Foreword: all I can say is that the second link is supposed to start at the time it does. Enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Five
Fallen Star Part 2

Rockets rained from the sky as the bulk of the Peace Fighter army thundered across the landscape, the majority of them riding in All-Terrain Land Assault vehicles. When all the ATLAS’s in the Peace Fighter’s fleet were filled the rest of the assault force boarded DRAVMs for the attack on Imperial Base Sunburst, a truly ironic name if Shining Armor had ever heard one.

The leader of the Peace Fighters was currently riding in a DRAVM, sitting in a seat on the edge of the open hatch and looking down at his land vehicles as they raced across the desert to Sunburst base; the first target.

A rocket from the Feline artillery screamed directly overhead Shining’s DRAVM, streaking directly into the enemy base and blasting a tank into pieces. Some unlucky soldiers standing near it for cover suffered a similar fate.

Shining had to commend the Felines; they knew how to make psychological warfare. The rockets currently being used to bombard the enemy base were designed in a way that the stabilizing fins would generate this terrible shrieking sound, like the wail of a banshee, from the moment they were fired from the launcher to the moment they impacted on the target. You could hear them coming from quite literally a mile away, but in a mass bombardment there was nothing you could do to save yourself.

Captain Armor had given the Felines strict orders not to target the armories, vehicle depots, and supply caches in their missile bombardments; those buildings housed the tools and supplies the Peace Fighters needed.

“CURRENT RACKS DEPLETED, MASTER ARMOR! YOU’VE GOT FIFTEEN SECONDS BEFORE THEY ARE ALL RELOADED AND WE CAN CONTINUE RAINING FIRE FROM THE SKIES! GET IN THERE AND DESTROY THE EMPIRE!” the Feline artillery Master yelled over the radio.

“Understood! Peace Fighters, get ready!” Shining Armor commanded, making sure his gear was fitted tight and ready to go. Pulling the CSC-12C that he had reassembled after his recent battle the Captain yanked the charging handle and let it go, preparing to leap out of the DRAVM when it got near the ground.

“We’ve got your back, Captain” Lieutenant Strong Spear assured Shining as she stood behind him, ready to follow him straight into the fray.

The DRAVM lowered and the pilot gunned the rotors to keep afloat, allowing Shining Armor and his personal team to leap out of the vehicle just as the ATLAS units railroaded through what remained of the fences, the machine guns on the back thundering as they went as the gunners gave the Imperial forces hell.

“Peace Fighters, we’ve got three locations to secure; the main armory, the vehicle depot, and the supply warehouse. Sub-armories and such are secondary objectives. I want those three primaries secured and this base scrubbed. Get to it!” Shining ordered over the radio, checking his map for the location of the supply warehouse; his personal number one target.

The DRAVMs lifted themselves into the air to return to base, slowly turning on their horizontal axis and accelerating away. Thanks to the Feline bombardment no DRAVMs were shot down by the empire’s soldiers, though a few got pockmarked by gunfire.

Shouldering his gun Shining went on the move as the attack began to get into full swing, the Empire fighting back with all they had.

Turning around a barracks Shining Armor took in the view of the supply warehouse down the way, the building guarded by a squad of Imperial soldiers. The enemy had not seen Shining’s team yet, giving the Captain time to plan.

Pulling out a grenade Shining lobbed it down the road to the enemy team and it landed in their midst, blasting apart three stallions and leaving three others dazed and wounded. With the squad outside the supply warehouse weakened Shining and his team took aim with their weapons and fired, easily eliminating the remaining three.

With the supply warehouse secure all that remained were the armories scattered about and the vehicle depots.

“Captain Armor, come in. This is Private Gleaming Bullet; we’ve secured the first small armory but the Empire’s catching on to what we’re doing. When we’re pushing them back far enough they’re trying to blow up any stockpiles they see. We’ve stopped at least three attempts thus far but--” Gleaming said over the radio, cut off by a massive explosion that rang through the base.

“DAMN! That’s one down.”

“Private, you make sure no other stockpiles get destroyed. You hear me? That’s an order!” Captain Armor declared, shutting the radio off and reloading his CSC-12C, preparing to move out once again.

“Our next objective is the master armory, team. Let’s get to it quickly and secure it from the Empire” Shining said, Lieutenant Spear and Master Sharpclaws following him along with the rest of his personal team as they headed for the heart of the battle.

Along the way Shining heard the characteristic boom of a tank firing its main gun, followed by a large explosion on the other side of the row of buildings next to them. Looking in between the buildings Shining Armor saw an entire group of Peace Fighters obliterated.

“Damn it...” the Peace Fighter leader lamented, shaking his head.

Rounding the corner of a radio building the master armory came into view, the Imperial line there already weakening under Peace Fighter assault. The tank outside, however, was holding it all together.

“Sharpclaws! Rockets!” Shining commanded, ducking back as the Feline commander loaded up her launcher and took aim, both tubes thundering and sending high explosive missiles into the sides of the enemy tank, punching two holes straight through it and detonating inside.

With their tank outside the main armory down the Empire’s soldiers there began to retreat, one soul preparing to throw a grenade into the building and receiving three Solar-Pulse bullets through the stomach.

Approaching the master armor Shining was about to label it secure when a loud shot rang out and blood exploded out of Gleaming Bullet’s right leg, sending him to the floor in agony.

