth. Overhead he could see a large formation of Griffons flying towards the town, meanwhile it seemed the airships were deploying more tanks via parachute. Several pegasi could be seen heading up from within the town towards them, and not long after the sound of weapons fire in the air began to ring out.

By now the Trenches had all been connected in an intricate network, as Thomas was the commander he had been moved further back into town. Soldiers began to rush from the town through the trenches towards the defensive lines, each carried a gas mask now, none were foolish enough to go without one again. Several Griffons dove down from the sky, screaming towards the trenches at rapid speed.

The deep thumping automatic bang of heavy machine guns cut through the air, tracers helping them to direct their fire. The weapons in question were thanks to the Gun Trucks that had been brought aboard, the day before they had been under utilized… Now, they would screen for enemy ‘fighters’ and ‘dive bombers’, moving as needed thanks to their mobile nature.

It was a trick Thomas had pulled directly out of Earth’s second world war, where halftracks had been used as moving AA emplacements. A lot of the innovations to the defenses had come from the knowledge of that war, many were glad Thomas was as knowledgeable as he was on that conflict, Turner included. The diving Griffons, not expecting the onslaught of AA fire, broke off their attack, dropping bombs that ended up exploding in unoccupied open ground. Several pegasi fell from the sky as they were killed or wounded, some shot, others slashed by talons.

The rumble of Griffon Tanks joined the fray, and soon the guns of the airships had started firing again. Shells began to rain down along the lines, Turner and the troops in his section of the trench ducked down as dirt and mud fell from the sky and covered them in grime once again. Every explosion was tremendous, Turner felt the ground shake with each terrifying blast, but he didn’t let it show. After five more minutes of shelling it came to an end, Turner looked up over the trench to see that the Griffon soldiers and their tanks were advancing as they had before.

“Holy shit! There’s gotta be at least a dozen tanks!” Garnet said in a worried tone, between him and Quartz they could only handle eight, maybe nine if they really pushed themselves. This was just their section of the line, there had to be a great deal more tanks moving towards the entire defensive line. However, this time the trenches were longer, more soldiers could fit in them, and so Turner and his men wouldn’t be fighting alone.

As hoped the enemy tanks went around the tank traps, their infantry following closely behind as the machine gun nests began to open up on any forces lagging behind. Turner watched as the first line of the tank assault neared the area full of Tiger Pits dug by the Diamond Dogs the night before.

“Cross your fingers, men.” Turner said as the tank’s rolled closer and closer, his eyes narrowed as the tanks began to cross the pits seemingly unscathed. The dirt supporting them seemed to hold them just fine… At least, until all of their wait was placed on the weakened patch of soil. The first few tanks disappeared into into deeply dug pits, massive clouds of dirt arose from the holes as they landed with tremendous thuds.

The Griffons that had been advancing behind the tanks looked quite astonished when the dust cleared and their metallic shield lay at the bottom of hole that was just deep enough it would allow for the crew to be shot at if they tried to escape from the turret, some tanks were crushed under their own weight when they hit the bottom, others were incapable of moving and fighting, rendering them disabled. That astonishment turned to fear as the soldiers trenches opened fire, rapidly they scrambled to get behind other tanks or in some cases leaped down into the tiger pits where their tank escorts had fallen as makeshift foxholes.

Four tanks had been stopped by the first line of pits along Turner’s section of the trench, the others continued to advance with far less haste than before. They had good reason to be concerned, as some of the veered onto what they thought were safe paths. One of them drove halfway along one of the hidden pits which proceeded to give away and sink half the tank in the hole, prompting it to flip completely sideways when it came to rest at the bottom of the pit.

Another fell completely into a pit and exploded in tremendous fashion as several shells clattered around against one another, the other partially fell to a point that it became detracked and immobilized. While it’s turret could still in theory partially rotate and fire on targets, it was soon apparent by the smoke and vapor emitting from the barrel of the gun and the various hatches that something had gone wrong inside that prevented it from moving the turret. Of all the other crews, this was the only one that attempted to climb out and escape. As expected, they were shot before they got very far.

That forced the massive infantry group to advance in the open or in increasingly less safe lines behind the remaining five tanks, who by this point had slowed down even further in the hope of not running into anymore of the hidden sinkholes that littered the area. It was at this point that the captured field guns in town once again opened fire, shells rained down on the remaining five tanks and their infantry support groups. Many of the soldiers dove for cover as they were caught in the concentrated blasts, though they barrage was short as the few guns they had still needed to cover a much larger line.

One tank became detracked when a shell exploded a foot to the left of it. It continued rolling until the track had been almost removed from the wheels. The infantry was scattered and disorganized as they looked for new sources of protection between them and the Equestrians. The four remaining tanks, spooked by the sudden burst of artillery, accelerated their assault. The narrow view slits the drivers possesed meant they didn’t see the upcoming Tank Trench until it was too late.

All four slammed down into the trench, landing at a rather sharp angle that immobilized them just as their other forces had been. While tanks could go practically anywhere, the incline in the trench was too sharp and too high for their tracks. They may as well be attempting to scale a cliff, leaving their crews all quite trapped in their metal warmachines for the moment. Turner could see them starting to try and back out, meanwhile their infantry support was trying to help dig them out while under heavy fire.

“Dragon Breath ready!” Turner shouted down the line, Garnet and Quartz quickly stood up as well as several other soldiers down the line. They crouched just below the sand bags that served to protect them from enemy fire. “Take aim!” Each dragon picked a tank trapped in the trenches, all along the lines similar incidents had happened. For all their advanced weaponry, it seemed the Griffons lacked radios in their tanks to communicate the waiting traps. The Griffons digging out the tanks noticed the preparations taking place and began yelling for the crews to abandon the vehicles. “Torch ‘em!”

