After seven months of fighting communist invasion, the last thing the Republic of Vietnam needed was another offensive. Fate would have other plans. Soon they are faced with an attack on their capital. Will they fight two fronts against the caribou?
Just as the Vietnam War seems to come to a close, after over 20 years of never ending attrition, a random portal appears in the middle of Saigon. The Vietnamese have little time to process this new discovery before they are promptly attacked. For three days, Saigon ends up being the battleground between humanity, and a cruel species focused on domination and slavery. From a distant land of a different dimension, known as Equestria. A land in need of help and liberation.
Saigon manages to be saved in the end, but at a cost, a loss of innocence, lives, and of mercy for the enemy. Enraged, South Vietnam and her nearby allies declare war on this new world, with hopes to try to save the beings in the new world, and with little hope of America jumping back fully into the fight. Will the world come to aid in their time of need? Or will they be left alone to protect two worlds?
A crossover of an alternate universe of GATE: And Thus the JSDF Fought There, and of the Fall of Equestria-verse. Background lore can be found here.
Rated Mature for descriptive battle scenes, sex scenes, and mentions of torture and rape.(In order from most to least prominent.)
Special thanks to Kildeez for beta reading my story! You should totally go check him out!
November, 1972 Saigon, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
Saigon, a bustling city named as the Paris of the East, in part to its French heritage. What was once a colonial capital has become the beacon against Communism in Southeast Asia. However, it was at this point in time, that this beacon has started to flicker. It was only a month ago that the Communist North Vietnamese and their remaining allies in the National Liberation Front (Better known as the Viet Cong) had been driven out of South Vietnam after they had pushed from the DMZ, to Quảng Trị, to An Lộc, 56 miles away from Saigon in the Easter Offensive. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or ARVN as their American allies tended to call them, had a difficult time defending the nation from Communist invasion, though they had the know-how and the spirit to defend their homeland, the initial shock had caused them to lose some ground before they retook the country.
Assisting them was U.S. and South Vietnamese air support from Operation Freedom Train, which provided aerial support for the ARVN throughout the offensive, and Operation Linebacker, which was Nixon’s response to this offensive, which was to mine crucial North Vietnamese ports, and bomb North Vietnam to the point where it crippled their industry. Both of these events drove the North Vietnamese out of the country, despite the lowering number of U.S. troops in the area. But for now, citizens were picking up the pieces, refugees were returning to their homes, or staying for good, households were rebuilt and mourned, and people were calming down from the fear of Communist invasion. Saigon had faced a near threat of invasion, it did not need those fears to be realized. Unfortunately for them, fate had seemed to have had better plans.
November 23rd, 1972, 0700 Hours (7:00 AM)
At the beginning of the morning 1st Lieutenant (Trung Uy) Nguyen Bao An* was driving back from the U.S. Defense Attaché Office on Biên Hòa Air Force Base. The Defense Attaché Office, or the DAO for short, was one of the few signs of American presence left in South Vietnam, the task of the DAO was to provide both American military and civil support to the South Vietnamese. It had so happened that instead of looking for a hapless Sergeant, Lieutenant Colonel Truc, one of the liaisons with both the ARVN and the DAO, had tasked him to pick up a key observer from the U.S. Embassy, across from the Presidential Palace. An was calmly driving, passing multiple police and Quan Canh (Military Police) checkpoints. As he was making his way to the city, a strange situation began to unfold at an ordinary intersection.
At the corner of Truong Minh Giang Street, and Yen Do Street, a strange, archaic structure had begun to materialize right in front of the city dwellers' eyes. The structure was pure white, and seemed like it was made out of marble in the style of a miniature Western European temple for worshiping the Greek gods. The structure would cause a variable amount of concern as it blocked traffic.
Soon National Police patrol officers, and the field force, militarized policemen who partook in conventional, urban warfare, almost to the levels of the Quan Canh, would soon arrive, and would block off the intersection, armed with M16A1 rifles, revolvers, and the occasional M79 grenade launcher for shooting tear gas, and wearing an assortment of grey peaked police caps, black berets, and grey pants, with white uniform shirts, or navy blue army fatigues, with black M1 helmets with tri-color markings of green, white, and green again, marked TC on the front, for Tuan Chan (Patrol).
In the case of the field force, they wore tan camo fatigues and M1 helmets with tan desert Mitchel covers. As the police were keeping the crowd under control, a strange, water like substance would explode from the entryway, causing many of the civilians to flee or look for cover, as the National Police held their ground, and took cover behind their vehicles. The entryway would stabilize into a wall of water like fluid, as the police officers aimed their rifles, fearing what was to happen.
Suddenly, herds of caribou, armored in black plating in what appeared to be Nordic designs charged through the gate. They were followed by many creatures including minotaurs, with heads and legs of bulls, and torsos in relative shape to human torsos with the exception of fur covering them, with battle armor and armed with axes and battle hammers; diamond dogs, bipedal, dog-like creatures covered in similar garb and armed with swords; griffons, armed with swords and spears and crossbows, dressed in what looked to be grey steel armor; and much to the mystified faces of some of the police officers, brightly colored, miniature horses, some with wings, and some with regular attributes, and some with horns protruding from their heads, vaguely resembling a lân*, all were wearing little to nothing, but were still holding crude weapons.
This multi-creature army charged out of the portal, making quick work of the police line, quickly charging at nearby officers and stabbing them with their swords or horns, shooting with bursts of magical plasma, or for other non-horned creatures, crushed them with hammers and cut with axes and swords, into a gory mess of body parts and viscera. As some of the police officers and civilians within the immediate area tried to take cover behind cars and carts. The police responded with gunfire, patrol officers would quickly find that their revolvers have a somewhat noticeable effect, as the armored beasts quickly were gunned down after firing 12 rounds.
The field force had better luck as their M-16’s quickly gunned down the horde of beasts, causing blood and guts to litter the city street. Regardless, overwhelming numbers force the police to quickly withdraw from the position, some of them tried to helplessly organize an effective way of escape as the beasts begin to abduct some hapless civilians, as police tried to shoot them before the civilians got further in behind enemy lines, watch commanders would frantically order their radiomen to call back to the precinct and request army support before being killed.
As An continued driving down the street, he heard sounds of gunfire and screaming, he began to tense up in anxiety as he looked around for what he initially thought were Viet Cong before a caribou abruptly ran into the path of the oncoming jeep, An tried desperately with all his might to slam on the brakes, only for the jeep to collide with the hapless animal, its body colliding with the windshield before being thrown off the hood from the momentum. An quickly rushed out of the jeep, his Colt 1911 drawn, and gazed with a confused look upon the bloody, gutted roadkill. “This is strange…” An thought, “I thought caribou were-” He was never able to finish his thought, as shots were fired, he flinched and ducked for cover, but thankfully, the bullets had missed their target, only to ricochet of the jeep and the ground. “Who’s there!?” An asked, as he switched off his safety, and coolly, just as he had learned from the academy, prepared to get up and take aim.
“O-Officer Le Binh Minh! National Police!”
“1st Lieutenant Nguyen Bao An! Army of the Republic of Vietnam! Hold your fire! I am going to get up slowly!” An then slowly, and carefully got up from his cover behind the jeep, he then slowly placed his pistol on the ground, as the patrol officer in front of him lowered his revolver, and shakily switched his safety back on. Afterwards, An took his Colt, switched the safety on, and then holster it slowly.
“I-I apologize for nearly shooting you, I-I was dazed and I thought…”
“Do not worry, I assume you are fresh from the police academy?” The patrol officer shakily nodded. “You will get used to it, the Viet Cong attack frequently enough for you to do so-”
“They weren’t Viet Cong…Th-They were…”
“Take it easy, what was it that was attacking us?” The officer nodded to the roadkill before them, and An, with an incredulous look on his face, looked back at the officer.
“I-I swear, I am telling the truth, those things came through some sort of portal, they shredded most of the police near the scene, I-I was going to get some help but-”
“Has the army been called in?”
“We’ve been trying to reach the precinct on the field radio, but they killed our radioman before we could get word to them, some of us ran off to relay to the precinct of what happened, others tried to create a path to evacuate the civilians, th- the creatures sir… they were…they were….” The patrol officer broke down and cried, feeling he had failed in his duty to protect the people. With no other options, An took the patrol officer, and drove his battered jeep to the nearest police checkpoint… if there were any left.
Within the same timeframe, back at what was beginning to be ground zero, the invading force began to burn and rape and pillage the nearby blocks, any forces still nearby the portal were ordered to stand to attention by an ornately decorated caribou stag, as a large caribou, larger than any of the troops there, stepped onto the streets of Saigon, and looked around at the carnage, his white cloak fluttering in the wind, as he trudged around in his gold-lined elaborately designed armor. His aide de camp followed from behind with similar armor, but topped with a red cape. The large stag then abruptly stopped, and looked around at his forces standing at attention, he then bellowed out, “We claim this territory for the Caribou Empire! Do what you will, we will liberate this land to cure them of their ideals! Beat them into submission!” His warriors yelled as they went their separate ways, spreading out the chaos, and the horror, of a brutal regime.
The lieutenant and the broken officer bypassed the carnage of ground zero and quickly, after shooting many enemies along the way, find a police checkpoint at the corner of Truong Minh Giang and Duong Tu Xuang Street. The watch commander, talking with another officer near a jeep with a radio and a map, looked up as the jeep stopped right in front of them, both An, and the slowly recovering officer, dismounted from the jeep. “Please, take him to a hospital, he isn’t fit for the firefight for now.” The watch commander nodded, and gestured for one of his officers to take the shaken patrol officer in to the nearest safe hospital.
The watch commander replied, “The army must have arrived at last, we are getting torn apart here.”
“Not quite, from what I have heard your men have been having trouble contacting them, I’m assuming you have already radioed the precinct?”
The watch commander nodded, “We have been given orders from President Thieu to give the priority of evacuation to all civilians, and they will be evacuated to the walls of the Presidential Palace, where the guard will try to protect them should the worst come to worst. Evacuation routes have already been set and the civilians are being evacuated as we speak. We have deployed all eight of our M8 armored cars, two stationed here, and the other six stationed at Truong Minh Giang and Hein Vuong Street a few blocks away from here. We have also deployed our V-100 armored cars, they’re clearing the city as we speak. The army are sending all ranger battalions near the area, and additional infantry, and armor reinforcements from the 5th division at Biên Hòa will be arriving shortly. In addition the VNAF and our American allies are scrambling their aircraft as we speak. The plan is to drive the enemy here, where we will hold out until additional reinforcements from the army arrive, or, if we are lucky enough, we wipe them out with tear gas.”
“Where do you want me?”
“Right here, you are our only contact to the army, if anything goes wrong, we might need you to call in an airstrike.”
An nodded and said gravely, “Let us hope that the battle plays within our favor.”
With the civilians fully evacuated from the area, patrol officers and field force officers had quickly set up a barricade with assorted furniture and rubble, with trucks of field force officers arriving to bolster defenses. Two armored cars positioned themselves only a few feet away, their cannons pointed at the anticipated direction of the enemy force, providing cover until the barricade was set. Gas masks were quickly distributed and the few field force officers that had M79 grenade launchers were issued tear gas canisters in addition to grenades. Soon the sound of gunfire drew nearer to the checkpoint, as national police, backed by the first few ranger battalions, ambushed and harassed the caribou forces, the sheer firepower from the chokehold at Truong Minh Giang and Hein Vuong Street forcing the enemy to funnel in to the deceptively rudimentary blockade. The field force made the opening blow, as soon as everyone put on their as masks, tear gas was shot into the charging horde, quickly wiping out the initial waves. M16 rifle fire and revolver fire quickly wiped out any enemies left conscious.
The opening blow quickly lost its effect, however, as pegasi and griffons quickly fixed the solution by quickly dissipating the cloud of tear gas with a few flaps from their wings, and quickly grabbed a few nearby troops, dropping them from high altitudes, encouraging the caribou attack group to quickly charge back to the barricade. Several ponies, caribou, and other mythical creatures were gunned down into a bloody pulp, only for their able comrades to quickly trample them and continue the charge, as if they were apathetic to their downed kin. Several unicorns shot back with charges of plasma, quickly wounding and killing several police officers, as some would find charred holes through their bodies, or find that their entire limb was burned off, the field force and the patrol officers were quickly overwhelmed and began to fall back, some in complete panic as their rifles began to become ineffective against the giant horde, all the while more officers were knocked to a bloody pulp by pegasi and earth pony hooves, and others were quickly stabbed or cut up by the swords, axes, and hammers from the other mythical creatures.
The police did all they can, as officers found their friends stabbed, crushed, or decapitated, they replied with gushing bullet holes into the enemies’ chest, or blow their heads off, soon the battle line would fall near the checkpoint, and An soon felt nervous as he heard the gun fire near them, “Biên Hòa! This is Lieutenant An! Our barricade is slowly falling, we need additional reinforcements at section Bravo-8, I repeat, we-” a plasma shot narrowly missed An as it instead hit the radio, causing him to duck, and draw his pistol, quickly switching off the safety, he fired off a few shots at the unicorn who shot him, causing his head to explode into viscera and brain matter. He quickly looked back at the radio, finding a charred mess, he quickly turned back and join the fight, shooting off mag after mag of his pistol.
Cannon fire from the armored cars blanketed the area, trying to clear the area of the horde, only for a lucky unicorn to fire a shot of plasma, near the engine, causing one of the armored cars to explode into a fireball, burning the crew inside into a crisp, and causing several other nearby officers to scream in agony, only to have their heads explode from unicorn fire, or silenced by axes or swords. An was starting to feel tense, as he yelled, “Come on! We need to hold the line, protect our civilians! We are the only thing standing between them, and the enemy!” He was having doubts, with the officers dropping like flies, even if they take a few creatures with them, they were starting to get overwhelmed, he was considering on ordering a withdraw to another intersection.
Just as the situation started to feel hopeless, the distinct sound of chopper blades could be heard. An quickly took cover and grinned like mad as he soon was beholden to a welcoming sight. A flight of VNAF UH-1 Huey's , escorted by a squadron of USAF AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters approached from the horizon. The Cobras quickly made several gun runs, and shot down any airborne pegasi and griffons, the Vulcan machine guns and their grenade launchers made quick work of the bogies and wiped out areas to clear for LZ’s. The explosions and gunfire soon littered the street with limbs and shattered creatures, alongside disfigured or mutilated police officers. The police officers cheered as the Americans, though limited in their appearance, heroically saved the day again. An soon got up from cover, emboldened by this new arrival, and continued to fire off a few rounds, making each shot count. The Huey's soon quickly hovered a few feet over the LZ, and a battalion of rangers quickly jumped out of the helicopters.
As the choppers flew away to prevent from getting hit, the cobras stayed behind and continue their strafing rounds. The rangers quickly jumped into the fray and ferociously attacked the remaining mythical forces. With the introductions of M1919 and M-60 machine guns and M-72 LAW’s into the battlefield, the consistent explosions and gunfire soon beat back the caribou forces, their numbers quickly whittled down. They were soon forced to retreat, realizing that if they didn’t do so, they would soon be wiped out. The South Vietnamese forces quickly pursued hot on their trail. As soon as they regained ground, back to the barricade, An then quickly vaulted over the barricade and waved his pistol forward, yelling, “We have molded them into cowards! Push on and don’t give them a chance to recover! Forwards to victory!” The rangers and the police soon followed, and chased the caribou alliance back to the intersection they funneled from.
The caribou forces looked relieved as they neared what they thought was their way of escape. Their hopes were soon dashed, however, as they stared at the end of several barrels of M48 Pattons, M42 Bulldogs, and an assortment of ARVN troops, the 1st armored cavalry division had arrived. Soon, all four flanks squeezed the enemy in a chokehold. The tanks fired off their cannons and machine guns in the front flank, followed by infantry and M113 APCs firing their machine guns, and on some APC’s, their recoilless rifles, slowly moving towards the entrapped group. M8 armored cars and additional police and infantrymen, backed up by even more tanks, moved in from their side flanks. And finally the force of rangers and officers from the rear had effectively cut off any means of escape.
The caribou forces tried their best to fight, but they were soon turned into mush by the combined gunfire. An’s group would soon advance upon the caribou’s position, and quickly secured the area with additional infantry forces. “Take anyone left alive prisoner! And have the medics treat any enemy casualties! We want to know where they came from!” The troops quickly held any enemy creature left alive at gunpoint, and medics tried to treat the wounded the best they can, the main caribou force had now been wiped out.
All over Saigon, the 5th ARVN division, the National Police, and the rangers quickly cleared Saigon of any pockets of resistance, American AH-1’s, with VNAF A-1 Skyraiders and UH-1 gunships monitored the skies, shooting down any rogue pegasi and providing close air support for infantry units. VNAF F-5’s and USAF F-4’s also maintained air superiority, adding on to the extra security blanket in the sky. ARVN troops and police forces cleared out building after building, each discovery they made only angering the troops.
November 23rd, 1972, 1500 Hours (3:00 PM)
After a day's worth of conflict the remaining soldiers of the mythical force found themselves trapped, holed up in the Marie Curie Girl's School, not so far from the gate. The South Vietnamese quickly surrounded the remaining threshold, making sure there was no way for any creature to slip out and flee. With orders to help out in the effort to sweep and wipe out any remaining pockets of resistance, Lieutenant An immediately rushed to the school, being within the proximity of the school. Tired, he slapped himself to keep awake, as he approached the scene of a captain, some NCO's and another lieutenant looking over the school directory. An tapped on the Captain's shoulder and said, "Reporting for duty, sir."
"At ease Lieutenant, you have just missed only the beginning of my briefing." The Captain motioned for the officers and NCOs to the directory and briefed the group. "Alright, we'll have two ranger groups, led by Sergeant Huong, and Staff Sergeant Trung, both commanded by Lieutenant Lam, move in on the northern and southern walls, and climb into the top floor windows. Both groups will then splinter into fire teams, led by soldiers of your own choice, to clear out all of the floors of the school. In the meantime, you, Lieutenant An, will lead two squads into the main entrance, and clear your way from there, and draw fire away from the Rangers. Take any prisoners, and rescue any hostages, questions?" No one shook their heads in denial. "Then you are dismissed. Remember to synchronize your watches." Both Lieutenants and the Staff Sergeant assigned their fire groups into teams, a Reconnaissance team to clear the area, a search team to breach and secure the rooms, a fire support team to secure the rooms and provide additional fire when needed, a civilian control team to question and extract civilians, and a POW team to process prisoners. From there they quickly got into position.
2nd Lieutenant Lam, with the assistance of another sergeant in the fire group, silently motioned for his troops to line up single file against the walls, and a select few of the rangers would prepare to throw their grappling hooks. Once his fire teams were lined up, ready to strike, he silently ordered them to hold still, and gestured for the radio operator to come to him. Once the young Corporal reached him and offered the receiver, he took it and radioed in to the 2nd ranger group, making sure that they, too where in position, once he was sure, he whispered, "This is blue group, we are in position, standing by to attack." Staff Sergeant Trung and Sergeant Huong sounded off that their ranger groups were also standing by.
1st Lieutenant An, hearing all three fire groups sound off that they were in position, whispered into the receiver, "Alright, in 5 seconds, begin to move in." As both fire groups sounded off in acknowledgement, An's fire group of regular infantry lined up on both sides of the gateway. An stared at his watch, watching as the seconds ticked by. Once the seconds were counted down, everything seemed like they were in slow motion. The breach man quickly kicked down the door, and both sides quickly rushed in, they were instantly met with spell fire, and charging enemies, all of which were quickly gunned down, a battle would begin.
Hearing the sounds of fighting and gunfire, Lam ordered his men to throw their grappling hooks, and quickly, the rangers, from all three flanks began to scale the wall to the top floor once in the rangers began to search the floors starting from the top, any pockets of resistance left was either quickly gunned down in a hail of gun fire, or surrendered to the forces, being kept to the rear of the group by the POW team, being quickly searched, segregated, silenced, and swiftly extracted back to the command post. Lam's rangers quickly clear room after room, either finding empty school rooms, or finding pockets of survivors and hostages, all of whom were quickly extracted by the civilian control team, the task is long, tense and tedious, as everyone held their breath, and looked around, trying to spot any movements made by an living being.
As Lam's group and An's group began to push back the enemy, the surviving mythical creatures were forced to fall back to the middle floor, with nowhere to go. A frightened buck would rush to the final room, the sounds of screaming and struggling heard, as some of the troops had their way with the female students, he would soon find the general, and would say, “My lord, the enemy is heading this way! Th-They are too powerful! We are outnumbered! What do we do?!”
The general stared back at him, and the yelled, “Foolish young one! Now is not the time to be scared! You should feel proud! We will fight to the death, and take as many of them with us to Tartarus! But before we do… we will leave them something for them to remember us by.” He grinned maliciously, as he gestured his hoof around the room. He would then lower his hoof and say, “Nevertheless, prepare some defenses, and ambush them, wear them down! We will make their rescue as difficult as possible!”
"Secure this floor! Make sure that no one escapes alive!" An ordered as the infantry and the rangers converged into the final school room. Soldiers and rangers assigned to fire support teams and recon teams quickly combined forces and organized their respective sub-groups. Soldiers and rangers assigned to the assault group lined up on each side of the first door on the floor, with Staff Sergeant Trung taking point. He then signaled for the breach man to approach the door and get ready to kick it down. Tension built up as the troops on each side of the door gripped their rifles and prepared to raise them, and as the staff sergeant began to count down, “ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four three, two, one.” He then signaled for the breach man to kick the door down.
The door collapsed with a loud crash, only for the point man to be burned to death by masses of plasma magic, he was taken to the side in cover as the rest of the troops rushed in, some of the initial soldiers, excluding a very lucky staff sergeant would be blown up by an explosive hex, but in the end, the South Vietnamese were able to gain a foothold, and soon, the room was filled with gunfire as the remaining enemy creatures left standing in the room soon died in the ensuing confusion. Trung’s men opened any of the cabinets, only to find empty space, filled with textbooks, several troops would yelled out that the room is clear, and the troops would then move on.
The process of breaching and securing rooms would repeat for quite some time, slowing the South Vietnamese advance. Some rooms were completely empty, others had no hostile troops, but managed to kill off a few troops from hexes and traps that were left behind. And some were simply filled with survivors, hiding from the barbaric forces, who were soon promptly evacuated. The number of rooms left un-cleared would slowly, but gradually count down, and soon, it would appear as if the floor was cleared.
Suddenly, as Trung’s men rounded a corner, the troops in the front were quickly met with swords and axes, as the mercenary troops tried one last ditch effort to save their employers. In reaction, the South Vietnamese backed up, and would quickly gunned down the remaining mercenaries, the more cowardly ones quickly fled into the arms of other search groups, and were quickly taken as prisoners. The floor soon cleared down to one, single, classroom.
A group of rangers and soldiers assigned to the assault team quickly lined up near the final classroom door. With both officers leading from the front, An would count down from 5 with his hand, once reaching zero he signaled to advance. The group quickly kicked down the door, and stormed in, again met with last ditch swinging and stabbing. Learning their lesson, the attacking groups quickly dived and ducked for cover, and replied with M16 fire, making quick work of the unlucky many who were not behind cover. “Don’t shoot! We surrender! W-We can’t take this anymore!” A voice rang out. The ARVN soon held their fire, and yelled out orders in broken English for the surrendering forces to raise their hands-err- hooves, and slowly raise from their cover. The caribou, and a few surviving earth ponies, would do so, as ARVN troops quickly rushed to their position, and grabbed them, searching their armor for any more weapons.
The ARVN quickly moved the prisoners out and checked the hostages for injuries. Some were in varied stages of undress, uniforms ripped in struggles, or worse, one of whom An notices. It was a middle school girl in a plain white, tattered aoi dai*, holding on to a dead, bloodied teacher, the corpse of the attacking caribou clearly strewn next to them, full of bullet holes, his penis at erection and covered with more blood. She was shaken and scared, trembling in shock, and crying softly. Panicking in denial, An quickly, but gently moved the teacher’s corpse, he then saw a horrifying sight, the girl’s lower dress and pants were ripped apart revealing thighs, and her folds, covered in blood in approximately the same area as the buck’s blood.
A young private behind the lieutenant would be unfortunate enough to witness it, and quickly rushed to the window to vomit. With comforting, but tense, squinted eyes, fists clenched in anger, An slowly turned to the girl, and offered out his hand to her, kneeling down as he got close to her, just to prevent any further intimidation. "Don't worry, we're here to get you out, you're already safe." The ARVN quickly found the general in the same room, he tried to put up some resistance, but, fueled by anger at what they witnessed, the troops violently knocked him unconscious with the butts of their rifles, some of their more calmer comrades had to hold a few of them back to prevent further injuries made in rage.
With the remaining forces dead and captured, the Battle of Saigon effectively ended two days after the skirmish at Marie Curie. The final pocket of resistance was confirmed dead trying to escape back to the portal. The ARVN quickly secured their point of entry, and quickly fortified it at the same level as their DMZ. The international community was quickly aghast as reports came out as to the conditions of some of their nationals that were in Saigon at the time of the attack. Americans were shocked in horror as images of rape, murder, and savagery appeared right on their TV screens, the same screens that showed the horrors to an unpopular war now made witness to an enemy whose actions proved to be far worse than the regime that their government propped up, their anger only furthered fueled by news of the Embassy being attacked, with some U.S. civilians being among the assaulted and killed. History books would officially name the incident as Thanksgiving Offensive. It became globally known as the Rape of Saigon. With the first blood drawn, Mother Vietnam, and to the extent, the international community was faced with a crossroads decision. One thing was for certain, a new, far worse evil had arisen, and they didn’t know where they were from.
