I stuck my head around the door, and suddenly spotted something odd. The hanger was virtually empty.

"What?" I said to myself. "There's barely anypony in there!"

But the evidence would have suggested that the palace entrances would have been guarded. Why, then, was there next to nopony in that building?

I glanced back over my shoulder at the other soldiers. "The place is virtually empty," I said. "Have they abandoned their posts?"

They looked at me, equally surprised. "Beats me," said a soldier. "Shall we take it anyway? We have to retake the city anyway, so we might as well push forward."

So we entered, the soldiers sweeping the room as they did with careful checks of the terrain and weapons at the ready. The room was soon full of soldiers, and next to nothing else. I noticed, with disdain, that some of my items from down here had been moved. My chalkboard with my flight calculations was nowhere to be seen, and the turbofan was completely gone that I used to simulate flight patterns and try different wing patterns. That sucked.

We the found the single soldier still on his post, but he looked over to acknowledge us. "Rather a lot of soldiers to capture one of us, don't you think?" he said.

"Surrender to us," I said. "We're hear to liberate this land. I can promise you that you will be processed and treated fairly."

The stallion put his hooves up. "Fine," he said. "Gulfstream's regime brought me nothing anyway. I was ordered to stay here by my unit to wait for the rescuers."

"Wait, where are the rest of them?" a soldier asked, confused.

"They defected after they heard the broadcast," the soldier continued. "They're probably assisting with the offensive in the main streets as we speak. Princess Pipp sure knows how to deliver an inspiring speech, eh?"

He moved his phone, which was sitting on a desk, and a speech was playing from a broadcast room.

"You have suffered under tyranny and oppression for long enough! It is time for the light of hope and peace to return! We are here to free you from Gulfstream's terror! So rise up, and help us overthrow him!"

I nodded. "Sure was enough to get us fired up. I somehow doubted that was the full speech, but Pipp had always been way better at public speaking than me."

The soldier brought up a display. "This is good news for you guys. We've mostly defected, as shown on this board. Most units have switched sides, and only Gulfstream's most fanatical followers remain fighting for him. I have no clue what's going on in other parts of Zephyr Heights, but it's probably the same sort of story."

It reminded me of the miracle that Opwinden had pulled off all that time ago. Our very presence was inspiring the ponies of the city to rise up and overthrow a dictator!

And data suggested that the palace was slowly being retaken. "We'll be home by Wishentine at this rate," I said.

Suddenly, a hail of gunfire rang out from an upper balcony. The balcony began to be flooded with troops in dark uniforms, large helmets, and gas masks.

"Suppressing fire! Kill the half breeds!" shouted one.

We dashed for cover as more of these soldiers poured into the hanger. I dragged a soldier into cover as the firefight began to rage.

Brilliant. It wasn't enough to be up against an insane general. He had legions of fanatical followers sweeping towards us. I can see why they left this out of the movie, because we were basically fighting the pony equivalent of the SS.

A hail of explosive machine gun fire echoed from an upper level. Some sort of belt fed weapon was laying down terrifying levels of fire that was ripping through objects. Were they using explosive bullets or something?

"The princess is among them!" shouted one of the soldiers. "Suppressing fire!"

Grenades began to fly through the air as we tried to get some shots off to take them out, but the fire was far more than what we could put down. "Heavy weapons fire on that column!" I shouted.

One soldier nodded, and tossed a grenade forward to hit a column. Unfortunately, the explosion did little but to scorch the paintwork.

More heavy fire was coming from an upper level, which was making movement difficult. I grabbed a weapon from a dead soldier and aimed it before firing. I managed to get one or two, before dropping back down as something slammed into my helmet.

"Target neutralised!"

"Negative! Princess Zipp is still functioning!"

Their commander began barking new orders. "Exterminate them! Flood the Chamber! Typhoon Protocol!"

Typhoon Protocol? What could that mean?

I looked around and suddenly saw canisters dropping from the ceiling and slamming into the floor. Was this what I thought it was?

Without hesitating I pulled the gas mask I'd collected from the supply dump onto my face. It had to be a snug fit or else I'd be inhaling nasty chemicals.

It was on just in time as canisters began to explode. I covered my mouth as best I could even with the gas mask on as the room began to flood with smoke. Other soldiers were not so lucky. Many were coughing, tears streaming from their eyes, rendering them unable to see.

