Ace Combat: The Changeling War

by Lonewolf78

Chapter 3: First Blood

Near the Equestria/Crystal Empire border
May 13, 2023
07:12 hours.

Moondancer woke up from her cot to the smell of breakfast. She stretched and headed to the food tent to see what was being served. First she checked the bulletin board to see if any of her friends had shown up. Unfortunately none had, so she continued on.

After eating, she walked around some more, and came across a few ponies who were listening to a radio. She went over and listened. It was a changeling propaganda broadcast. They listened to the verbal diarrhea coming out of his mouth:

"... The citizzzzens here are ready for change. They want to get on wittttth their lives and live in peace. Excussse me little filly. What do you think?"
"Go dance with the angels!" and there was the sound of hooves connecting with the changeling. Moondancer gasped.
"EMBER!"

She had no choice. She had to go back to Gracemareia. She gathered up her things and left for the border.

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Stalliongrad AFB
10:23 hours.

The squadron was called to the conference room for the briefing on the day's mission. Slugger, commander of the Crystal Empire Air Force was waiting along with Citrina.

"Ok ponies. Due to recent movements by the Changeling army, the bombing mission has been postponed until tomorrow . In the meantime you will be flying Combat Air Patrol over the mountain range that seperates Sibley from the rest of the Empire. We have received intelligence the Changelings are planning a bombing raid today. You will be the first line of defense, the NLR Air Force's 7th Tac' fighter squadron will be the 2nd over Sibley itself."

"I'll take anything right now. Let's do it," Black Widow said.

"Settle down Widow," Maverick replied. "Any word on the burst missile threat?" he asked.

"We haven't heard any use of them since yesterday," Slugger replied. We'll definitely advise you if the situation changes. Have at it guys."

"Woo hoo let's go!" Surprise yelled. And they headed out to get suited up and ready.

Outside the ground crew had finished fueling and arming their planes. They jumped in, got strapped down, and fired the Eagles up. They taxied onto the runway. Lining up in pairs except for Maverick, who was ahead of the pack.

"Garuda squadron you are cleared for takeoff," the controller said.

"Roger, here we go ," replied Mav' , and the planes took off.

45 minutes later they had taken up station over the mountains. about two hours later they got the call.

"Sky Eye to Garuda and Razor squadrons: We have eight bandits approaching from the East. Flight profile suggests four bombers escorted by four fighters."

"Roger Sky Eye. It's showtime!" replied Maverick. And they headed off on an intercept course.

"We've got bandits coming in. Protect the bombers," the lead Changeling pilot said as they accelerated ahead. Soon the fight was on.

"Tornado, Kiwi, go after the bombers. The rest of you engage those Fulcrums," Maverick said as he made a sharp turn to dodge a missile.

"Roger Spade," Tornado replied. And they turned to get on the bombers. Surprise and Heart Throb dived on two of the escorts, who then split off from each other to escape, leaving the bombers wide open.

"Oh you dumb motherbuckers", Tornado said as he locked up one of the TU-160's and fired a radar guided. Kiwi soon followed suit with the other, and the first two bombers were down.

Meanwhile Heart Throb had just got a lock on one MiG when she got a lock warning.

"Aw' damn," she said as she hit the breaks and made her tail overshoot. He became the lucky recipient of her Sidewinder. Suprise had better luck, getting a gun kill on her prey. Black Widow got the third by doing a loop, and finally Maverick caught up with the 4th MiG and shoved a Sidewinder up it's tailpipe.

"Sky Eye to Garuda team: First wave is down. The second is almost here. This time you have 12 altogether including 4 bombers."

"Roger. Flare, Tempestra, Heartbreaker, go after the bombers. Everypony else get the fighters," Maverick announced.

"Got it," replied Kiwi. And they banked right and headed towards the approaching planes.

This time the squadron avoided a head on missile encounter by splitting and diving, and coming up behind the fighters.

"MiG-35's. A little funner," Maverick announced. Soon him and Tornado were on the tail of a pair of them. Both failed to evade them and soon went down in a ball of fire. A MiG dropped in behind them, but soon had to break off when Surprise got on his tail. No sooner than she did the 4th got on her tail, only to have Stormy drop in behind him.

"I've got him distracted Ditz. Take care of yours," Stormy said.

"Already done," she replied as she fired an AMRAAM, taking out the MiG. Stormy then got his.

While this was going on, Maverick and Tornado had taken off after the remaining two MiGs, which were heading to protect the bombers. Kiwi had already shot one down when Maverick alerted them.

"You've got the last two heading for you, but we're on them," Maverick said.

"Keep em' off us," replied Heart Throb as she locked up a bomber and fired a Sidewinder. The bomber dropped flares and dodged the missile though.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" she said as she fired a radar guided and took it down.

Then Sky Eye called in.

"All planes we have 5 bandits inbound at high speed from the Northeast!"

"Damn. Roger Sky Eye," Maverick replied. He fired his cannon and took down the 5th MiG. The 6th got a lock on Widow, forcing her to break off of a bomber.

"You ruined my shot," she sneered as she did a loop and got behind the MiG, almost running into Tornado in the process.

