//------------------------------//
// Planet Fall 
// Story: PonyHammer 40,000: Magic of War 
// by Dragon Heart 
//------------------------------//

	The atmosphere echoed with the sounds of explosions and gunfire. Hogs were running rampant in the blood soaked streets of the city they were attacking, shooting at Equestrial Guardponies. They soon engaged a small platoon of Earth Ponies, who were terribly outmatched in terms of melee combat. The stallions jabbed at the hulking beasts with their lasgun bayonets, but the large axes of the Hogs were more powerful.

"Shoot! Chop! Shoot! Chop!" the Hogs yelled. One by one, guardponies were being slaughtered and shot up. The navy blue furred and blond maned Colonel, wearing different armor from the rest of the stallions and wielding a bolt pistol and power sword, was doing everything he could to hold back the barrage of Hogs.

"HOLD THE LINE!" he shouted, "IN THE NAME OF THE EMPRESS YOU WILL NOT FALTER!!!"

Despite his shouts of warning, the stallions were still falling to the axe blades of the Hogs. Their brute strength and hunger for battle overpowering them, murdering them. The bodies were piling up fast.

"We can't hold!" a guardpony cried as he and another one turned and ran from the fight.

"Run for your lives!" The other said, completely demoralized by the conflict.

The Colonel turned and shot at the fleeing stallions. "Cowards." he hissed, "You will fight, or you will die." And yet the bloodshed continued, until three deep red drop pods fell from the sky, killing any Hogs underneath their weighted impacts and sending others flying. From the pods, Earth Pony soldiers clad in heavy armor emerged and fired their shoulder-mounted bolters at the Hogs, killing them easier than the guardponies' lasguns.

"Pony Marines, ATTACK!" a beige furred, white maned Earth Pony soldier in partially gold armor shouted as he slashed and shot at Hogs who assaulted him.

Meanwhile, the other soldiers were firing away at more oncoming Hogs. "For the Empress!" They shouted as the animals fell at their hooves. Even if the beasts engaged them in melee, the Pony Marines were the best the Equestrium had to offer.

The gold soldier galloped to the colonel. "I am Captain Michael Pegalos, of the Blood Phoenixes Third Company. Status!"

"My Lord, forgive me." The Colonel apologized, the shame of his defeat was well disguised. "We have done all we can to stop the Hogs, but we have failed. My stallions' lives are yours."

"You've stood your ground in the face of the Empress's foes; you have done your duty." Pegalos said. "If your stallions have failed you I will leave their judgement in your hooves."

"Thank you, my Lord." The Colonel blurted.

"I am not here for your thanks." Pegalos stated, turning to the side. "This port must be held if we are to maintain troops and supply lines to the planet surface. That is why we are here. Now, what of the wounded and the civilians?"

"Stranded. We have few ships."

"Then you shall have more." Pegalos brought his hoof to his ear comm link. "All Blood Phoenix flights, execute protocol 23 and initiate civilian evacuation. We will dispatch the ground forces."

"Yes my lord." a pilot said.

"Ground forces, My Lord?" The Colonel said, confused by this action. "But the Hogs have retreated." Another drop pod landed on the field and out came two young Dragon Servitors.

"You must know your enemy to defeat them, Colonel." Pegalos stated. "Hogs only retreat to regroup. They will keep coming until you, or they, are dead." A large ship placed a stronghold on the ground, and the Servitors quickly got to work planting it into the concrete.

Pegalos regrouped with the squads of Pony Marines and headed towards the headquarters. "Siblings! Let us destroy this animal filth!"