November 27th, 1972 CIA Headquarters, Saigon, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
Four days. Four days of nonstop interrogation. The ARVN and South Vietnamese intelligence were a pretty infamous lot within the CIA. They were known to use torture methods at times, but not to the point where it was excessive. Nevertheless, since the prisoners spoke English, or at least a variant, a CIA advisor was attending every session of interrogation, on every prisoner. From the most insignificant private, to the most reliable lieutenant. Slowly, bit by bit, they were able to gather some basic information, and now here they were. The commander of the forces, General Reiner, it was his order that had caused much suffering in Saigon this past holiday. It was because of that that by the time the CIA was able to transfer him to their headquarters on 22 Gia Long Street*, he was covered in bruises and was already relatively thin, the Vietnamese certainly took their revenge and anger out on someone. Now the agent standing by , watching his prisoner walk into the office, had his work cut out for him. He began by having him blindfolded and placed in a sealed, solitary cell, with nothing but white, white walls, white ceilings, white floors, no windows, just air conditioning, and bright lights 24/7. The general’s hooves were socked, just to add in as much sensory deprivation as possible. All they had to do now was wait. As the figure waited by the door, calmly sipping his coffee.
“What is this place?” The general thought. He looked around at the sea of white, there would be nothing to break the color scheme, nothing but white. His fur kept him safe from the cold air conditioning, however, already after a few hours he began to feel antsy. He paced around the room, only stopped by some walls. He wasn’t in the habit of being social when he was with his men, but even for him, solitary confinement seem to make him wish for someone to talk to. In hours, the general slowly began to lose it, he did nothing but pace around, and slowly began to feel more agitated, he then tried to buck the wall in anger, grunting as he tried to put in as much effort as possible. He was only able to make a little dent in the white steel. He then tried to hit and scratch his hooves against the walls, trying to free himself from this white, helpless void, only for his efforts to become fruitless. He tried once more to break the wall with a punch, only to hurt his left hoof.
After a few hours of trying to get himself out, the general collapsed on the floor and tried to fall asleep, a difficult thing to do with non-stop bright light. Suddenly, he was assaulted by a thousand voices, began to tremble, trying to talk to himself to keep himself sane in the face of all the voices whispering repeatedly in his head, harassing him of the war crimes he had committed.
By the 2nd day of his internment, the general was yelling bloody murder, and tried to pound against the door. The figure was smiling to himself as the general was led out of the cell, at least this method literally beat the South Vietnamese method. It was certain, he was ready to talk. The strange, suited figure sat on a chair across from Reiner, who was restrained and monitored by additional agents. He set his papers straight and began to clear his throat. “Well, judging by your screaming general, it sounded like you wanted to talk?”
“Like I wanted to, I have already lost my dignity to you, you might was well shoot me where I stand, your shorter buddies didn’t seem to keep that out of the picture.”
“We’re not the South Vietnamese.” the agent said straight-faced at the stubborn general.
“Then who are you?”
“Just a lil’ ‘ol friend of theirs.”
“Why are you questioning me then?”
“Because whatever happens to them, or whatever happens to our people, makes it become our business.” the figure said, staring down the general. “Now let me be very clear, your army has fucked up a lot of people and you have a shit ton of people who would love to see you dead, and unless you start talking, you’re going back into the white room, or even better, we may even return you to those little munchkins, and you’ve already seen what they could do…”
“No torture?’
“You’ve already seen what our methods yield, do you really want to test us?” the agent said in a threatening voice. The general’s face briefly had a look of surprise, followed by calculation. The suited G-Man then set down some dossiers and opened them up for the general to read as he paced around the room. “Your lieutenants said that your force came here to gain more resources and to subjugate more people into your ideology.”
“That is correct.”
“You also hired some guns to help you out, because apparently, you can’t fight for shit.”
Reiner winced at the comment, “We are a band of warriors, and only the strong survive.”
“Pretty cute bullshit, general, but based on our questioning of your men, most of them don’t even know jackshit of combat strategy or this so-called, “Magic.” The general remained seated. “Doesn’t explain how you toppled a government though… unless you had help, which is pretty obvious based on your mercenaries. Maybe that help wasn’t enough for you…”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, that maybe you were also looking for some more powerful people to control and manipulate, seeing as that seems to be the only strong suit you… caribou have…" the figure paced around the room for a bit, he lit a cigarette and took several puffs, before he suddenly and abruptly turned back and faced Reiner, startling him. “It begs the question, where are you from? What kind of gain were you looking for in this conquest? And what kind of nation would try to expand with nothing but the power of a slippery mouth or bribery, simply to get people to fuck and control? Seeing as that’s what most of your men did after you took over parts of Saigon according to reports. It can't be to simply subjugate people into your fucked up religion, and it sure as hell doesn't look like you have any equipment to search for resources.”
“We are here on a peaceful expedi-” He was met with a violent yank of his antlers to the table, his neck crushed against the edge of the desk, he began to gag and choke, coughing violently as the suited man added pressure to his throat.
“We both know that that’s bullshit. Since you just told me beforehand that your fucking intention was to gain resources and enslave people!” the figure would then shove him back into the chair, he would then move close and yell, “Now tell me where are you guys from, how were you going to take us over, and what were your government’s intentions in this swamp of a country! Tell me the truth, or I swear to god, if you spill out any more bullshit, I will stuff you back in the white room, and leave you there ‘til your brain turns into mush, or hell, maybe I can jerry rig something right now to perhaps fuck you up even more!” he then backed out and calmly smoothed out his dress shirt. “Or, maybe I can get you out of here with a lighter sentence from the Vietnamese government, because I’m pretty sure you won’t last on your own.”
Sweating, Reiner contemplated his choices…
November 27th, 1972 DAO, Biên Hòa Air Force Base, Biên Hòa, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
“They are a race called the caribou. From a nation called Caridoon” the figure said, gesturing to a slide of a picture of a group of caribou soldiers, as an ARVN Lieutenant Colonel, only identifiable by his nametag reading Truc, translated his words into Vietnamese. “They are a race of creatures who believe that women are inherently weaker, and thus have to be controlled by men. They are essentially a nation in perpetual turmoil, they are a nation rife with power struggles and rebellions, the biggest, strongest hunk gets the throne.”
The slide then switched to an artist rendition of a large caribou, wearing a crown and covered in bushy fur. “Their old monarch was starting to look weak in the eyes of many. Because of this, one of his associates,” He gestured to the rendition, " a leader named Diann, had overthrown him, and had reformed it into a dictatorship called the Caribou Empire."
The slide then switched again to a rudimentary drawing of a white tricolor banner with red sides, and an emblem of a set of antlers over two crossed swords and a shield with a coat of arms. “Since then, they have expanded past oceans to new continents, and had invaded several nations on this continent, the general failed to reveal anything else regarding the treatment of their new possessions, but I assume what we saw in Saigon was a common practice.” Many of the personnel murmured in shock at the extent of evil the caribou had enacted, the majority of the personnel there were Vietnamese, but a small minority represented the American advisors and the remaining American forces that had yet to withdraw.
“Agent Graham.” Lieutenant Colonel Truc started, “What exactly did you do to the general?”
“Real simple, Colonel, we gave him a chance at instant freedom, he took it, and now he’s in a maximum security prison for deranged psychopaths like him. I have no doubt in my mind that your troops will treat him with “hospitality” for what he’s done?”
Truc turned and talked with South Vietnamese officers deep in a whispered discussion. After a few minutes, he turned back to Graham, and nodded, “Let’s say that we are, as you Americans say, “Giving him five-star treatment?”
Graham nodded back, and said, “That concludes my briefing on our enemy, or at least what we know of them so far.” He then shut off the projector and said, “Should I leave you to talk among yourselves?”
Truc shook his head and said, “You are also important to helping determine what our country should do, we might not have power but the least we could do is organize and suggest a plan of action to President Thieu, and he’ll try to appeal to our National Assembly to see if we can take action against these monsters.” Graham nodded in acceptance, and so the field agent, along with his posse of advisors and generals went into a deep discussion on a plan to combat these killer equines from outer space.
November 30th, 1972 Presidential Palace, Saigon, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
Thieu has been under a lot of stress for the past few months. It had only been a month since the near disaster called the Easter offensive nearly swept his country whole. A lot of incompetent mistakes were made in those first months, to the point where he had to dismiss several of his commanding officers. The enemy was 56 miles away from Saigon. Had it not been through the talents of several of his generals, the fighting spirit of the South Vietnamese armed forces, and the awesome power of the U.S. air forces, Thieu was sure that Saigon would’ve fallen. And now, after all the bombings and the mining of several seaports, the communists were finally suing for peace. His hope was that the ongoing Paris Peace Accords could conclude with the communist forces withdrawing from occupied areas, and leaving South Vietnam in peace to make its own sovereign decisions. But now he had another invasion on his hands, and this time, it was not the doing of the communists. His forces were able to repel the enemy and wear them down to capitulation, but now he was faced with a difficult situation.
“It is at the conclusion of our briefing with the CIA and CIO* Mr. President, that these invading forces are a clear threat to Southeast Asia. They have been proven to be ruthless, and who knows what is behind that portal, all we know is that someone needs our help over there.” Brigadier General Le Nguyen Vy, commander of the ARVN 5th division brought up, he was accompanied by all commanders of all the military tactical zones. “They have attacked our capital, we must defend ourselves from this threat.”
“I do agree with you, but our resources are running thin, with the fact that America is starting to-“
“The international community is at an uproar!” Exclaimed Tran Thiem Khiem, the prime minister of South Vietnam. “They have just had evidence of life beyond the earth, and the fact that it’s hostile. They must send support to us if they want to keep the world safe.”
“Prime minister, that plan that the generals have suggested assumes that the U.S. will follow their word on maintaining support for us and continue to equip our military. In addition, it assumes that our enemies in the north would back down and would leave us in peace, though they have been left starving and crippled from American bombing, we just cannot assume these facts.”
“The CIA agent gave his word that they will try to get Kissinger to help Tran Van Lam* negotiate to a position where South Vietnam’s sovereignty is in safe hands, and the Americans could stay.”
“What makes you think that he won’t do anything to end this war with these...aliens? Everyone is tired of our current war with the north, even our own people are tired of this war.”
“Mr. President, the news had recorded footage from the Thanksgiving Offensive, we have had reports from our embassy in Washington that that footage had been broadcasted all over the United States, and that a lot of people are shocked and disturbed that something like this is happening right in front of them. There will be public support to at least leave a few advisors to help us defeat this evil.”
“I see. Well, regardless of the concerns I have prime minister, Vietnam has been attacked, and as such, it is our duty to defend our lands against hordes, human or not. We will go to war gentlemen, but as it stands, our forces are stretched out pretty thin right now as it is. We are not sure that the Americans will keep their word, and will continue to supply us. Furthermore, aside from Australia, South Korea, Laos, and Cambodia, who else would care for a nation such as ours? We will declare war gentlemen, I can guarantee that, but it will be a long a difficult fight, adding weight to a strain we already have. I’ll do my best to help pass the declaration of war through the national assembly, but let me warn you my generals, this will be a difficult fight. Understood?” Thieu received nods from his generals and staff.
“Then we shall discuss further plans in our own offense and defense in the event that such a war were to happen…”
December 3rd, 1972 National Assembly Building, Saigon, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
The South Vietnamese National Assembly was at an uproar. In the weeks following the attack on Saigon, many government offices were receiving concerns regarding the safety and the well-being of the people. Many of the Vietnamese people were outraged at the lack of a quick response against the failed attack. They wanted revenge. The room was filled with arguing and talking, while members of the western media, from the BBC to the Associated Press, to the evening news casters of ABC, NBC, and CBS, swiveled and rolled their cameras and checked the sound from their mics, as they awaited the response from the South Vietnamese government. President Thieu walked into the room to abrupt silence, and the flashing of several cameras. He slowly walked to the podium, in the middle of the House of Representatives, and fixed his stack of papers. He then spoke into the microphones.
“My fellow countrymen, two weeks ago, on November 23rd, 1972, the Republic of Vietnam had made humanity’s first contact with an extraterrestrial being. That first contact had resulted in the massacre and rape of thousands of innocent civilians."
There was an explosion of chattering, yelling in outrage, and questions being frantically asked. Camera lights flashed on and off, the room quickly fell into disarray before the speaker of the house ordered everyone to be silent. Thieu continued with his speech.
“Since our founding, we have been a nation that has been in constant state of war. We have never been at peace, internationally or domestically, we have never known quiet, and we were never one-hundred percent safe. Now, when we are at the cusp of peace with our neighbors in the north, fate has seemed to have given us another problem to combat with the departure of our American allies. We are at the crossroads, between unsure peace, and a prolonged war, no longer only against our brothers and sisters in the north, but against creatures which have never been seen since the empires of old. Let me reassure you that the United States has done everything within their power to help us get crucial information about our foe.'" He paused to wait for a reaction, then continued on with his speech.
"What we know is limited, our enemy is a different species to us, essentially being animals. Our enemy leads a government that thrives on imperialism and conquest, and creates atrocities parallel to communism. Our enemy takes away the freedoms of certain people, and lets the privileged abuse their power. And more importantly, our enemy possibly has the influence of an entire world to provide them support for their conquests, their treacheries, and their immoralities. Let me assure you that our generals and I have been able to create a plan to combat this new foe. It will be a difficult undertaking, for we may have little to no support from the Americans, as we speak our Minister of Foreign Affairs is not only trying to settle for a ceasefire which would be in our favor, he is also trying to look for allies to help us explore this new world. Our resources as they are, are dwindling from this long and arduous war." Several members from some of the more conservative parties and some of the anti-war parties began to yell in outrage and argument before Thieu silenced them with a raise of his palm. He calmly returned to his speech.
"However, to those who consciously object to the possibility to a new war, let me remind you that as a sovereign nation, it is our duty to protect the fatherland when he is preemptively attacked. In addition, with the introduction of this new threat, we are not the only ones in danger. This foe has shown that he fights to conquer, and will not be sated until everyone, communist, or no, is under their twisted control. Already and we have representatives from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, and South Korea who are willing to take part to defend the region against this alien threat.
We do not know of any information yet regarding our cousins in the north, or their allies in China or the Soviet Union, or among the Khmer Rouge, or among our remaining few but radicalized members within the Viet Cong, but with information of this attack, there is a chance they will tread lightly on a situation that could easily lead to Armageddon. More will come to help us, they have seen our suffering on their screens at home at night. And more will come, whether they be our former colonizers from France, or a coalition from the United Nations, they will come. We do not guarantee that our American allies will come and assist us any more than just supply and advise, but they will do their part to save the world.
And that brings me to my final call. Based on intelligence gathered from both our American allies, and from our intelligence. The enemy may be enslaving millions and millions of beings. To what horror they are being subjected to, we can only guess. But there is a people out there that is in need of liberation from an authoritarian regime."
Thieu looked on as he saw the assembly room's atmosphere turned cold, and soon, the only movement came from the scribbling of journalists from their notes. Thieu paused before he reached to his conclusion.
"As the strongest nation in this region, and as a protégée to a nation that thrives on free choice, and democracy, we must pay it forward, and help these people. For if we don’t help them, who will? To them, we will be the beacon of freedom, of choice, and of happiness; Just as how the Americans had tried to be when they helped fight our battles. And thus, I urge of you, we must declare war not just to save ourselves, but to save others. Thank you, thank you very much.”
The National Assembly applauded as President Thieu left the podium. As the assembly began their vote, the footage recorded from the media was quickly broadcasted worldwide. After an hour long debate and planning, the vote to declare war had come to be, and with unanimous support, the Republic of Vietnam; a nation still torn up in internal strife, was now at war to save two worlds.
In the west, recordings of Thieu’s speech were translated and broadcasted on every TV station. South Vietnam’s proclamation and its near suicidal move shocked the world. Many were in awe and in wonder that the South Vietnamese were willing to go through such lengths just to respond to an atrocity. There’s a general sense of alarm, and in some cases, heavy skepticism by many on whether or not South Vietnam would be able to handle a two front war.
Within the week, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, declared war against the Caribou Empire, the Philippines and Japan pledged support. Within the next two weeks, The Royal Laotian government, The Khmer Republic of Cambodia, and the Royal Thai Government also pledged support. It wasn’t a large force, but it was a good start. For now, this new war seemed to be a regional conflict. But as this coalition mobilized their forces, the world would hold their breath, waiting for a response from not just the United Nations, but from the two Cold War superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, as tensions began to slowly rise within this old battleground. Whether or not the war in Vietnam ended, and whether or not South Vietnam would have support in this new war, leaned desperately on the actions of these two superpowers.
December 13th, 1972 Biên Hòa Air Force Base, Biên Hòa, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
“Hurry it up you dogs! We are getting ready to fight against some aliens, and this won’t cut it!” Drill Sergeant Theiu Suong Nguyen yelled as many of the ARVN troops ran through the obstacle course. Many of them had been fresh out of boot camp. After the Thanksgiving offensive, there was a sharp increase in enlistment for the South Vietnamese armed forces, more specifically, in branches where it was likely that they would see combat in the upcoming counter offensive. Many decided to join not just the ARVN, others transferred to the Marine division, while others transferred into the Airborne division or the Rangers or even Special Forces. Many of them were young, wanting nothing but revenge for the atrocities committed by their alien foe.
In turn, many were cocky, and as such, the task of breaking them in and training them for combat fell onto a recently promoted Captain Nguyen. The National Assembly had seen fit to not only award him for his actions in the offensive, but have President Thieu personally promote him to captain. For this, he had spent the past week trying to get things in order and often had to stay awake late into the early hours to make sure everything was ship shape.
Thus that led him to his current overseeing into the training regime set by the Drill Sergeant, mainly being there to provide guidance and to help make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. So far, the new troops had went through the course barely under record time. Looking through binoculars, the senior sergeant muttered “At this rate, they might not stand a chance against our new threats.”
“They might, our police officers were able to hold their ground until the Rangers arrived.”
“From the report, it said you and your men were nearly overrun. To the point where you were considering withdrawal from the area.” The drill sergeant grunted back, still staring down at the struggling grunts.
“That may be so Sergeant, but if our police force can hold their own against a few magical enemies, than we can push them back.”
“Which is the reason why I’m so concerned about these recruits.”
“I know. Boys, just out of high school. Many of them impassioned from the horrors they saw these past few weeks.”
“With that kind of passion, they’re bound to make a mistake.”
“Yes, and so we train them, but do you have to necessarily be harsh on them?”
“You and I have been through similar situations before, Captain. With all due respect, this will at least have them prepare for the battlefield. Any kind of punishment I dish out to them, though it may destroy their ego, will humble them so that they can think clearly and rationally when we charge into that new land.” An nodded in agreement, as he and the Senior Sergeant continued to push their troops, covered in dust, mud, and sweat upon their gear, to the limit.
December 24th, 1972 Biên Hòa Air Force Base, Biên Hòa, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam
Christmastime in Vietnam had been quite eventful. In addition to the last Bob Hope USO show in Vietnam taking place, Nixon, though under constant scrutiny from Watergate, had reassured Thieu that he would support South Vietnam in the defense of their land, even after possible complete American withdraw. That, and a strong desire by the American people to get North Vietnam to end the war pushed Nixon to respond with a Christmas bombing otherwise known as Operation Linebacker II, a campaign that had wiped out Hanoi and key strategic cities, and had just now pressured the North Vietnamese to talk at the peace table.
In response to the Thanksgiving offensive, Nixon had the approval of Congress to at least keep several advisors in country and to up the ante on sending equipment and supplies to the South Vietnamese, but not to send boots on the ground. The Soviet Union, in the meantime, did little in response. They merely observed, and pressured Hanoi to end the war at a truce, at least until they could get word on the extent of this extraterrestrial threat.
Bin Hoa had become a bustling base these past few weeks, as Australian, New Zealander, and South Korean troops were flown in from their respective countries. The portal, after analysis from South Vietnamese scientists, and several more scientists from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, deemed the portal portable, and in turn the military moved it to Biên Hòa with great effort to not only safeguard against any remaining Viet Cong, but to also keep the threats within the control of the ARVN and the VNAF.
In turn, the base had a few more defensive mechanisms sent from the U.S. Among them was a steel door to seal up the gate if their foothold got compromised, and a last ditch effort via the rigging of a few underground nukes that when detonated, would destroy the not only the base, but possibly the surrounding town.
Captain Nguyen had managed to help train his troops, and stood proud as his men, standing at attention and in rank and file, next to many other troops from their allied nations, finally stood in front of the gate, M113’s and M35 trucks, some carrying artillery, were lined up in front of the portal entrance in two columns. In front of them they were escorted by M48 and M42 tanks, as well as M42 dusters to provide anti-aircraft and mobile artillery cover with the M107 self-propelled guns. From the side, a podium was set up with some staff members, commanders of the various nations in the coalition, and an entourage of five.
Each of the three officers represented the branches of the South Vietnamese army, navy, and air force. The fourth staff officer was Brigadier General Ngô Quang Trưởng, a well-known general who’s previous commands included the 1st ARVN division, the IV corps: the southernmost sector; and most recently, I Corps: the military defensive sector that was furthest north, to the border on the DMZ, taken up after he organized the defense and counter-offensive named Lam Son 72 during the Easter Offensive.
The final man, standing on the podium, was President Thieu, who was organizing his note cards in preparation for a speech. He stared out into the vast audience, and cleared his throat, before he began to speak in English, with a distinctly heavy Vietnamese-French accent.
“My fellow countrymen, and my allies. Today is the day that we take the fight back to the monsters who not only sacked Saigon, but also pose a great risk to the free world. For many of you, for all of us, it was but a dream that we would meet beings from another world within our lifetime. Even less that they are friendly. And thus, it is that low probability that we are here today. To fight against this hostile force. And to free who or whatever is being enslaved by these beings.
This fight will be long and hard, as much as our current war with the north, maybe even more. That is a guarantee. But what I can promise is this, what we are doing is right. If no one will help them, who will? We must certainly not let this world fall into Communist hands, even if they fail to react so far to this new threat. You have our blessing to go to fight for their freedom. In time, we will not be alone, in time, the world will see the wrongs being done, and in response, they will send help. Until then, we must depend on ourselves, and make sure that all of us, friend and foe, get home safely, thank you. General, you have my orders.”
General Trưởng saluted and then turned to the group, and yelled, “Men, you will be the first to set foot onto a planet with sentient life. We will not be the first men to land on an astronomical body, as that honor has clearly been given to the Americans. However, that should not deter you from your duty to defend your homeland! I will not tolerate funny business and I’ll draw the line here! We represent what is best for not only the Republic of Vietnam, Australia, or even South Korea, we represent what is the best for Earth. So if I hear of any incidents that soil our reputation, you will live to regret it from not only me, but from your commanders, and from the world! Understood!?”
“Yes sir!”
“Good. Heed every order given to you by your officers and leaders, and follow your instincts. Those two instructions will help you survive in this possible hell of a war. If you meet the locals, be sure to win their hearts and minds, and show them that we will protect them until their motherland is free once more! And with that, I wish you the best of luck! You have gotten your briefings from the appropriate commanders, and you know what to do! Move out!”
And with that order, the coalition mounted up to their respective vehicles. The tanks, artillery, and the various vehicles revved up, and turned on their lights. The ARVN General mounted up onto the lead jeep, and then signaled the coalition to move forward. The gate door was opened up and was reactivated, various .30 caliber gun turrets fixed their sights at the entrance. As the VNAF ground personal guided the vehicles into the gate, many troops began to whisper their prayers that they would arrive safely. Others sat there, contemplating the possibility that they might never come back. As the last of the convoy disappeared into the gate, the general staff monitored the radio transmissions near the gate entrance in a command APC, waiting to see what would happen.
December 24th, 1972, 1700 Hours (5:00 PM) The Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus
The allied coalition had expected to go up against a fierce enemy. What they received, however, was silence, and an empty hill. Taking advantage of this head start, the coalition quickly built an entrenchment system and an FOB to gain a foothold within the region. As artillery pieces and prefabs were set in place, Rangers and Special Forces members quickly fanned out and enacted reconnaissance in the surrounding area.
The four nations organized their emplacements into four sectors of the FOB, as they set up dugouts and machine gun nests. It was in one of these entrenchments, that Captain An was leaning against the dug in trench, binoculars in hand, radioman next to him, looking outwards and keeping an eye out for any movements. Frustrated, the new radioman sighed and said, “I thought we were here to fight demons, not just sit around to become bait.”
“Patience, Corporal. We cannot afford to lose this foothold, for if we do, who knows how we’ll recover. We have so much that needs to take place, and so many things that could go wrong.”
“I know sir. But you’d think that they would better defend their prized gateway.”
“That’s why the Rangers and the Special Forces ar-”
“Firebase Alpha, Firebase Alpha, this is 1st Ranger squadron, we have located an enemy positon at mark 10 kilometers east from firebase.” The captain and the corporal looked on to the distance, but listened in on the developing situation.