"Damn Widow you almost hit me!" he yelled.

"Sorry," was all she said as she locked the last MiG up and brought it down. Soon all of them got lock warnings.

"Already?" Tornado yelled.

"What's the range on them Sky Eye?" Maverick asked.

"51 miles and closing."

"Definitely MiG-31's with R-37's. Start evading everypony!" he replied, and they began dodging them while trying to close in.

"How many of those missiles do they have?" Stormy asked.

"Six each ,plus 4 R-77's or 60's," Maverick replied.

"Terrific. What about the bombers?"

"Sky Eye get the NLR squadron on the bombers. We're tied up."

"Roger Maverick, he replied.

After dodging two more volleys of missiles the squadron was close enough to the bandits to fire off some AMRAAMs. Not only did it disrupt them, Tornado's missile took one out.

"OK we've got em'," Maverick announced. By closing in the MiGs no longer had the advantage, and would be easy prey for the far more maneuverable F-15S's.

"See how you like it," Heart Throb said as she locked one up and fired, taking it down. Realizing they were outmatched the MiGs tried to use their speed to run away, but the group got them before they could. Tornado got the second, Kiwi the third, and Surprise the fourth. Maverick ended the engagement by running down the 5th MiG and firing an AMRAAM and a Sidewinder.

"Sky Eye to all planes, the radar is clear. Great job on your first mission!"

"What about the bombers?" Maverick asked.

"The NLR squadron just brought them down," he replied.

"Great. Let's go home ponies." And the squadron headed back for Stalliongrad.

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Train station
Gracemareia, Crystal Empire
14:25 hours.

A train from the Changeling Kingdom arrived at Gracemareia's depot. Among those who got off was an older changeling wearing officer's insignia and carrying pony saddle bags and a small briefcase. He walked instead of flew due to one of his wings being missing. He looked around at his surroundings.

"So this is the Crystal Empire. The most love filled country in the world," he thought to himself. As he walked he noticed how all of the ponies he saw seemed to be in the dumps.

"Something isn't right. Changelings can sense love. Right now I'm hardly feeling any. It could be because of our invasion, but I'm not sure."

While he was lost in his thoughts an earth pony ran up and grabbed his saddlebags.

"Go dance with the angels!" she yelled as she ran off.

"Seriously? Is that how bad it's become here? Well it looks like I'll have to get new provisions for my stay."

Just then a Pegasus colt tried to grab his briefcase, but it was handcuffed to him.

"No diccccce colt," he said, and the pegasus flew off.

"You alright sir?" A voice said behind him. He turned around to see a changeling officer behind him.

"Ah Lieutenant Blue Wing I presume?" he replied.

"Yes sir Colonel Kreiko", the younger changeling replied.

"Have they gained entry into the castle yet?" Kreiko asked.

"We could have been inside two hours ago, but our queen wanted to be there when the lock was cut," Blue replied. "She should be here in about 25 minutes so we better get over to the castle."

"Very well, lead the way." And they left the depot.

As they walked down the streets, Kreiko saw more ponies. Who, like the ones he saw before, seemed to be drained of any energy.

"Have you noticed anything about the ponies here?" he asked Blue.

"Like what?"

"How none of these ponies seem happy?"

"Well we did invade them you know," Blue replied as he looked at a couple of ponies across the street.

"I think there's more to it," Kreiko replied.

Soon they were at the castle. Numerous soldiers and military brass were there. A changeling was next to the main door to the castle with a cutting torch.

As the two mingled, they heard the sound of a large chopper approaching.

"That's her," Blue said. Soon the chopper appeared, circled, and landed in the courtyard in front of the castle. The changelings lined up on both sides of the path.

"ATTEN-TION!" one yelled and all of them stood at attention. The door opened, and after some of her aids exited, Chrysalis stepped out onto the path and looked around. The changelings knelled.

"Welcome your majesty," the Changeling army commander said.

She said nothing, continuing to look around, her horn glowing a few times.

"Is something wrong your majesty?" the commander asked.

"Something isn't right. I'm not feeling the love," she replied.

"What do you mean your highness?" the changeling replied with a stumped look.

"When I was here two years ago the feeling of love was almost overwhelming. I hardly feel any right now." She walked over to the castle door.

"Are you ready to open it?" she asked the changeling with the torch.

"Yes your majesty," he replied shaking a bit. And he fired it up and cut the last lock. The doors swung open.

"GASP!"

Chrysalis's mouth dropped.

"The crystal heart! It's gone!" she yelled.

"WHAT? HOW? No one's been here but us!" The commander yelled.

"What does this mean?" another changeling asked.

"Without the crystal heart it means there is no love here anymore. What little there is will run out, and this country will be worthless!," she replied.

"Could the princess have taken it with her?" he asked.

"No. They know the ramifications of removing it from it's place. It must be some local do gooder who thought it would help," she replied as her horn glowed again.

"I can still feel it so it must be around somewhere. Search every nook and cranny of this place. I'm going to make myself at home," she said, turning to go inside the castle, followed by her aids.

"Well I guess you were right." Blue said to Kreiko.

"This is not good. If they can't find it this invasion was a giant waste of bits," he replied.