Turner and the other soldiers could feel the familiar intense heat as the Dragon Fire was deployed on the field. The Staff Sergeant was almost blinded by the intense heat and light, it was almost as bright as the sun itself. He turned his head away, still seeing spots as he ducked down in the trench. The dragon fire reached out to twenty yards, easily engulfing the tanks and infantry trapped at fifteen yards. The heat of the combined fire was so intense that any vegetation within a couple dozen yards down range ignited despite not being touched by the flames themselves.

Those infantry that were caught in the inferno were lucky, killed almost instantly as the flames engulfed them and charred their bones to carbon in seconds. The tanks melted like butter, exploding and tossing molten metal in all directions. Those caught in the flames caused by the radiant heat suffered serious burns, their clothes igniting on their backs. Only those forty or so yards down range seemed to get away unscathed, the dragons had been using their breath a lot more than they ever had in Equestria… It was getting stronger with each passing day.

As the flames died down Turner and his men looked up from the trench at the destruction that had been wrought. Every tank was afire, all twelve of them, even the ones that had been trapped in pits to a point that only the top portion of their turret had been visible. They’d been lit like the wicks of candles, Turner almost vomited at the sight of contorted carbonized bodies mear yards away… The soil had been heated so heavily that it seemed to have turned to glass in some areas. Every day the war showed him some new horror, every day he thought he couldn’t see anything worse life was there to prove him wrong.

The Griffons were in full retreat, not an orderly one either. In an instant their entire assault had been turned to ash by such a small number of dragons, the infantry that were still alive ran in panicked droves. Those that took to the sky were quickly shot down, but Turner didn’t pay attention to any of that. He was more stunned that all that had stood between him and the fate of the Griffons was the trench and the direction the Dragon’s Fire had been sprayed. It seemed dragons were more than living flamethrowers, the more they used their flames the more they became akin to a walking miniature atomic bomb.

Yet despite all that, despite blunting the enemy assault, there was still more fighting to be done. As long as those Airships loomed above they would keep shelling, and it seemed they would keep sending infantry and tanks to the fight as long as they had the troops to do it. The Staff Sergeant couldn’t help wondering what the Griffons were thinking about up there, what new strategies they had planned. All totalled, it seemed that so far the Equestrians had destroyed a hundred and fifty tanks along the length of their defensive lines.

Turner readied himself for what was sure to be yet another long day in the seemingly useless Barbos Campaign. If there was any tactical victory to be gained from it, he didn’t see it, but he knew he and his troops would hold out regardless. Still, as he saw the first flashes from the muzzles of the airship guns above, he knew it would be a hard fought victory

Sam was jostled awake by the truck as it went over a bump in the road, her ear was stinging in pain, far more so than the shrapnel wound in her arm. Both of them had been treated somewhat by a doctor in an overcrowded small town hospital north of Silver Lake, but not nearly as well as they could be. The woman sat up and looked around, Meadowbrook was driving as usual. They were coming up along the mountain road that lead into Canterlot, Sam was somewhat surprised to see the state it was in.

She had known there had been preparations made before the war, but for the first time Sam was seeing it in war time. There were gun emplacements all over the place, soldiers stood near them in some cases while other seemed to be directing the influx of refugees. The tall buildings had also been armed with batteries it seemed, and many of the smaller buildings in the city seemed to have pasted newspapers in their windows as if in some attempt to reduce even more light in the event of a blackout. It was a bright clear midday sky thanks to the city weather team, there would be no clouds for a Griffon airship to hide in if it wanted to approach the town. She tried to close her eyes and go back to sleep as the truck pulled up to the first vehicle checkpoint.

“Do you live in the city?” The earth pony guard asked as he looked into the truck, he was an older fellow, perhaps in his forties or fifties, it appeared he had been dragged out of retirement as his uniform was a little tight. The guard noted that the truck had markings belonging to the ‘Evergreen County Sheriff’s Department’. That wasn’t important though, he’d seen ponies coming in on ice cream carts or parade floats, anything that could get them to safety.

“My friend does, but she needs a hospital. She’s a human, and pregnant. I’m a doctor, but I don’t have the tools to treat her.” Meadowbrook explained as the Earth Pony peeked inside and saw Sam leaning against the window, after a few seconds he hummed and pointed beyond the checkpoint at a small area where several medics were loading wounded civilians into ambulances. The area was beside a few old abandoned buildings that had apparently been converted to a makeshift barracks and guard house.

“They can help you. Move along.” The stallion said with a firm tone, Meadowbrook nodded and drove along towards the medics who noted the truck approaching rather quickly. The mare brought the truck to a stop near the group of soldiers who approached carrying a stretcher. Sam’s clothing was disheveled and torn, her sleeve on her wounded arm had been ripped off and she couldn’t quite remember what the original color of her shirt had been.

“Sam, wake up.” Meadowbrook said as she opened the door and hopped out of the truck, Sam sat up as the mare walked around to the passenger door and opened it. The medics helped the woman down out of the truck, quickly laying her down on the stretcher. “She’s a human female, two and a half months pregnant, shrapnel wound to shoulder, busted eardrum, possibly infected.” The mare explained to the medics as Sam felt herself lifted up on the stretcher.

“Got it, we’re taking them all to Canterlot General.” One of the stallions said as they loaded Sam into the almost full ambulance, Sam looked up as the doors were closed and the stallion pounded twice on the back door. The inside of the ambulance was dark and dingy, it was a military ambulance afterall. The outside of the vehicle looked almost like an old glass milk bottle that had been set on its side, painted olive drab with big round headlights near the front by the engine.