Oh. Tear gas. It could've been worse. The canisters dropping from the ceiling certainly made me think of something far worse.

We then heard another voice. My display buzzed, and a single message played over it.

THE TRAITOR IS DEAD.

Next to it was an image of Gulfstream's dead body. Had he gone the Hitler route and taken his own life or gone down fighting?

It didn't matter. I leaned up. "Your leader is dead!" I shouted. "Surrender now! You have nothing to fight for!"

The fire continued from above and the corridors, so we still had no chance of moving forward. There was no possibility of surrender now.

These guys intended to fight to the death.

"Fix bayonets!"

Suddenly, my radio lit up with confused and garbled messages.

"Zipp, get to co-

"-That insane fool! He actually did it!"

"Where are the -es-ru-- co--s?"

What was that all about?

My display abruptly changed from the normal readings to the new warning.

STRATEGIC LAUNCH DETECTED.

I looked behind me and suddenly saw several long shapes streaking into the sky from hidden locations.

My heart was filled with fear. I knew what was coming next.

Gulfstream had carried out his threat. He'd actually gone and done it.

He'd initiated a nuclear missile launch.

"Zipp?" said a voice over the radio.

"Mom?" I said.

"Zipp, get to the nuclear shelter under the palace now," mom said. "We'll try and get these things disabled!"

"But mom, we-"

"NO ARGUING! Just do as you're told! I cannot bear to lose you again!"

I sighed. "Understood." I then closed the radio as I had an idea.

Fire intensified as soldiers began to pour forward from the defenses. "They're rushing us through the smoke!" shouted one soldier.

As the soldiers charged into our position, bayonets slamming into soldiers, I fired at extremely close range, taking one out. At this range it was basically impossible to miss.

But our depleted numbers from the gas was making it harder to fight. Reinforcements began to arrive from the battlefield, and it was then I had another idea. If I moved quickly, I could catch up to at least some of the missiles and destroy them!

All I needed was something further back.

"I need you guys to cover me!" I shouted. "I need to get back to the airbase and grab an aircraft!"

"Copy that!" shouted another soldier, as our numbers finally began to have some effect on the enemy. Leaving cover wasn't the smart thing to do, huh? Unless they planned to die in battle...

I broke from position as that blasted machine gun opened up once more. I dashed past the soldier with the rocket launcher as he fired on the position, and I dashed out of the doors.

What I saw above me horrified me. The skies were filling with missiles, all streaking across the planet. I didn't know for certain how far apart all the places were, but given a missile typically flies at several times the speed of sound, I probably didn't have long.

No doubt the unicorns and earth ponies have also fired as well. Air raid sirens blared across the city as ponies ran for shelter, to hide from the worst of the projectived blasts.

I had since arrived at the airbase, and hunted through the base for the equipment I needed. Before long, I'd found a flight suit and a helmet, plus the gear needed for flight.

I dashed across the airfield, seeing loyalist fighter squadrons getting ready for takeoff. One of them assumed I was simply a regular soldier, so directed me to a fighter.

I ran up the stairs and dived into the cockpit. No going back now.

Author's Note

We rejoin Zipp in the hangar, with the heroes suddenly finding themselves in contact with Gulfstream's most fanatical supporters. As Zipp notes, the unit they face here is modelled on the SS, the most fanatical followers of Adolf Hitler. As a result of their reputation, the word 'stormtrooper' carries an inherently negative connotation- as a result, George Lucas drew heavily on Nazi imagery and equipment when developing the Galactic Empire in Star Wars.

The battle itself is modelled on the battle for the Reichstag, one of the last major engagements of WW2. The Reichstag was a notable local monument, and as such the USSR wanted to seize it for propaganda reasons; this is where the famous photo of the Hammer and Sickle flying over Berlin was taken.

Today, this building is home to the Bundestag, Germany's main legislature.

To clear it up; the canisters dropping from the ceiling is not intended as a reference to The Final Solution. Chemical weapons were often delivered by canister in both WW2 and the Cold War, with the more familiar image of chemical weapons being sprayed from helicopters being a distinctly Vietnam phenomenon.

And lastly... well, the crazed stallion did it. Can Zipp help save the day?