Into the Suck

Narikhat.

Before the war, it was the second largest city in the Camel Republic besides the capital of Baghsire, and it was a major tourist destination like every other city with its own unique sights like the ancient ruins from the time of Mesotrotamia. The locals there were lovely and wholesome while exciting and new places were plentiful in the area, now, the city is a shell of its former self as the building lay in ruins from the numerous shelling from artillery and F-15s releasing their payloads onto strategic areas. Mostly in the industrial areas of the city and buildings where the enemy was hiding

Morale was high after news of us pushing the enemy back and the arrival of troops from the crystal empire, earlier in the day we were ambushed when one of our Humvees broke down and we were spotted at the exact same moment. Nopony was harmed other than the dead Camels, while they were trying to solve the problem with that tin can, I went over and took some stuff like extra magazines for my captured AK and a helmet bearing a familiar red triangle insignia on the side.

"Yo Tack!" I yelled excitedly.

"What?" he yelled back.

"The Camels here were Republican Guard! These guys have those red triangles on their helmets and uniforms!"

"Nice!"

Once the vehicle was fixed, we were on the move once again toward Narikhat. It won't be long until we were thrust again into battle, I wasn't looking forward to it at all. As I looked over my rifle, I overheard something interesting from the radio.

"__Guys I'm telling you! I feel like we've done this before already! The war, the desert, even the name "Saddle Horsein" seems familiar!"

"This is Bravo Mike-2 to Bravo Mike-5, please shut your ass up and keep your conspiracy theories to yourself"

"Awww man!"

Now that I think about it, everything does seem familiar and thinking about it some more, I'm already getting a sense of deja vu.

"Huh, odd..." I said under my breath.

"This is Bravo Mike leader to all units, we are about to cross the bridge that would lead us into the city. We will be receiving artillery and ariel support from the Crystal Empire, over"

"Roger that Bravo Mike"

As we crossed the bridge, we passed a burning M2 IFV along with a couple of spent casings on the ground. I almost spilled my lunch onto the ground when I saw a pony slumped over a wrecked Humvee with a big exit wound on the back of his head, there was another pony who was sitting against a couple of sandbags and was missing a part of their forearm...

"O-Oh Faust...I think I-I'm going to be s-sick..."

Hearing a mid-range roar overhead, Thumbtack looks up to see a MiG-29 being chased by two Crystal Royal Navy Harriers. We all cheered as it was shot down, watching the burning aircraft plummet to the ground. In the distance, we could hear the boom of artillery sending ordinances into the enemy positions.

"Bravo Mike Leader to Brave Mike 4 and 6! Light those camels up near the end of the bridge with the 50!"

Thumbtack smiles as he racks the receiver on the M2 before letting it roar, sending hot marephis-made lead onto the camels, tearing their defenses up like a slice of cake. The remaining Camels retreated back near the city where more of them were hiding near some fortifications, the enemy returned huge amounts of fire at us. I watched as a humvee near the front tried to back up but ended up rear-ending the one behind it, this was turning into a huge cluster fuck. Things got worse when 3 BMP-1s and a BRDM-2 came into view, the LAVs did their best to try and take them down. We lost one when one of the camels shot a couple of RPG rockets at them.

"Back up! Back up! Faustdamn Camels have BMPs and RPGs! W-We're going to be fucking killed out here!" I heard a panicked voice over the radio, he was probably that NCO I'd heard about.

"Shelldrake-9, this is B4! Adjust fire, over!"

On the outskirts of Narikhat...

"Shelldrake-9, this is B4! Adjust fire, over!"

Perking up, one of the Crystal Ponies rushed up to a radio sitting on a barrel to respond "B4, this is Shelldrake-9 adjust fire, out"

Looking at the Ponies of the Royal Regiment of Artillery's 16th Regt Ra, he yells over to them "Alright Gents! Get the gun ready!"

As soon as he says that, everypony quickly got into position, ready to hammer the enemy with 3 FH70 Howitzers.

"Grid ES 573 645, over!"

"Grid ES 573 645, out" he replies before relaying the grid coordinates "Grid ES 574 645!"

Nodding, they quickly raised the barrel on all 3 howitzers at a certain angle.

"3 BMP-1s, 1 BRDM-2, and 18 enemy infantry in the open, over!"

