Bannon kept an eye on the T-55 for a short time; wanting to be sure it was dead. When he was convinced it was, he decided to follow the Pegasus up top. Standing up in the cupola, he once again faced his would-be enemies, with another three joining them.
“So, as I was saying earlier,” Bannon said with a rather smug look on his face, “do you happen to know where we are?”
“You…saved us?” Twilight said with a confused look as the five walked up to the vehicle.
“Well, yea,” Bannon replied. “I guess we did.”
“That makes you a hero!” Pinkie exclaimed, appearing next to Bannon in the cupola and crushing him in a hug. “Thank you so so soooo much!”
She already took up what little space remained in the cupola, rushing him even more while Folk began to freak out audibly down below.
“Ah, Christ! How the hell did she get in here!?”
“Oh, sorry about that,” she replied, hopping out and onto the turret.
“How in the hell did you do that?”
“Don’t worry about,” Twilight said, flying up next to Pinkie. “Not even we know how she does it.”
“Alright, I guess we should try introductions again,” Bannon said, turning to Rainbow. “Now, I’m not gonna get jumped this time, right?”
The Pegasus blushed slightly from embarrassment and looked away a bit.
“Uh, sorry; I can be a little…over protective.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Bannon said, causing her to go darker. “Hey, relax. It’s ok. Not like you could do much to me, anyways.”
“H-hey! I can be pretty tough!”
“Ok, ok. I’ll save it for later,” Bannon said with a chuckle. “But back to meeting everyone, I heard inside you said your name was Rainbow Dash, right?”
“That’s right!” she exclaimed, regaining her composure, “the fastest flier in Equestria!”
“Well, it’s an honor,” Bannon replied, hiding the slightest hint of sarcasm. “Ok, and you are?”
“Twilight Sparkle,” she said, turning to the others, “and this is Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity.”
“Captain Sean Bannon. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
“And a pleasure to meet you, as well,” Rarity said. “And thank you again for rescuing us.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Kelp said, appearing out of the loader’s hatch, “it’s what we do.”
“Wait, there’s a crew?” Twilight asked.
“Sorry I forgot to mention, Twi,” Rainbow apologized, “kinda got caught up in everything.”
“Well, let’s save the rest of the intros for latter, we need to get back to Uleski and the rest of the company.”
“How many more of these things do you have?” Twilight asked.
“We have eighteen, along with a few other, different vehicles.”
“Wow, and just one was tough.”
“Well, we’re all friends now, right?”
“Right!”
“Ok, hop on board. We’ll give you guys a lift.”
“Ooooh, we get to go for a ride? Sounds like fun!” Pinkie said, climbing back down into the tank.
Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy all flew up and into the cramped space. Rarity took it upon herself to teleport in, which Bannon noted as final proof that magic was real here. Applejack was left outside; being unable to climb onto the large machine.
“Having trouble?” Bannon asked.
“Yea…uh, maybe a little bit,” she replied while shying away, her legs still sore from her earlier attack.
“Hang on,” Bannon said, jumping down. “I’ll help you up.”
Bannon picked her up from underneath in the way one might pick up a dog or cat. For Applejack, it felt odd; and a little…invasive. Being handled in such a way felt wrong; Bannon took no real notice, and lifted her onto the back of the tank.
“Uh…thanks, ah guess,” she said, blushing a bit.
“No problem,” Bannon replied obliviously, climbing back up, “Hop in.”
The inside of a tank is cramped enough without six miniature horses stuffed inside. Needless to say, all of them felt like sardines. To compensate, Bannon stayed up in the cupola, and allowed Twilight to stand in the loader’s.
“DRIVER-TAKE US BACK TO THE COMPANY-FULL SPEED”
“YES SIR”
“GUNNER-RADIO YANKEE EIGHT AND LET THE XO KNOW WE’RE ON OUR WAY BACK”
“GOT IT”
“How fast can this thing go?” Twilight asked.