“This is Command, are they aware that we’re here?”
“Negative, we ha-wait, there seems to be a caribou running into the base now. I presume he is a scout. Th-There’s a commotion being stirred in the encampment, they’re breaking camp sir!”
“Get out of there! All positions, prepare for an incoming attack from the east! I want all recon units to organize and set up flares at appropriate locations for artillery bombardment! Try to harass them and wear them down, make them fear us by the time they get here.”
Within minutes, the soldiers of the firebase would quickly spring into high alert, as the swiveled their guns over a field of mines and barbed wire. Many soldiers twitched and quivered in nervousness, An squinted as he looked down his iron sights from his M4A4 Carbine, breath held as he waited to see what monstrosities would come into their line of fire.
“And those are their defenses, lieutenant?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then you may leave us.”
The caribou lieutenant gave a prompt salute before returning to his regiment of mixed forces. In addition to the assorted Zebra, Buffalo, and Pony slaves, each brigade within the task force consisted of three battalions of Equestrian troops, a battalion of griffon mercenaries, a battalion of diamond dog mercenaries, a battalion of Minotaur mercenaries, and a battalion of caribou regular army troops. Providing air cover were ten wings of dragons; who didn’t participate in the assault on the strange lands due to the fact that many of them had arrived late to the assault, and had just now arrived.
Quietly, the general of the forces ordered his task force, led by each of their respective lieutenants of their respective species, further to the source of light, carefully hiding the thump of their hooves and gear. Many of the creatures looked around nervously, quaking and shaking, it hadn't helped that the bipedal beings had ambushed them multiple times, only to retreat back into the forest without a trace. They had lost many men to the mysterious green men, and by this point, many of the soldiers were deterred and jumpy.
They passed by a sign that read in Equestrian and random scribbles, Prench, and some modified version of Equestrian, “Keep Out: For Safety Reasons, This Area is Off Limits. By Order of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam and the Pacific Coalition.” The General was puzzled “Who were the Pacific Coalition, and what happened to their own invasion force?” He pondered as he led his men.
His thoughts quickly came to an end however, as suddenly, several flashes of red lights flew into the air, lighting the entire night sky. Many of the forces looked up, surprised at seeing such fireworks in a desolate place like this. Suddenly, explosions rang out across the entire field, as bolts of light sliced through their ranks, making many of them fall. General Stalker ducked down, then looked back and yelled, “They know we’re here, but we must push forward to victory, charge!” Like a stampede, they tried to charge, only to be cut down by these strange lights.
Suddenly, explosions and large, audible "pops" rang out, followed by large explosions landing on the ranks, cutting into them like butter. This quickly struck fear into the soldiers, and caused them to route, leaving General Stalker to try to regroup them. As he left the hill, he turned back, eyebrows hunched in anger, and stared at the source of these new lights, squinting and muttering, “We will make you fall to our will.”
Over the next few days, the firebase was locked in a siege, as the enemy tried again and again to charge at them, only to be cut down by machine guns and artillery fire from both the actual artillery, and tanks entrenched in their positions. Two days afterward, the caribou attempted to combine forces with their dragon wings. The strategy worked to some effect, as Captain An and his men quickly ducked to narrowly avoid the fire, which caused some damage and had blown a few tanks and one of their fuel dumps. Many of the men rushed around to try to avoid the breath of what they looked up to as a sacred animal.
The dragon’s reign of terror soon ended though, as ARVN dusters quickly swatted them down with slow, but steady rhythms of anti-aircraft artillery. A few days into the siege, the VNAF were able to roll in a flight of A-1 Skyraiders with their wings folded. As soon as the planes and their pilots were prepped for flight, they were immediately scrambled to assist the dusters and the anti-aircraft guns with the turkey shoot. The already ancient Korean War-era aircraft flew up, down, and around the dragons, trying to avoid their fire, while they got off a few shots, piercing their scales and taking them down.
Pretty soon the VNAF, though outnumbered, were able to quickly route the dragons, and clear the skies for the coalition forces. With air superiority quickly retaken into coalition hands, the VNAF quickly took advantage of the situation and made strafing runs against the charging enemies, releasing MK82 bombs and napalm into the fray, burning most of the enemy forces alive. The ARVN and their allies were free to call in trucks and trucks of ammunition and supplies from Saigon to keep up their game.
All around An, troops rushed out of foxholes to quickly unload land rovers and M35 trucks of their ammo and supplies under constant spear, arrow, and spell fire. Sounds of M16 and SLR fire mixed with the steady beat of M60 machine guns and the occasional thumps of mortars and artillery shells quickly replied to the oncoming enemy gunfire, the stench of burning flesh and napalm quickly filling the air as the VNAF did another bombing run. At night, the Captain An led groups to take in the bodies and replant the mines for another day of bloodshed. Whoever they were going up against had quite the dedication to charge into a literal meat grinder.
"Sir!, Sir! Wake up!" a sleeping American jolted his eyes open as he was violently awakened by an ARVN lieutenant, dressed in an ERDL uniform of various greens and browns, topped with a maroon beret.
He groaned as he lifted himself out of bed, clad in a dark green undershirt and green boxers. He soon turned to the lieutenant and asked, "What's going on? Are we being attacked?"
The Lieutenant shook his head and say, "No, the Colonel wants to see us for a briefing, he wants us to be in his office immediately."
"Shit. Alright, I'll be down there, you go on and let the colonel know I'll be over there as soon as possible." The Lieutenant nodded in affirmation, and quickly walked to the doorway, leaving the captain to go slip on similarly colored uniform and beret. He checked and saw if he had forgotten anything as he grabbed his pistol belt, and then rushed out of the barracks, contemplating his life so far in country as he rushed to his latest meeting.
He was hoping since the war was winding down for the U.S. that he would receive a relatively uneventful tour of duty before returning home. It was a complete shock to him when the DAO had ordered him to go with his advisor unit to the new region of magical horsey land to exact revenge on some fucked up version of the deer he had hunted back home in Kentucky.
When he arrived here, and when he came face to face with the enemy, he thought he had accidently taken LSD, until he got decked in the head of course when a caribou got too close to him. But since the waves died down, he had hoped to get some sleep, only to be interrupted by this hullabaloo. This week sure wasn’t a lucky week for him. "Well, it's a good time to be up at least." he remarked, as he witnessed the sun beginning to rise, creating a various pastel of light blues and oranges. He and his Lieutenant briskly walked into an office labelled Colonel Truc Nguyen, and snaped to attention to salute. “Captain William Taylor and Lieutenant Huong Sinh Pham at your service, sir!”
“At ease, Captain, Lieutenant.” Truc said, as he poured some coffee into a mug and walked up to a rudimentary map on the board after saluting back at them. Taylor and Pham stood at ease, before they both took a seat.
“Alright, I’ll be brief, since the siege on our firebase, we were able to ship and reassemble a reconnaissance aircraft to scout the area for the enemy encampment once we were able to gain aerial superiority.” He then gestured to the dossier full of aerial photographs of a set of tents and fenced off areas.
“We had found this camp,” he pointed at a certain place on the map, “Here, 15 kilometers from our firebase. Your mission is to destroy that camp, and end this siege once and for all. We have spotted a gap in their defenses near their rear flak, near some mountains. You will rappel near the forest bordering the camp with the mountains, from there you will trek through the jungle west until you reach the camp. Once there, eliminate any remaining hostile forces, capture any key officers, and rescue anyone trapped within the camp. Do not worry, elements from the 1st Armored Cavalry division, as well as elements of the 1st, and 23rd ARVN Divisions, with a unit of airborne troops will back you up immediately, the rest of the coalition would soon follow. Any questions?”
Taylor nodded and asked, “What kind of air support can we call in?”
“We are limited on air power as it is, Captain. Until we can get more air groups through the gate, you will be limited to a squad of Skyraiders if things turn south. In addition, you will have MEDEVAC available to you as soon as you free the camp, or fall back to a safer area. You will also have choppers to evacuate if needed, however, there will only be enough to carry you, and your unit until we can receive more from Tan Son Nhat.”
“So you’re saying we’ll be out of the dark until we destroy the camp?”
“Precisely.”
Taylor nodded and said, “Understood, sir. Do you have any questions Lieutenant?”
Pham shook his head. “We are good to go whenever you are, sir.”
“Excellent, meet the choppers on the tarmac in 8 minutes, dismissed.” Both officers left, quickly assembling their team and quickly hopping onto the choppers, flying off into the dangers unknown. As they began on their journey, Taylor rested his boonie hat over his eyes and rested himself against the wall of the huey, slowly falling asleep to the lull of the helicopter blades.
December 28th, 1972, 0648 Hours (6:48 AM) Airspace Over Smokey Mountains, Equestria, Equus
“Captain Taylor!” The aforementioned Captain bolted awake as he was violently shaken by a crewman nearly three quarters of his size with a broken accent. “We are near the LZ! I have already notified your lieutenant! Just get ready for drop!”
“Alright! Thanks crewman!” Taylor yelled back, as he unslung his CAR-15 and extended his stock. His Lieutenant crouched next to the captain and tried to yell over the helicopter blades.
“Captain Taylor! The troops are ready to fast line into combat, shall we go over the plan!?”
“Sure! If that will make you feel better! You know the drill, right!?”
“Form a perimeter once we touch the ground! After the choppers leave, form into five fire teams of six!”
“Right! And after that, form into clusters and move in a column position! Once we arrive at the camp, we’ll set up shop, and figure out what to do there!”
“Arriving at LZ in five minutes!” The crewman yelled out, as the door gunners raised their weapons and scanned the area for enemy movement.”
“I’ll review the plan with the men! I’ll see you on the ground!”
“Good luck lieutenant!” Pham nodded, and crouch-walked back to his men, relaying the plan in Vietnamese. The captain returned his gaze to the outside, seeing the trees fly by and the mountains nearby, snowcapped over them with several distant houses, all in shambles.
“We are here, release the lines!” The crewman cried out, two lines, one on each side, quickly dropped to the ground. “Go! Go! Go!” The crewmen yelled, as the troops quickly rappelled down to the LZ. The troops quickly unslung their weapons, and formed circles around where they dropped, as soon as the lines retracted, and the sound of the choppers faded away, the Pham quickly gestured for the ranger squads to form up into their respective fire teams.
“Alright, stick to the plan, and move in a column, keep on the lookout for any hostile, I don’t want any creatures to leave unscathed, understood?” the rangers nodded and gave a thumbs up before forming up. The rangers then began to move along the forest path. Hours of tense hours passed as the rangers scanned the tree line, only to find nothing but movement from the wildlife, scared by the alien’s appearance.
Taylor suddenly raised his fist and quickly stopped the platoon. “What is it Taylor?” The Captain gestured to the south east, toward a clearing full of light and sound. They sneaked up to the camp, hiding behind bushes close enough to see key details of the camp, but far enough to not be spotted by long range sentries. Both Pham and his advisor, Taylor glanced through their binoculars at the camp. The sight before them was a sight to behold.
The camp was lively, sure, but many ponies, griffons, diamond dogs, minotaur’s, and caribou were wounded. Nearby there was a pen where more ponies were chained up together with collars of varying colors. They had a feminine look to them and many were in varied states of abuse only slightly noticeable from the distance. Some of the creatures were copulating with them, others were outright raping them, beating them, or working them to death.
“Alright Huong, I want you to set up some snipers from places they know they can’t miss, set up your squads to surround the camp, I don’t care how, just do it, it’s your call. Then group up with me and bring a radioman. Have the fire teams signal when they are ready to attack, rules of engagement do apply, we need to get those slaves out alive.” Huong nodded, and gestured to the fire teams and the snipers, whispering for them to get into positions and directing them where to go.
He then returned to his advisor’s side with a radioman, and then crouched down behind the bushes, as they watched the fire teams slip into position. Several minutes later, the fire teams reported in that they were within position.
“Captain Taylor, they are ready to move at our command, your suggestion?”
“Move in slowly and gradually, have one of the sniper teams and one of the fire teams monitor the perimeter to make sure no one leaves alive. Then move in quickly, and quietly, and take out the outer sentries.”
The Pham nodded, and gestured for the radio, he adjusted the channel, and whispered, “Sniper team Alpha, monitor the area, Fire team six, form a perimeter around the camp and keep track of any movement. The rest of you move in and close the space, take out any enemies silently, once we get near the fence, hold your position until I give the order.” His word was quickly relayed to the other fire teams, and soon the sixth fire team spread out to cover ground. The rest quickly moved in, Huong and his advisor moving with them.
Suddenly, the fire team discovered a sentry of their own, Huong quickly sneaked up, hunched over and tip-toeing, careful to avoid any twigs and any beams of light from further sentries. He then slowed to a stop near the sentry behind the brush, and laid in wait for the sentry to return. Huong breathed in deeply, and quietly as he waited for the sentry to return, he gripped his K-Bar from his webbing and mumbled, "C'mon you bastard, you have to return at some point."
Huong soon had his chance, as he heard the clopping of hooves returning to his position. Once he heard the clopping go directly next to him, he struck with a fierce passion worthy of the black panther on his shoulder patch, pouncing on the poor bull's back, k-bar drawn. He quickly covered the bull’s mouth, and slit his throat. He collapsed to the ground in a puddle of his own blood gurgling and drowning from the red liquid. Pham stood up, and with the help of three of his men, dragged the corpse into a nearby bush. They then continued the process of sneaking and taking down sentries until they met up with fire team three near the fence entrance.
“Sir, fire teams two through five have reached the wall, we are ready to move on your mark” the radio blared out silently.
“Tell the snipers to find their targets, and signal when they are ready.” Pham replied back into the receiver.
Several minutes passed before the radioman reported that all snipers found their targets. Captain Taylor nodded to Huong and whispered, “They’re all yours, Lieutenant.”
Pham nodded, and quickly, but quietly drew out his flare gun, he then quickly loaded it with a red flare, and then pointed it towards the sky.
“Sir, we are down to nearly a quarter of our forces left. This siege has to stop, the enemy clearly has the upper hand.” A battered Lieutenant reported. His armor was significantly dented, with several burn marks from the close calls with the sticky flame dropped from the strange metal birds.
“We had explicit orders from Emperor Diann himself, you fool! You know the margin for error is none! We have to take this hill and retake the gate, or die trying!” General Stalker yelled back enraged, the Lieutenant quickly cowered under the scrutiny of his superior, but foolishly retorted back.
“Sir, we barely have enough to contain the slaves we brought with us, what makes you think we can repel another enemy offensive”
“Diann had promised us reinforcements will come relieve us by train. If we can hold-”
“You are aware that that might not be possible sir! You, yourself have seen the capabilities of these bipedal creatures!”
A young caribou cow flinched as she heard her master, and also unfortunately, her father, yell at one of his subordinates. A lot had changed in these past few weeks. It wasn’t too long ago that one of the scouts had rushed back to camp saying the enemy had arrived on their doorstep. That had left the camp in complete frenzy. Soldies rushing to assemble to go to the front, slaves being dragged by their chains in the opposite direction, fillies and a few colts crying as they tried to process what was going on.
The complete and utter chaos had given her the opportunity to try to escape with her closest friend, a Crystal Empire unicorn with a sparkling lavender coat and a peaceful light sky blue mane, and a cutie mark of a book with some random letters and runes hovering over with a few lines surrounding it representing speech. They had succeeded…for a few meters. They were recaptured again surprisingly by a few of the stragglers. Cowardly to retreat from the enemy, yet still domineering enough to notice a few of runaway slaves.
She had received many beatings and much worse once they resettled. Since that night, she and her crystal pony friend had noticed that many of the soldiers and mercenaries in the camp were trying to party harder than usual, the soldiers they slept with noted their extreme fear, telling stories of metal birds who dropped sticky flame and shot magic strong enough to kill dragons. Of the initial attack, where they had unseen enemies in the pitch of night, yet they shot bolts of orange magic, strong enough to break through armor.
Then of the horror and terror as the new foe and used explosion magic, of how the ground blew up from underneath their comrade’s feet, and how there was a heavy rain of fire after claps of thunder. Such descriptions terrified the two best friends to the point where the minute they had overheard the argument concerning what type of military action to take against the creatures while waiting to be invited in, the very thought nearly shook them to the core, for though they might have a chance at salvation, they had little to no idea what had happened to those who were taken in by these aliens.
“Do you think they might be nearby Daleering?” the crystal unicorn whispered, trying not to let the guards overhear her.
“I-I am not sure.” Daleering said meekly. Her face scrunched up with a slight fear in her eyes. The crystal mare noticed, and quickly wrapped a fore hoof around her dear friend’s, away from the gaze of the guards. “I-I’m sorry I can’t answer your question Crystal, I’m just as scared as you are, l-let’s just hope that-” their conversation died quickly as a flash of red light shot up to the sky.
“That’s them! It’s the aliens! They’ve come to kill us all!” one of the nearby guards cried out in terror, before his head exploded in skull fragments, brain matter, and gore in front of the duo. Suddenly, the entire place erupted in a cacophony of loud bangs and cracks, as flashes of light appeared from everywhere. Panicked for their lives, Dalerring quickly dragged her friend to someplace safe, as soldiers fell around them, and several explosions trembled the ground, her mind rushed as she dragged them near a pit, and covered it up with leaves. Now all they had to do was wait through this holocaust, hoping they’d be spared of this destruction.
“Keep the pressure on them! Don’t let them run off!” Pham yelled out, as he and Taylor led their squads, charging into the compound guns blazing. Many of the mercenaries quickly tried to kill off the rangers. Minotaur’s grabbed rangers and crushed them in their fists, the poor souls screaming as their bones audibly cracked, before they gurgled and faded into oblivion. Pegasi and griffons swooped and dived, trying to grab at the rangers, some of the newbies were grabbed, and dropped from a killable height, some make it out alive as their captors were quickly shot to pieces by rifle and machine gun fire.
Taylor unloaded a clip into a charging Minotaur before it was able to reach an unsuspecting Pham. Pham turned, and smiled, giving a nod in thanks, before flinching and shooting his rifle at a unicorn charging his magic, waiting to strike the Captain until his head exploded. “Now we are even.” He said.
“Let’s get back to work.” Taylor replied back, as both the Lieutenant and the advisor returned to shooting at charging enemies, as their troops continued to rush into the compound. Some of them would duck and cover, trying to dodge arrows and spell fire. Some of the rangers threw grenades into foxholes being occupied by diamond dogs, forcing them to run out into the open to be gunned down. Yelling could be heard as some of the earth ponies, unicorns, and caribou tried to charge into Taylor’s position, their ranks quickly being gunned down by M60 machine gun fire and the combined arms of many M16’s.
Minotaur's reinforced a scant few of the caribou ranks, trying to break through the line, with limited success, as they swung their axes and battle hammers, smashing skulls and chopping off limbs. Many of the rangers briefly panicked at the carnage, some even fell back, but in the end they managed to suppress the minotaur’s after a few minutes of combined fire. With a majority of their leaders and strong, key players killed in the charge, the mercenaries and some of the caribou and pony troops routed and retreated.
The diamond dogs became the first to attempt a full retreat, as they tried to dig out a means to escape. Some of the rangers pursuing the dogs dove in behind them. The dogs had no chance of survival as the pursuing rangers, trained in tunnel warfare by tunnel rats, were either gassing them out with tear gas, stabbing them to death from the rear, or shooting them in their own graves by pistol fire. Unicorns and scantly potent caribou mages tried to fire spell after spell at the rangers, managing to burn holes through several, but losing many of their own to gunfire in the process.
All the while, the routed forces tried to escape, only to be picked off by snipers one by one. Those who were lucky to make it were met with resistance from fire team six, as they quickly gunned the majority of the ponies and the caribou down. The gunfire in the surrounding area gradually stopped, as less and less enemy troops were found escaping.
Back inside the compound, the rangers quickly searched through tent after tent, clearing them out one by one. Sergeant Trung led his mean to one of the tents near the mess tent. He raised his fist and had 3 rangers on each side of the door. He then gestured for them to move in, only to take a bolt of magical plasma to the gut, his men quickly avenged him by gunning down the remaining caribou inside. “All clear inside!?” Lieutenant Pham yelled from the outside.
“All clear sir!” Corporal Dung replied back, quickly taking command of the fire team. “We need a medic though, Trung has been hit!”
“Get him out of here, we’ll call in a MEDEVAC and have medics treat him before then. Medic!” Pham yelled out, waving a nearby medic down, he rushed to the Lieutenant’s side, and stood by as the fire team carried the Sergeant out. The fire team returned to the Lieutenant’s side, and then grouped up as they continued their search.
The caribou general was in a panic, his camp was falling before his eyes, and the aliens were quickly approaching his tent. His aides were quickly burning documents, as his right hand man, a buck in colonel armor, walked next to him. “I want what’s left of our men to try to escape to the rails at once, take whatever supplies we can carry, and burn down anything that could give away our path!”
“What of the slav-”
“Leave them for dead or kill them! Do what you want, but we are not taking them! I must return to my quarters, colonel, but I must ask you to take this,” he handed to his subordinate a scroll bearing the imperial wax crest, “And lead the remaining men in an evacuation, get this to the nearest occupied city as possible, you are dismissed.”
“But si-”
“Leave, now!” The general barked back, as his underling quickly rushed out, orders in his saddlebags, the general stormed into his room. In it, a bedroom in disarray, the clearing near his bed drawn with intricate runes, glowing stones stored within a box nearby. The general picked up the stones, and placed them in a set pattern, the stones glowed with increasing intensity, and eventually revealed an image of Emperor Diann, vast and grand as always, scowling in anger as he muttered, “This had better be important, General Stalker, I was in the middle of-”
“The creatures have taken the base, my lord!” the general exclaimed. “Our troops had done our best, but it looks as though the invasion has failed, now aliens come with the intent on ending us all! We’re next!”
“I see…” The emperor nodded in thought, stroking his beard like a stereotypical evil madman. “What have you done?”
“I’ve evacuated as many troops as I can to the train station my lord, I have burned all of the important documents, and I’ve sent my colonel to-”
“And what of the slaves?”
“They are to be left for dead, my lord.”
“You are foolish general! Kill them at once, dead slaves will tell no tales, after that, you know what to do.”
“Of course my lord.” The emperor nodded in acceptance, before the hologram faded out, and the stones glowed back to their warm glow. The General started the process of cleaning up before-
“ARVN! Put your hooves up and you will not be harmed!” The same message was spoken in Equish from what he could make out, and in some other language that he had no knowledge of, he heard tables being overturned, and sounds of a struggle as his staff tried and failed to overpower the rangers. The General quickly tried to grab for his crossbow from his dresser before he felt someone tackle him, and then knock up into blackness.
“We’ve got someone, Taylor. Looks like a prominent animal!” Pham yelled out, as his men quickly tied up his fore hooves, and lifted him up to carry. Taylor walked in, carbine slung, as he took a look at the unconscious prisoner.
“He might be important, keep him under guard, and I’ll radio it to base. I think it’s safe to say we can call in the cavalry to join the party.” Pham nodded back, smiling. He picked up the receiver from his radio man, and radioed the all clear, he then handed the receiver to Taylor as he gave a report with the DAO officer on the possibly important prisoner.
What Daleering and the crystal mare saw beyond their hole was amazing and terrifying. In a span of what seemed like a lifetime, they had saw their masters slaughtered and captured, and strange creatures rush into the compound. Some of them were jumping down from giant metal dragonflies, others were moving in, riding strange, metal contraptions on wheels that moved on their own, some were boxy and angular, and had strange wheels with tracks. Others seemed like normal carts, only larger, and moving on their own power. They saw the strange beings, dressed in a variety of dull colors of brown and green, quickly rush out of the strange contraptions, and began sweeping their camp.
They were yelling in a mix of languages, many in strange tongues that they didn't recognize, some in Equish with what seemed like a less polished version of a Canterlot accent, others in some unknown language. They trembled as they saw some of the figures beat their captors into submission with the backs of their strange rods. They winced as they heard the audible cracking of bones and skulls. And they panicked even more when in the confusion, they saw their fellow slaves being gently led to somewhere they couldn't see. Daleering trembled in fear as she shrunk next to her friend, whimpering as she began to see a hopeless situation, with no way to escape without consequence.
Suddenly, a large pair of boots stepped in front of their eyes, causing both of them to squeak in surprise and duck further inside their hole, only for their cover to be lifted up, light shining at their eyes, as a silhouette of a tall man in green fatigues, a belt, and a strange cap appeared in front of them, with several similar creatures behind him. Daleering yelped in fear as she hid behind her friend, tears streaming from her eyes. This only made the Crystal mad, and so with hope of survival, and a need to protect her friend, she shut her eyes and tred to give the creature a hard buck. She would hear a crack and a high pitched shout of pain...
When dear old Captain Nguyen had ridden in his jeep, driven by his sergeant with a duo of war correspondents from the Associated Press sitting in the back, and a convoy of coalition troops behind him, into the recently captured encampment, he was sure he was told that the camp was cleared and safe. They didn’t account for the two scared animals he had found in a ditch near a group of tents… whimpering and shuddering and at worst, bucking their platoon leader’s nose off.
It was supposed to be a routine check for hidden enemy armaments, though this was a surprise. The captain and his platoon of troops were ordered to help secure the camp after the rangers had confirmed that they captured it, the news teams had come along with permission from the South Vietnamese government to take in the sights. What they found shocked them. The camp was a mess, a complete war zone, though that was to be expected. It was what was contained inside the tired old camp which created shock.