"3 BMP-1s, 1 BRDM-2, and 18 enemy infantry in the open, out"

'they are really in shits!' he thought as he receives another transmission "R, F, M982 in effect, 6 rounds, over!"

"R, F, M982 in effect, 6 rounds, out!"

BOOM!

All three 155mm howitzers released a mighty boom as they sent M982 shells into the sky and toward their designated target.

"R, F, M982 in effect, 6 rounds, out!"

I watched as all four armored vehicles as well as any troops nearby were sent to hell, the turret from one of the BMPs was sent up into the sky before landing back down near the three flaming wrecks. The remaining force retreated back into the city where they'd probably set up their last stand as we broke through their defenses.

"Shelldrake-9. this is B4, end of mission: 3 BMP-1s and 1 BRDM-2 have been destroyed, estimate 16 casualties, over."

B4. this is Shelldrake 9, end of mission: 3 BMP-1s and 1 BRDM-2 have been destroyed, estimate 16 casualties, out."

"Yeah, baby! That was fucking nuts!" I heard Thumbtack say excitedly, we all nodded in agreement as we continued with the mission. As we went, a couple of Republican guards along with civilians picking up arms against us tried putting up a fight, but, like the rest, they were quickly cut down when the 50. sent a couple burst their way.

Once we dismounted from our Humvees, we again went building to building to clear out any hostile camels who wanted to stay and disrupt our operation. In one building, we encountered a wounded enemy soldier who appeared to have been shot in the leg, he was still clutching his AK although when he saw us he quickly dropped it and surrendered. He was later taken to be treated and interrogated for intel. Later on, though, we were not so lucky...

"انهم هنا!"

"من أجل الجمهورية! لإخواننا! اقتلهم!"

"Fuck me! I fucking hate doing this shit!" I yelled as I hid behind a car riddled with bullet holes, I could hear the bullets striking the car as they continued firing at my location. Thumbtack and the others were trying their best to hold them off with their M16s and M249s, I saw one pony trying to get up to toss a grenade but was quickly gunned down. My eyes widen as I saw the grenade fall out of his hoof without the pin.

"FUCK! GRENADE__"

BOOM!

I closed my eyes shut as dust and other debris were thrown into the air, when the dust settled I looked and saw that anypony that was within the blast radius was either dead or injured by shrapnel. My heart dropped when I saw Thumbtack lying on the ground among the fallen, hearing him groan in pain made me wanna kill anypony who wanted to hurt my friend.

"Swift! Get your head in the fucking game and fire! Dont worry about your friend, focus on the motherfuckers who did this"

It felt like something snapped in me, loading a fresh mag into my rifle, I then peaked over and let out a couple of bursts. I managed to hit some on the ground as well as others who were hiding in the building and shooting out through the windows. I watched as one camel who I shot up with 5.56 multiple times fall from the third story and onto the ground with a thud. I then rushed over to a pile of rubble before wasting two more camels, now that I was close enough, I took two grenades from my pouch and threw them through a window which caused those who were hiding out to panic.

"قنبلة يدوية__!"

BOOM!

Dropping my M16 on the ground, I then picked up a shotgun that was conveniently lying on the ground and rushed inside the building alone. The angered commands of my squad leader faded away as I entered the building, as soon as I saw a couple of dazed Republican Guards I quickly put them down with a 12 gauge. Racking the slide down and ejecting the shell, I cleared the first floor quickly before making my way upstairs, I passed a couple of bodies as I search for my next target.

"Bingo..." I said coldly as I spotted another camel trying to unjam his AK, I raised the barrel at him before pulling the trigger, the force of the shotgun kicking back into my shoulder as he was sent flat onto the ground. Another threw his gun onto the floor before raising his hooves in the air, but before I could waste that motherfucker, somepony from behind grabbed my gun and made me shoot up into the ceiling.

"PRIVATE FIRST CLASS SWIFT! WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?"

Looking behind me, I saw my squad leaders face an inch away from mines, he was very pissed off at me.

"WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO STORM IN BY YOURSELF? WHO IN THE FUCK GAVE YOU THAT COMMAND!?" He yells as he pulls me close to him, I quickly dropped the shotgun in my hooves as my adrenaline boost is quickly replaced with fear.