“On road surfaces, it can go up sixty miles per hour,” Bannon answered.
“Sixty!? Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
“No way, no way. Trust me, when you drive out at full speed, under all that armor, with so much firepower, you feel like you can do anything,” Bannon said, “nothing else like it.”
“How does it even go that fast?”
“I explain latter,” Bannon said as the tank started rolling. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
The tank soon picked up speed and ran down the road. Bannon relaxed and decided to take in the peaceful scenery. Twilight started to lose it, bit by bit.
“How you feeling?” Bannon asked. “Pretty neat, huh?”
“How much farther is it!?” Twilight yelled over the noise, frightened.
“Alright, and how are we doing down there,” he asked the five inside.
“Ok, though we’re getting thrown about a good deal!” Rarity replied.
“Just hang tight, we’ll be there in no time!”
Since the run through the forest, Uleski had re-organized the team and waited for word from his Captain. He became worried when he thought he heard an explosion or two in the distance. For a minute, he thought about taking the team in his direction to investigate and, if it was what he feared, assist the captain. Luckily, his fears were assuaged when Sergeant Folk radioed in and explained the situation.
He didn’t quite understand what he was being told at first. Part of him said Folk was playing a joke and wanted to call bull on him. This was also blown away when he saw the 66 coming down the road, one of those horses popping up from the loader’s hatch.
“I’ll be damned,” Uleski commented as 66 came to a halt. “I really did think you were pulling my leg, Cap.”
“Does all of your kind swear like excessively?” Twilight asked as she attempted to get off the tank.
“Not all, just us,” Uleski replied.
Twilight, unable to get out via the normal means, decided to teleport out onto the ground where Bannon had dismounted. She immediately became wobbly, and had trouble standing up. The others were able to pull themselves out, one by one.
“So, these are the cute little horses I was told about?” Uleski asked.
“We’re actually ponies,” Pinkie corrected. “We’re a lot different.”
“I can see the difference.”
It was also at this time Bannon noticed one of the six was missing. Turning back, he noticed Fluttershy was still having a difficult time trying to get out. Climbing back up, he lifted her up top first, this time more as one would pick up a child from under the arms, and set her back down before he again got off.
“Sorry,” she whispered, floating down and hiding behind the group.
“Hey, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Uleski said, “these things weren’t meant for...ponies, right?”
Twilight nodded in approval.
“Yea, its ok you had some trouble. I couldn’t get it right my first time.”
Her only reply was to whimper and fall back some more.
“Oh, come on. I’m not a mean guy,” Uleski tried to explain, kneeling down in front of her. “Hang on; I think I’ve got something you all might like.”
He fumbled around his gear for a minute, looking for something. With a sharp “Aha!” he produced a small, warm can of Coke he had been saving. Bannon had to make a mental note to ask Uleski just where he had gotten that from as Uleski popped the top and handed it over to Fluttershy.
“Oh wow!” she said, still in her hushed voice. “This is great!”
“Hey, can I try?” Rainbow asked.
One by one, each of the six took a sip; Pinkie took her particularly long gulp last.
“Awe man, you drank it all!” Uleski complained upon getting the empty can back from her. “And that was my last one, too.”
“Worry about that latter, U. Right now we have to find our way back home,” Bannon said.
“Yea, you’re obviously not from around here,” Twilight said. “How did you end up here in Equestria?”
“Not sure. One minute me and the rest of the team is inhaling what I thought was poisonous gas, the next, poof! We wake up here.”
“That is odd,” Twilight said. “I don’t think I know of any teleportation or portal spells that can cross between worlds, but I’m sure Princess Celestia does.”
“Is this princess the leader of your country?”
“Yes, as well as being very powerful with magic. She and her sister, Princess Luna, are able to control night and day,” Twilight explained. “They’re both over one thousand years old. If anyone knows a spell that can send you back, it’s her.”