There were racks on the walls that let it hold six stretchers, Sam was on the bottom rack so all she could do was look up at the stretcher above her. She looked through the rear window as they began to drive through the city, she couldn’t see much but from the looks of it a good portion of the smaller buildings seemed to have posters from Earth plastered to the sides. Some reading ‘Keep Calm and Canter On’, others depicting a pegasus version of ‘Rosie the Riveter’.

Her focus shifted when the ambulance hit a bump and Sam could hear the groans of the ponies above her. Her head was facing towards the rear door, and as she turned her head to the right she could see a nervous looking pegasus colt with a bandage over his eyes. He shuddered with each thud and bump, Sam quietly reached her arm out across the way to him.

“Hey, you hear me?” She asked, the colt turned in her direction nervously. “You scared?” The cold nodded. “Want me to hold your hoof?” Another quiet nod, Sam quietly grasped his hoof prompting him to be a little surprised. “I have fingers, I hope you don’t mind.”

“N-No… I don’ mind.” The cold said, wiping his nose with his other hoof. In the dim light she could see he had white fur with splotches of black, his voice had a distinct trottingham accent. It made sense, considering trottingham was still currently occupied by Griffon forces. “I don’ know what’s goin’ on, not ‘less someone tells me…” The colt seemed to relax when Sam continued to hold his colt. “Are you a minotaur?”

“I’m a human.” Sam replied quietly, prompting the colt to smile somewhat.

“Really? Like in the comics?” The colt asked, Sam giggled slightly but nodded… Not that he could see, the red splotches in the bandage over his eyes made it clear of that. “What’re you doin’ here? Are you hurt?”

“Well, I dunno about any comics.” Sam replied as she felt the ambulance go over another bump, occasionally it would stop and she could hear the driver upfront swearing at someone else. “As for being hurt, yeah… But that’s not all bad, I get to talk to you, don’t I?” Sam felt a well of warmth in her chest when she saw the colt smile even wider.

“I was playin’ in the park and this loud whistle started gettin’ higher and higher…” The colt mimicked the sound of an incoming shell for a second. “Then wham! Knocked me clear on me arse.” He sighed and scratched at his bandages, Sam felt a knot in her stomach as the colt recalled what had happened to him as if it had just been another story. “How about you?”

“Something similar.” Sam replied, she looked out the window as she heard some shouting outside. She could see a few soldiers walking by the back of the ambulance, as if pushing back a crowd. “I’m Sam. What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Greenfield… Nice to meet you, Miss Sam!” Greenfield replied, Sam could see that his fear had abated quite nicely. At least this time she was comforting someone for a better reason. “Say, do you think when we get to the hospital you can come visit me…?” She could hear he was holding something back there, the woman wasn’t sure if she should pry further or not,after all he only looked around fifteen or sixteen.

“Sure, I’ll try.” Sam said with a nod, giving his hoof a reassuring squeeze. He got quiet after that, turning his head off to the side as if trying to look for something or someone. “Greenfield?” The colt looked back at her. “Is there something I can help you find?” Greenfield shook his head, his expression a bit more sullen.

“Just… Missin’ me Mum and Dad…” Greenfield said with a bit of a shaky voice. “They were with me in the park, y’know? I… Uh…” The colt sounded a lot sadder now, but it seemed he was forcing himself not to cry, Sam had a theory it likely was painful for him to do so. “Nevermind…” Sam continued to hold his hoof the rest of the way to the hospital, the ambulance was quiet, whether the others were unconscious or just didn’t want to talk was a mystery. She didn’t much care either way.

The ambulance came to a stop around five minutes later, the back doors opened, filling the compartment with bright light. Mares and stallions, nurses and doctors, in pristine white coats and uniforms began unloading the ambulance with the aid of a few orderlies.

“Hey…” Sam said as one of the nurses unloaded her, the nurse looked at her as she pointed at Greenfield. “Take care of him first.” The nurse was going to argue, but stopped when she looked at the colt. “Talk to you later, Greenfield.”

“See ya!” Greenfield replied somewhat sarcastically while pointing at his bandages, giving a brief joking smile as he was carried out. Sam was unloaded next, being carried by a few older looking minotaurs, likely too old to be serving in a military capacity. She was carried a few feet and lifted off the stretcher onto a proper gurney where a pair of unicorns began to wheel her into the hospital. The ceiling was clean and white, around her she could hear the chatter of voices on all sides. Some sounded like they were in pain, others calm and cool as steel.

Briefly she looked to the left and saw a few curtained off areas where doctors and nurses appeared to be working on those that were less wounded. Fifteen seconds later she found herself in one of those curtained areas, the nurse lifted the gurney so she was laying up enough to see around her. The curtains, upon closer inspection, were a pinkish color and made of cheap rough fabric, the smell of antiseptic was strong in the air, and beyond the curtains she could see wounded being wheeled past every now and then.

“Hello.” The nurse said, drawing Sam’s attention. She was a white unicorn mare with a black mane that was pulled back into a professional bun. Her white hat and blouse bore a Red Circle, the now seemingly universal symbol for medical personnel. She levitated a clipboard in the air and a pen. “I’m Soft Spot, I just need some information from you.”

Sam nodded quietly, what followed was a twenty minute session of questioning and answering basic medical background information. Sam was pretty sure the hospital had her history on file already, considering they had been her primary caregiver prior to her move, but she wasn’t going to complain… There were plenty with more to complain about. All the while she could hear the moans of those with more serious wounds, or see those that were in critical condition being rushed past far faster than other less serious patients.

“So you live in Canterlot, do you have anyone we can contact for you?” Soft Spot asked, snapping Sam’s attention back to the nurse. After a couple seconds of processing the question Sam nodded.

“Gwen Anderson, she’s uh… She can be reached at Two Nine Five Five Five Seven…” Sam replied, it had always been a bit odd to her that Equestrian phone numbers only used six numbers. The mare nodded as she wrote down the number.

