Equestria At War - In the Shadow of the Sun

The sound of revving engines filled the highway. Early in the morning, trucks had converged on the wide, open road; technicals with mounted 50 cals. had locked it down and prevented anyone from approaching. The jets were carefully and immediately placed on the track from the heavy duty vehicles. The pilots had quickly scrambled to get into the cockpits, running out of a truck that parked in the middle, and then swerved to the side of the road.

"Using a highway as a runway...classy." Raz chuckled as she got into the plane she was provided - an F-105 Thunderchief. "Classy plane, too. Where'd you get one of these? Bit too good for a guerilla." She told Wind Walker, who stood underneath and made sure that all pilots got into the planes alright.

"Managed to snag it when we defected." He said. "Trust me, it wasn't easy. Now, take off quickly. We need to get these birds in the air before anyone gets an idea of what we're doing."

"Aye aye." Raz chuckled. One by one, the planes would begin to drive along the highway - and would reach the speeds needed to lift off. Fifteen planes had done so, four squadrons that went east towards Fillydelphia. As they'd fly, Raz would relax into the cockpit. Over the horizon, she'd see the orange hue of the dawn sun.

She stared it down.

"...You're going down today." Raz smirked, cracking her neck.

***

The unicorn sighed. The radio that sat in-front of her was terrifying, for each of her whispers could lead to the path of either life, or death. Yet she knew that Trixie was right. If she did this, there was half a chance of painful death, half a chance of glory. If she kept quiet - that was an eternity of slow, slow death.

She took a deep breath. Starlight put her lips to the microphone...

"Proud fighters of the ELF..." She closed her eyes, and took a deeper breath. A moment passed, and the memory of the stakes had returned. She furrowed her brows, for she remembered why she was here. What she was doing. She raised her voice.

And that voice came to every major radio of the ELF that was approaching the city.

"<>"

The attack was signaled by a myriad of flares that rose from Fillydelphia.

The four groups had converged upon the city. The silent morning streets were disrupted by explosions and the popping of gunfire.

Explosions erupted through the city, tearing though strategic and tactical objectives. The barracks had been among the first targets, and soon came the warehouses and depots - anything that could have contained Solarists was targeted.

In a cafe known as Smokey's, several ELF officers sat enjoying their breakfast. The place was supposed to open later, but the officers knew they'd have the authority to force the sleep-depraved owner and staff to work early. They sipped their coffee and tea, but the sound of disturbances came apparent.

"Hm...?" One of them tilted his head as he looked out the window. "You guys hear--"

A pegasus swooped in with a parcel, that landed just at the window they were sitting at. Luckily, most of the staff was either in their staff room or the kitchen, and the explosion had evaporated the officers on the spot, throwing tables and chairs all around.

Several rebels had gathered from within inside the city - some had only joined the ELF days prior as they were able to be recruited by Trixie's efforts. They had linked up with the teams that were sent out by the blue unicorn to begin the sabotage, storming into strategic areas, and exchanging fire with the garrisons. Police warned - and they were given the choice of joining, dropping their arms, or death.

A portion of Starlight's group had converged on the power supply in the outskirts - and the fighting that took place rendered it in their hands. Swiftly, the electricity was disabled; and much needed power was unavailable for the Solarists who scrambled to barely respond to the disturbance. What was to be a proper garrison had become nothing more than a troupe of headless chickens.

From the south, the light tanks had rolled in - led by Hellcourt, Sunset's tank. She grinned at the commander's spot, using her binoculars as her tank, and the tanks beside hers rolled down the highway. They fired upon targets, roadblocks and defensive APCs and vehicles.

"Break a leg everypony! Or, shall I say, have your turret blown off!" Sunset yelled into the radio that transmitted to her group. "We're breaking through and locking down the roads! Go, go, go!"

"High school theater in your world has that saying too, huh?" Scoffed the loader.

"<>" A Stalliongrad-made T34's commander exclaimed. "<>"

"<>" Yawned the commander of an M24 Chaffee. "<>"

"<>" Gulped the commander of a Bob Semple tank that lagged behind the group. "<>"

Alongside this group, another section of armor would enter the outskirts of the city. Some tanks were working on encircling the city and taking control of the woods and highways surrounding Fillydelphia. They had the advantage, for any enemy APC or tank that tried to exit the city was now like fish in a barrel.

In the city, Sunset's tanks had rolled in and continued firing upon any place where they saw the enemy - hurling machine gun fire and cannon shots at whatever threat they saw. Though the numbers seemed to be not in their favor at all, they knew to stay calm...As the sound of roaring jet engines echoed through the city.