“Huh, magic is really out of control here,” Bannon commented. “Ok, lets mount the team up and move back to the village.”
Right as Twilight and her friends left, he also received a message from the princesses telling him that Twilight had written to them and that they were on their way. He would have to wait until they arrived to go after his little sister.
When they did arrive, he had to update them on everything. He told them about the new machines driven by strange creatures. He told them about the forest fire. And finally, he told them about how the Elements had left to go after Dash. All the evil things he said about the new creatures seemed to be contradicted when one came rolling up with Twilight riding it.
“Hey, Shining! Look who we met!” she called out as the tank stopped next to him.
“Wha? But…I…they…”
All Shining could do was mumble out half-sentences in confusion while the two Princesses looked on curiously.
“Shining, I’d like you to meet Captain Sean Bannon,” Twilight introduced. “Captain Bannon, this is the leader of the Royal Guard and my older brother, Captain Shining Armor.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, captain,” Bannon said formally.
“I…he…captain…fire…sister…how?”
“I can see you’re not much for words right now,” Bannon said. “It’s alright; I mean to speak with your leaders, anyways.”
“Wha? Ok, what’s going on?” Shining asked.
“Yes, I would like to know what is happening, as well,” Princess Celestia chimed in.
The ponies that were there immediately began bowing. Bannon just stood there at attention and stared; keeping it formal, but not too formal. This was returned with confused, and surprised, looks from the ponies. An awkward silence continued until Twilight broke it.
“Um, Captain Bannon, why aren’t you bowing?”
“Well, she’s not really my ruler,” Bannon stated blankly, but respectfully. “In fact, my country elects our own leaders. I’m not obliged to bow to anyone; thought I’ll be happy to offer a handshake.”
“What!?” Luna spat out angrily. “Creature, thou are in the presence of the sun goddess! She is the ruler of the land!”
“I didn’t vote for her!” Uleski called out from his tank, deciding to joke about at the worst possible time.
“Thou are in our land, now!” she continued, angrily.
“I’m still an American citizen, and I go by its rules,” Bannon replied. “Besides, it’s not like I want to be stuck here. That’s why I’m talking to you.”
“Foolish little-”
“Relax, Luna,” Celestia interrupted, deciding to finally return the hand, or hoof, shake. “I can understand that these creatures live in a much…looser system of government; but, it seems to respect the average citizen.”
Luna was taken a bit aback by this, but heeded and stepped back.
“Thank you, mam,” Bannon said. “And please, just call us humans.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Now I can tell you are from another world, correct?”
“Is it really that obvious?” Bannon joked, causing her to chuckle a bit.
“Well, I do have some old spells for crossing dimensions,” Celestia stated. “We don’t use them, as we don’t want to interfere with things in other dimensions; but, since you’re already here, I suppose there’s no other option.”
“Thank you, Princess.”
“There is something I would like to know; how did you and the ponies become acquainted?” she asked. “It surely couldn’t have been as easy as sitting down and talking after you captured Rainbow.”
“Actually, they saved us from another machine that was trying to attack us,” Twilight said.
“What!?” Shining exclaimed.
“Yes, it looked like a model we know in our world.”
“Interesting,” Celestia said. “I believe we have some explaining to do. Everypony gather round.”
Bannon signaled for the team to power down so they could hear; he’d rather they hear it now than explain later on. Uleski and the other leaders gathered around next to him, and those that could dismount also took a seat. Others sat and listened on their vehicles.
“You see, Equestria is divided up into provinces, each of which is different in some way or form; culture, produce geography. The largest one in terms of both land and population is the easternmost one of Russage, with its capital at Stalliongrad.”
The similarities to their counterparts didn’t go unnoticed by the tankers, but they kept silent so she could continue.