"Are you ready to go to the airbase?" Blue asked.

"Yes. We will start the prisoner interrogations as soon as possible," Kreiko replied, and they left for the base.

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Stalliongrad AFB
15:40 hours.

The squadron was called into the conference room to discuss the plans for the next day. Slugger was waiting for them.

"Ok pilots, here's what's in store for tomorrow." He turned on a projector.

"A large force of the Changeling Army is working their way towards Sibley. They have yet to reach the mountains though, so our plan is to wait until they're at this choke point here," he pointed to a location on the map with a laser pointer, "we'll hit them with a massive bomber strike. Between there and the border though the Changelings have moved in some SAM units. Your mission is to escort the bombers and take out all air and ground threats to them. Some of you will be carrying HARM's for the SAMS. You only have to take out their control radar to make them useless."

"Wild weasel. Those are always fun missions," Tornado said.

"What does wild weasel mean?" Kiwi asked.

"We get the Changelings to shoot their sams at us, then we shoot our anti radiation missiles at them. If they don't shut off their radar our missiles will fly straight into them. And even if they do they could still get hit if the missile is already on it's final approach," he replied.

"We let them shoot missiles at us!?" she said with a stunned look.

"It's not as bad as you think," Maverick replied. "Just remember how to use your countermeasures."

"This train leaves at 0500 so get some rest," Slugger said, and they left.

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Crystal Castle
Gracemareia
16:04 hours.

After waiting for nearly an hour Princess Celestia was finally in contact with Chrysalis.

"Ah I was just about to contact you over your interference with our occupation of the Crystal Empire."

Celestia replied sternly.

"That is correct. We fully condemn your unwarranted invasion of our ally and will be assisting them in taking back their country."

"What a foolish gesture," she replied. "We control the crystal heart now so if anything we have leverage over you and all other countries."

"No, you don't," Celestia replied with a little bit of anger. "We know the heart has gone missing so you don't have anything right now."

Chrysalis put her hoof over the receiver and turned to one of the military officers.

"I thought I said no mention of that over the radio?" she snarled.

"It wasn't us!" he replied. She turned back to the phone.

"So what? We'll find it. And it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it due to your actions."

"You're not going to do anything to it because that's the reason you're there," snapped Celestia. "You must think we're completely deaf dumb and blind."

Chrysalis was disgusted. "Hmph. Fine. Continue your little game. It might turn around and bite you though."

Celestia had had enough.

"Now you listen to me Chrysalis. And you listen good. If so much as one bullet of yours even strays into Equestria you and your country will feel the full power of our military, and that is something I don't think you want right now."

"Fine whatever. Don't expect us to treat your military any different than the empire's though," and she hung up. Another member of her cabnet came over.

"Shall I have plans for them readied?" he asked.

"No. As much as I would love to take over them also we're stretched too thin as it is," she replied. "Keep up the search for the heart."

"Yes your majesty," he replied.

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Gracemareia AFB
18:44 hours.

"Like I said I'm just a citizen defending her village."

"A citizen who knows combat and guerrilla warfare tactics?"

"Hey there are books and movies on the subject. What does it matter to you anyway you retarded insect?"

Nightshade found herself across from Kreiko in what was now a POW interrogation room at the airbase.

"A defiant one eh? So you're not going to say anything?" Kreiko had heard it before, but this was the first time a civilian had gave him this much trouble.

"Hey we've got a smart one here," she fired back. "If you're gonna' kill me or something do it now because I ain't helping you with shit."

"Well lucky for you our leader has ordered no executions of civilians for anything," he replied. "Take her to a cell below."

A couple of guards grabbed her and took her to the basement of the main building, which was the location of the brig and some other rooms suitable for holding prisoners.

"What do you think?" Blue wing asked.

"She's definitely got a military background. Start digging around for any records of her," Kreiko replied.

"I noticed when we brought her here she seemed to know her way around this building," Blue said while looking out a window.

"Hmmm. Start looking here first then," he replied.

The actual brig cells were already full, so the guards threw Nightshade into one of the converted rooms.

"Enjoy pony," snapped the changeling.

"Suck a dick cockroach," she replied. She looked around at her new home. The first thing she was taught in survival training was look for an opportunity to escape first off. She scanned the room, and came up with something.

The ceiling of the room was taller than the door. Running lengthwise across it were a pair of pipes that were suspended slightly. It would hurt, but she could jump up and stick her wings behind the pipes to hoist herself over the door. When the guard looked in the small window and didn't see her he would come in, and she would land on him and snap his neck.

With that she then needed to figure out the times the guard made his rounds. She knew they would try to find records of her, and that she was on borrowed time. Her days with the CEAF wasn't what she was worried about. If they found out she was in the military of the country that took over theirs, killed their original queen, and forced it's citizens into slave work, the decision to not kill civilians might get a reversal.

Author's Note:

After a long hiatus I finally got another chapter knocked out. Still working on a character sheet.

Comments

[Enceledus]

MOAR!
Also, Why the F-15s? Why not the F-15e?

[The Sergeant]

I await whatever you have planned for Bartolomeo Fortress