“Do you want me to contact your husband as well?” Soft Spot asked, gesturing to Sam’s abdomen. The woman shook her head quietly, frowning as a wave of worry came over her.

“He’s overseas…” Sam said simply, the mare seemed to realize she’d struck on a nerve and quietly excused herself after filling out the rest of the information on the clipboard. When she was alone Sam leaned back in the somewhat uncomfortable gurney, her hand resting on her abdomen as she listened to the bustling hospital around her. “I told you everything would be okay…” She said softly, closing her eyes and trying to ignore the lopsided ringing in her ears that accompanied a growing amount of pain. “We’re safe now…”

After an hour or so, another pony entered the room. He was tall, lanky, and his feathers were slightly disheveled. His soft blue fur showed the signs of age, flecked with bits of grey and white. His mane, a darker shade of green, was similarly speckled with greying hair, Sam got the feeling that a lot of them had only sprouted up recently.

“Misses Turner?” He asked with an accent that sounded vaguely Russian, Sam nodded. “Well, I can see why they asked for me… I’m Doctor Duster, the hospital’s foremost expert on human biology. I believe you know my predecessor Doctor Ultra? He was your previous primary?”

“That’s right.” Sam replied as the stallion walked closer to the wall, Sam looked over and saw that there were various instruments mounted there, as well as a blood pressure cuff. The pegasus picked that up and walked over, quickly wrapping it around Sam’s right arm and inflating it while checking her blood pressure. Sam could feel her lower right arm beginning to tingle the longer the cuff was tightened. After a couple seconds Doctor Duster released the cuff and let out a hum. “Something wrong?”

“Your blood pressure is a little high…” The stallion said as he put the cuff back up on the hook mounted to the wall. “Not too high that I’d be concerned, but elevated… Given your recent ordeal, I’d say you’re doing remarkably well.” Duster walked over and examined the bandages on Sam’s shoulder. “I’m going to remove this, okay?” Sam nodded and the pegasus quietly removed the bandage, once again he let out a hum. “Nice needlework… Whoever did this knew their stuff. From the lack of discharge or discoloration I’d say there’s no infection.”

“My other primary caregiver… She and I were in Silver Lake at an aid station.” Sam said with a nod, the stallion hummed to himself. She noticed that whenever something intrigued him he’d him, if he was displeased he’d make the same noise, as if he was talking to himself without wanting to sound crazy.

“I see.” Duster concluded his examination of the wound on her shoulder, he then looked a bit higher towards her ear where the bandage showed a rather discolored splotch. She hadn’t noticed as she couldn’t see, but Doctor Duster didn’t like what he saw. “Okay, removing this now…” The stallion removed the bandage, Sam could see the brown and red stain more clearly, there were other colors as well but Sam didn’t dare guess what they could be. “Okay, hold still.”

Sam stayed still as the stallion walked to the wall and grabbed a few examination instruments, he returned and began to look a little closer before leaning back. His expression spoke volumes, as if he was trying to prepare himself for something.

“There is a very bad infection… You said you were in pain, but not extreme pain… That concerns me.” Duster admitted as he put the instruments away and walked back to the side of the gurney. “While I have the most study of human anatomy in the hospital, my knowledge on your species’ ears is somewhat limited… They’re so very complex.” He looked at the floor for a moment. “I’m going to need to clean out the wound, it is likely to be very painful, unfortunately pain medication is in short supply here… If we wait for some to be available I’m concerned for our prospects of preserving your hearing.”

“Just do it, I don’t care if it hurts…” Sam muttered, Duster nodded quietly and walked out of the curtained area. Once again she was left to her own devices, all she could do was listen to the sound of the hospital. She could only describe it as quiet desperation…

Turner and his men were taking cover in the trench as usual, well, more accurately they were sitting and holding their helmets on their head as shells continued to rain down around them. The shelling had persisted for the last four hours, pummeling the defenses almost as fast as they could be repaired. A few shells had gotten lucky and taken out entire groups of soldiers with direct hits, but so far Turner and the men in his section of the trench had been left pretty much unscathed other than the nearly deafening sound of explosions.

As dirt rained down in the trench Turner looked at Birch and Iron, both of whom were holding hands of cards. There was a small pile set up in the middle that they would occasionally brush the dirt off of, the Staff Sergeant looked at his own hand before sighing and rubbing his forehead. He had only two cards left.

“You got any fives!?” He asked loudly while looking at Birch, followed by another shell exploding off in the distance.

“Go fish!” Birch shouted back, prompting the Staff Sergeant to curse under his breath and reach to the pile. After looking at it he put down a pair of fives, leaving him with one card. “Fuck, you’re lucky today!” Once again the whistle of a shell overhead punctuated the sentence, but it wasn’t followed by an explosion. It landed with a heavy thud, from the sound of it around five feet from the trench. All three men dropped their cards and scrambled to their feet, each peeking up over the sandbags and getting a look at the smoldering artillery shell that was sticking up out of the ground.

“P-Please tell me that’s a gas shell.” Iron Will mumbled as shells continued to rain down on other parts of the trenches. No fumes began to escape from the shell, quickly making it clear that wasn’t the case. “Is it a dud?”

“Let’s not stick around to find out!” Turner ordered loudly, then cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled loudly. “Unexploded shell! Take cover!” The others in the trench scrambled towards some of the adjacent trenches, Turner, Birch, and Iron Will moved to the left until reaching a section of trench that turned in a right angle and was sufficiently far away.

Garnet and Corporal Willow soon arrived as well, watching their previous section of trench as another shell landed near the unexploded shell. This shell didn’t fail to detonate as before, and a tremendous explosion rocked the ground. The section they were currently in felt a slight jolt of pressure, and the soldiers already defending that area seemed slightly annoyed, but otherwise no one was hurt.