"I-I'm sorry, s-sir..." I said weakly, I looked over at the camel who was looking at us both in fear and confusion.

Letting me go, he scoffs before looking at the camel and then at me "You are damn lucky I ain't going to court martial your ass for this! But pull this shit off again, and I will personally give you something worse than that, do you understand?"

"Y-Yes sir..."

"Good" He then looks over at the camel who is still staring at the both of us in confusion "While you're at it, detain this one and take him back for questioning"

Nodding silently, I walked over to him and felt him tense up as I took him downstairs. He gulped as we went outside and towards a group of crystal ponies standing near two Land Rovers, some were wearing MK6 helmets while others had green berets. The guns they had were either SA80s or L1A1s, they soon noticed us approaching them.

"We'll take him from here," He said with a smile as he motions for two to take him away.

After hoofing over the captured camel, I soon returned to my squad as we breach and cleared more houses. Going deeper and deeper into the city, the gunfire grew in intensity as we got close to the center of this place. I later got word that Thumbtack was taken to be treated at a hospital in Germareny, he only sustained minor injuries so he should be able to get back into the fight soon.

As we began to breach into the next house, we entered what looks like the living room of the building. Quietly, and cautiously, we searched throughout the house for any hostiles hiding out. After clearing out every room in the building, we stumbled upon a door that lead to a basement of sorts. Opening the door, we turned on our flashlights and began to travel down the steps and into the basement with my battle buddies watching my back.

"يبتعد! لا نريدك هنا!"

Looking over at where I heard the voice, I was quickly met with a vase being tossed at me. I quickly dodged it and watched as it shattered against the wall behind me, shining my flashlight at the direction the voice and vase came from, I saw a frightened family of 4. The husband from what I could guess was standing in front of them while I'm presuming his wife and kids were hiding behind him, he was looking in our direction, visibly angry at us standing in his home uninvited.

"أيها الجندي إذهب بعيداً! لا نريدك هنا!"

"Why are there still fucking civies here in the middle of a warzone? don't they know could have been killed?" I heard one of my squadmates say, clearly frustrated.

"اترك منزلنا ودعنا نكون!"

"Can somepony translate what the fuck he's saying?" I said, lowering my rifle into a low-ready position, my squad leader approached the family and spoke to them in their language. Words were exchanged until finally, he shook his head before looking back at us.

"These Camels are stubborn, they ain't leaving. According to them, it is very disrespectful to leave their homes and let them be occupied by another pony" he then sighed before shaking his head again "It's best if we leave well enough alone, we have a mission to continue and we can't waste time arguing with them"

He takes one last look over at the family before motioning us to walk back up the stairs, since I was the last to leave, I reached into my pack and took out an MRE. I tossed it over to the father to which he looked at me in confusion, I gave him a silent nod as I made my way up with the rest of my squad.

The fighting had started to quell down when we got outside, we later got word that the city of Narikhat had been successfully captured alongside the Royal Marines of the Crystal Empire. The enemy forces had retreated leaving some equipment and troops who were still stuck in the city, the fighting isn't over but at least we were still showing progress in the invasion.

As we drove through the city, multiple bodies dressed in both civilian and camel ground force were covered over with a tarp or anything else that was available. I watched from the Humvee as the flags of the Camel Republic were taken down and replaced with the Equestrian flag. Some Equestrian diplomats along with a translator were sent here to win the "hearts and minds" of the city to prevent any insurgency from popping up by listening to their needs like medical aid and water supply. Aid stations were set up and tanker trucks carrying water arrived in the city.

I smiled as I watched a couple of Marines playing soccer with some of the locals, they were all having a good time despite the destruction and death brought on by the previous battle. Our Battalion Commander later briefed us about our next objective, apparently, we'll be heading out again to capture an airfield out west. We were advised to go off-road since the camels wanted to be a pain in the flank and had the roads leading to the airfield blasted to high hell by artillery and ambush points were set up, we learned it the hard way when friendly units were caught off guard and ambushed on their way to the airfield. At least we'll be getting support from the EQAF 11th Fighter Wing...

As we drove out of the city, I took out a cassette player that I hid in my buttpack along with a small selection of cassette tapes. Putting the headphones on, I played one of the tapes that I had chosen to listen. Bopping my head to the beat as I watched the sun start to set over the landscape once again.