There were numerous torture posts, stocks, and gallows where pony mares clad in black, red, and purple collars were being hanged, flayed, or as some wounds indicated, were whipped or raped. Many of the mares were dead, but the lucky few who survived were immediately being treated by medics from all coalition nations. Next to the torture posts and the gallows were what looked to be a primitive pen for the mares. There were no tacks or bedding, only hay; the place stank of excrement and urine, and a cesspool of other smells that the dear captain and his news crew didn’t dare identify.
When his men began their search, their discoveries weren’t any better, they found torture chairs, some bloodied, others still had corpses on them. There also were what his men had dubbed “whore rooms.” Where there were mattresses meant for two with a selection of tools and items that were fitted more for a whorehouse than for a military camp.
There was a fast-paced cacophony of many languages, each trying to create order within the camp. Prisoners were processed, wounded were moved into the triage set up in the now-occupied medical tent. Some of the captured officers and soldiers didn’t escape the wrath of a few of the troops, as troops from each nation mistreated them, ranging from shoving them with extra force, to outright beating them, before being promptly being pulled away by cooler heads, as the prisoners were treated and moved to the waiting trucks.
The new troops and the press team didn’t take it well. The war correspondent had been accustomed to being in areas of complete and abject horror. But with the sight of the conditions of the mares, and the outright injustice, had caused him and his camera man to feel queasy. The sight of the dead mares only furthered the need for many a soldier or news reporter to rush to the nearest shrub and vomit.
Nevertheless, An’s platoon continued their assigned task of looking for any weapons caches or anything that might prove to be some important object, whether it was a stockpile of some kind, or some key documents, if it looked important, they were to either take it, or, in the case of weapons stockpiles, to burn it. Which led them to their current predicament, when An had walked past what seemed like a pile of leaves and branches, only to hear it gasp in surprise. He gestured for his men to grab the cover, and then with a flick of the hand, they abruptly removed it, discovering the two beings that led them to their current problem.
A caribou cow and a shiny, purple mare cowering in a hole, probably thinking they were monsters. He thought? No... They definitely saw him as a threat for the mare to buck him in the face. And so as he was leaning back, hands covering his nose and yelling out in pain, he definitely regretted being awake, especially since the news team thought it was a great idea to start filming right then and there… with the nearby troops under his command laughing… nevertheless, he held his hand out to prevent his troops from retaliating, and, as he was holding his bloody nose, held out an open-palmed left hand to the duo, slowly, and gently.
The first thing the crystal mare had expected was more pain and beating. She had just blindly hit a creature, and surely they meant to fight back with a vengeance…
Several minutes had passed…nothing happened…
Then hesitantly, the crystal pony opened one eye, to meet with a strange appendage, one with five limbs attached to it. She opened her other eye, and looked up. It seemed like the creature was in pain, as blood (?) was dripping from what was probably his nose. Yet, he still had a limb held out in offering, the other creatures in the background sounded like they were laughing. She cautiously reached out a hoof to the strange creature, hoping he wouldn't break it. He shook it gently , and then nodded over to Daleering.
She quickly nodded back, and gently shook her friend, nudging her to look at the creatures. Once she saw that the creatures were not trying to attack them, she offered her hoof as well. The creatures lifted them out of the hole, for them to get a better look at the changes in the camp.
The camp was filled with many of these creatures. Some of them patrolling, others guarding, and others guiding prisoners and freed slaves onto the weird carriages, separately fortunately. Next to the creature that carried them was a team of two creatures, one holding a strange contraption that looked to be a more slicker version of a camera, while the other held what looked to be a microphone and a tape recorder, doing some sort of narration in front of the creature with the camera, the view alternating between him, and them.
The camera’s focus then moved over to the flagpole, as the dreaded flag that both she and Daleering had seen every day while they suffered was being lowered. After a few minutes of hooking and unhooking, another flag was raised to take its place, this one was a pretty simple, but beautiful in the duo’s eyes, three red stripes running horizontally across the middle along a sea of yellow.
The crystal mare had noted the amount activity around them, and the amount of sounds made her head spin. She was soon lowered back to the ground as she and Daleering were sat near a few carriages. The creature that carried them spoke up in broken Equestrian.
“H-Hello, I do not mean no harm.” The accent threw the mare off, but she was able to think up of a reply.
“O-Oh I’m sorry I accidently hit you…”
“That is fine, it’s part of the job.” The man, judging from his voice, in green replied back. He continued after a few moments of silence. “I am Captain Nguyen Bao An, but you can call me An.”
The mare looked up hesitantly, but surely replied back, “My name is Crystal Clear, a-and my friend right next to me is Daleering. What, who are you?”
“Oh, I am sorry, forgot to say who we are. I am what we call human, a type of animal that are based on apes. You do have apes on this world, right?”
Crystal nodded.
“Alright. Do not worry. We know what type of animal are you.”
Crystal asked, “What type of nation do you fight for, and why did you come here, how?”
It took several minutes for the captain to process what Crystal was saying before he said, “We are from a nation called the Republic of Vietnam. There are also people from South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia with us here.”
“S-So many places…” Daleering finally said, eyes agape with amazement, fear already slightly drained from her. “Are you part of an empire to?”
“No, the reason why I am here, and why Vietnamese are here, are to fight back against the caribou. They had nearly destroyed and raped our capital, Saigon, and so as a duty to protect our nation and the world, we had declared war on them. The other nations I said before are here because they are our friends, and are just as worried about protecting the world as we are, we are an alliance as you say.”
Both mares nodded before a chocolate bar appeared in front of them, it looked as though the captain was offering them some. “You look hungry, might not be much, but will do for now.” Crystal smiled in delight, and, with some strain, lifted up the bar with her magic, opening up the wrapper. She turned to her friend, who was looking in awe at the size of the bar, and in curiosity as she stared at the strange, brown, sweet smelling bar.
“What is that?”
“It’s chocolate, Daleering, you’ve never had any before?” Daleering shook her head. Crystal broke off a bit of chocolate with her magical grip, and offer the first piece to Daleering. She took a bite, her face contorting as she processed the bittersweet taste for the first time, then smiled as she got accustomed to the taste.
“Th-this is good”
“Thank Americans for that.”
“What are Americans?”
“They are also our friends, but they haven’t joined us in fighting fully yet. I can explain later, but for now, let’s get you two to a truck, we are evacuating people like you back to the firebase.”
Both girls looked slightly nervous and a bit scared as they saw the monstrosities, smoke billowing out of the pipes, engines roaring. Feeling a little empathy, he said, “Tell you what, you can ride in the jeep with me.” He pointed to a smaller carriage. “And we can talk about anything you want until we get to the base.”
Both mares looked at each other, and soon whispered to each other, then Crystal turned and said , “Alright, we’ll do it…baby steps.”
“Alright, follow me.” The caribou and the unicorn stood up, trotting along with the captain. He then lifted them to the back of the jeep, each of the mares reveling in the cushion, more comfortable than the ground they had in the pen.
The two soon cuddled up next to each other, and then nuzzled each other to sleep. An stared in awe at the cute scene, before shaking his head and snapping out of his trance. He turned to his sergeant and ordered him to keep watch over the creatures, then walked off to find the press team to notify them of their changes in seating arrangements.
December 29th, 1972 6:00 PM Canterlot, Oregon, United States
“Thanks for inviting us to a sleepover at your house, Pinkie. I think we all needed some time together after having so much alone time.” A girl with ginger hair, trailed by specks of yellow dye said, as she opened and unpacked her duffel bag marked with a distinct red and yellow sun patch.
“Ohitwasnothing,itisprettyconvieneiantbecausewenotonlycouldcelebrateourfitstwintersleepoverever,butnewyearsaswellwouldn’tthatbegreat,huh,wouldit,wouldit?” Pinkie said at over 100 miles an hour, as if a record had sped up whenever it was broken…or was that just Sunset…? Either way, everyone had settled into their groove, as Pinkie kicked it off with Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as an opening tune. She had also ordered pizza, and the girls were just waiting in the living room, watching the television. “Sunseeeet!” Pinkie yelled in sing-song, as she rushed and shoved a wrapped package into Sunset’s hands “I know Christmas is over, but I still wanted to give you something, think of it as an ‘oh my god this year is ending gift!’ Bet you didn’t know that New Year’s is coming up, did you, did you!?”
“Ummm surrre, Pinkie?” Sunset said, as she unwrapped the packaging, only for the box to explode with confetti, streamers, and strangely enough, smoke. As Sunset coughed, the smoke parted ways, revealing…a leather journal…with Sunset’s cutie mark emblazoned onto the cover. “Pinkie, wha-”
“I’ve noticed that your other non-magical journal was getting all filled up, so I thought maybe I could give you a brand new one that looks almost just like the old one.”
“How did you-”
“Oh silly Sunset, the other Pinkies in the Pinkie-verse told me! Go on! Use it! It has frosting scented pages and everything…mmmmm…frosting…”
“Oh…O…kay? Thanks for the gift anyway Pinkie, I’ll be sure to use it.” Sunset opened the journal up, and flipped through the pages, she took in the scent of vanilla frosting, but as she looked at the cover, and really noticed the details, she hardened up, trying to compose herself as her memories of her old life ran through at a mile a minute. She needed a place to sit, and chose to promptly plop herself onto the living room couch.
It wasn’t long until Twilight noticed Sunset’s downcast look, and walked over to her, her scientific notebook under her arm. She sat next to her, fixing her glasses as she nervously started, “Sooo Sunset, it’s been four years since you said you’ve left Equestria. I’ve heard you talk about what it was like living there, I couldn’t believe that you’d leave that all behind for power. I mean, I know you must’ve had a bad time but-”
“I was young and impatient at the time. I wanted to impress my family so that they would at least notice me again, even if it meant using some dark, powerful magic. In the end, it wasn’t exactly my choice, the only choice I had was to be banished to this world, but I do miss it. I’m kind of hesitant though, seeing as I might still have a death warrant back there…”
“There might be a problem to it anyway….” Twilight said, glancing down at her notebook, flipping through the recent pages with chicken scratch pen marks that only she herself could make out, “I’ve been monitoring the amount of energy that emanated through the portal in the Wondercolt’s statue…it completely died down about four weeks ago, and hasn’t recovered since.”
Sunset raised her eyebrow in wonder. “That’s odd, Princess Twilight does switch off the portal when it’s not in use, but there’s still supposed to be a magical connection in between both worlds, if I still remember my lessons correctly.”
“I know, it’s almost as if-”
A news intro followed by a title sequence interrupted the two girls , as the voiceover announcer said, “Tonight on NBC Nightly News, Nixon's election campaign is still under investigation for the Watergate break in, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed within the Florida Everglades, number of survivors still unknown, and finally, a closed book, an open door, as the possibility of U.S. and both North and South Vietnam concluding peace talks for a ceasefire of the Vietnam police action looms ever so closer. President Thieu sets his eyes to the unknown regions beyond our known universe, as his nation struggles to contain an alien threat. This is NBC Nightly News, Friday, December 29th, with John Chancellor.” The anchor appeared on screen, brown blonde hair combed over, brown glasses over his eyes, as he shuffled his papers and looked straight at the screen, to his left, a mini-map of Vietnam with the South Vietnamese flag showing in a box as he began his broadcast.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and tonight we move to our top story. A coalition made by Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Laos, Cambodia, and the Philippines, led by South Vietnam, have made the opening blow to what could be seen as a long war to protect the world as we know it. They have been able to attain a foothold within the region, and have captured a strategic camp, gaining valuable information and saving many lives enslaved by this new alien threat." The image then switched to some recorded footage, the narration continuing as it was shown.
“The attack was in response to an earlier offensive by a group of species that call themselves the Caribou Empire, a nation that has been cited as a derogatory evil by Nixon and most of the free world, and in turn is getting an increasing amount of interest from the international community as the conflict progresses. We had covered President Thieu’s speech in the national assembly shortly after this attack, confirming the low casualty rate of the war so far, and re-emphasizing the importance of this conflict. Since then we were able to ask him a few questions with our foreign correspondent, Andrew Williams.” The image switched to footage with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu.
“Mr. President, how do you feel about the recent attacks made on your capital?”
“The attacks were resounding, but as you can see, we were able to push them back. I think that after so many years fighting communists, we were able to react quickly to an invasion threat quite adequately.”
“Despite the possible ongoing war you might have with North Vietnam and with the National Liberation Front, why had you decided to open up another front and open yourself to the risk of another attack?”
Thieu hesitated as he thought out his reply, and then said, “As a foreign nation, we have a right to defend our territory. If this attack proves anything, it proves that not only our safety is at risk, but also the safety of the region, and possibly the world is also at risk. They are just as dangerous as the communists, if not more.”
“And that’s the reason why you have formed a coalition with all the other nations?”
“That is correct, it is with our own hope that after several testimonies from survivors and from the refugees we may get foreign aid from the United Nations in combating this threat.”
“With the possibility of American forces already pulling out of South Vietnam, are you certain that you may be able to stick up for yourself if the US decides against sending additional aid?”
“We are not sure, we are aware of the peace movement in progress over there, it is our best hope that America does provide aid, but if they fail to do so, we will try our best to combat against these new threats.”
The footage cut back to Chancellor, “It has been reported that there have been few deaths or casualties in this new conflict so far, and among those wounded, there are no Americans, though there are advisors on the ground.” The footage changed to an image of a wrecked camp, as South Vietnamese troops tried to create order, rushing to and fro to set up sandbags and ransacking the camp for hidden arms and supplies. Coalition troops quickly set up barbed wire fences and lined up prisoners. ANZAC* troops walked down the line and took down names, filling out information on clipboards and confiscating weapons. Medics did their jobs in checking the wounded, rushing to treat burn victims and wrapping up broken bones. An ARVN medic shined a flashlight into a Ranger fall victim’s eyes to check for consciousness as other medics checked the same patient for any internal bleeding and broken bones.
However, what shocked Sunset wasn’t the wounded soldiers, what made Sunset contort her face in surprise and horror were the other patients being treated, pony mares, many in broken chains, but bruised, scarred, and tortured. Sunset looked on as Chancellor resumed his narration.
“We had received footage from our correspondents in the region of the camp that was captured two days ago, when South Vietnamese Rangers raided the camp and took control, allowing the Coalition forces to secure the camp and gain a first glimpse into who they are fighting for. Pony, zebra, buffalo, and caribou slaves, many of them starved, tortured, or killed. Many of them have a common theme, they are all female, all from what seem like different walks of life with different histories and different ages.
“The new refugees will be sent back to the foothold where the coalition landed to remain under guard from further abuse, where they will be met with great care. It is hoped by both the Nixon administration and the Thieu administration that the revelation of such a horror, combined with the recent campaign of heavy bombing in the North will hasten the end of the current war in Southeast Asia, so that the Coalition may focus on fighting back this threat. Moving onto the disaster in the Everglades…”
Sunset stared at the screen, shocked and tearing up, as she dropped her new gift and just sat there.
“Sunset, oh no, oh no oh no, oh no!” Twilight held Sunset’s hand and squeezed it, as Sunset processed what was announced on the Nightly News. The Humane Five quickly noticed the commotion, and rushed to Twilight and Sunset’s side.
“That was why you recorded no magic from the statue, not only did it move, but Equestria isn’t there anymore… these guys came and took it over.”
“The South Vietnamese?”
“No, the Caribou…they must’ve unintentionally corrupted the magic while they were fiddling with the portal. Twilight, it looks like the portal has moved…”
“So, what now darling?” Rarity asked, all of the Humane Five’s faces had the look of worry on them, not sure what a possibly emotionally unstable Sunset would do, trying to keep close proximity to comfort her, but far enough to escape any harm as Sunset clenched and unclenched her fists.
“I-I have to go back…” Sunset replied.
“But Sunset! It’s a warzone out there, you could get killed!”
“Not if I’m careful enough, I need to go rescue Princess Twilight and her friends, I can’t just leave them to rot. I have to join the fight.”
“Let the others do it, Sunset, its t-”
“Horseapples!” Sunset yelled, startling everyone. “We’ve all faced more dangerous magic before, if I can handle that, then I can survive long enough to save them… but how?”
The Humane Five lacked a response as they did not know the right answer. Until Rainbow Dash broke the silence by saying, “The WAC’s.”
“The who?” Sunset asked in confusion.
“The WAC’s. Women’s Army Corps. They’re supposed to be the female branch of the Army, each armed force has one. They said they were sending advisors, maybe they might need some people to volunte-Ooof!”
“How do you know about them, Dashie?” Pinkie asked, as she pounced and hugged the girl. Rainbow shoved Pinkie off of her, causing the pink haired girl to land in a pile of conveniently-placed cushions from the void.
“Well, you know how I wanted to join the Blue Angels, right?” The girls nodded. “Well, turns out they don’t allow women to fly a plane in combat yet apparently, so they offered me the next best thing, a nurse or a secretary position, even air traffic controller. They said that hopefully maybe things would change if I tried hard enough. I decided not to, that sounded pretty boring and fucking lame for me… something that an egghead would do.”
Twilight looked at Sunset worryingly, and fixed her glasses, “Sunset, are you sure you want to do this? Not only would you have to worry about surviving, but also worry about being discovered as an illegal immigrant. We can try to get some false paperwork so you could enlist, but even then you might be caught.”
“Twilight, this is my home we are talking about.” Sunset said, her face still tear-streaked. “I might be banished from it, but I have to help it somehow, those ponies and troops need my help.”
“We’re not even sure if I-”
“I’ve made my decision and it’s final, I’m going to try to enlist. I need to get home, Twilight, I can’t leave my friends to die…”
Twilight slumped her shoulders and sighed, “There’s no stopping you now, is there?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Twilight hesitantly nodded. “I’ll see what I can do to get you some false papers, until then, I suggest you finish your affairs,you might not be coming back.”
The rest of the Humane Five solemnly and grimly nodded, as they realize the fact that the one friend that had helped keep them together was now marching off to a possible slaughterhouse.
Pinkie teared up and, as her hair started to deflate and straighten out, she said, “H-Hey w-we can’t be all mopey dopey saddy waddy… let’s give Sunset the best last slumber party she will ever have, what do you say?” Everyone nodded in agreement, and soon the festivities returned, though slightly subdued as the Mane Seven processed the gravity of the situation.
With the gate hill secured, the ARVN and the Pacific Coalition had a successful foot in the door, and they intended to keep it that way. Since day one, they had driven in supplies of SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles), anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, bulldozers, building supplies, and units upon units of engineers. Within the week since their arrival, Firebase Alpha was upgraded to have an airfield, permanent buildings and infrastructure, such as bunkers, hospitals, and schools for the military family children. In addition, a control tower, radar arrays, and even a radio station from Armed Forces Radio soon propped up, though still unstaffed. Soon, Firebase Alpha became Bà Triệu Airbase, named after one of the many famous Vietnamese heroines of ancient yore who fought back Chinese invasion.
As the airbase was built, various squadrons of VNAF, Australian, New Zealander, and South Korean aircraft were delivered to the base. From large cargo planes, to aerial gunships, to fighters, to even planes with loudspeakers and leaflet dispensers to win people over to their cause. Various helicopters were also delivered, and soon the airspace around Bà Triệu was filled with various aircraft, and the radio filled with various amounts of radio chatter between patrols, and air groups, scanning the skies for enemy scouts and possible targets, in addition to dangerous wildlife. A flight of South Vietnamese F-5’s were seen flying a circling around each other in a mock dogfight, trying to outdo each other’s moves to get an upper hand. This amazed Crystal, as she saw the large, cumbersome aircraft fly with great grace and agility against its foes.
The amount of metal birds flying in and out on practice runs and maneuvers, the amount of tanks on practice runs, and the amount of noise they all made had frightened the caribou cow and the unicorn mare, as An and his convoy of refugees and troops returned to the airbase and stopped by a military police outpost. The couple hid even more behind their seats from the noisy world around them.
“Why is everything so loud!?” Crystal yelled as she winced and tried to cover her ears.
“Just a side effect of the vehicles we have!”
Crystal looked in awe as she watched the planes take off and land. In the distance, a flight of C-119’s flew in slow formation, as the ARVN Airborne Division jumped out of the aircraft, and parachuted to their designated landing zone. “Why are they jumping out of the.. ‘A-airplane?’” An nodded, reassuring Crystal that she got the term down correctly, she then continued, “Can they fly?”
“Yes and no.” An replied back, “We can fly with help of machines, but our airborne division jumps out of these machines to quickly and quietly go into enemy lands. Their parachutes keep them from falling to the ground.” A tall man wearing aviators and green fatigues adorned with a black helmet marked by a tri-color of red sandwiching white, with the letters QC adorning the front of his helmet and on his armband on his right bicep, took An’s papers and identification to check back with the outpost.
Crystal stared in awe as she saw the airborne division float down to the ground, and after a few minutes, Daleering followed suit, watching as the paratroopers landed. The military police officer returned An’s papers, and waved him through, saying in Vietnamese, “You and the convoy are cleared to go on through, sir, proceed with your convoy to the designated area, a Military Police jeep will guide you to the location.” On cue, a jeep manned by four military police officers drove up in the front, marked with a white banner with the words, “Quân Cảnh” written under the windshield. A second jeep drove to the back of the convoy. The MP’s raised the gate, and the Jeeps moved through, followed by the trucks of troops and refugees.
What greeted Crystal’s sight made her arch her eyebrows curiously. As they passed a warning sign, they passed through several miles of empty space, littered with the occasional structure made out of sandbags. In the distance, in the surrounding hills, there were various entrenchments, each bearing flags of their respective nations. One entrenchment had a plain white flag that looked to be a red tadpole chasing a blue tadpole, almost in a similar fashion as the Equestrian flag. The circle was surrounded by various black lines.
Another entrenchment was flying a navy blue flag with white stars forming a constellation on the right side, and on the left side, some red lines crossing vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, framed by white. Another hill had a similar flag, only with red stars.
The ground rumbled as several strange vehicles roared by. Several dark green creatures with wheels covered in black coverings, topped with a strange ovular turret with a long rod jolting out, with a smaller turret on top of the first, but of smaller scale, passed by. The convoy passed by several more entrenchments getting to the air base. As they passed the main gate to the base, Crystal noted the changes as they drove on smoother pavement, two walls protecting the base. Behind the inner wall, several buildings littered the base as if it were a small town. Planes took off and landed as jeeps and various other vehicles rushed by in orderly chaos, driving off to their destinations. Several formations of humans did various exercises and drills, ranging from laps, to jumping jacks, to push ups to the cadence of a yelling Vietnamese soldier. Groups of troops rushed by the convoy as they tried to complete an elaborate obstacle course consisting of tires, mud, and climbing walls. Airborne trainees and rangers were seen sliding down a zipline additionally. The entire place was a fortress.
Crystal yelped as she heard the sudden burst of gunfire, only to be comforted by An’s petting. “Do not worry, it is simply our soldiers training with guns.”
“What are guns?”
An unholstered a strange device, a weapon with a handle and some sort of barrel topped off with a hole at the end. “This is a gun. It is supposed to set off a small explosion powerful enough to send a small object hurling to target. Sometimes can go through metal, depends on gun?”
“So not all guns are powerful?”
An nodded yes in response. “It depends on how big the bullet is, the bigger it is, the bigger the explosion it make, the faster the object can go.” As Crystal processed this new information, An reholstered his sidearm and tapped the sergeant’s shoulder and yelled out some orders over the cacophony of the base. The MP jeeps led them to the divisional headquarters, and soon, the convoy came to a complete stop, the trucks carrying the troops broke off from the convoy to drive to another area of the base. The MP’s dismounted, and helped direct the refugees as they dismounted from the trucks. As Crystal and Daleering were both carried out of the jeep, and set down, they both marvelled at the large building in front of them, and the four flags they’d seen just outside of the base all united side by side in front of them. Silently, An slipped into the divisional headquarters for the debrief from his major.
“Captain An reporting for duty, sir!” An yelled, as he clicked his jungle boots together and saluted at attention in front of a man behind the desk with the name block “Suong Hanh Nha” etched into it.
“At ease, Captain.” An stood at ease, then took a seat.
“Sir, the last batch of refugees from my group has arrived.”
“Sure they have, captain, them and several hundred more!” An flinched back in response.
“Sir?”
“This is rather sudden, captain. We were expecting fifty or sixty at most, not at least one-hundred and fifty or two hundred fucking refugees!”
“With all due respect sir, but one of our objectives was to liberate any parties captured by the Caribou Empire, they have no place to go.”
The major rubbed his sinuses with his right index and thumb and muttered several Vietnamese curses. “Alright, since you thought to bring them here, I'm tasking the organization of housing and care to you, captain. Have them questioned for testimony, maybe have any of the locals who understand us attend the next staff meeting, afterwards, get them into decent shelter. Understood captain?”
An visibly paled, but answered back with an audible, “Yes, sir.”
“Well this is a stressful task, but what must be done must be done. Sergeant Trần?”
“Yes, sir?”
An looked at the clipboard in his hand. “Go with Squad One to gather up bedding for the pre-fab shelters, I’ve already contacted the engineers to begin construction near the proximity of the air base.”
“Yes sir, right away, sir.” Minh saluted, and rushed off to rally his designated squad. An looked back at his clipboard.