“Back to our trench, boys!” Turner ordered, gradually they moved back into their trench where a large crater had formed behind the portion where Turner and his comrades had been playing their game. Their cards were blown to all hell, scattered by the tremendous shockwave. Shells with faulty fuses or complete duds had been becoming more common over the last couple hours, and as Turner looked up at the airships he could see that they were firing a lot less quickly. “I got a feeling we’re gonna be getting another charge soon, ready up!”

He looked up over the sandbags at the now smoldering remains of the enemy tanks. The fires had burned themselves out almost completely, the wrecks were giving off black smoke that was far less thick than it had been at the start of their infernos. It was likely that the traps that had helped hold the line the first time would be neutralized by now, either by the shelling or deduction on the part of the Griffon Commanders. The next charge would likely be the finale of the entire ordeal, Turner and his men would have to pull back into the town of Acksyuk itself and fight to the last man.

The shelling trailed off after another ten minutes, during which Turner could see the tell tale green parachutes that were deploying tanks from the airships.To his surprise, however, he only saw around six or seven total… The Staff Sergeant looked over towards Iron Will, the minotaur was standing resolute as they watched the tanks continuing to drop.

“Iron, I need a radio.” The man ordered, Iron Will nodded and began moving down the line of the trench. Turner meanwhile looked over at Garnet, Birch, Willow, Quartz, Longhorn, and every other soldier in the trench that was watching the ships with bated breath. He could see fear in their eyes, uncertainty, some looked afraid enough to run. “We’ve held these bastards for the past two days, we ain’t gonna turn tale now, are we!?” He bellowed loudly, hoping that he didn’t sound as terrified as he was. “Are we!?”

“No, Staff Sergeant!” Birch and the others shouted, Iron Will returned not long after with a radio on his back.

“I got a radio, sir. The operator didn’t make it.” Iron announced, Turner sighed and crouched down in the trench, gesturing for the minotaur to hand him the radio mic. Iron handed it to the Staff Sergeant who examined the radio itself before sighing and raising the mic to his lips.

“Crossroads, this is Sack Bee!” Turner announced into the radio, he prayed that it was set to the right frequency. Stating the acronym of the unit, in this case SACB, to save time was becoming more common practice. “I have eyes on seven plus armor parachutes, infantry numbers unknown. Still under bombardment, but it seems lighter.”

“Received, Sack Bee. Similar reports coming in along the line. Wait one.” Replied the radioman on the other end in his usual static laced tone, Turner sighed and stood up slightly, looking out at the last parachutes as they landed in a small depression below the horizon.

Crossroads to all units, be advised! Three destroyers and two cruisers from our previous escorts have returned to aid us against orders, seems not everyone in the navy has their head up their ass. Artillery will be available for tasking in thirty mikes. Crossroad’s out.”The sound of the artillery above came to an abrupt halt, all eyes turned to the ships above as a massive flock of griffons could be seen flying down from it towards the ground. There had to be at least five hundred of them from each vessel, this had to be the final charge for sure.

“Hey… We got a fighting chance!” Birch said cheerfully, Turner wished he could share the young corporals optimism. A thousand troops was a helluva lot to face down, even if they only had six or seven tanks supporting them. Turner briefly made a sign of the cross over himself and gripped his SMG tightly. Silence settled over the trenches, a thousand soldiers watched the field ahead of them, they could hear the distant sound of tank engines and shouting troops, and the soft bangs that came from mortar rounds being fired.

It seemed odd they’d be firing mortars if they had such large weapons on the airships, but Turner wasn’t the Griffon Commander, maybe they had a different strategy than he thought. Several loud thuds filled the area ahead of Turner’s trench as smoke canisters landed in the open and began to conceal the field of fire. The smoke screen was setting up when Turner heard the engines getting closer and the yells of soldiers in the distance.

“Crossroads to all units. Hostile ground forces inbound on right flank and left flank! Looks like a pincer! Hold the line!” The radio announced, Turner wished he’d had access to one sooner, but radio’s were seen as a luxury and units often had to share them… Today his unit finally was getting a turn, which made him a bit more hopeful for their prospects of survival. Still, a thousand troops split up was still five hundred a flank, and he was right smack in the middle of the right flank. “Here they come!”

Turner raised his weapon, he wasn’t the only one. Every soldier in the trench was readying themselves, the machine gun trucks were moving into place to counter a possible air assault in addition to the ground attack. For several minutes all they could hear was the approaching army and tanks, hidden behind the thick clouds of smoke that were constantly being replenished as the enemy mortars would fire off fresh smoke shells. Soon enough, however, the Griffons came sprinting out of the smoke. Some were flying at low level, others were simply running headlong.

Turner was surprised, they were usually more tactical in their advances than this. The trenches opened fire, cutting down a swath of the advancing griffons. Despite that they just kept coming, and not long after that the tanks made their appearance. If the tanks from earlier were light tanks, than these must’ve been their much bigger brothers. If a Tiger and a IS-2 had a baby, it would be the two monstrosities rolling out of the smoke.

“Torch ‘em!” Turner shouted frantically as he fired another burst at the advancing enemy, the Dragon’s Fire sprung forth from the trench as usual, but there was no thunderous explosion like before. When the flames dispersed and Turner looked up, he was shocked to see a sphere of arcane energy crackling around the armored vehicles. The ground around them had been scorched black, but the tanks themselves were unscathed. One of them rotated its turret towards Turner’s section of the trench. “Down!”

The cannon boomed loudly, the ground shook as the sandbags lining the top of the trench were split open by a tremendous explosion. The Griffons were getting closer than before, passing by the tiger pits until they reached the Tank Trench that had stopped the previous armored assault. Turner looked over the trench wall just in time to see the tanks easily pass over the trench and begin advancing closer.