“They were very good at manufacturing, the greatest in Equestria in fact, as well as producing food. A few years ago, a pony by the name of Leonid Brezneigh came to be the governor of the province and began enacting strict laws. He began to consolidate power for himself and his government; eliminating competition and restricting freedoms. He responded by stating that he would equally distribute all resources among the populace. Indeed, many of the ponies there agreed with him.”
“Communism,” Bannon blurted out calmly.
“Excuse me?”
“We have a mirror version of this country and system in our world. Russia is the main state of the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They go against much of what our country stands for. That’s why we’re in a Cold War right now.”
“A Cold War? I’ve never heard of a war like that. What does it mean?” Twilight asked.
“I’ll explain later. Let’s finish the first story.”
“Yes, well, Luna and I asked him repeated times to end his reign and step down. In response, his province seceded from Equestria and began building up their military power. We attempted to bring them under control quickly, but they had an important advantage over us. Their engineers were able to create the machines, which we call armors, to combat our troops; similar to your vehicles.”
“We call them tanks,” Uleski corrected.
“Wait, tanks? You named it after my pet tortoise?” Rainbow asked, not aware of the coincidence.
“What? What are you-never mind,” Bannon responded. “We’ll sort that out later.”
“Yes, these…tanks, as you call them, were made in certain designs and out of certain metals and other materials that make them near impervious to magic. With all these odds stacked against us, we have suffered several defeats. They have actually launched their own invasion, and are threatening to overrun the rest of the country.”
“It’s interesting how similar they are to the Russian tanks in our world,” Bannon said. “The model we engaged was a rather old copy.”
“Yes, so far they have three models out, which we named, from oldest to newest, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.”
“The one we engaged must have been a bronze, it was pretty old,” Bannon said. “We call them T-55s. With all the other similarities I’m finding, I’ll bet my money that the other two models are T-62s and T-72s.”
“Where did you battle this one?” Shining asked.
“A little ways in the field to the east of the forest,” Bannon replied.
“Hm, it was probably a scout,” Shining thought. “They usually send lone units out ahead of a larger force. Which means an attack may be coming this way.”
Bannon thought on this for a minute. What he said made good tactical sense, and considering how long ago it was, an assault force was probably close by. Bannon again found himself in a similar situation as to when he had to rescue Twilight and company. This time, the choice was much clearer.
“Ok, team, you heard him!” he yelled. “We’ve got enemy tanks closing in! All units mount up and move back through the forest towards the field. Set up defensive positions in the tree line, or…at least what’s left of it. I’d rather pull off an ambushed from prepared defensive positions than fight out in the open.”
“Sir yes sir!” The men replied in separate bits.
The team’s vehicles, once again, roared to life and prepared to move. The ponies, for the moment, were all in a state of shock. Without being asked, without even knowing much about them, Team Yankee was going to fight their battle.
“Captain Bannon, what are you doing!?” Celestia yelled over the noise as Bannon mounted 66.
“Moving up to make a defensive line,” he replied. “I want to be ready for when they come at us.”
“I mean, why are you going to fight for us?”
“Hm, I guess because you’re nice and peaceful, cause I don’t like the way that guy controls the lives of his citizens, cause you hold the key to me getting home,” Bannon rattled off. “I’ll explain the philosophy when it’s done with. Feel free to tag along and see what the Abrams can do.”
66 began to go forward, again followed by a convoy of powerful vehicles. As they moved off into the burnt remains of the Everfree, the ponies began to pick their jaws off the ground. Not needing to talk it over, they quickly decided to follow.
“Ok, just keep back when the shooting starts,” Bannon explained to the Elements, Shining, and the Princesses in their large dugout a short ways from the burnt up tree line, but with a good view.
“Thank you for doing this,” Celestia said.
“You can thank me when we win this and I come back alive.”
“Yes, how do we know you will be able to stop the attack?” Shining asked critically.
“Well I won’t be able to if you don’t let me go and finish preparing for it,” Bannon shot back. “Would you prefer we stand by and let them roll over you without trying?”