Tempest's group was incoming from the north. The jets were swooping in.

The Wonderbolts - plus Washouts - only watched in horror as the batpony outsider, Raz, swooped in on her F105 Thunderchief. Its single engine produced enough thrust to cause minor turbulence for the others as it zipped by. The supersonic jet had fired off its missiles - hitting anti-air machinery and tanks that were southbound. Despite the speed of the craft, she had made several quick maneuvers around the tall buildings, and started to climb sharply into the air; then turning backwards to dive in to use her guns on ground targets, vaporizing enemy positions on the open roads.

"<>" Gulped Vapor Trail.

"<>"

"<>" Lighting Dust coughed.

From the west, the infantry had been moving in. Key positions were taken over - as ELF troops burst into police stations, administrative buildings; whatever they had to take, they were able to do so with almost little resistance. What was a boon however is that they had little trouble with the civilians - who looked shocked. Positively. Ponies gasped as they watched through the windows, for they saw the banner of the ELF.

Hope was returning to Fillydelphia - and as streets were liberated by the resistance, the citizens stepped outside to cheer on. Some went to assertively ask for guns - and some had their requested granted.

For the SIB, their job had a bit of a different angle. A little mouse had crawled through a ventilation system, and swiftly transformed into a venomous viper. The garrison commander had no time to act as he felt necrosis take over his neck, and his attempts to call for support were a waste of his final moments. By the time garrison soldiers had burst into the office, they hadn't notice the mouse who skittered back to safety.

Gomer quietly sat on the construction crane that gave him the best view of the target. He gently caressed the trigger of his Boys anti-tank rifle, the caliber of which would allow him to do the job. He was able to track the officer that was making a run for his armored vehicle. He wouldn't have an angle, at-least not directly. He saw however, that the officer was rushed into the armored car. The door was closed, and Gomer estimated where his target could be within that armored vehicle. The shot was fired, and he held his breath. He sighed in relief as he saw the officer's bodyguards rush out, and attempt to administer first-aid to a target that lost its head. He looked at the gun, and frowned sadly - he had to leave it before it weighed him down. He flew off, and none could find the sniper.

Umfuni had been one of the first to enter a direct firefight with the other rebels, leading a group that would attack one of the garrison's main depots. His KS-23, a souvenir, shred Solarists apart, and allowed Plymouth to enter that building in the cover of combat to block off the exit for a fleeing Major - slicing his throat the moment he turned the corner, and - perhaps accidentally - lopping his head off.

Cipher and Colton ran through the streets as they helped flank enemies that attempted to run in as reinforcements against Sunset's group, picked off by the two. They shot at running AT specialists, and were able to stave off an entire company, which was under the impression there were more than two attackers. A mistake that left them too scared to exit the streets, unaware that the two had already bailed and ran off.

***

The siege was on-going for about an hour and half. What QRFs attempted to assist were disabled halfway across the highway that entered the city. Not just the city, but the city's outskirts were under the ELF's lock.

Colton and Cipher took shelter in an abandoned apartment, the owner of which already grabbed a gun and ran to join the others. They waited, for they knew that for the sake of their objective, they'd need to wait in this part of the city.

As Colton's radio was hailed, he sighed in relief. This wasn't a dud after all.

"Colton. Who is this?"

"<>" Trixie coughed. <<"Finally have news for you, New Marelanders. The FEA's ponies are holed up in the destroyed restaurant - Smokey's - on Liliac Street.>>" Trixie's words came from the radio. "<>"

"Thanks, Jester." Colton smiled, and turned to Cipher. "Let's go, fast."

Colton and Cipher would run down the street, and into the destroyed restaurant. The place was littered with the corpses of Solarist officers. Running through, they made sure to secure their corners - and eased up when they saw four wave over to them. They looked like partisans. They were in the process of a little R&R, picking at the food they had commandeered. Why let it spoil, after all?

The four partisans smiled as they saw the two SIB operatives enter, and its leader, an older stallion with a beard, gently used his levitation to push a plate of tapas towards them. "Well well, what do you know? I didn't think we'd finally see New Marelanders on Equus soil since the war started." He chuckled.

"Agent Colton, pleased to meet you. Sorry to be direct but, we had some questions."

A mare partisan scoffed. "Questions. We were sent for discovering the answer to some questions too." She dryly chuckled, chomping on a shrimp. "Look how that ended up for our movement."

"Well, we'll answer. To the best of our ability." The old partisan chuckled. "Don't expect us to give you any miracles."

Colton nodded to Cipher, who he trusted more to conduct the interview.