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!” Turner shouted as he fired off another quick burst at a Griffon that had gotten close enough to try and jump into the trench. The Staff Sergeant turned to look at his squad, he could see they too were hitting the soldiers getting closer. One of the tanks advancing on their position rotated its turret towards them, Turner grabbed hold of both soldiers as he started to run towards a different part of the trench. “Birch, Garnet, come on we gotta-” The tank fired, Turner’s ears were ringing as he was pelted with mud and dirt. He rubbed his head and straightened his helmet. “Birch! Garnet!”

The man pushed himself up, gripping his SMG in one hand while looking where his two comrades had been seconds before. Birch was laying on the ground, covered in blood with a surprised look on his face, desperately trying to put pressure on the wound in his chest. Garnet… Turner couldn’t find a bit of the dragon that was left intact. His ears were still ringing, he watched as the tanks began to cross over the trench. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around, weapon raised. Iron Will was standing their and took a step back, just as the ringing stopped the minotaur shouted something.

“The flank is collapsing, Sergeant! We need to withdraw!” The minotaur bellowed, Turner looked at him for a second before looking back at Birch. The Staff Sergeant knelt down and hoisted the wounded soldier over his shoulder, considering Birch was a minotaur he easily weighed three hundred pounds.

“Let’s go! Cover me!” Turner shouted as he began to carry Birch through the trenches, Iron Will was close behind. “You seen Quartz or Willow?”

“No, haven’t seen Longhorn either!” Iron shouted back as Turner carried Birch around a corner into another trench where the Griffons had stormed in and were engaged in hand to hand combat. Turner discarded his SMG and drew his side arm as he and Iron Will began moving forward, the Staff Sergeant fired one handed at a few Griffons, hitting them in the shoulders or chests as they tried to advance on him.

“Come on! Come on! You’re gonna be okay, Birch! Come on!” Turner shouted over his shoulder, he could feel the warm trickle of blood from Birch’s wounds staining his jacket and shirt as he and Iron fought their way through the winding trenches towards Acksyuk. In a blur they managed to make it there, whenever Turner tried to think of how long it took or what happened it all went by too fast.

They emerged from the trench system and ran up into the town proper, moving among the buildings, many of which had been turned to rubble by the previous shelling. Gun trucks were pulling back, along with every soldier that could make it out of the Trenches.

“Crossroads to Nautilus! Come in Nautilus!” Turner could hear Thomas’ voice on the radio still on Iron’s back while they ran further into town towards the closest aid station. The entire town was in chaos, frantic soldiers trying to coordinate a defense against the enemy tanks. Some were rolling the captured field guns out to try and use them as anti-tank weapons, but often the crews were gunned down before they could ever get it into position.

“Nautilus, go ahead Crossroads.”

“Shattered Sabre! I say again, Shattered Sabre!”

“Confirm Shattered Sabre, Crossroads!”

“Shattered Sabre confirmed! Fire Mission! Grid reference One Nine Seven Two Nine Nine! Immediate suppression! Fire for effect! Danger Close!” Thomas’ voice was frantic, Turner could hear gunfire in the distance. He and Iron managed to get through the chaos to an aid station, at which point Turner put Birch down on a stretcher while Iron went to get a medic. The look on the young minotaur’s face was one of utter surprise, his eyes were big, and what skin wasn’t covered in blood soaked fur seemed pale.

“Come on, damn it!” Turner said as he felt for a pulse, he didn’t find one. “No! No no no no no!” The man began chest compressions, his hands became soaked in Birch’s blood as he pushed over and over on the minotaur’s chest. The ground shook as heavy shells exploded perhaps only fifty yards away, but the screaming and thundering explosions all faded into the background as Turner kept trying to revive the wounded Corporal.

“Lemme at him!” A stallion shouted, pushing Turner aside and taking over the compressions. He was an earth pony with blood covered fur all his own and the uniform of a medic. After a few seconds of checking Birch over the medic’s expression became grim, he stopped the compressions.

“The fuck are you doing!?” Turner shouted angrily as he moved to punch the stallion that had apparently just given up on Birch. He was held back by Iron Will, who pulled him away from the body. Iron seemed to have either lost or left his radio behind, because Turner couldn’t hear it chattering away any longer.

“He’s gone, Sergeant! We need to get to cover!” Iron bellowed, Turner looked at the Corporal laying on the ground one final time. His expression hardened and not long afterwards he shook himself loose of Iron Will, the minotaur could see that the man was in a state of mind where intervention likely wouldn’t help. “Staff Sergeant! What’re you doing!?” The man grabbed a nearby shotgun that had been discarded by a dead soldier, briefly he checked to see if it was loaded… It was.

“I don’t know! What’s it matter!?” Turner shouted back, coming completely about and coming face to face with Iron Will. The minotaur could see something had changed in the man’s eyes, only hours before Iron had figured the Sergeant’s angry and gruff exterior had been an act… Now, however, Iron could see something was deeply wrong. All the while the city was coming apart around them, the lines keeping the Griffons out of the city were barely holding, and the artillery support coming in from the navy was so powerful it was a wonder anyone was still able to stand when it shook the ground so violently.

“What happens to your family when you die trying to avenge Birch!” Iron Will bellowed, Turner looked at the ground for a second before he gained a calm look on his face. The minotaur almost wished he had maintained the expression of undiluted murderous fury, because now he couldn’t seem to read anything from the usually expressive Staff Sergeant. “We should report in with Captain Clemons.”

“Let’s go then.” Turner growled, he and Iron began making their way through the town. He didn’t know how to process what he was feeling, before the war he would’ve done anything to avoid taking another life… Now, for some reason… He wanted blood. He honestly scared himself, and what scared him more is that he didn’t want those feelings to go away… As they ran past ruined homes and the dead bodies of Equestrian soldiers the hatred and anger only seemed to grow stronger, every nerve fiber in his body was screaming for him to let himself lose control.