“Doctor?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get to the infirmary and see if you can help screen the refugees for any diseases or STI’s.”
“Yes, sir.” The doc followed the same path as the Sergeant, and rushed to a nearby jeep to get to the medbay.
“Corporal Nim?”
“Sir?”
“Gather a fire team and have them work with the mess hall staff to set up some simple meals for the refugees, or at least provide some American rations No matter how disgusting they are, just get them fed.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll get right on it, sir.” The corporal rushed off to gather his team without saluting the captain. The last person walking with An, a lieutenant, turned to look at him with a shocked and outraged expression.
“He should be co-” An raised his hand up to order silence.
“Not to worry Lieutenant, we’re all in a hurry to get the refugees settled in, just order the sergeants to give him a reprimand to not make a habit of it.”
“Speaking of which, what task do you have in mind for me?”
“Helping me out, we’re supposed to question some of the refugees to get testimonies. I thought it would be a great start to ask the unicorn who kicked me and her shy friend, then move from there.”
“Sounds pretty reasonable, and it explains why you ordered me to lug around this tape recorder all day, do we have any records on them?”
“That’s the problem, the enemy do happen to speak English, but their written language is completely different, looks to be Latin-derived, but with Germanic or Scandinavian attributes. Our code breakers are having a hard time translating the things, much less decoding them.”
“Could it be that they are adapting to a majority language within their empire?”
“Could be, either way, we need information, maybe their life story, and any intel they picked up. According to the major, they need the information for future use. Also, in case the CIA want to get involved and need some background.”
“Understood, sir.” The duo approached a door marked “Interrogation Room” and walked in carefully, making sure to make it clear that they did not have ill intentions. Both the shiny unicorn and the caribou cow looked up as they walked in, still briefly taking in the carpeting, the semi-formal chairs and tables and, more prominently, the large window showing the outline of the base from the second story building.
“This is a really nice room, Captain.” Crystal said, as she shuffled her hooves against the carpeting.
“If you think this luxury, then-”
“Actually Captain, I’d like to see if I’ve got your native tongue down correctly, I’ve asked for one of the soldiers with the weird cowboy hats to give me an English to Vietnamese dictionary*, he looked at me funny, but he gave me one anyways. I’m just not sure if I’ve got the language down correctly.”
An looked at Crystal in perplexed surprise, but nodded anyway, saying, “If want, but you’ve only ha-”
“*Bạn muốn bắt đầu từ đâu?” Crystal said, slowly saying it with a slight stutter, but in an audible tone that sounded eerily similar to a Southern Accent*.
“H-How?”
“Languages are my special talent, all I need to do is listen to some dialogue for an hour or so, and read up on the language, and I could sort of understand the language, though in this case, it’s been a while so I’m sort of rusty at learning new languages. It’s my cutie mark.”
“What? I’m sorry, what?” The Lieutenant asked incredulously, not believing the words he had just heard.
“A cutie mark, a set design a pony or griffon gets on their flank at a certain age which signifies their talent. It’s a rite of passage for ponies. Don’t you have them?”
Caught off guard, the Lieutenant wrote down notes on what Crystal was saying onto his clip board while An replied back: “No, nothing on our butts.”
“Then what are those strange symbols on your clothes?” Crystal pointed to the various patches on An’s fatigues.
“Oh, these? Each of these symbols means a different thing. For example,” An pointed to his left shoulder patch, a green shield-like shape with a red circle in the middle and a yellow lightning bolt going diagonally from right to left, a number 25 in white in the left corner. “This patch says what unit I’m in. In this case, it’s the 25th QLVNCH* division. This also determines where we are station, as the 25th division usually patrols around Saigon.” An pointed to the cluster of three black cherry blossoms stacked up on his collar, “This denotes my rank, in this case, a captain. We could also add more pins to show what we specialize in, but normally, our uniforms are this plain.”
“Sounds like a mouthful to say. So you don’t have anything that can help you know what is your special talent?”
“Outside the military, no.” An looked at his watch and nodded to the Lieutenant, who had just started a tape recorder to begin the interview. “We will be asking you a few questions regarding to your life, we need to send a few recordings to some of our allies, so for now, we’ll just speak in English, understood?”
Crystal nodded, and repeated what An said to Daleering in turn, leading her to nod as well.
“Good. Now, can you begin with your names?”
“I am Crystal Clear, a unicorn of the Crystal Empire, a protectorate of the former Equestrian Diarchy and currently a dominion of the Caribou Empire.”
“A-And I’m Daleering, a caribou cow and formerly a slave to the Caribou Empire along with Crystal.”
An directed the Lieutenant to move the microphone to Crystal. “Now Crystal, we will begin with you, can you tell me of your life before the caribou took over? If you don’t want to talk about things, let us know.”
Crystal nodded and began her narrative. “I grew up with a cartographer as my father, and an archeologist for my mother so it wasn’t a surprise that we traveled a lot. Growing up, I was always waking up in new places, from beautiful beaches, to dry deserts, to dense forests. In fact, I got my cutie mark when I had managed to understand what a yak was saying, ending an argument that was heating up between him and my father. No matter where we went though, we always came back to the Crystal Empire. It was beautiful, marvelous, it was full of beautiful streets, buildings, and spires of crystal. Then King Sombra took over.”
“Who is this King Sombra? Do we have to worry about him?” An asked, standing up at the mention of another potential threat to the war effort.
Crystal shook her head, “He was long since banished. He was a dark lord who took over our kingdom and ruled it with an iron hoof. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, the leaders of the Equestrian Diarchy, were able to stop him, but in turn, we vanished off the face of Equus for over a thousand years, frozen in time before we reappeared again to a different Equestria. We were nearly taken over by Sombra, but the great and wonderful Spike, a baby dragon, with help from his assistant, Twilight Sparkle, and her band of six, were able to drive him off with the Crystal heart.”
“What is this Crystal Heart?”
“An ancient artifact that spreads the hope and love of the Crystal Empire all over Equestria, maybe even beyond.” Crystal paused, eyes closed and face scrunched up before she opened up her eyes again, “The Caribou used it to help in their conquest of our land.”
An nodded, and gestured for her to go on.
“L-Life returned to normal for a little while, and Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour took the reins to lead the empire, my family conducted new expeditions to explore the changes of this land, we would’ve went, but...the Caribou stormed into the Crystal Empire, the royal guard fought hard to keep them back, but Changelings had infiltrated the guard to the point where they couldn’t put up a fight. Once the Caribou and their mercenaries reached the Crystal Heart, they did something to it, did something to corrupt its magic so that it caused every stallion to ally with them, to do...terrible things to us. Not everypony was affected, but it was enough to cause the Crystal Empire to bend to its will.” She began to tear up as she continued her account. “ I-I had to stun my own father after he told me to tie him up before he became a monster…”
Daleering turned and wrapped a forehoof around Crystal, after a few minutes, Crystal pressed on. “My mother and I tried to escape the Crystal Empire, but we were caught, and soon we were split up, I endured months of torture and...and… they just wouldn’t stop touching me…” Crystal said in a weepy voice. She began to cry and mumble, “Oh Celestia! Why won’t they stop!?”
An turned to his subordinate and nodded for him to cut the tape. “Lieutenant, begin the interview with Daleering, I’ll take Crystal out and help her calm down.”
“Yes sir, at your command, sir.”
“Oh, and Lieutenant?”
“Sir?”
“Feel free to comfort her if she begins to tear up, too. I have a feeling this might be a long day.”
The Lieutenant nodded, and An nudged for Crystal to move toward the door. He closed it and turned to face a crying unicorn. He wrapped his arms around her, sitting down to accommodate for the semi-large frame. He gently pet the unicorn’s mane. “Shhh, there, there...you’re safe now, under our protection.”
“I want to see my family again, I haven’t been with them for months!”
“I know… I know. Can I tell you something?”
Crystal nodded.
“Many years ago, when I was ten years old, the country where I was from was controlled by some people called the French.”
“L-Like the Prench?” Crystal asked inquisitively.
An mentally smiled to himself and said, “I’ve never known about the Prench, so I wouldn’t know. Anyway, there was this general feeling of the want of independence from the French. However, there were many groups who wanted to gain independence in different ways. Among them were some terrorists, these terrorists called the Viet Minh, captured the village I was in. They killed all of the government officials in the village, or anyone they suspected of being allied with the government. Keep in mind, my father was working for the government at the time, so the fact that I saw many of my father’s friends die by the hands of these people unnerved me, and made me fear for his life.”
An paused, as he remembered the fallout from the attack. “Then the government came, and drove the Viet Minh away. But what they did in revenge was horrifying. They burned our homes, and our crops. They murdered our men and raped our women. I could not have believed that these people were the same ones that wanted us to return to their rule. I understood the plight of the Viet Minh, but still could not forgive their actions. To this day, I remember the people that suffered in the crossfire, and since then, have made it a pledge to put all my passions to make a free Vietnam, where no one has to suffer.” He turned to Crystal. “And now that passion has spread to protect you from the same horrors I saw. You have to find a way to vent those frustrations, those tears, those moments of agony, turn them into passion, and find a way to use that for good.”
Crystal looked up to An, nodding in understanding, but still teary eyed and shaking. “I-I understand, Captain.”
An looked down and continued to pet her mane. “If you do need to talk to someone, you have me, and you have the medical bay. I’ll show you later, but they’ll have someone that could talk to you about your troubles.” An looked at his watch. Thirty minutes had passed since Crystal left the room. “Tell you what, let’s see if my Lieutenant is finished with interviewing Daleering. If they are, I’ll treat you to a Vietnamese meal at the mess hall. Deal?” Crystal nodded, and in return, An let go of her, and helped her get up from the chair. Just before he reached the door knob, Crystal feebly gripped An’s left hand with her magic, causing him to turn around.
“Captain?”
“Yes?”
Crystal’s face contorted in concentration and deliberation before she responded. “I would like to help you free my homeland. I will do my best to learn Vietnamese so I can understand you better.” An nodded, smiling. He turned to grab the doorknob again before- “And one more thing, An?” An turned back. “Thank you, for fighting for a species you have never known before.”
The air was filled with a comforting ambiance of chatter as the many servicemen and women converged on the only place to provide both food and poison all at one place. Bà Triệu Airbase was home to what was expected to be thousands of military personnel, the logistics to provide such a population was an OCD-ridden company clerk's worst nightmare. So by the time An and his lieutenant had gathered the refugees to the mess hall, kitchen personnel were rushing left and right to prepare meals. In addition to the tons of rice, fish, and meat they had imported from nearby farms in Saigon, the ARVN had the courtesy to ask for recipes for American breakfasts from the DAO personnel to better accommodate the refugees. And so ANZAC, Korean, and Vietnamese cooks rushed to and fro to cook a variety of pancakes, rice and fried fish, scrambled eggs, and other foodstuffs that K-Rations could provide for an herbivorous diet. The line was already as long as it was, going on from the serving tables, several feet out to the doorway, as pilots, nurses, doctors, officers, and soldiers alike waited for their next meal to be served.
"Oh boy..." An sighed, wiping his brow from the heat and from nervousness. His lieutenants and NCO's tried to organize the refugees into groups , and sat them down at the designated tables, while he talked with the cooks as to the progress of the meals for the refugees.
"I wonder what the humans eat?" Crystal said aloud, as Daleering fidgeted with the plastic silverware given to them. Crystal noted the smell of pancakes, just like the ones her mother made, being cooked. She also noticed how the Korean and Vietnamese troops mainly got some sort of meat, lạp xường*, or fish with rice, and soy sauce, while the Australian (Austallion?), New Zealander, and what few American personnel were present had some sort of meat, green beans, mashed potatoes with some green garnish and gravy, and rolls. "So they're omnivores... interesting..."
Daleering looked back at Crystal, and then at the personnel, then back to Crystal. "You don't think they eat equines do you?"
Crystal shook her head in response, "I'm not sure... it might be something I have to ask An about."
It was just then when An returned to the group of tables, his men and him pushing carts full of trays of food as they went "Alright! Grab one tray, and don't take seconds, we'll offer them when everyone's done eating!"
Crystal grabbed a tray from the cart with her magic, and she looked at its contents. The tray contained mainly hay, but also, some person unusually (not that it was bad) thought to give them pancakes with their hay, in addition to candy, and some water, and rolls, with a small bowl of white rice, and a muffin, with a supplement of various heated canned goods from boxes of what were labeled as 'Meal Combat Individuals'. She had ham and lima beans.
"We couldn't figure out what you eat, apart that you were herbivores, apologies if it's not what you like." An sheepishly replied.
A passing American ranger looked at the meal Crystal got, and then looked sympathetically at her when he saw the ration kit she received. "Oh man, I do not envy you right now, those things suck!" Without elaboration, he walked on to the mess line.
An look back at Crystal. "He's right, I've tried one of those rations before. They tasted terrible compared to what I usually eat. I won't blame you if you don't eat it."
"It's okay, An, it can't be that bad, right? Besides, there's these other meals that I got from you guys as well. It all looks delicious. I-I mean, I can eat meat when I'm desperate so..." Crystal trailed off picking at the ham and lima beans, she scooped a fork full, and took a bite, quickly contorting in agony and then spitting them out. She quickly took a sip from her glass of water, before cutting and taking a bite out of the pancakes. "Mmmh, these are great, don't you think so, Daleering?"
The caribou doe turned to look and smiled. "Yes! This was a lot more than what our masters gave us, and most of it's delicious! The rolls are soft and plentiful, and the rice tastes great with this 'turkey roll' I've got. Don't tell me you all eat like this when you fight, An."
"Well, it's worse than what we usually eat."
"Worse?"
An nodded. "South Vietnam is the breadbasket of all of Vietnam. We have plentiful seafood and rice, so we're used to better, fresher, and more varied meals."
"I can't imagine what food in South Vietnam tastes like." Crystal said.
"Well, if we are able to take you to Saigon, maybe you'll get your chance."
Crystal's face fell into a state of confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Well, we are trying to get more allies to fight for our cause, what better way than to get some refugees to testify within the National Assembly. The orders aren't set in stone, but logically, that's what we might be looking at." An wiped his brow. "I just hope we can get you some safe shelter."
Crystal decided to switch the subject to help An keep his mind off of the future meeting with the National Assembly. "Daleering and I were also wondering if you eat equines?"
An raised his left eyebrow in confusion and turned with a response, "Only when we are desperate or poor, why?"
Crystal and Daleering both had a look of horror on their faces as Crystal pressed on, "Well, we've noticed that you humans are omnivores, we're just afraid you might eat us."
An processed the answer for a moment, posing in a similar stance to the thinker statue before he laughed, "We aren't that cruel, the horses we have on our world don't talk or think, they are less advanced than you are. Besides, you are nice creatures, I really doubt that anyone here would want to eat you. Now go on and eat, take your time though, we're still trying to build your new homes, when you're done you can go out and watch the engineers work."
Crystal nodded, and together, she and Daleering both giggled, talked, and shared their meals, even spork-feeding each of their respective dishes to each other, enjoying each other's company while they filled their stomachs.
Crystal was in awe. The digging machines she and Daleering saw when they walked out from the mess hall were huge, green things that had a bucket with claws connected to one, large arm connected to the machine, mounted on some elliptical tracks. Not far away another machine with four wheels and a little wall in the middle, on under a topless driver, pushed away dirt to clear a pathway. "This is...really impressive. You... guys are going to build permanent shelters for us?"
"Just some temporary housing" An replied back, walking up behind the couple, "You'll live in them for the time being until you make a decision on where you want to go from here. Afterwards, any new refugees that we take in can stay here. And once we run out of refugees, we can open them up as new offices or barracks."
"Sounds... clever. Where will we be staying until these are built?"
"First block of shelters should be finished by today at least, so we won't have to worry much about setting up tents or anything like that. We already have the furniture delivered from Australia. If we get behind schedule though, we already have some barracks set up for you to stay for a little bit." An fiddled with his pistol belt. "I've got to do some more paperwork, the rest of the refugees aren't far from you. Come on, I'll walk you there.
For hours on end the engineering corps had set up the foundations and structures for walls, hammering the planks together and setting up the insulation and the drywall. The windows were promptly installed, and wiring was also installed and connected to the power generator. As a health precaution, mosquito netting covered the windows. Soon, after several hours of construction, with help from the refugees, the new temporary housing was completed. Children laughed as they, along with adults and military personnel, worked to paint the buildings with murals and colors. Inside, the walls were also painted a plain cream, while Equestrians and humans alike worked together to furnish the housing with bunks, closets, and shelves. By the end of the day, the buildings were ready for their new guests.
December 30th, 1972 2100 Hours (9:00 PM) Refugee Housing Block A, Bà Triệu Airbase, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus
"Here you are, your new bunks, don't worry I'll help you get settled in." An said, walking into the new buildings as he and his subordinates helped direct the refugees to their new homes. Crystal and Daleering, both tired from a honest day's work helping out the humans with building their new homes, trailed behind. Following a diagram set of the building on his clip board, he directed the two to a bunk, patting the mattress in confirmation. "Here you go, your own bunks, at least for the time being. We'll talk about your choices later, deal?"
Crystal nodded and yawned. "Today was pretty tiring, but it was pretty fun."
"There will be a lot more to do tomorrow, honest. Now, let's get you to bed, who wants to take the top bunk?" An looked at the couple.
Daleering raised her hoof and turned to Crystal, "I-If you don't mind that is." She rubbed her fore hooves together against the tile flooring.
Crystal smiled and nodded, "Sure, as long as we aren't far away from each other, I'll be fine." Daleering smiled, and wrapped her fore hoof around Crystal's before she climbed up the ladder to the top bunk, and dove under the covers.
Crystal followed, digging into the covers of the lower bunk. "These beds are amazing. Better than the ones the caribou gave us, right Daleering?" The doe nodded back, after turning to face An.
"Well you were sleeping on nothing but hay. I wouldn't blame you. Are you all tucked in?"
Crystal nodded. An turned to leave, but before he could, Crystal called him back. "What is it?"
"Daleering wanted to tell you something."
An nodded, and then climbed up to the top bunk, "You wanted to say something?"
"Y-yes, An, thank you for what you've been doing for us. You've fed us, gave us shelter, protection, I know that colts like you think that w-"
"Before you say that you're a burden, don't. You were only born with the wrong set of cards. We're just here to fix the problem. We would never leave anyone helpless, it's not humane. Would you leave a friend homeless on the streets if you found out that they were a beggar?" Daleering shook her head. "Then you know why we do this, you are our friends, we will fight for you, defend you, and give you a good home, die for you until you are free. We just can't leave you to die. Rest easy knowing we won't desert you in the night. Now rest up, tomorrow is going to be a real busy day." The doe nodded, and closed her eyes as An climbed down to ground level and walked back to check with his subordinates.
"Lieutenant Colonel Truc sir." The helicopter crew chief and his crew saluted in front of their chopper.
"At ease, major. Is the chopper prepared for the day ahead?"
The crew chief nodded "Yes sir, we are ready to leave at your order."
"Excellent, let's go then." Truc said as he fiddled with the folded map in his breast pocket. "You have the map provided to you captured from the enemy camp, you know your orders,let's get to it."
The crew nodded, and scrambled to prep the Huey for a day of scouting. As Truc boarded the chopper, he noticed the nearby choppers surrounding his spooling up as troops climbed in. Soon the sky was filled with a swarm of choppers, flying off to nearby outposts or flying out for patrols.
After a few minutes of radio chatter, the pilots spooled the chopper, and soon they were in the air. It took a few minutes, but soon they were passing over the recently-captured enemy camp, Truc noticed the activity, as several choppers landed nearby, and trucks full of coalition troops rolled in to fortify the area. A little further east, South Vietnamese engineers were fortifying a train station and blowing up the rails to prevent further enemy movement.
The chopper flew south, and Truc quickly looked around the area through his binoculars. According to the map provided to them, they should be coming up to the occupied city of Los Pegasus right after they passed a bridge. Sure enough, Truc spotted a bridge, and a city not so far past the bridge with the iconic sign only familiar to him from postcards in America. Something wasn't right, though.
The city was magnificent to be sure, but the city was in flames, and under siege. Truc quickly turned back to his pilot and yelled, "Get us out of here, if they spot us, we'll be fucked!"
Suddenly, alarms rang out, as the helicopter soon went into a tailspin. "I don't know what happened! We've lost control!"
"Send out a mayday call with coordinates! We need to let the divisional headquarters know what's going on!"
As the pilot and co-pilot struggled to keep the helicopter flying, and communicate with headquarters, Truc gathered his supplies: an aircraft bailout ration kit, flares, survival kit, and of course, his helmet. He quickly was thrown to his seat by the g-forces of the spinning chopper and quickly, he strapped in. His last sights were of an ensuing battle spinning around him, before he heard a loud "Crash!" and faded into the dark depths of unconsciousness.
Nearby, a patch of light and dark brown slithered away, as a magenta-maned, orange Pegasus walked to the flaming wreckage. The humans have finally started to roll the dice. He mused. Time for them to create chaos within all of Equestria. Discord said with a maleficent smile, as he faded into the aether.
"What do you mean, 'missing', sir?" An asked, face contorted in concern.
"I mean his pilot sent a Mayday call before the transmission cut out. Camp Roughneck received the radio transmission thirty minutes ago. They have coordinates, but all the A-1 Skyraiders had found were flaming wreckage."
An sat there, processing the information as he, Lieutenant Hoàng (the same one from questioning) and a Lieutenant donning a black beret with a tank insignia listened to the information.
"Look, I think the situation is grim as well, but we have to consider all possibilities. That's why command is ordering me to dispatch a unit to recon the area and search for the crew. It happens to be that your unit is the only who has returned and who could be quickly prepped for another mission. You will be teamed up with 3rd Armored Cavalry Brigade, as you will ride mounted near the coordinates to assist in the search. If things go awry, we have Rangers on standby to provide reinforcements until the main force arrives. Mobility is the key here, so do not engage the enemy until you've been fired upon, and do not take prisoners unless you are sure they will not hinder your mobility, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"That will be all, questions?" An raised his hand, "Yes, Captain?"
"Umm, Major, what is the status for Crystal Clear's credentials? Surely she could be useful to my unit in assisting with communicating with the locals and navigating the territory? She's great with languages."
"Captain, after serious consideration, she has been granted permission to go with you on the mission. You understand that this civilian must be defended at all costs?"
"Yes sir, I will personally put my life down for her." the Major nodded.
"Then that is settled if there are any additional questions, let me know as soon as possible, dismissed."
As the ARVN officers left the briefing room, Crystal and Daleering rushed to An and the Major patiently waiting outside previously, "Well, what did they say?" Crystal asked, "Am I clear to go on the mission?"
An nodded and said, "You are clear to go, the major gave you permission, you just have to be careful out there, alright?" Crystal looked up with glee while Daleering, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, contorted and scrunched her brow in worriment. "Alright, we'll head down to the quartermaster, and get you outfitted with a uniform and gear, let's g-"
"Wait!" Everyone turned to Daleering. "If Crystal is going, then so am I. I can't bear being without her."
The Major stroked his chin, then replied with a question. "Are you sure you want to go? It will be a dangerous battlefield with great risks, if you get captured-"
"I understand the risks, Major." Daleering replied back hesitantly in an increasingly heavy German or Scandinavian-accented English, Crystal translating some of the words the doe couldn't say. "I've lived with those demons for most of my life. I understand the risks, and that's why I want to protect her." Daleering replied.
The major turned to An, "Captain, can you manage to protect two civilians from harm?"
"I will do my best, sir."
The Major hummed in thought, "I'll see to the paperwork, keep them safe captain, and you two," he stared down both girls. "Don't do anything rash, it could mean the difference between life and death, understood?"
"Yes," both responded, albeit Daleering stuttered her reply.
"Good, dismissed." An and Hoàng saluted.
As soon as the major left the hallway, An turned to the two girls and said, "Alright, let's go gear up and head to the motor pool, Lieutenant?"
"Sir!"
"Prep the men, and get them to the motor pool."
"Yes sir, on it sir!" Hong saluted, and rushed to the barracks.
December 31st, 1972 1000 Hours (10:00 AM) Las Pegasus Nexus, Las Pegasus Equestria, Equuis
Truc groaned as he opened his eyes, he was met with a dark, damp room with bars. Great, Truc thought, We've been captured, who knows wh-
The cell door opened, and in came a strange orange mare with a magenta mane, looking to be in her early teens, and wearing a red collar, she was flanked by two Caribou guards.
"You're awake!" The mare exclaimed. "Oh, wait until my master meets you, you seem to be awesome creatures."
Truc looked at the mare with confusion. "Wait, are you in charge o-"
"No, of course not, my master just let me go with the guards to meet you, your other five friends are awake, too. You need to go to the governor's office to meet with him." Truc nodded, and he was led out of the cell.
As he climbed the stairs, he noticed how busy the building was, Caribou males, some dragging chained slaves, rushed around the building, some of them carrying forms, some of them yelling at their slaves. Not too far away a slave was being auctioned. But overall, many of them were panicked. Sounds of battle were heard in the distance. Caribou troops looked around nervously, as if waiting for another strike, slaves and masters alike walked a little more quickly than Truc would've thought as normal office hubbub, and he should know, he was stuffed in an office for most of his career.
