Oberleutnant Ginx cursed the Queen, the ponies and anyone else that had ever crossed his mind.
Currently, he was watching from a reinforced window as pony soldiers set up a breaching ram in front of the door. Ginx was trapped inside the garrison building, which had formerly been a police office, together with a dozen of his ‘lings.
‘’Oberleutnant?’’ Ginx turned around to see his second-in-command, Leutnant Mirax, approaching. They had served together ever since graduating the academy in Vesalipolis, and while they had never been romantically involved, they were the best of friends.
Still, in times like these it was best to use protocol. ‘’Leutnant, status report,’’ Ginx ordered.
‘’I estimate ten minutes until they’re inside,’’ Mirax informed him. ‘’They outnumber us three to one.’’
Ginx sighed. ‘’Fighting strength?’’
‘’Eleven drones, one light machine-gun that was retired two years ago, twenty-four grenades and roughly one extra magazine for every drone,’’ Mirax listed off.
Ginx nodded, and brought his hoof to stifle the incoming headache. ‘’What do you suggest, leutnant?’’
‘’Sir,’’ Mirax hesitated. ‘’Sir, I believe it’s best to surrender.’’
Ginx raised an eyebrow, before looking outside. ‘’Would they accept it?’’
‘’Odds are fifty fifty, if I had to guess,’’ Mirax replied.
Ginx sighed again. ‘’Then we might as well take our chances. Get something white and hang it off a pole.’’
‘’And if they don’t accept?’’
Ginx shrugged. ‘’Then we die. But we’ll die fighting.’’
‘’They might shoot us as soon we surrender our weapons.’’
Another shrug. ‘’Then we die.’’
‘’Sir, do you expect you’ll ever see Vesalipolis again?’’
Ginx looked at Mirax for a long moment, then shook his head. ‘’Mirax, I have served too long to still have hope for things like that.’’
Mirax considered that for a moment, then nodded and saluted. ‘’I’ll make sure the troops know, sir.’’
‘’Good. Dismissed.’’ And Ginx saluted back.
He had a duty, of course, and that duty was to follow orders. His last orders had been very clear: any unit not able to evacuate to the defensive line that was being formed at Bales had to stand their ground for as long as possible, until the counterattack would drive the terrorists into the sea.
Ginx was no great strategist, but he knew that such a counterattack was unlikely to happen within the next month, as the Heer would have to pull together its soldiers from all over Changelingia to amass sufficient strength to fight this ‘Equestrian Liberation Front’. In the meantime, the ponies would have all the time in the world to prepare their own defences, and also clean house. No doubt collaborators had already been interned.
And now here he was. Cut off from the Oberkommando, surrounded by enemies and with his unit depleted. He’d been assigned this posting with thirty soldiers, now he had twelve, thirteen if he included himself. They had no vehicles - those had been the first to go, and seven good soldiers along with them - and their supplies were going to run out within the next day.
If they even made it that long, which was doubtful.
He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. ‘’Fuck me sideways,’’ he muttered, before sticking the cigarette in his mouth and leaning against the wall.
Two minutes later, Ginx watched a lone, uniformed pony approach the entrance of the police station, unarmed and with a white piece of cloth in her mouth. A few metres from the door, she stopped and laid down the cloth on the ground.
‘’We accept your surrender!’’ she shouted. ‘’Come out with your guns shown! No funny moves!’’
Ginx stood up, peeking his head above the makeshift barricade they’d erected in the doorway. ‘’And how do we know you won’t kill us when we come out?’’ he shouted back.
‘’You have my word!’’ the earth pony mare returned.
Ginx pulled his head back and looked around. Mirax looked inscrutable, while the two other ‘lings looked afraid but determined to hide it. If Ginx remembered correctly, this was their first posting out of the academy. Had he looked like that, on the truck into Equestria?
‘’We knew this was a risk,’’ Mirax pointed out after a moment.
‘’We can try to take her hostage,’’ one of the younger ‘lings suggested.
Before either Ginx or his second-in-command could reply, the other soldat nailed him with a glare. ‘’Are you stupid?’’ he hissed. ‘’Don’t you think they know that? That mare probably expects to be shot.’’