That was when four Griffons ran out from an alleyway ahead of them, they didn’t notice Turner and Iron until they heard the first shot. They turned as Turner rocked back the pump action of the shotgun and slid it forward. Three more shots rang out, interrupted by the metallic ‘Click-clack’ of shells being cycled through the action. Turner lowered the weapon after the last Griffon had hit the ground, the arcane shot had rendered them almost unrecognizable.

Turner dropped the shotgun and grabbed one of the Griffon SMGs, as well as several magazines, from the corpses. He didn’t have any more ammunition for the shotgun, he’d need to rely on the enemy weapons for the time being. Following the run in with the Griffons Turner and Iron moved with more caution through the town until they arrived at the Command center, it was a bunker sunk into the ground and covered in sandbags, reinforced thanks to the hard work of diamond dogs over the past days.

The defenses surrounding it were somewhat rushed, machine gun emplacements, gun nests, barbed wire, and several metal tank traps were all that stood between the Griffons and control of Ackysuk. Located near the town hall, the command center’s most noticeable feature were the antennas sprouting up from between the sandbags and the small tunnel that lead down through the cobblestone pavers into the bunker.

A continuous sound of brutal firefights through the city and the rumble of tank engines told Turner there was still a threat from the metallic monstrosities. As troops were being brought off the center defensive lines to deal with the enemy forces it became more apparent that the town was falling once again into enemy hands. Turner descended down into the command center where he found Thomas and a few other officers looking over the map of the town’s defenses rapidly. Thomas looked up when Turner and Iron approached, his expression was less calm than usual.

“Turner, thank god!” The man said while walking around the table. “We’ve managed to destroy one of their heavy tanks, but there’s six more bearing down on us. The trick is getting in close enough that you’re inside their shield when you hit ‘em” Thomas gestured to several points on the map, he was talking so fast Turner barely caught any of what he said. “I have five demo teams moving out, I need a sixth! Is your squad up to it?”

“Garnet’s dead, sir. So is Birch…” Turner replied as he looked dejectedly at the map, his expression once again proving hard to read. “The rest of the troops in our section of trench scattered, Iron and I are all that’s left.” Thomas frowned at the news, rubbing his chin in thought. “What do you need done, sir?”

“We have some demo charges, if you can get in close enough you can place them on the tank and get out of there…” Thomas gestured to several locations on the map, Turner walked up and looked over the map himself while Iron stood back a bit. “Problem is their infantry support is up in force now. I’ve got entire platoons bogged down trying to stem the tide.” He tapped a circle on the map, it was only about two blocks from where they were standing. “We’ve slowed down one of the tanks in this street here, if it gets through it’ll be on us in a matter of minutes. I know you’re undermanned, but I need someone I know can get the job done here.”

“Just leave us to it, sir.” Turner said simply, Thomas was a bit surprised by the amount of formality, but regardless the Captain walked over to a nearby supply crate and grabbed a few explosive charges. He handed one to Turner and one to Iron Will.

“Good luck, guys.” Thomas nodded confidently, Turner simply slipped the charge onto his belt before racking a round in the Griffon SMG he had captured. “Dismissed.”

“See you on the other side, Tom.” Without another word Turner walked up out of the bunker, Iron wasn’t far behind him. They began jogging towards the area of the city where they would find the enemy tank, it wasn’t hard to find considering the sound of straining metal and rumbling engines. They came around a corner and found a squad of unicorns and earth ponies fighting with everything they had to keep the advancing Griffons at bay, the enemy tank was being blocked from moving by a somewhat tall steep wall of rubble.

The vehicle wasn’t going to be stopped for much longer, as it would climb up more rocks than the ponies could put in its path to stop it. The unicorns looked exhausted from spell casting and the Earth Ponies couldn’t move any more rocks into the way of the tank without collapsing from exhaustion. The buildings on either side of the street were completely destroyed, bombed our husks of their former selves that now only served as the backdrop for the desperate defense of a town no one on the ground really cared about.

Turner and Iron moved up beside the ponies that were taking cover behind some larger chunks of rubble. The tank was about fifteen yards down the street and surrounded on both sides by Griffon foot soldiers. The machine gunner in the tank was firing away as well, keeping many of the Equestrian soldiers suppressed or killing them outright. The sky was beginning to dim, gradually the only source of light began to become the fires burning in the destroyed structures and the muzzle flashes themselves.

“You guys the demo team!?” One of the Earth Ponies asked while firing his weapon around the corner of the rubble that served as his protector from the Griffon bullets.

“Yeah, that’s us!” Turner replied as he popped up and fired off a burst at the Griffons, then he dropped back into cover, several bullets narrowly missing his helmet. “Think you guys can suppress them for us?” The Earth Pony looked around at his squad, to Turner they looked tired enough that if they tried to suppress the enemy a good deal of them would get killed.

“We’ll do what we can! Just make this count!” The Earth pony shouted back, he slid a new clip into his rifle, a captured Griffon bolt action. “Alright, guys! Suppress on my mark, Vintage pop smoke out there!!” Turner and Iron grabbed the charges from their belts, one of the unicorns hurled a smoke grenade down the street that began to fill the area with a thick white fog. “That should give you guys some time to get close without their gunner seeing ya! You ready?” Turner nodded. “Suppressing fire!”

“Let’s go!” Turner bellowed as the stallions popped out of cover and began firing down range, Iron Will followed close behind as they ran through the smoke. Bullets were whizzing past in both directions, Turner could feel his heart pounding in his chest. In those brief seconds he could only think of home, the chatter of gunfire and smell of blood left his nostrils for a millisecond… When he snapped back to reality he had run into the bull of the Griffon tank, it was starting to come down the embankment of the wall. Without hesitating Turner slapped the charge to the hull, it was held to the metal magnetically. With the yank of a string the fuse was lit. “Charge set!”