I have to get out of here. Truc mused, Might be easy with the situation I've been given. He was thinking of a method to escape when they reached a normal set of double doors.
On them were plaques in some sort of unknown written language, translated to English it had said, "Meeting Room." He was pushed into the room, and met with both of his pilots, the crew chief, and the two door gunners, still in their pilot jumpsuits, and still alive. At the other end of the conference table sat a large Caribou with ornate armor painted in a dull dark bluish grey with black markings of what looked to be the German Iron cross in the middle, flanked by two red and gold markings on the collar. In front of him was the handheld radio, the flares, three K-bars, and three Colt M1911's. The guards walked out the door and closed it, after getting a nod to leave from their commander.
"Truc, I assume from the nametag? Come, sit." The Caribou bellowed out. He had a deep, almost Germanic voice, he spoke perfect English, and he had a regal and formal air to him, his back straight and his neck held high.
Truc and his men obliged, and sat on both ends of the table near the Caribou officer.
"I did not expect the enemy we were fighting, these, 'Men in Green' that the retreating troops had talked about, to be short and small."
Truc nodded. It was true, due to malnutrition as to their previous third world country status, not many Vietnamese were gifted with great height, he was just one of the lucky ones with a tall, but modest height of 5'8. "Likewise with your civility, Mister...?'
"Freiheit, Governor of Las Pegasus, Dominion of the Caribou Empire."
Truc quickly reached for his pistol, and aimed it at the Governor, his two pilots followed. The governor surprisingly didn't react, he just raised his right eyebrow.
"Before you choose to kill me, I hope you realize that we're all in a precarious situation."
"All I saw was a siege, what is going on? Who are those soldiers?" Truc asked, still training his aim at the Governor.
"Disgruntled mercenaries." Freiheit responded. "Your presence has created fear. Those who you routed felt like this wasn't the type of war they were expected to fight."
"So? Why Las Pegasus?'
Freiheit quipped, "Las Pegasus is lying at a crossroads, Truc. We lie on a port, a railroad, and a road. That road leads to the capital. You have a map Truc, I can see you have noticed the tactical advantage of this city, but the mercenaries are looking to ransack the place."
Truc thought to himself, If we let this invasion happen, we can simply leave in the chaos, but then what?
"If you were thinking of escaping, I'd advise highly against it, the entire city is covered in a force field."
"What are you trying to propose?'
Freiheit looked at Truc in slight panic, "We need your help Truc, if you called for the green men to arrive we-"
"Why should we help you!?" Truc yelled back. "You enslave your people, and others! Made them into sex slaves to do your bidding! not just the women! But the children as well, so tell me, Governor! Why should I give a damn!?"
Freiheit jolted back in shock and... offense? He looked offended that Truc had accused him of such an act. "How dare you bring that topic up! Slavery is a plague! Sure, the emperor has seen to make it mandatory, but I hate it with every ounce of my body!" He slammed his hoof on the table. "I have passed as much legislation as possible to make sure the slaves were treated fairly, I made rape illegal! He stuck his face near Truc, "I have kept Scootaloo safe from any sort of harm that a ten year old should never face!"
Truc looked back with a straight line on his face, and asked, "Who is this Scootaloo?"
"That orange filly you saw in the cells, I have treated her like a daughter. Did you know she never had any parents?" He asked.
Truc bit his lower lip, then yelled back, "What does this have to do with anything?!"
Then, in a completely unexpected move, Freiheit untied his sword, scabbard and all, and laid it at the table, "I cannot raise her in a place like this, I can't bear the thought of any more slaves being subjugated to the wills of a madman slowly leading us to an early grave. I surrender, Truc, I choose to surrender, I have no will to fight in this war anymore, not if it means the endless suffering of my people." Freiheit bowed down, "I am at your mercy."
Truc gestured for his men to grab their things. He clipped on his pistol belt, and took his radio. He aimed his pistol back at Freiheit's head. As the Governor closed his eyes, he heard a click, and felt the cold metal leave his antlers. He looked up, and saw that Truc was holstering his pistol. "What sort of help do you need?" Truc asked.
"The provisional guard have done their best in manning the walls, our supplies our running low, and so is our will." Freiheit said, as they walked to the throne room.
"Why are we walking to the throne room anyway, Governor? Aren't you the ruler of this city?"
"I keep my... subordinate in the throne room, she is the true leader of this city." Freiheit walked up to the door, and opened it. As they walked in, a Pegacorn in a purple and blue-streaked mane and a pink coat also wearing a red collar, sat next to Scootaloo. "May I introduce Princess Flurry Heart, one of the former princesses of the Equestrian diarchy." Truc looked at the princess in shock. "She was captured with her family in the Crystal Empire, I managed to buy her before someone much worse did. She has been helping me govern this city in secret since."
"How old is she?"
"She will be turning eleven this year, Colonel." Freiheit said, "Scootaloo is barely sixteen."
My god... Truc thought to himself. These are certainly high stakes, I hope the cavalry arrive.
"What can you offer, Colonel?" Freiheit asked.
"We sent a distress signal to your now-occupied camp, reinforcements could come within two days if they can pick up the signal on this." He gestured to the handheld radio. "It has a limited range, so we'll have to use it periodically and hope that someone will pick up our location."
Freiheit nodded. "Very well, we'll try to hold this city until your men to arrive, for now it is time to battle. He turned to Flurry Heart. "I will do my best to defend this city, princess. Until these men arrive."
"You are most honorable, Freiheit."
"I shall prepare the guard and the city watch, here's to hoping we hold." Freiheit then put on his helmet, and marched out, leaving Truc and his pilots alone with the two ponies.
The ARVN convoy stretched far to the young mare. In addition to the column of six APC's that she, Daleering, and An were riding on, there were four strange tracked things with double-barrelled contraptions that An called "Dusters," explaining that those contraptions were used to defend the group against enemies in the air. There were also those strange machines with tubes and boxes she had seen earlier that An called "Tanks". For the past two days, they had been scouting the area for the missing colonel and the enemy. The searching had been tedious, and recently, they had been following the trail near the location where the colonel was last reported to be, and just now they had found the wreck.
"Dismount and search the wreck for any bodies, if there are any survivors, treat them!" An yelled as troops dashed out the back of their vehicle.The sight before her was horrific, pieces of the flying machine were strewn around the area; though there was no fire, smoke still remained, and the charred hulk of the machine stood there in its skeletal glory, adding to the sickening feel was the blood splattered across the fuselage of the chopper. Much to her relief, and much to the panic of her surrogate guardian, the troops had yelled out that the crash site was clear. There were no bodies, as if they had faded into oblivion. There were a set of hoofprints, but they seemed small, like those belonging to a teenager, and they led to nowhere.
"Fucking shit." An muttered, "And it was barely New Year's as well. Lieutenant, any report?"
"Nothing as of yet, sir!" His subordinate yelled, haunched over the M60's and looking over the ammo boxes in an attempt to see if they were salvageable.
"We'll remount and move on in twenty minutes. We'll map out the areas to search, at least an 80 Kilometer radius. Until then, search the nearby area and look for any trace of the crew."
As ARVN troops moved in a column, they swiveled their 30 caliber machine guns* around in search of enemy movement. The dusters swiveled their turrets to the sky in search of enemy air movements, and tank commanders looked around the heavily forested area as their fire mission slowly turned to a matter of search and rescue, and search and destroy. For hours on end, the ARVN searched hamlets and villages scattered around the area, any caribou found was either captured, or killed if they tried to put up a fight. Crystal was of good use, helping translate for An as they asked village leaders for the whereabouts of their officer, and mentioned goodwill, often leaving propaganda leaflets in English, and marking them on the map for future reference. It was a constant process: Search, find, report, repeat, over, and over, and over. Sure, there were the occasional touches with some of the fleeing troops from the camp they captured, and the bandits of the area, but they were soon dealt by with machine gun and anti-aircraft fire.
"At this rate, the colonel might've been captured, or killed." An muttered.
"We can't give up hope, Captain." Daleering said, "There were no signs of a struggle, and no bodies."
"That just means they might've been captured without a fight, which implies they were unconscious, meaning they were either comatose, or worse."
"Let's not worry for the worst yet, Captain."
"I'm an officer, I have to plan for these things."
"Sir, movement upon the horizon!"
It wasn't long on their drive until they found their first raided village. Ponies were starving, and there was hardly a trace of any caribou forces. The homes were ransacked and in ruins, many of the villagers were nothing but skin and bones, the female caribou left weren't any better. Quickly, An dismounted with Daleering and Crystal behind him, and walked up to the ponies who stepped in front of the convoy.
"So you are the men in green that the Caribou fear." The elder, an old Caribou doe with a dull brown, wrinkled, and greying coat and an equally-whitening mane said as Daleering translated for Crystal, who translated for An. "You are shorter than they had described."
An nodded. "How many people are in the village?"
"We used to be a village of around two-hundred, the Caribou took our sons for war, and our daughters for slavery, and most of our food for their armies. Then our magistrate left without a trace, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Now we're down to a village of fifty, the children and babies are starving, and mothers are crying from hunger because they have to sacrifice their meals for them."
An turned back to the convoy, and yelled, "Lieutenant!?"
"Sir!"
"Get Corporal Diem here, on the double, tell him to bring the long range radio!"
"Yes sir!" Soon the lieutenant and the corporal arrived, with the radio. The corporal unhooked his receiver, and handed it to the captain.
"Command, requesting a helicopter drop of a platoon of troops, and an airdrop of food, and medical supplies at mark two, seven, niner, eight for humanitarian aid."
"Captain, what did you find?"
"A raided village with wrecked homes and starving civilians. They don't have a lot of food left, sir, requesting a fire mission at my location with a platoon, over."
"There was commotion on the side of command, as many personnel were heard discussing the options they had before the operator replied with, "Granted, mark the LZ with a flare, and a platoon of troops will arrive in addition to an airdrop of supplies. How copy?"
"Copy that, command, will set up candles and smokes." An replied back.
"Wilco, over and out."
"Over and out." An repeated back, and handed back the receiver. "Corporal, have the men dismount and provide a perimeter for the village, and have one of your men find a safe LZ, and throw some grape smoke for the choppers, we're expecting a supply drop from Chinooks and Hueys."
"Yes sir." Diem replied, and he rushed back to the convoy. Troops climbed out of their APC's and provided a perimeter, as their steeds, and the tanks rolled into the village and created a perimeter as well.
An turned back to the elder. "We've called in an airlift of supplies and troops to secure your village and to help rebuild it, and help you recover. They'll be here in minutes."
The elder teared up and said, "Thank you." And so An helped the old doe and her entourage get to the landing zone, as a sergeant threw purple smoke and marked the area for landing. The distinct sound of Hueys and Chinooks soon filled the air, and the corporal rushed back to the captain, radio in hand.
"This is Swallow-Two-Three, confirm, is the LZ marked grape, over?"
"This is Romeo-Uniform-Seven-Three, confirmed, LZ is marked grape, over."
"Copy, commencing operation, I have orders from command for your team to continue searching for the special target, over."
"Copy, will commence embark and movement, over and out."
"Copy, over and out." The radio cut out. An turned to the lieutenant and said, "Prepare the men to move on the double, we're continuing the search."
"Yes sir." And so, the Lieutenant ran off to gather the NCO's and order all troops to get back on the APC's. VNAF Chinooks landed once the LZ cleared up as ARVN troops rushed to unload them.
The convoy went back on track, as the ARVN convoy trudged on through the dense jungle. In his APC, An crumpled up his map in frustration and yelled, "This is getting us nowhere! They could be dead by now!"
Noticing the captain's turmoil, Daleering and Crystal scooched closer to him. "Captain?" Crystal ventured to say.
An looked up and said, "Hmm, yes?"
"Why is it important for you to find this Colonel? I understand that you don't want any loss, but he can't be this important."
An sighed as he took a seat and unclipped his canteen, "The colonel taught at the officer's academy I went to, he taught everyone how to aim and shoot a pistol properly without shooting our own heads off. He's a good teacher, takes after his wife. It was a pleasant surprise that he was switching posts into the DAO. Sure, he was bossy as hell, but he has a good heart. Plus, it's New Years, I don't want his seven children to mark this day as the day their father died."
"Seven children?" Daleering remarked with a gaping mouth and a raised eyebrow.
"Seven children. Their oldest one is planning to become a teacher. Education is in their blood, I can tell, the colonel's father was a principal, like I said, his wife is a teacher, and he himself was a weapons instructor for a time. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of his children takes the ma-"
"Attention, all Coalition forces within the facility, this is Major Đặng of the Vietnamese Air Force, we are besieged in the city of Los Pegasus, if there are any additional forces out there, please respond on this channel."
An jolted up and turned to the APC's communications officer, "Reply to the distress signal, goddamn it! It's clear that they need help!" The officer nodded quickly, then turned to work his magic, before handing the receiver over to the captain. "This is Captain Nguyen Bao An of the 25th ARVN division, we are in the vicinity with elements of the third armored brigade and can respond to back you up, ETA is 20 minutes."
"Copy, We'll hold our ground until then. Be advised, our location is hot, approach from the Eastern flank. This is Major Đặng signing off."
"Copy, out." An turned and yelled to the commander, "Tell your men to set course for Las Pegasus, and step on it!"
The Captain nodded, and ordered his radio operator to spread the word to the other vehicles of their new movement. It was now a race against time for the ARVN, as they rushed to defend their officer against god knows what.
January 2nd, 1973, 1100 Hours (11:00 AM) Las Pegasus Governmental War Room, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
"And that concludes our briefing, supplies are low, and so is morale. The City Watch and the Provisional Guard are helping to bolster up defenses, but our numbers are low. The Magistrates are doing their best to try to maintain order within the city and ration supplies, and the nearest garrison is many miles away from here. Have your men had any luck contacting the men in green?" Governor Freiheit asked.
Truc shook his head, "No such luck. Our radio is short range, it would be pretty difficult for anyone to pick up our signal"
Suddenly, the chopper crew chief, Major Đặng, ran back into the war room. "We've established contact with one of our units, sir, some elements of the 25th with some squads from the third armored brigade. They should arrive within the hour, sir!"
The governor smiled in relief, "It appears some of your men have heard the call."
"So it has, so it has. Major, any word on where they'll be approaching?"
"The eastern flank, sir!"
The colonel nodded, "We'll head over there then, Major, give them a rendezvous."
"And I'll come along, dear Colonel."
Truck looked back at Freiheit, "Are you sure that is safe, Governor?" Freiheit nodded "I need to make sure my troops don't do anything rash to make anything worse."
January 2nd, 1973, 1200 Hours (12:00 PM) Eastern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
The sounds of machinery rolling into the area filled the air. Freiheit looked on in amazement as a column of green box-like vehicles ground to a halt in front of his gateway. He raised his hoof to prevent anyone from attacking as one of the strange creatures climbed out of the box with a Crystal Unicorn and strangely, a freed Caribou cow.
"Let me do the talking, we're going out there to talk to them. If we play our cards right, we'll have a defense built up long enough for more of our men to arrive. Understood?" Truc told Freiheit in a calm voice.
Freiheit nodded , "Anything to protect this city, Colonel."
"Alright, let's go."
Time seemed to slow down as he and the Colonel walked to the gateway. Two Caribou guards stomped in attentioned and, with a nod from the Governor, they unlocked and opened the gate, and slowly walked out. Freiheit noticed the humans tensing and lifting their weapons, readying up in a standoff as ARVN and Caribou troops stared each other down. Soon they were met with the Captain and his entourage face to face.
"Glad to see you are alive, sir."
"Likewise."
The Captain nodded to the Governor, "Are they keeping you prisoner?"
"He's not, in fact, he is offering to us a proposition. Right now they are in a precarious situation, I'll let him explain. Captain An, this is Governor Freiheit." Truc nodded to the Governor.
"I am not sure what you did to the Caribou forces, but some of the forces posted in the Undiscovered West routed to here, looking for a 'real war'. They have been besieging our city for the past two days. We are low on food, supplies, and options. I don't like to say this, but we need your help."
"How many people are in the city, Governor?"
"Around two thousand, maybe more, some of them are women and children."
"He offered this city to be annexed in return for the defense of it. He's willing to defect." Truc interjected.
"I did not."
"You laid down your sword, and asked to defect to our side."
"I am wary as to the ability of your troops in defending this city, all I see are several armored machines and very little men."
Truc turned to Freiheit and stared him down, "Well, your city is on the verge of going up in flames, we're all you got."
"And I am aware, but I want to be sure I can be safe, should I cut my allegiance to that mad man."
"With all due respect, Governor, do we have permission to move into the city, or not? Your people's lives are on the line!" An yelled, "We can simply leave you here to rot!" To the side, Crystal and Daleering looked on, eyes widened in horror at the sudden anger the captain showcased.
"Not without your Colonel, Captain, I'm sure you don't want him to die. Unless you accept, he will remain a prisoner of war for the Caribou Empire."
"What makes you so sure that we can't just storm the city?"
"There are civilian lives, in addition, you can't take the city and instantly defend yourself against this horde. Now will you help us, or not!?"
The Captain hovered his left hand over his holster, and stared the Governor down, before he took his hand away from the holster and asked. "Where do you want us, Governor?"
The city was filled with curious onlookers from civilians, militia, and city watch guards alike as the strange metal creatures rolled onto the city streets. Some of them came to a stop, as their rear doors opened and ARVN troops ran out into their positions. All around them, the men in green set up perimeters along the walls, set up emplacements, and sat their strange vehicles at intersections and corners for defensive purposes.
"My men are radioing for additional reinforcements via a long range radio. With any luck, the troops at the village we passed by can relay the message to the camp, and they can relay it to the airfield." An clinically said, looking at how his troops were setting up positions with the Caribou guard.
"How long will it take them to arrive?"
"It could take anywhere from hours, to days." An replied back, looking through some binoculars at the besieging troops, and measuring out their strength with Truc and the Governor.
Quickly, the radioman rushed up to Truc, receiver in hand. "Colonel Truc, we have established communications with the troops at Camp Roughneck, they have patched us through to Bà Triệu, command is on the line, sir."
"Excellent." Truc nodded, accepting the receiver. "Lieutenant Colonel Truc to home base, can you read? Over?"
"We read you loud and clear, Colonel."
"Excellent, it's nice hearing some familiar voices again. Did the camp give you a rundown on the situation?"
"They did, Colonel, we can send some reinforcements by daybreak tomorrow. ANZAC troops will be dispatched from the camp, while additional ARVN units will be airlifted to the city, you will have to hold your position until the rest of the coalition forces can arrive."
"We'll do our best to hold our position until you arrive, over, and out."
"Over and out, Colonel."
Truc handed the receiver back to the corporal, and turned to the group, "Reinforcements will be able to arrive by daybreak tomorrow, we just have to hold here for the night."
"Understood, Colonel, Flurry Heart will be pleased to hear that. I have to say, I am impressed with the type of machinery you have present at the moment." Freiheit commented as he saw a few of the APC's, Dusters, and tanks roll by.
"We have a lot more where they come from, Governor, I hope this may dispel any fears or doubts you may have about our forces." An replied back to the Governor in a retort.
"I still doubt your merits against a large group of mercenaries, but I am no fool, that is why I have a plan." The governor motioned the ARVN officers to a dirt floor, where he grabbed a stick, and drew simple patterns of X's for enemy troops, O's for Imperial troops, and Y's for ARVN troops. My idea is to lure the mercenaries into a trap, by laying the bulk of your infantry and some of your...machines, here." He pointed to the southern wall. "You mentioned that your 'tanks' as you call them had lights that can see body heat, correct?"
An nodded and said, "They're usually used for driving, but we can use them to search for the enemy."
"Wonderful, that means you wouldn't have a need for fires. That lack of light will attract the enemy to attempt an attack at your wall. As soon as your vehicle's spot them, they talk to your men, the trap is sprung, and hopefully, you can hold out until we can dispatch additional guards from the watch if needed." Freiheit concluded.
Truc faced An, and whispered, "I have a feeling Freiheit intends to use us."
"Why's that?"
"The southern wall's door collapsed before you arrived, I'm assuming the M48's and some M113's are going to plug up that hole?"
"That and some Dusters if you have fears of any aerial attack."
"Good, good." Truc turned back to Freiheit. "An will order his armored Lieutenant to move some of the tanks and APC's to cover the gap in defenses."
"A wise choice, Captain."
"Just do your part of the job and we'll be fine."
Freiheit turned and faced the perimeter of the battlements, "Let's just hope that will be enough until your help arrives."
January 2nd, 1973, 2100 Hours (9:00 PM) Southern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
"Alpha-One, what is your status, over?"
"All quiet on my end, Alpha-Actual, no movement whatsoever. Out."
"Copy that, Alpha-Actual, over and out."
"Alpha-One to Alpha-Actual, out." An handed the receiver back to Corporal Khiem and looked back towards the setting sun as Crystal looked at the radio from different angles, while Daleering looked at the devices, eyes widened in curious fascination, still thriving since witnessing their first use. Finally, Crystal broke the ice by asking the much needed question. "An, how does that device work?"
Corporal Khiem looked at the unicorn, and unhooked his receiver. "When you press the button on this phone handle, the device on my back sends out waves at a frequency set from the device. Any other device on that same frequency can hear me from a certain distance." He unslung the radio, and set it on the ground and adjusted the dials accordingly, he then picked up the receiver and said, "This is Romeo-Uniform-Seven-Three, conducting radio check with control, how copy?"
"This is control, we read you loud and clear, was there any other reason you radioed in?" A feminine voice replied back.
"Just giving a little demonstration for someone, stand by." Khiem handed Crystal the receiver and said, "Remember, just press the button on this phone to begin transmitting, understood?" Crystal nodded. "Excellent."
Crystal took the receiver with her magic - now strengthened since her horn grew from its original stump - held it near her ear and mouth, and pressed the button to transmit. "This is, umm, Romeo-Uniform-Seven-Three, how are you doing?"
"This is control, everything is well, over. How are you?" The feminine voice replied back. Crystal smiled in excitement, and Khiem gestured for her to go on. She pressed the receiver button again.
"We are doing well. The night is clear and quiet, I wish you a good night."
"We wish you a good night as well." Crystal returned the receiver to Corporal Khiem. He took the receiver, and finished the conversation.
"This is Corporal Khiem, we will check in at zero-hundred, this is Romeo-Uniform-Seven-Three, signing off."
"Copy Romeo-Uniform-Seven-Three, out." Khiem switched the dial back on the squad frequency and nodded to Crystal. "Amazing, isn't it?" Crystal nodded, before Daleering tapped Khiem on his elbow. "Yes, Daleering?"
"Why was there a woman talking to you? Is she a slave as well?"
Khiem shook his head. "No, slavery is illegal in most of the world we come from. We have women here because they enlisted to be here."
Daleering tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't women banned from the military? They're weak physically and mentally."
"Well, for starters, you and Crystal are volunteering to help us, that makes you both servicewomen. Second, times have changed. In World War II, many of the armed forces had women in their ranks to do domestic things, like typing, or office work. There were exceptions though, members of the Viet Minh, if I remember correctly were women."
Khiem stroked his chin and continued, "In our case, that is usually so, our women are supposed to do office work and nursing, as well as care for the military families on bases, but in some cases, that isn't their only case. I remember hearing tales from other units of women in nearby villages in the CIDG* and in the mountains who took up arms to defend their home bases against the Viet Cong. Without any pay, or any prospect for awards, and, if they died, no serial numbers to identify them with."
Khiem slung his radio over his back before continuing. "One of our most decorated rangers was a woman, she was nicknamed the Tiger Lady. Just before she died, she and her unit faced an enemy numbering in the thousands without a single scratch, with just a pistol in her hand.* We've always had a tradition of women fighting for Vietnam, she wasn't the first, and she won't be the last. The point is, anyone can have a chance in the South Vietnamese armed forces, just like any other developed nation does, just mostly not in the front lines, they're usually too dangerous for women."
Daleering nodded in understanding. "So, is there a chance I can enlist in the army?"
"Only when you've become eighteen, though technically, you already are serving as a translator for us. It just means your enlistment might be easier once you get your citizenship." the corporal looked out to the night sky. "It's getting late, why don't you and Crystal get some sleep? We'll let you know when anything happens, alright?"
Crystal nodded and said, "Of course, goodnight, Khiem, goodnight An." Both the officer and the NCO waved their goodbyes, as Crystal wrapped her fore hoof with Daleering, and walked her to one of the nearby, safer emplacements to fall asleep. That night, Daleering dreamed of a perfect life. She imagined fierce battles and glorious victories, and fillies cheering wherever she went, as she and her friends liberated every single town they came across. She slept with a smile that perfect night.
January 3rd, 1973, 0300 Hours (3:00 AM) Eastern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
"Anything to report, Captain of the Watch?" Governor Freiheit asked a plumed caribou with purple and gold armor, as he took off his helmet and looked out at the distance.
"Nothing to report, Governor, there have been no lights, and no signs of movement. The men in green have also reported nothing." The captain replied.
"Keep a stern eye out, they are still out..." Freiheit's voice died down as he saw out in front of him, millions of torches being lit. The light approached them at a closing distance. "Get down!" The Governor yelled, as soon, millions of fire arrows pelted the battlements, starting fires, and creating burning wounds for any unlucky soldier they hit. A bombardment of catapult fire and spell fire followed suit, and soon, yelling was heard as the bandits charged the gates again.