Shining didn’t answer, nor did the others. Bannon returned to the 66, where the crew was finishing preparations. There wasn’t much left to use for cover, but being blackened by ash, and moving some logs in the way, and the natural darkness of the forest, covered it pretty well.
The 66 and 55 were deployed on the left and right sides of the road entrance to the forest, respectively, along with the ITVs. The 1st and 2nd platoons were deployed on the left, while the 3rd and 4th were spread on the right. Since the line was rather straight, and that there was a large field in front of them, the Mech platoon probably wasn’t going to be needed. Another loss was the FIST team track; without artillery, it was more of a liability.
Bannon focused on going over all the tanks need. Ammunition count, camo, systems. He didn’t want anything going wrong in the first real battle. He was almost done when the scouts spotted large columns of dust coming fast.
“ALL YANKEES-CHECK IN”
“YANKEE ONE-READY”
“YANKEE TWO-CHECK”
“YANKEE THREE-CHECK”
“YANKEE FOUR-READY”
“YANKEE FIVE-WAITING”
“YANKEE SEVEN-READY”
Everyone was ready.
“ALL YANKEES BE ADVISED-WARNING RED-REPEAT-WARNING RED-ENEMY VICTORS INBOUND-TYPE AND NUMBER UNKNOWN-LOAD SABOT AND HOLD FIRE-OUT”
Bannon was sure he covered everything, but he still felt strange. He felt worried for his men. He worried about who would come back from this fight. Everything was on his planning and the individual crews.
Uleski was also worried, but on something else. He was outright scared about what would happen. Not just about the others or the outcome, but the fear of dying; it was an absolutely terrible feeling that he never felt before that took him by surprise. His stomach turned tight and hard like iron, his palms began shaking, sweat started to come off his head. Subconsciously, he was begging and praying for it to stop; to just get it over with just to end this fear.
Over the horizon, the enemy came. Bannon counted out the enemies and identified them. He had earned his money on the earlier bet. Leading the way were four T-62 tanks in a wedge formation. Following them were at least two platoons of T-55s. He also spotted, in the back, what looked like two ZSUs, no doubt for shooting at pegasi, and what looked like another platoon of BTRs. Plenty to go around.
“ALL YANKEES-FOUR TANGO SIX TWOS-EIGHT TANGO-FIVE FIVES-FOUR BRAVO TANGO ROMEOS-TWO ZULU SIERRA UNIFORMS-CLOSING IN ON OUR TWELVE-66 WILL ENGAGE THE LEAD T-62-55, GET THE ONE NEXT TO IT-ITVs, GET THE OTHER TWO-ALL OTHER UNITS MAY CHOOSE THEIR OWN TARGETS-PREPARE TO FIRE ON MY MARK-OVER.”
“YANKEE ACTUAL-THIS IS YANKEE 3-1-INTERROGITAVE-HOW CLOSE SHOULD WE LET THEM COME-OVER?”
“YOU’LL KNOW WHEN WE OPEN FIRE-OUT.”
Bannon swore to himself. They couldn’t afford for Garger to screw up, else it might cost a platoon, or even the whole company. If he did mess up here, Bannon decided, it would be the end for him, even if he did survive the battle.
The formation of tanks came closer, closing the distance and coming within range of the tank’s guns. Bannon could see some of the ponies sitting up in their tank cupolas, wearing the same kind of tanker’s cap as the Russians; they also seemed a bit…greyer and darker as compared to the bright colors Bannon had seen. Surely, they had no clue what was coming; apparently, they had missed the carcass of the T-55 from earlier.
“GUNNER-IDENTIFY-T-62-UP FRONT”
“IDENTIFIED”
“SABOT UP”
Bannon could feel the crew getting tense. In fact, he felt the whole team getting tensed up as the range closed. He wanted to make the first volley as devastating and effective as possible. Finally, he decided the enemy was close enough to do that.