Turner ran back towards the ponies, the smoke was starting to clear and soon the machine gunner would see him. The man slid into cover just a few seconds before a tremendous explosion rocked the ground, he looked towards some of the other soldiers and found that several of them had been killed as he’d expected. What he didn’t expect was that Iron Will wasn’t among those that had gotten into cover… He wasn’t anywhere to be seen at all.

As the smoke began to clear and the tank burned down the street, Turner chanced a peek out around the corner of the piece of rubble. Iron Will hadn’t made it more than ten feet from the lines, he was laying there in the rubble, still clutching his demolition pack. In less than an hour, every man in Turner’s squad had been killed.

“We can hold it from here, sorry about your man.” The Earth Pony said as he continued firing, Turner only nodded quietly and began making his way back to the command center. There was no sense or urgency to get back, no surge of duty to his country… The Staff Sergeant was having trouble wrapping his head around it all. Garnet had been killed instantly, Birch had bled out, and now Iron was gone as well… For the first time since boot camp, Turner felt well and truly alone.

The world that had flown by so quickly in the past several hours now began to come back into focus, Turner felt the weight of everything that had happened settle on his shoulders. Rage gave way to sadness, sadness gave way to a feeling Turner couldn’t quite describe. The closest he could come was powerlessness, but even that didn’t cover everything. The sky was dark by now, the moon and stars were above…

The boom of artillery and crack of gunfire still raged, but for that brief moment Turner didn’t care. He stared up into the cold abyss of space, at every distant star, at every glisten in the sky. The Staff Sergeant heard the scrape of a footstep from a nearby alley way and turned with his weapon raised, he found himself staring at a Griffon who had also raised his weapon. Neither of them fired…

Turner could tell from his uniform he was a Sergeant and, like Turner, he too was alone. The two of them stared at one another for what felt like hours, eventually both lowering their weapons. The griffon looked up at the sky for a few moments, then looked back at Turner, without saying a word the Griffon walked across the street to the adjacent alleyway. Turner didn’t stop him, the anger urging him to kill had subsided. The two soldiers simply went their separate ways, Turner adjusted his helmet and began walking back towards the Command Center.

By the time he had arrived the sound of gunfire was more distant and was gradually quieting down, in the distance Turner heard the familiar sound of the airship engines powering up. This was usually followed by an artillery barrage, but as the fighting grew less severe so too did the sound of the engines grow more distant. Turner walked down into the bunker, everyone was a lot less frantic now. Thomas looked up from the map and noted that Turner was alone, he could tell from the look on the Staff Sergeant’s face that the worst had come to pass.

“They’re pulling back.” Thomas said as Turner walked towards the map table at the center of the dingy bunker. “We managed to capture one of their tanks in one piece, the rest we deep sixed for good. I think that was the last assault they had in them, probably running out of fuel too... We’re getting reports their airships are bugging out. They’re leaving anyone behind that can’t get on.” Turner quietly nodded and walked away from the table, he took a seat at a nearby desk and removed his helmet. “Why don’t you get some sleep…”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead, sir…” Turner replied as he stood up and brushed himself off, Thomas watched the man slowly leave the bunker. The Captain sighed and walked back to the map table, more reports were being compiled, but it seemed they had weathered the storm… If only barely. Thomas waited until it was official that the Griffons had withdrawn completely from the field and the fighting had stopped before he sent his after action report. While more detailed information would follow, the simple, if understated, message would be enough to communicate they had held the town.

COMMUNIQUE TO THE EQUESTRIAN HIGH COMMAND:
11 APRIL, 1014.

“ENCOUNTERED ENEMY. REPULSED SAME. ALL LINES HOLDING.”

Three days later reinforcements would arrive uncontested on the beaches of the Barbos Strait. Of the initial fifteen hundred defenders under the command of Colonel Strongpoint and later Captain Thomas Clemons, less than five hundred survived. Over eight hundred Griffon soldiers were killed attempting to take the town, one hundred and seventy two tanks were destroyed or disabled, five were captured intact.

Colonel Strongpoint and the other high ranking officers that fled the field were courtmartialed and found guilty of dereliction of duty. The captains of the naval vessels that violated orders to return and assist in the defense were not charged. Captain Thomas Clemons would go on to receive a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, skipping the rank of Major in recognition of his strategic acumen in the defense of Acksyuk. To date he is the only officer to receive two promotions within such a short amount of time.

Staff Sergeant Paige Wilson Turner would be temporarily relieved of duty to undergo psychological evaluation following the battle. After two days of observation and interview sessions, he was cleared to return to active duty and issued a seven day pass. His faith in the high command had been severely shaken, among other things...

The new commander that was intended to arrive with the reinforcements did not actually arrive on time, but Lieutenant Colonel Clemons was relieved by a General acting as interim commander until the new Commander could arrive. Additionally, the regulations and rules were updated, patching many of the loopholes that had allowed such an incident to even take place. The growing pains of the Equestrian Army were still being felt on a grander scale than before, but it was hoped that the lessons learned from the Defense of Acksyuk would save lives in the future.

The dead that couldn't be returned home, or remained unidentified, were buried in a large field on the outskirts of Acksyuk, Griffon and Equestrian alike… While the Battle of Acksyuk would go down as one of the bloodiest in the history of the Equestrian military, it would be far from the last. The losses to the Second Bipedal Infantry Division were so immense that it would take months to fully replenish its diminished manpower to there pre-war numbers. They would serve in diminished capacity for that time, licking their wounds...