‘’Correct,’’ Ginx agreed. ‘’Taking her hostage will blow any chance we have of surviving.’’
Upon hearing that, the young soldat looked down in shame. ‘’Apologies, sir,’’ he muttered.
Ginx waved it away. ‘’The plan might have worked if we weren’t outnumbered and surrounded,’’ he admitted. ‘’Ponies are more susceptible to such things than us changelings. It’s something to do with biology.’’
‘’Are you gonna answer?’’ the mare suddenly shouted.
Ginx sighed. There was only one answer, and he had a feeling the mare knew that as well. ‘’I’m coming out!’’ he shouted, and before anyone could stop him he climbed over the barricade into the open.
Luckily, he wasn’t immediately shot dead. If that had happened, no one would have been able to help; anyone who jumped over the barricade to help would have also been shot.
He hadn’t grabbed his rifle when he’d gone over, so the only weapon he had was his pistol, so he couldn’t even shoot back properly if the ponies opened fire.
Really, this was a reckless idea. But Ginx had always been a fan of those.
The mare was clearly surprised to see him, but she kept admirable professionalism. ‘’I assume you’re here to surrender?’’ she asked with narrowed eyes. ‘’And that’s far enough, by the way.’’
Ginx had only taken a few steps away from the barricade, but evidently the mare didn’t want him any closer, and to be frank Ginx didn’t either. So he kept his place. ‘’I am,’’ he agreed with a nod. ‘’I speak for this station.’’
The mare smirked. ‘’I can see that, Oberleutnant. I’ve seen your face before.’’
‘’Then you have me at a disadvantage.’’
The earth pony snorted. ‘’Name’s Azure Field. I saw you sound the retreat of your unit to that station you’re in.’’
Ginx didn’t recall seeing this mare, but he hadn’t been paying attention to such things at all, so that was not a surprise. ‘’Very well. Shall we discuss terms then?’’
Azure Field gave him a flat look. ‘’What terms? You’re surrounded.’’
‘’Nothing much,’’ Ginx promised. ‘’Just a promise to not be shot as soon as we’re without our weapons, and to not get starved or beaten.’’
‘’Like you did to our prisoners?’’
Ginx winced. ‘’That wasn’t my order,’’ he defended himself.
‘’You still carried it out,’’ Azure Field retorted.
‘’I have never treated prisoners any less than they deserved,’’ Ginx declared, and that was true. Mistreating prisoners was a waste of energy and only made a chance at escape or revolt more likely. Unfortunately, the vast majority of soldiers and politicians in Changelingia did not share Ginx’s opinion on this, which had probably contributed to the massive rebellion they were now facing.
Azure Field looked like she didn’t believe him for a single moment. ‘’I doubt it,’’ she said. ‘’But very well. We aren’t savages. You and your soldiers will get food and water, and won’t be executed. You have my word on that.’’
‘’And what worth does your word have?’’ Ginx questioned.
‘’Never you mind that.’’
Ginx wanted to protest, but had no room to. He would just have to believe Azure Field was genuine. ‘’Okay,’’ he sighed resignedly after a few moments of silence.
‘’Do you have any other demands?’’ Azure Field practically spat out the last word.
Ginx thought it over slowly. ‘’Medical help,’’ he said. ‘’Two of my ‘lings are wounded and we don’t have the supplies to treat them fully.’’
‘’Accepted, but you’re last priority.’’
That was fine. Their injuries weren’t too severe or life-threatening anymore. They could wait a day or two. ‘’Of course,’’ he agreed. ‘’That’s all I have.’’
Azure Field looked consideringly at him for a second, and then nodded slowly. ‘’Very well. I accept your terms of surrender.’’ And she, hesitantly, stuck out her hoof.
Ginx shook it after a moment of shock.
A few minutes later, he and his soldiers got to watch as the Changeling flag was torn down and the flag of Equestria - where someone had gotten one of those from, Ginx had no idea - was raised in its place.
The Heer might still win this war, but Ginx’s part in it was over.
Author's Note
I had the beginning of this lying around, and after playing a Changeling Lands game today (that ended prematurely due to crashes) I dug it out and finished it off. Hope you like it!