"Bolster our defenses, fire back with everything you've got! We need to protect this city!" Freiheit yelled at Caribou and Ponies from the regular army, to the City Watch, to everyday civilians and even slaves. Armed with improvised weapons, the masses began to club and charge against the enemy.
Suddenly, the gates to the Eastern Entrance blew off their hinges, as a young Griffoness charged in, several old style grenades in hand.
"Our ranks our collapsing, prepare to- aarrrgh!" One of the squad leaders yelled, as a mace hit him.
"Where are the men in green?! Can't they see the-" The soldier never finished his sentence, as he, too, got hit with the same mace.
A large, muscular minotaur swung his mace around, wiping out soldier after soldier, causing many to rout and panic. The governor and the Captain of the Guard were soon swept up in the fight, each of them had their sword drawn, swinging and slashing for their lives.
"Governor! Why aren't we calling the men in green?!"
"They'll never come! They're too cautious of us, we are both enemies to them! I used them for bait in a trap, what makes you think they'll come to our aid, Captain?!" The Governor, with a grunt of effort, pushed his foe off-balance, and slashed his abdomen, causing his intestines to fall out, and for his ribs, heart, and lungs to be exposed. He turned afterwards, only to face a horrific sight.
His subordinate was currently being hacked to pieces by an overzealous bandit as he laughed maniacally with a wide, disturbed, smile. With the sight of their commanding officer falling, the Imperial troops began to panic.
"Our leader has been killed! Fall back!"
"Hold the line, men! Hold the line!"
"It's no use, we're done for! Ruuun!" The forces that were brave enough to continue the fight were soon overwhelmed, mobbed, and killed. The troops who retreated were also shot, both by the bandits, and by their own officers. The Governor, paralysed with shock, could only fathom what he was supposed to do.
January 3rd, 1973, 0330 Hours (3:30 AM) Southern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
"Sir! Contacts to the east! It looks to be that the Eastern wall has fallen!" An ARVN Sergeant yelled, rushing up to An, the two Equestrians, and the group of officers.
Lieutenant Hoàng turned from the burning city to his superior, "Sir, what do we do?"
An turned to the Sergeant. "Has the Eastern wall called for reinforcements?"
"Negative, sir."
An lifted his left arm to hold his chin in thought, "They haven't called for help."
"Does it really matter, sir?" Hoàng said with a little urgency, looking out at the impending disaster in front of them.
"It's his battle, his city. He should know what he's doing." An replied back.
"That isn't your only concern, Captain." Truc said, looking through some binoculars. "We still have to guide the reinforcements in from the air and from the land."
"That is true." An said, turning back to face the battle, muttering under his breath, "Come on Governor, it's your call, call us in already." Tension hung thick in the air, as the South Vietnamese troops could do nothing but watch the unfolding horror in front of them.
The sound of choppers pierced the air, as ARVN Airborne and regular infantry quickly rushed into the Hueys. Not so far off at the runway, two VNAF AC-47’s and three VNAF AC-119’s took off. The twin-prop gunships flew into the night sky as the Vietnamese ground crew yelled instructions and the last of the troops frantically rushed into their choppers.
“Last on!” One of the ARVN officers yelled as he entered Colonel Duc’s helicopter. Similar shouts were barely heard over the sounds of the chopper blades and the incessant radio squacks and crackles as the pilots did the last of their checks and radioed into air traffic control.
“Colonel!” The crew chief yelled, crawling away from the cockpit, “All choppers report that everyone is accounted for, all we’re waiting for is the permission to take off from air traffic control.”
The colonel nodded and looked back to his subordinate as the crew chief, a young lieutenant, crawled back to the cockpit area. “Any reports from the Australians and the New Zealanders?”
“Yes sir, their convoys already moved out from their camp not two or three hours ago.”
“Colonel! Air traffic control has given us permission to take off, we may go when we are ready!”
The colonel unfolded his map and checked the final plans sketched onto it. “Very well, begin Operation Broken Arrow!”
The crew chief nodded, and signalled the pilots to confirm takeoff orders. Duc picked up the radio receiver and pressed the transmit button, “The city of Las Pegasus has called for our aid. We must reinforce our allies, and provide the security and stability they need. Therefore, I will tolerate not recklessness, understood?”
Duc got various forms of affirmation from other choppers. “Very good, rest up, we will arrive in thirty minutes.”
Soon, a large swarm of Hueys, Chinooks, and Huey gunships hovered upwards, turned to adjust their heading, and tilted forwards, maneuvering the choppers forward as they flew in a staggered column formation. The time of rescue had begun.
January 2nd, 1973, 0345 Hours (3:45 AM) Southern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
“We don’t have time to wait for them, we’ll have to split up our forces.” Truc decided with finality. He walked over to a map on a table, gesturing for the armored cavalry officers and infantry officers to follow. He picked up some pencils, and quickly scribbled in some plans before presenting them to the officers. “An, take one of the armored lieutenants and lead a platoon of troops to secure and reinforce the eastern wall. Have the lieutenant assign three APC’s, two dusters, two M48’s, and three M41’s to accompany you. The rest of the dusters will cover the southern gate, and the rest of the M41’s and M48’s will conduct sweeps around the city. The rest of the infantry will wait here to guide the reinforcements in. If we aren’t careful enough, this can turn into urban warfare, and civilians will be harmed, so watch your fire. Questions?”
Silence filled the air.
“Good, dismissed. Get to your groups, and move out. I’ll monitor the situation through the radio.” The ARVN officers scrabbled to get their groups in check. All the while, Princess Flurry Heart and Scootaloo, accompanied by a squad of caribou guards, approached the colonel, surprisingly calmly.
“Colonel Truc, I see you are organizing your men to move out, what are you intending to do?”
Truc looked up from his map and replied in concern, “Shouldn’t your highness be in the government nexus? It is a lot safer than the battlefield.”
“My father taught me the ways of combat before the Fall, or at least tried to.” Princess Flurry Heart replied back, “Also, Governor Freiheit demanded for me, Scootaloo and his non-essential staff to move over here, and to tell you of some urgent news.”
“I’m assuming the eastern wall has been breached and compromised, and that the looters are now within city walls?”
“You are correct, Colonel.” Flurry replied in ever-mounting concern.
Truc nodded and said, “Very well, we’ll just have to plan around that. Don’t worry, your highness, the ARVN will do their best to protect this city to the last man.”
“I hope so, Colonel.”
January 2nd, 1973, 0400 Hours (4:00 AM) Downtown Los Pegasus, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
The column of M113 APC’s, M42 Bulldogs, M48 Patton's, and dusters raced through the streets, careful in their attempts to not run over any of the pedestrians. On top of the lead APC An scanned the area as the armor lieutenant next to him barked out orders and directions, the radio next to them squawked to life.
“Captain, this is Colonel Truc, we’ve received confirmation from Princess Flurry Heart that the Eastern gate is in fact, compromised. We are overrun, I repeat, we are overrun, proceed with caution, over.”
The radioman passed the receiver to An for him to respond, “Copy, we are proceeding with caution, over.”
“Copy, over, and out.” An hung up the receiver, and yelled orders for everyone to stand on their guard. As the convoy quickly rushed to the front, they tried to keep an eye out for any hostile forces, as the city slowly descended into chaos.
“Dump everything over our heads*! I repeat, Dump everything over our heads.”
“Copy that, confirmed, all air units, Los Pegasus is compromised, all available air units, please respond to that location.”
In the war room, dozens of office personnel scrambled to organize the movements of VNAF, RNZAF, and RAAF aircraft, diverting and redirecting fire missions to Las Pegasus. Major Nha overlooked the entire room as it erupted into scurrying, organized chaos.
“Someone radio that follow up to the reinforcements approaching the area of operations.”
“Yes sir!” an ARVN WAC NCO replied as she quickly tuned into the proper frequencies. Dump everything over our heads, my god, what has Truc gotten himself into? Nha thought to himself, as he overlooked the map of coalition air force operations.
January 3rd, 1973, 0445 Hours (4:45 AM) Eastern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
“Load high explosive!”
“High explosive loaded!”
“Fire!” the large roar of cannons was heard as the M24’s and M48’s did their best to stave off wave after wave of bandits. Accompanying them were the ARVN infantry, dismounted from their APC’s, trying their best to fend off the attack from a makeshift barricade of furniture and carts alongside, what was left of the city watch and of the provisional guard. Soldiers of the latter factions had plates of armor missing, bodies cut and bleeding, and faces drooping in fatigue, nearly on the edge of collapse.
ARVN machine gunners pelted the enemy with M60 gunfire resting on bipods on the battlements, as their comrades on the M113 turrets accompanied them with their Browning machine guns. The two dusters with them rattled off a steady one, two beat as their double barrels, initially meant for anti-air fire, sprayed and prayed against the massing horde.
Civilians ran towards the ARVN forces as they covered their retreat. On the battlements with his radio officer, An fired off a few rounds from his carbine as Freiheit rushed towards the captain. “Captain Nguyen, more of our forces are routing to this area, they claim to be harassed by a giant minotaur wielding a mace.”
An looked back at Freiheit in worry, “If he makes it to our barriers past our armour, he can take them out and break the barricade, causing them to spill out onto the roadway!”
“Exactly, so forgive me if I feel it urgent to ask, but when is your help arriving!?”
“It’s hard to tell, I’m trying to keep up to date with this guy!” An points to the radio man, as arrows flew around them. “If he knew anything, he would’ve told us!”
“Let’s hope the word of your men are honest, Captain!” Freiheit yelled back. He soon rushed to one of the other walls where his staff was stationed.
Suddenly, a godly roar pierced the gunfire, as a giant mass of movement streaked through the enemy ranks, and broke through any of the remaining routing forces, causing them to fly off into other buildings and killing them.
“It’s him! That’s the monster, run! He’ll kill us all!” One of the guards yelled. Several of the guards followed the running, screaming guard.
“What!? Come back here you fucking cowards!” Yelled a Vietnamese private, his words fell on deaf ears, partly to the fact that his words were in Vietnamese, and therefore were unrecognizable for the equine troops.
Some of the braver guards tried to charge at the minotaur, trying to dissuade it from charging the barricade, only to be hit with the mace and flung far off. An looked on in horror at the carnage being created, bodies and viscera flying everywhere, screams piercing through the ranks, the consistent rhythm of the cannons and the guns being his only rock in this sea of battle.
The drum of the guns gave him an idea. “Sergeant, radio the duster near us to aim his gun forty-five degrees to the left, and standby to fire.”
“Sir, what do you have in mind?”
“Something so stupid it could work.” An replied back. He gripped his carbine tightly, trying to steady his shaking hands. He turned to his NCO, as soon as the guy gave him the thumbs up, he ran over the barricades and charged at the minotaur, screaming.
“Hey, asshole, follow me!” An yelled in broken English. His actions were enough to capture its attention. Presuming that it could easily defeat him, the minotaur took the bait, and began to chase the captain. An panted as he ducked and dived through debris, trying hard to dodge the swings of the mace. C’mon An, a little longer, An thought as his legs began to cramp up and flared from pain, and his throat felt dry from the running.
Suddenly, a steady drum of fire broke out behind him, and he jolted. He felt the sudden splash of warm liquid as he dove for cover. An quickly wiped at the fluid on the back of his neck with two fingers, revealing them to be red with blood, blood that was not his own. An looked back, and stared in relaxed satisfaction with a smile.
Standing before the captain was the minotaur, his side full of holes of spraying blood, his intestines, stomach, and lungs spilled out from the new cavity as the duster pelted him with constant rounds. The minotaur writhed in pain as he was hit with round after hot round, the insurmountable amount of pain caused him to drop his weapon, and collapse, screaming in sheer agony. The titan was no more. As An stood up and ran back towards the barricade, he heard the faint sound of propellers turning, and of jets slowly approaching their position.
January 2nd, 1973, 0500 Hours (5:00 AM) Los Pegasus Airspace, Equestria, Equus
“Sir, we’ve got word from command, we’re cleared to begin moving in after the air support begins their strafing rounds.”
“Very well, prep the music.”
“Yes sir!”
As the ARVN officer scrambled to set the tape, the colonel picked up the receiver, “Alright, you heard them, get into position and move in!” Duc switched frequencies to the squadron. “All air units, form up at nine o’clock high from the position, we will attack with the sun at our backs.”
Duc turned to his command staff. “Gentlemen, I have no doubts as to your skills, now, I propose a toast. To an answer to an age old question…” Duc turned and nodded to one of his officers to play the tape, as his subordinates in the other choppers cocked their rifles and held on tight.
Ahead of them, Duc saw waves of planes, from VNAF skyraiders, AC-37’s, AC-47’s, and F-5’s, to RNZAF A-4’s and RAAF Canberras flew in, poised to drop their red hot, sticky load all over the giant swarm of enemies.
The poor officer tasked with setting up the tape, finally winning in his struggle against the tape player, finished properly placing the second canister of tape and gave a thumbs up.
The colonel nodded back, and the lieutenant summoned the drums of death from a single press of the button, as Duc saw the circling AC-47 fire the first shot from its side howitzer.
January 3rd, 1973, 0500 Hours (5:00 AM) Eastern Wall Entrance, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
The first thing the captain heard was a drumroll from speakers, and then all hell broke loose. An explosion erupted from the eastern gate, causing it to collapse, crushing several of the attacking thieves. Many of the marauders scattered as gunfire erupted around the entire area from the skies. “All air units, release the bombs outside of the wall.” A voice erupted from the radio receiver next to An. The ground shook and explosions were heard in the distance as VNAF, RAAF, and RNZAF aircraft constantly dropped their loads from their wings and the AC-47’s fired off their howitzers. Thousands of pounds of explosives were dropped on the perimeter around the wall.
Further out, AC-119’s swept up the retreating foes, dying to get away from the carnage. Any brigand who had tried to run at the sight of such awesome power in front of them were soon met with a wall of explosions and minigun fire from the flying boxcars. The wing of three gunships formed a perimeter, locking down the city from the outside. To the brigands below, it was as if Faust herself had used her powers to strike with fear and ferocity into the hearts of the enemy. To the AC-119 crews on board the flying artillery platforms, it was mere target practice.
Overhead, An saw huey gunships with VNAF markings fire off thousands of rounds to the ground below. As they flew over the battlements, the gunships fired their rockets at the enemy ballistas, causing explosions of stone and splinters. The ARVN troops cheered as their air support had finally arrived to break the deadlock. Invigorated, the ARVN troops began to push harder against the enemy lines. With nowhere else to go, the enemy had no choice but to hold their ground, as the ARVN hunted them down like fish in a barrel.
VNAF and RNZAF planes started on their strafing rounds, gunning any enemy they saw with their machine guns. Suddenly, two VNAF skyraiders dropped their large ovular tanks outside of the perimeter, the resulting explosions engulfing many of the enemy troops outside. Anyone unfortunate, but lucky enough to be close to the blast without dying felt the air heat up and leave their lungs as everything was touched by the eating flames.
“Captain An, this is Colonel Duc, clear your troops from the area, the AC-47 gunships are about to dust the area with their machine guns, I repeat, fall back to a safe position and take cover, they will begin their attack in ten, nine…” An, panicked from the sudden call for a retreat, shoved his subordinate toward the rear, yelling, “Evacuate the men! They’re clearing the area.” Word quickly passed to most of the ranks, and soon, the majority of the ARVN troops and their indigenous allies fell back from a safe distance, some tripping along the way in their panic, the armored division slowly backing away and providing suppressive fire as they closed the rear of the ranks. A safe distance away, behind some rubble, An heard the last of the countdown over the radio, “Five, four, three, two, one.”
A hail of tracer fire broke through the skies as the AC-47’s miniguns sliced through the enemy ranks like butter. Dust choked the air as the rounds impacted the ground. An looked up at the sky as two AC-47’s, one flying in the distance in the direction of the eastern gate, and another to his back at the west, combined their fire power and swept the area of any thugs. Minutes felt like they drew into hours as the tracer fire continued to slice the ranks unhindered.
Finally the dust settled, and before them stood millions of corpses. Many of the ranks had lost their limbs, others were bleeding out profusely, moaning. The siege was over, and the enemy laid dead or dying in front of them.
January 3rd, 1973, 0530 Hours (5:30 AM) Northern Wall, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
Freiheit and his lieutenants looked in sheer horror, mouths agape and eyes wide, as they processed the carnage on the ground.
“They...they killed them all. All in one, single blow.” Stuttered a lieutenant in shock and awe. Freiheit nodded, walked away from the table containing maps of the city, and stared as he took in the distance westward.
In the air was a large, flying beast, colored in a large array of browns, blacks, and greens. The creature looked to be made of metal, and had a roar that broke through the battlefield as it continued its flight. The large being circled around, and joined its mate to the east as they slowly flew into the distance.
“An iron dragon…” the governor muttered, “An iron dragon with the breath of dragons a thousand-fold, the men in green fought without any mercy, and with such total and utter destruction. Dear Freya, is this punishment for our actions in the war for conquest? What have I done in allowing the men in green to come in, and in allying with them?” Freiheit whispered to himself, as he saw a flock of iron dragonflies approach a clearing. He looked in fascination as more men in green jumped out of the machines flying just a thread’s edge off the ground. Larger machines unloaded troops from the back. He looked on with his men as the men in green yelled orders in the strange language they called Vietnamese.
January 3rd, 1973, 0630 Hours (6:30 AM) Eastern District, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equus
“Clear the area, take prisoners! Care for any of the injured! Over there! There’s one!” Shouting broke through the battlefield as the ARVN reinforcements grouped up and went their separate ways, searching and securing the area for any survivors who miraculously survived the attack.
The air was hot as some napalm fires still burned outside of the perimeter, and more dust kicked in as ANZAC land rovers soon arrived with their reinforcements. “Alroight, lads! I want B section to process prisoners! A section team up with C section and conduct further searches for the enemy! O section I…” the Aussie and Kiwi troops quickly dashed to their positions as they helped the ARVN troops process prisoners and bark out commands to line up in clear, understandable English.
Among the awaiting prisoners stood a griffoness, feathers tattered, and tail singed, with cuts, scrapes, and bruises plastered all over her body. Gilda licked her cracked beak as she waited for what she expected was the execution. For four years, she had been dragged from her home, and shoved right into the battlefield. She was told by her ‘employers’ that she was fighting ‘To spread the glory of the empire!’ and that since they managed to defeat the most powerful country in Equus, that this conquest would be a piece of cake. Some cake that was. Gilda thought.
Four years of unwittingly fighting for the most fucked up creatures in the world, made even more painful as she saw the homes of her friends burned in pillaged right in front of her eyes. She gagged at the memory of many a young mare raped, some young enough to not be in heat yet. What made it worst was her first fight with the new beings from the strange land, men in green who harnessed the power of fire and magic to wipe out most of her fellow mercenaries. She ran after that first battle, ran without a single thought on direction, ran to survive an unspeakable hell. With everything I’ve done in this war, death is is the only way I’ll get out of this bucked up hell. Heck, I might be able to meet Dash on the way up as well… oh, who am I kidding, with everything I’ve done here, I probably deserve to go to Tartarus. Gilda thought.
She heard some of the men in green speak in some weird language. Suddenly, most of the troops began to draw their knives. This is it. Gilda thought, I’m done for. She closed her eyes, anticipating the sweet silence of death. She felt someone grabbing her taloned forearm. Going for my wrists first, maybe they’re going to make us suffer first. Gilda chillingly thought.
She felt something that was similar to paper, like a leaflet. Curious, she opened her eyes, and looked at the leaflet before her. The leaflet was a bright yellow, with a giant banner of yellow with three red stripes in the middle flying in the center of the leaflet.
Surrounding it were several other banners, one with white stars in a blue rectangle, and red and white stars and stripes, another with a red and blue circle surrounded by black lines similar to Equestria’s flag, two banners with a similar coloring of blue with red lines crossing vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, on the top left of each banner, and stars to the right, another banner had a white triangle with four stars, one on each point, and one in the center, the triangle was surrounded in blue and red, and the final banner had a blue line sandwiched in between two red and two white lines.
There was some large, bold text on the top written in a strange language. Below the group of flags, was a sentence written in what looked like Equish, “Safe-Conduct Pass To Be Honored By All Vietnamese Government And Allied Forces.” Presumably similar lines written in in other strange languages followed below the sentence.
Gilda flipped the leaflet to the back, There were two yellow lines sandwiching more text, and two pictures, one of what looked to be a farmer being guided by one of the men in green. The other picture was of an aged man with a signature below it. On the upper yellow line read the same Equish language from the front, below that was more text in the strange language.
The fact that it was written in such unintelligible text made Gilda tilt her head in confusion at why the buck the men in green would hand her such a thing. Gilda looked up to the person who gave it to her: it was a pale man with brown hair, dressed in clothing made of an assortment of greens and browns. He wore a green harness of some kind, with a helmet covered in cloth of a similar color under his arm. It was all rounded out with green and black boots and a maroon beret, and he wore a nametag labeled “Taylor”. “What the buck did you just give me? I thought you people were going to kill us.”
“Your one opportunity, young missy.” The thing talked, and it had an accent none too similar to a certain orange and blonde mare that Gilda knew before everything went to tartarus.
“Do you know what it says?”
“Oh, whoops. Sorry about that ma’am.” The man replied back, hastily grabbing the leaflet from Gilda’s grasp. “I forgot that the ARVN forces haven’t translated all of these darn things to English, hold on, I’ll take a look.” Taylor looked closely at the text and began to read it aloud.
“‘Take this pass to the National Government, meaning us, and you will be kindly welcomed, given guaranteed security, and properly treated.’ Signed, Nguyen Van Thieu, that’s the South Viet- I mean the leader of the men in green as a whole. And then under that it says, ‘this safe conduct pass to be honored by Vietnamese government agencies and Allied forces’.” Taylor handed the leaflet back to Gilda. “In layman’s terms ma’am, join us, and you won’t be jailed for the rest of the war. We’re willing to give you a second chance, I’d consider it if I were you, we have tons of jobs you can do under our protection.”
Gilda stared back at the simple leaflet, and looked up, observing what her fellow mercenaries were doing. Some of the various creatures, and most of the caribou, shredded up their leaflets after receiving an explanation from one of the men in green. The few that didn’t walked up to one of the men in green and started talking, showing them the “Safe-Conduct Pass.”
Gilda looked back at her leaflet, Maybe this isn’t a hopeless situation after all. She thought, as she looked hopefully at the giant collection of flags.
January 3rd, 1973 0800 Hours (8:00 AM) Las Pegasus Nexus, Las Pegasus Equestria, Equuis
Light filtered into the building as Colonel Duc, Lieutenant Colonel Truc, Captain An, the armored officer, and the ANZAC officers sat in their uncomfortably small chairs, staring at the opposing party, consisting of an ornately decorated Freiheit, Princess Flurry Heart, and Scootaloo, in addition to several Caribou officers. Freiheit cleared his voice before he began to speak.
“In light of your actions in the defense of Las Pegasus, we, the people of the Caribou Empire, and its dominions are forever in your debt. We shall now conduct the terms and negotiate.”
Truc nodded, “Let us begin.” The ANZAC’s nodded as Crystal Clear spoke with Colonel Duc in Vietnamese, after which he, too nodded in agreement of negotiations.
Freiheit sat down, along with his staff and equals, “We shall begin with the bugbear in the room. Governmental jurisdiction of the municipal government. The previous battle has left our city watch and our provisional guard in tatters, as is the regular army. That combined with my defection leaves the responsibility of maintaining law and order to you and your coalition. What are your plans, Colonel?”
Truc turned, talked with the officers, and then turned back to Freiheit. “As we speak, we are deploying more troops and engineers to bolster defenses on the outside. In addition, each of our nations are deploying several battalions of military police to uphold law and order within the city. Each patrol group will consist of a police officer from South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and South Vietnam. Half of the patrol group will be knowledgeable in English, or Equish as you call it, and therefore will be able to solve disputes reasonably.
Freiheit nodded, “And how long is this period of occupation?”
“The occupation will only last until the government’s police force is sufficiently built up to combat crime again. Though in terms of military protection, we intend to build an air base nearby as not only a defense against enemy attack, but as a hub for the coalition forces within the area. We also intend to establish a naval base for our patrol boats to protect the city by sea, and to enforce maritime laws.”
“So there will be some form of occupation for the duration of your war with the Caribou Empire?”
“That is correct.”
Freiheit nodded and said, “Very well, as for your proposition on the treatment of prisoners, we do not understand the term, ‘humane’.”
Truc nodded, “It means that you treat your prisoners as if they are a guest. They should never be tortured in interrogation, be worked to death or be used as slaves, or be given living conditions that make life impossible to attain.”
“That’s preposterous!” A Caribou officer said, “They killed several of our men! Why should we give them luxury? They need punishment!”
“And they shall, within the reasonable terms of a court of law with due process. They will be tried for their crimes by the government in power, and be punished accordingly, but they must never be punished cruelly without good reason.”
“Understood.” Freiheit picked up a piece of parchment and read closely, “Those seem to be our only concerns, the rest are reasonable, tax exemptions for Coalition forces and the establishment of consulates for Coalition and allied nations in exchange for protection and aid to build modern infrastructure, you mentioned your ambassadors will fill in the details?”