"Cipher - SIB." He gently bowed, as he took out a notepad and used a minor mechanism in his metallic hoof that allowed him for short-term levitation.

The old stallion looked at the paper, and then his eyes trailed back to Cipher. "You can call me Foam. That's the best way to identify me, as of the present moment."

Cipher had taken it into account, and knew better than to ask questions. "So, what is Vividvale? We found a picture of a powerful explosion, and that name - or word - as its caption."

The unicorn looked at him for a long time...and sighed. "Good, our intel was able to make it into New Mareland's hands..." He smiled. "But since you're asking, I guess not all of it made it." He then slowly frowned. "Vividvale...It's not the site of the detonation, as you may speculate. Vividvale is instead the name of Daybreaker's little pet project."

"A superweapon...?" Cipher asked.

"She wiped out so, so many...It was an explosion. It all happened in just a blink." The unicorn said as he blankly stared at the wall.

"That explosion which is on the picture?" Cipher frowned.

A nod. "Mm. Blinded me. I thought I had lost my sight forever - but it took a few days for the full recovery. FEA was going to discover more about it, so we went in. My squad was sent for auxiliary targets, to take out the QRFs and artillery before they could be alarmed. We were on the outskirts, but not quite. But all the others...they were sent in deep."

Cipher wrote it down - delaying as he imagined how big of a blast it must have been to cause such prolonged blindness.

The unicorn continued. "We never learned what Vividvale was, but we learned one thing. A name. We learned that Daybreaker wanted to get her hooves on a scientist who escaped Equestria after her ascension. But that scientist was able to get over the sea. Name Paradise Gem ring any bells?"

"Yes, actually..." Cipher's eyes briefly widened, before he nodded. "Developed city-wide countermeasures. Star of Steel. That was her, if I'm right. Not to mention she developed some kind of safety mechanism for aircraft."

"Huh. Glad I don't have to explain it, then." He smiled. "We don't know where she could've went, but from the source who told us about her, we learned that the only pony who might know where she is, is one of her old colleagues. Professor Fluttershy."

"Why would Fluttershy know...?" Cipher asked.

The partisan shrugged. "Allegedly, there was correspondence between the two. According to what we gathered, there was some reason that Fluttershy was concerned about Paradise's safety. The two organized a safehouse for her in Griffonia. That's all we could piece at that time, though..."

Cipher sighed. They were able to complete their secondary objectives somewhat - knowing that they now had support from various elements inside of Equus. But their primary objective had sent them back to the continent on which they had begun.

"One more thing." The partisan leaned in. "There's one thing that we found strange. Based on some other intel we uncovered, Vividvale had many connections to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and other establishments. Here." He leaned in, and handed him a folder. "I wanted to pass this on to someone who could take it and analyze it. Please, do it."

"...You have my word." Cipher nodded.

The partisan grinned. "Wonderful. Now..." He turned to Colton. "We goin' together, right? Town Hall won't take itself."

Colton sighed. He knew that they had to repay the FEA for the intel, after all.

***
The hour that passed had seen increased gunfire and explosions. In a central street, the large town hall was on fire, bombarded as its occupants were being smoked out. Raz's plane had made quick work of the tanks that were regrouped to the front, and this allowed Sunset's tanks to roll in to soften the front.

Starlight's infantry had been able to lock down all buildings surrounding the town hall, preventing any flanks or surprises from the enemy, as hostile snipers were simply thrown out the windows if they resisted. Trixie's insiders had already done everything they could to make the town hall an unpleasant target to hold, for hours earlier, her ponies - disguised as visitors - had planted booby traps. An officer who attempted to call for help using the emergency radio system would be in quite the shock as the device exploded in his face the moment he attempted to use a military frequency, taking his life with the electronics.

The Solarists had now been pushed to the top of the building. Umfuni had popped smoke grenades over the roof, providing a smoke screen that allowed Plymouth to enter it, and emerge from the other side with his horn able to point a shotgun point-blank at a Solarist. Chari herself had used her abilities to transform into a bird - flying around to appear behind a Solarist sniper, before turning into a venomous spider and injecting her poison into him, leaving him on the floor and foaming at the mouth.

Cipher and Colton had both pushed together with their weapons raining fury at the enemy, while their attention-seeking tactics allowed Gomer to identify the higher-value targets, before picking them off with a scoped lever-action rifle from a construction crane. When his sniping had become obsolete as the targets were now behind a more cover-rich environment, he flew off, and joined the team in close-quarters combat.

Now, the Solarists in the town hall were reduced to less than fifty, all trapped in a section of rooftop that was becoming hotter and hotter.

Finally, a white cloth had been hung over the edge of the roof.

"<>"