“GLEAMING!” Shining yelled out instinctively, him and the other Peace Fighters taking cover immediately. A Feline soldier dragged the Private out of the street and behind the front of the master armory.

“Feline artillery, this is Shining Armor, standby for specific targeting” the PF leader announced over the radio, grabbing his binoculars to see if he could locate the sniper. Sunburst base was built at the base of a small mountain, and it was likely that the sniper was somewhere on it.

Peering over the edge of the sandbags Shining Armor was behind the stallion looked through the eyes of the binocs for any sign of his enemy, the sun was behind him, brightly lighting up the base and the mountain.

Within moments, Shining saw the all too familiar glint of lens flare, and got back on the radio. “Feline Artillery, this is Captain Armor, fire on these coordinates.” The Captain looked through the rangefinder on the side of the radio unit and sighted in on the lens flare, locking in the coordinates and sending them to the artillery commander with a simple burst. Within a few seconds the characteristic screech of the missiles streaking through the sky could be heard, and they all fell within inches of the target, sending massive plumes of dirt into the sky.

A few moments later the mangled, charred, and twisted remains of a Solar-Pulse sniper rifle clattered into the street, smoke rising off of it.

“Nice job, artillery. Our sniper troubles are gone” Shining Armor stated, putting the radio away and walking over to Private Bullet, who was out like a light.

“He’ll live, I can say that much with certainty” the medic declared.

“...Good” Shining Armor replied, looking past the master armory to see the Imperial forces gathering around the main vehicle depot as their last bastion of defense.

“One final effort, Peace Fighters. Let’s make it happen!” Shining Armor exclaimed, his troops gathering on the other side of the master armory and standing at the edge of the boulevard leading to the main vehicle depot. Peace Fighter ATLAS’s ran idle in between groups of soldiers, the two sides staring at each other from their respective sides, about to engage in the finale.

“Artillery? Get ready to fire on my mark...” Shining said, marking the coordinates for the Imperial soldiers and their emplacements. The numbers had to be accurate down to the decimal; if the missiles hit too close they would destroy vehicle depot.

“Fire. And artillery? Wait five seconds, then tell the Empire what your motto is. Shining Armor out.” The Peace Fighter Captain turned the volume on the radio up all the way and activated the speaker, boosting the volume even further and holding it in the air as he stood at the very forefront of the line.

Several seconds later the screech of the missiles could be heard as they raced down upon their target, leaving trails of black smoke behind as they approached.

“FIRE FROM THE SKIES!” the artillery team screamed into the radio from their end, trumpeting their call across the Imperial base as their missiles hit home, detonating in a majestic cascade of destruction. The Imperial line was annihilated immediately, killing almost every soldier and destroying row upon row of sandbag. The fireballs spread as the blasts expanded, incinerating and lighting fire to that which they did not obliterate into dust. With luck on the side of the Peace Fighters, the main vehicle depot had not been destroyed.

Sunburst base, and its resources, was theirs.

Shining Armor perused the scene around Sunburst base as his soldiers cleaned up the debris from the battle and loaded supplies and vehicles onto DRAVMs and ATLAS’s to be taken back to the Peace Fighter home base in Vietmane. The sun was going down, casting long shadows across the ground. By the time Imperials forces would arrive to investigate every last bullet, bean, and bandage would be gone. And any surviving Imperial soldiers would be imprisoned.

“Captain, I’ve got two reports. The first says that our unified strikes across all Imperial bases has gone off with unerring success; 95% of enemy bases were successfully attacked and their resources stolen. We’ve got thousands of vehicles and weapons in our hooves now, and the soldiers to use them. I’d say with absolute certainty that we’re ready to take the battle to Canterlot” Lieutenant Strong Spear said to Shining as she trotted up the hill to him.

“And the second report?” Captain Armor asked, turning his head to look at her.

“Private Gleaming Bullet will be OK; and if he’s lucky, will be back in action by the time we go to Canterlot.”

Shining nodded and looked back at Sunburst base, remarking mentally upon how it was similar to when he stood upon the crest of a hill several months ago, overlooking the flaming remains of an airship and the Imperial soldiers who had fallen into their trap. It seemed like that had just happened a few days ago.

Just like the Mid-Morning War... It feels like that happened last week, when it’s been two years. Three in a month.... Is the war truly coming to an end? Is it really going to be over soon?

Shining Armor looked at Lieutenant Spear once again, who was staring at him expectantly. “Hmm, thanks for the reports, Lieutenant. Let’s go back to Mother Base soon and take a look at our resources. We can plan our final assault from there.

“Shining, I have a question to ask you first... Do you hate Gleaming Bullet?”

Shining mulled over it for a moment, knowing the Private had personally killed Cadence himself. That was nearly three years ago, however.

He was acting under orders, like any soldier should do. He wasn’t given specifics, he didn’t know it was Cady... He did what he was told... Celestia told him to do it, I’m sure. She killed Cady, not Gleaming. He was merely the tool that did it, a tool used by the Princesses. He’s not a tool anymore Shining Armor thought.

“No... No I don’t hate him.”

Author's Note

Legal note: Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Lieutenant Strong Spear, Private Gleaming Bullet, and all related characters belong to me. All other original characters belong to their respective owners.