“ALL YANKEES-WEAPONS FREE-ENGAGE AT WILL”
He immediately dropped back into his position as the tank’s commander as Folk fired the first shot of the battle.
“ON THE WAY!”
The 66 fired at its target; as did the rest of the company. The SABOT round found the T-62 dead center; penetrating the hull and causing an explosion that launched its commander out from his position in the cupola. Most of the other tanks also found their targets, and the enemy company was now down to about half strength.
55 also found its target, thought it didn’t stop the tank immediately. Another shot found the engine compartment, starting a large gas fire. Soon, the whole tank was a bright fireball.
Bannon’s fears about the ITV’s vulnerability and the TOWs ineffectiveness proved to be just worries. The two missiles shot out to their targets and closed the distance fast. Both found their targets dead on, stopping both of the remaining T-62s in their tracks.
When the battle began, six of the ponies in the cover had the prior knowledge to cover their ears, but they forgot to inform the other three. The tank nearest to them fired its gun, sending dust everywhere and frightening them. Shining jumped enough to fall out of the hole, Luna went into shock with a stunned, wide eyed expression glued on, and Celestia fell back in surprise; though she quickly continued watching in awe and horror.
For Garger, everything fell into place then and there. All the concerns about the menial little details went away, and everything spun like a well-oiled machine. He, his tank, and the 3rd platoon would do just fine.
Weiss and 1st platoon were also doing well. He felt like everything he had done, all the training and preparing he undertook, had led up to this moment. It felt like he belonged here, right now, doing this.
“GUNNER-TARGET-T-55 TANK MOVING UP”
“IDENTIFY”
“ROUND UP”
“FIRE”
“SHOT OUT”
66’s next victim, unlike the rest of the company which had either stopped or started swerving in confusion, was continuing forward. It was brave, but such lone bravery in a situation like this was suicidal and futile. The round was a head shot, nailing the turret itself and causing the tank to swerve off to the left before stopping.
“GUNNER-TARGET-ZSU IN THE BACK TRYING TO RETREAT-LOADER-LOAD HEAT”
“IDENTIFY-HE WON’T GET AWAY”
“HEAT LOADED”
“FIRE”
“FIRING”
The ZSU was attempting to escape, which was probably a good idea. There wasn’t much the Gatling gun could do against tanks. Still, 66’s HEAT round found it with a loud explosion.
The scene over the field was truly horrific, with large explosions, smoke and fireballs, charred and/or broken bodies that had managed to climb out. Strangely, it didn’t affect 2nd Lieutenant McAlister. For him, it was just work, like sitting in an office doing paperwork.
The scene was, however, affecting Avery. With the massive volley, he couldn’t tell if his shot had hit, and he didn’t want to. There was some kind of fear mixed with horror for him about not just going into battle, but also about killing another intelligent creature. That was enough to stay his hand a bit.
Only Sergeant Polgar of the Mech platoon was angry, hoping they would at least make it within range of the infantry’s Dragon ATGMs. Lieutenant Harding understood that there wasn’t much for them to do at this point, but Polgar was still angry about being left out. He hated being in a fight he couldn’t influence, especially when his friends were involved.
“GUNNER-TARGET-BTR-FAR RIGHT”
“IDENTIFY”
“HEAT UP”
“FIRE”
“OUT”
The last of the BTRs fell.
“GUNNER-YOU’RE CLEARED TO ENGAGE AT WILL-JUST MAKE SURE NOT TO SHOOT ANY DEAD TRACKS”
“YES SIR!”
Folk responded happily as if being handed the keys to a car. Bannon surveyed the sight of the field as the gun went off again. Not seeing too many more targets, he climbed up out of his commander’s hatch as 66’s gun fired one more time.
The entire enemy force had been wiped out to the last. The field was dotted with plumes of black smoke and bright balls of fire. Everything had gone off perfectly. Team Yankee’s first real battle was a major success.