“Yes, we are out of our jurisdiction in terms of legality on that aid, the ambassadors will clear that up.”
Freiheit nodded. “Good, good.” Freiheit turned to Flurry Heart. “It’s your choice. As of now, I am relinquishing command of all armed forces and governmental control over the city of Las Pegasus to Princess Flurry Heart: as of now, you are ruler of this city.”
Flurry Heart nodded. She picked up the parchment with the terms in her magical aura, and read closely, before she picked up a quill, and signed it with Freiheit. They passed it over to the Coalition officers, who signed their end of the deal.
Freiheit stood and drew his sword, swishing it left and right before holding it back up, blade pointing outward. He then lowered the sword so it pointed levelled itself, and offered it to Colonel Duc. The colonel accepted it with both hands, and bowed to the former governor. He then turned to Crystal Clear, and whispered to her before she turned to speak for him.
“The colonel accepts your offer of defection, we will begin questioning immediately, and you will be given a position and amnesty with the Republic of Vietnam, from there you have the will to do as you please within legality. Do you understand these terms?”
“Understood. May I have a word with Colonel Truc before we begin?” Whispers exchanged between the unicorn and the colonel, before he nodded. “Thank you.” Freiheit then walked towards the ARVN officer, and pulled him out the door.
“What is it do you want from me, Freiheit?”
“I just wanted to express my gratitude for what you have done to protect the people of this city in their time of need. The times are changing for the better.” Freiheit looked at the floor morosely before he said his next piece. “It is because of these times, that I am offering you guardianship of Scootaloo.”
Truc stared agape in surprise at the offer. “Why?”
“Colonel, as a new defector from the Empire I am a target, and they will do whatever they can to gain leverage on me. My new life will be dangerous, it is with this pretense that I believe she will be in better care under you. She is sixteen, colonel. She should be given the chance to grow up and have a life she hasn’t had for nearly a decade now.”
“What happened to her immediate family? Her relatives?”
“According to government records, her biological mother was an officer in the Wonderbolts, the Equestrian Government’s equivalent of your ‘Air Force’. She had to quit due to...fallout from her daughter. She died of cancer in the early years of Scootaloo’s life. Her father’s whereabouts are left to be seen as obviously noted, and there appears to be no apparent extended family traceable as of the last I’ve checked I few weeks ago. I’ve had records on her aunt and her partner, but those records have vanished. Her adopted mother was a friend of her biological mother’s, but as of late, I had lost track of her status within the slave system. The next best candidate, Captain Rainbow Dash, is also lost within the bureaucracy. Last I’ve heard, she had been sold off to the highest bidder. Colonel, she truly has no one left.”
The lieutenant colonel stood there contemplating on the decision he had to make. One thing was for certain, he had to make it quick.
“And that’s what happened?” Scootaloo asked, her head leaned over in interest as she heard Crystal regale the tale of how the Rangers caused the Caribou to turn tail. Daleering politely nodded in confirmation to some of Crystal’s facts.
“Yep. The next thing I know, we went to their fort, and it was sooo impressive, the ha-Colonel Nguyen.” Crystal shifted her gaze to the ARVN staff officer as he apporoached the group, Freiheit in tow. His face was sunk in a downcast, concerned frown.
“Good morning, may I talk to Scootaloo for a moment? Alone?” He said.
Crystal nodded nervously, her eyebrows raised in concern and befuddlement, “I-If she’s alright with it, why do you ask?”
“Something has come up, and I want to keep this private.” Truc replied. Crystal was about to raise her hoof to question further, but with a strong forehoof, Daleering wrapped her forehoof around the unicorn’s abdomen and dragged her away from the discussing duo. Scootaloo looked up, frowning in worry.
“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked, dropping the excited overtone she’d had just a moment ago.
Freiheit looked straight into her eyes and, face contorting in near emotional collapse, began to spill everything out, “Scootaloo, you know I have cared for you for years. I’ve saved you from a life of horrific slavery, I’ve watched you grow up in the absence of your guardians, and I watched you grow into a beautiful mare.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Freiheit raised his hoof, silencing Scoots for the time being. “Times are changing, my dear, I’ve left the Empire, and now my life is in danger. I can’t force you to live a life in hiding or fear any longer. You need to grow, you need to experience the things you were supposed to experience when I was your age. You need to be in a place safe enough to discover yourself.” Freiheit began to tear up as he concluded his statement. “It is because of this, that I’m handing custody over to Colonel Truc. You will be with him now.”
Scootaloo switched her sights, from her now ex-adoptive father, to the Lieutenant-Colonel, and soon, her cool yet crestfallen demeanor fell into a fit of ever-increasing rage. “This, this is because I didn’t service to you, wasn’t it?”
“What are you talking about, my ch-”
“All the other mares kept talking about the strange mare who never got bucked by her owner. They kept telling me how I was useless. Is that why you’re letting me go? Because we never serviced you?”
“My dear, we’ve been through this for three years, I said-”
“That bucking mares by force was beneath you, I know. But who knows with buckers like you!” Scootaloo snapped, “For all I know, you were waiting for us to make a move on you and jerk your rocks off!”
“Scootaloo-”
“And now you’re giving me away as a sort of trophy to the men in green, how dare you!”
“Scootaloo I-” the teenage mare bucked Freiheit in the face, blood spewing from his muzzle as his adopted daughter ran off.
Truc quickly rushed to the ex-governor’s side. As he tried to take a look at the muzzle for trauma, Freiheit simply, but gently, shoved him away. “Even with my good intentions, I can never truly win the hearts and minds of the Empire’s subordinates. Go, Colonel, I will follow not far behind.”
Truc nodded, and turned, rushing down the hall, asking staff where Scootaloo ran off to.
January 3rd, 1973 0900 Hours (9:00 AM) Las Pegasus Governmental Residences, Las Pegasus, Equestria, Equuis
It took the Lieutenant Colonel long enough to gather information that Scootaloo had in fact, left, and headed to a location the locals noted to be where many soon-to-be-former Caribou government officials resided. Together with Freiheit, he rushed through tired pedestrian traffic. Truc was only able to see glimpses of the goings on since their defense of the city.
In the center of an intersection, a South Vietnamese MP, decked out in his shiny black helmet and armed with only a pistol, a truncheon, some sunglasses and white gloves, directed traffic, both military and civilian. Such a job was a miracle considering that both motorized and horse-drawn traffic shared the streets. The roadways were filled with M113 APC’s and MUTT jeeps, rumbling along as they patrolled the city streets. ANZAC and ARVN patrols marched through the debris-filled sidewalks.
Some of the prisoners, being kept a close eye by coalition Military Police, toiled in the hot sun to clear away the rubble they themselves had caused. Overhead, the helicopters roared, and filled the air with the distinct sounds of the chopping and whirring through the air.
Something nudging against his right shoulder prompted Truc to return his attention to their current situation, and so he faced the presently perplexed parent. “Scootaloo, Flurry Heart, and I have lived here for three years, not once have we had an argument in our time here… I guess I haven’t seen how deep her scars are.” Freiheit grabbed his keys with his telekinesis, and promptly unlocked the door. “Go. I’ll wait out here if you need me.” Truc nodded, and entered.
The room was in disarray. Some papers were strewn about: newspapers, government documents, several letters of correspondence. Books, candles, and various other items littered the floors, some of it neatly set aside. Looks like Freiheit has a part-time maid. Truc thought. He waded through the mess to a narrow hallway, and soon found a door labelling it as Scootaloo’s property, the sign was hand-crafted and painted white, with a combination of orange and magenta cuneiform decorating the sign in her name, the signature of the artist, a simple ‘F’, on the bottom right corner. He even had the respect to paint the sign for her, he mused, as he raised his fist and gave the door a gentle knock.
“Can’t you get the bucking message and buck off!?”
“It’s me, Colonel Truc. Can I come in?”
No response. Truc cautiously jiggled the doorknob, finding the door to be unlocked and free of booby traps, VC or otherwise (like there were Viet Cong here anyhow) he gently opened the door to find-
CRASH!
Truc took cover behind the door, then peered back in to find the remnants of a vase. He walked in gently, the glass crunching beneath his jungle boots, and took in the sight before him.
For a teenager in a war-torn world, her adoptive father had pulled out all the stops to satisfy her needs: a writing desk sat near the window, sports pendants plastered the walls, as did pictures of Caribou athletes and soldiers in heroic poses, Must be fear for his daughter’s safety if someone ever found anything pony-related, Truc noted. Scootaloo sat on a bed, plain due to budget, but not basic to the point where it was simply a sack full of hay. She was hugging something, a red cloth. Whatever it was, any further details were blocked by her form.
Truc slowly moved into the room, his jungle boots making heavy thumping sounds, only occasionally being interrupted by the crunch of glass. “Is that something special to you?” Truc asked, trying to get a look at the red cloth.
Scootaloo looked up, revealing the rest of the red cloth. Sewn on crudely to two sides was a simple blue shield coat of arms, in the center of those emblems were the yellow silhouette of a foal rearing on its hind legs. “What are you doing here?” Scootaloo asked, she glared at the ARVN officer as he slowly walked up to pull out a stool and took off his helmet.
“Making sure you are alright, may I take a seat?” Scootaloo bit her lip in thought, and hesitated before she nodded. Truc took a seat, and placed his helmet on the desk. He looked around the desk, finding pencils and papers strewn about haphazardly. His gaze returned to the budding young mare in question. “You never really answered me.” Truc nodded to the cape, “What is that?”
“Why would you want to know?”
“It just seemed important to you. Your step-father mentioned you had been through a lot when you were younger.”
Scootaloo looked down at the cape, and stared at it forlornly, taking time to take in the details of the stitching, as if the article itself brought back fond memories, only for them to be suppressed by the world around her. “Just something my friends came up with when we were little, before the war.”
Truc nodded, and gestured for Scootaloo to continue talking.
“There were three of us, Applebloom, me, and Sweetie Belle. I suppose you know why we have these marks on our flanks, right?”
Truc nodded, “Captain An filled me in on some things before we fought back the bandits.”
“Well, when we were young, the most important day in your life was the day you found your cutie mark, At the time, none of us had our mark, even though our friends were getting them all over the place.” Scootaloo ran her hoof through the cape, “We created a group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so we could help discover what our talents were, and to maybe hurry things up.” Scootaloo paused, then grinned slightly, “We tried everything, even magic, I remember Applebloom actually tried one of Zecora’s potions, and nearly died trying to get hers quick. We scared half the town with that one.”
Scootaloo fondly traced her hoof around the stitching of the CMC emblem. “Eventually, we got our cutie marks, but we decided to keep the group so we could help others find their purpose in life.” Scootaloo frowned and sighed, “When the Caribou came, we got split up, and we’ve never been able to find each other since.” Scootaloo turned towards the Lieutenant Colonel, “What’s going to happen to me? I can’t just leave them behind.”
Truc rested his left arm onto the table, and rubbed a thumb against the grain of the wood, “Well, we’ll need to fill in the paperwork necessary to transfer custody over from Freiheit to me, then we’ll have to figure out where you’ll live.” Scootaloo stared at him in confusion. “It is common practice for some of our troops to bring their families with them on the base, like camp followers. Our WAFC, our Women’s Armed Forces Corps, takes care of them by providing food and supplies, and by taking care of any children on the base with their respective mothers. I have the option of either having you live with me on the base in the Undiscovered West, or to send you back to mainland Vietnam to Saigon so that my family can take care of you, and you can live a relatively normal life.”
“What if you get killed?”
Truc shook his head, “It’s highly unlikely, I mainly receive radio transmissions from the field to relay them to the higher officers, then relay their orders back down the chain, and dispatch units accordingly. In other words, I mainly work in an office.”
“But what about the time when I found you?”
“Those assignments are rare, for me at least.”
The teenage mare relaxed at that answer, “What is Saigon like?”
“Oh it’s a crowded place, full of people, cars, and scooters.”
“Scooters? Like the one’s you push?”
Truc shook his head, “Motorized scooters, more faster and more long-lasting. The streets are safe if you know the basic rules to walking in the city. It has its ups and downs, and might need some work when the war we’re fighting back there ends, but it’s pretty safe. I have a family with seven children living there.”
Scootaloo looked back at the cape, “Would you be able to help me find my friends and family?”
“I can’t guarantee you that, but I can try.”
Scootaloo paused, then looked back up, “Why are you doing this? Why are you saying yes?”
Truc delved deep into his own mind, then answered back, “You are a child who’s been through a lot. Freiheit is in a lot more danger now that he’s decided to work with us.” Truc looked at the bed before he turned back to Scootaloo, “You may no longer be innocent, but you can still live your life. The base is pretty secure, there’s plenty of food to eat, and you’ll go to school again, though you might need to know the new language.”
Truc nodded to the window, “Or you could go to Saigon, it isn’t that much safer considering we are fighting a war over there as well, but you’ll be able to live a normal life, though it will be among aliens.” Truc look back, and patted the red cape, “Or you could go out and search for you friends, I’m sure we can help you somehow, but if you want to go out on your own, it might not be safe.”
Truc fiddled with the chinstrap on his helmet, “My point is, because even if I have known you for a short time, I care for you. It may be difficult because my salary isn’t better than my wife’s, but I’m sure we’ll find another way around this. It’s up to you, Scootaloo, you decide your own fate, but let me remind you that the reality outside would’ve been a lot worse if you had no one to go to, and if Freiheit didn’t buy you, even if slavery is wrong.”
Scootaloo picked up her CMC cape, and stared at it, her brow furrowing in contemplation, as she chewed her lip. After several minutes, she looked back up and asked,” Is it better if I sleep on it for tomorrow?”
Truc nodded, “We’ll be leaving in the late morning, you’ll have time.”
“Thank you.” Scootaloo replied back, A knock broke through the silence. The colonel glanced at the door, then returned his gaze to Scootaloo.
“Do you want me to-”
“Yes, he can come in.”
Truc nodded, sat up, then walked to the door and opened it, and in the doorway stood Freiheit’s towering frame. “Is it safe to come in?”
“Yes governor, but watch your step.”
As Truc walked back to the desk to pick up his helmet, Freiheit walked in and looked at the relatively messed-up room, he had to walk carefully as he tread through the field of broken glass and hastily thrown toys, notebooks, and figures strewn on the floor. He turned to the lieutenant colonel, and nodded, “You may leave now, colonel, I will let you know when she’s ready to go.” Truc nodded, and left to return to the Nexus.
Freiheit clambered on the bed, and turned to face his adopted daughter. “My child, you do understand that I am doing this only for your own good. It pains me so that I have to do this.”
Scootaloo nodded, “Truc said that you’ll be in more danger after the others find out about how you switched sides.”
“And with good reason, you understand that Diann, the selfish bucker, he is one who does not like any kind of opposition, whether they be his kin or not. He will go to no end to try to snuff out any sort of insolence and create an air around him that speaks of demented agreement.”
“But Freiheit,” Scootaloo interrupted, “Do you think the men in green will protect you?”
Freiheit blankly stared off into the distance, he pictured the streams of orange light, the clouds of dust, the amount of the resulting blood and gore that flew around the battlefield with abandon, the roar of the steel dragon and the fire of the metal birds, and how viciously the men in green fought to what was thought to have been the bitter end. “Frankly my daughter, after what I had seen earlier today, I am confident that they will be able to protect me in whatever I do.”
“What will happen now?”
Freiheit looked around the room, eyes misting in tears. “I’ll help you pack up your things, everything you owned. We’ll move them onto one of those motor carriages if we’re allowed to, and we’ll leave Las Pegasus for good. I am being asked to report to their divisional headquarters, and you’ll need to go with your new father.”
Scootaloo leaned onto Freiheit and mumbled, “Will I be able to see you again?”
“I should hope so.” Freiheit looked down and affectionately ran his hoof between her ears, “Do not think of what you’ll lose, my dear daughter, you’ve hardly lost a thing. Think of what you’ll gain: a chance to find your family, a chance at a life, and if you’re really dedicated and want to free your friends, an opportunity to join a side that will defeat this evil once and for all. Who knows, maybe they’ll accept you into their air force, you seemed awed when you saw their craft fly around and land.”
“Bah, they go slower than Rainbow does in a few seconds flat.” Scootaloo said with a grin fuelled by superior air, only to promptly fade and die as it morphed into a frown, another memory of another loss.
“I know how close you were to Captain Dash, there was nothing you could’ve done to save her.”
“I still think I should’ve done something.”
Freiheit patted Scootaloo’s head affectionately, “There’s still a chance you can free her. But you must wait until you are older, I’m afraid.” Freiheit stood up from the bed, and looked around the room, “Now then, let us clean this room, and begin packing your things. The Lieutenant Colonel said he is leaving with some of the forces tomorrow morning.”
“So soon?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“What about Flurry Heart? Who’ll take care of her?”
“I’ve already arranged it so that the royal guard will be reinstated, and that they will work with the men in green to provide for her care and protection. Now then, let’s get started, we won’t have all day.”
Scootaloo hesitated, but nodded nevertheless, “Alright then, let’s go.”
January 4th, 1973 0600 Hours (6:00 AM) Las Pegasus Nexus, Las Pegasus Equestria, Equuis
Activity stirred in the streets in front of the Nexus. As troops by the truckload rolled past them from the entrance, An watched as his troops mounted onto the APC’s, the surrounding tanks roaring in wait as their mounts looked around or concentrated on what they were doing. Crystal Heart approached the captain and joined in on the spectating. “Going home at last.”
An looked down at Crystal and smiled, his eyes gleaming with delight, “I thought you were still getting used to our human ways.”
Crystal tiredly nodded and said, “You wouldn’t believe what several days riding inside a metal beast would do to you.”
“I understand, it’ll only be a few more hours.”
Crystal turned and her eyes widened in surprise, as she saw a mixed group of caribou, diamond dogs, minotaurs, and even griffons boarded onto a truck. The sight of such a mixed group of species boarding a carriage wouldn't have bothered her, had the occasional few that were boarding not been wearing an assortment of the same green uniforms that the men in green were wearing.
“What are they doing in your uniforms, An?”
The captain turned to look and his eyes widened in recognition, “Oh yes, some of the mercenaries and troops that we captured accepted our offer. Since we’ve been here, they’ve been given an interview and some light background checks. Some of them have been issued uniforms that fit in their size, others we’ll just have to figure how to fit them. After their questioning they’ll be on probation, and then we’ll see from there. But officially, they are now soldiers of the ARVN.”
“Are you sure it’s okay to trust them like that at their word? You would never believe what they’ve done to us so far.”
“I can imagine, but everyone needs a chance, besides, this is the reason why we have intensive interviews and a probationary period, the army might not work for everyone, and some may only be trying to subvert the war effort. If that’s the case, we’ll deal with them accordingly.”
An focused his attention on the lead APC, where in the line of troops waiting to board the vehicle was a certain Caribou cow, looking around anxiously in the crowd. “Looks like Daleering is getting pretty nervous on her own, might want to go to her. I’ll be with you in a second.”
Crystal nodded and gave a little wave, “I’ll see you on board then.” An nodded, and waved her away, he grinned as Crystal walked up behind Daleering, tapped her on her shoulder, and then outright hugged her. From this angle and distance, An couldn’t tell what was on Crystals face, but he was certain that her Caribou companion was a little more relieved every time Crystal was near her. He disregarded the thought as he took out a map of the region and walked off to talk with his officers on their movements.
Several blocks away, a different conversation was taking place, as Truc helped lift the last of the boxes onto the back of the bed of the trailer connected to the MUTT.
“That should be the last of them.” Truc sighed as he wiped his dusty hands onto his utility fatigues. “I’ll go back to the Nexus, there seems to be something I need to pick up as well. I’ll be back.” Freiheit nodded, and soon Truc was gone.
“Well then my child, it seems like this will be a new day for us, a day where each of our lives will change.” Freiheit said, as he processed the hustle of various green vehicles following the flow of crowded carts and pedestrians. Various trucks filled with troops and weird vehicles that the men in green called APC’s sped by, further fortifying the town. An MP MUTT wailed by with a weird sound as it responded to some emergency or another.
Scootaloo nodded, then turned to face Freiheit with a frown, “Are you sure Flurry Heart might be able to take care of herself?”
“She’ll be able to, I’m sure of it. She’s a capable girl, and I haven’t wasted all of my time tutoring her in how to lead.”’
“Even though she fell asleep in your lessons sometimes.”
“Even th-” Freiheit realized what Scootaloo was saying, and slightly pouted in his own brand of mock offense. “I never realized that lessons of how to win an audience with the power of wit and cunning would be considered sleeping material.”
“Your way of ‘winning an audience’ was made up of long-winded speeches that put everyone to sleep.”
“That may be so, but I see that it’s often a good idea to explain yourself. Point being, my dear daughter, I feel confident that I’ve prepared you and your sister to live out your lives as you see fit. Are you nervous of what will happen?”
“How can’t I be? I’ve known Equestria for all of my life, now we’re going to a completely different world. I don’t even know what to expect, and now I won’t be able to see anyone familiar.”
“I understand.” Freiheit said, as he leaned against the trailer. “Ponies, Caribou, every being moves to new places, sometimes it’s to move to make a new life, sometimes it’s to escape from something, but sometimes, you just want to roam. Nevertheless, there will always be someone there to guide you. Besides, I don’t think you’ll be seeing us off so soon.”
“What do you-” Scootaloo’s train of questioning stopped as she turned around and faced an impressive sight.
Standing next to the returning colonel was a familiar pink alicorn with a tiara that seemed like it had been molded only a day or two ago. It was still impressive: the tiara was a simple silver thing with jagged angles in zig zags, and an assortment of blue and yellow gems adorned the points. Her mane was kept at an updo, her coat pristine and clean. Though even with a sort of regal air to her, there were only a few things keeping this stranger from being a complete snob. The fact that she was (but only slightly, maybe about a doughnut or two) shorter than Scootaloo, and the fact that she had grown up with her for the past five years.
Flurry Heart was as beautiful as ever, yet her appearance was surprising.
“F-Flurry Heart!” What are you doing here?” Asked Scootaloo in complete shock.
“The military leaders thought it would be a great idea if I introduced myself to their leadership, to kick off our relationship with South Vietnam and her allies.” Flurry answered with eyes twinkling in a childish, mirthful air. “I also wanted to see what their world might be like.”
“She’s got the channels.” Truc said, breaking into the conversation by walking into the group. “She’s already assigned someone to run the city while she’s away, and elections should be starting soon anyhow.” Truc took out the orders to show them to Scootaloo. “Either way, it gives you some more time to be with you family before you separate. If things go well, you might still be able to see each other.”
Scootaloo returned the papers and smiled. She hugged the colonel, causing him to slightly jolt in surprise. “Thank you. Thank you for this.”
The colonel smiled, but hesitantly broke the hug. “Right! Everything looks like it’s packed.” Truc gestured towards the MUTT. “Ladies first.” Flurry heart climbed on board first, giving a little curtsy before Truc helped her into the back seat. Next was Scootaloo, and then Freiheit clambered onto the passenger's seat. When all was said and done, Truc climbed into the driver’s seat, flipped several switches, then flipped the ignition. Nearby, the last of the ARVN troops, including An, Crystal, and Daleering, and the new recruits, boarded onto their respective vehicles. Engines roared, and many heartfelt goodbyes were exchanged between the former governor and his staff, filled with tearful waves and shouts of goodbye. With the simple gloved gestures of ARVN MP’s, the convoy was off, the surrounding crowd cheering as they saw their liberators off, off into the unknown, back to an unknown home, to an unknown future.
November 10th, 1964 11:40 PM The Crystal Empire, Equestria, Equuis
Screaming, she heard nothing but screaming, screams rang in her ears, and several explosions thudded off to the side as she tried to move as fast as a seven-year-old filly can move. Her mother was in front, trying to lead the group, while two of their family friends were carrying her father in the back. He mumbled incoherent thoughts as he tried to struggle against his bearers.
All around her, young Crystal could see spires falling, soldiers flying from explosions before crashing to the ground in a thunderous ‘thud.’ Children bleeding, and mothers crying, but she tried her best to keep her focus on her mom, the only shining beacon of stability right now.
“Over there! We’ll be safe over there, come on, Crystal, we need to get to safety!”
Crystal shot in after her mother bucked down the door,followed by her father and their two friends. She and their friends quickly scrambled to pile up all the furniture they could find: bookshelves, coffee tables, chairs, anything. Crystal’s mother yelled, “Tie him up to something, hurry!” The mares did as they were told, and soon Crystal’s father was tied up against one of the crystal poles.
One of their friends, a lime-green, brown-maned earth pony anxiously paced around. “What’ll we do, what’ll we do!?” She exclaimed, “The Caribou are right on top of us! What are we going to do!?”
Crystal’s mother galloped straight towards the lime mare and punched her in the face. “Get ahold of yourself! The quicker we can calm down, the quicker we can figure something out! We’ve been in worse danger than this.”
“We as in you and your husband, Dusty!” A yellow-coated, green-maned mare retorted. “Most of us were sane enough to live calm, normal lives that didn’t involve monster invasions every week!”
“We don’t have time for this right now! We have to move!” Crystal’s mother said.
“Go where!? If you hadn’t noticed, WE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE AT THE MOMENT!”
Dusty opened her mouth to respond, when suddenly, a pony crashed right into the wall next to her. Dusty turned her focus to her husband, who was being tackled by the lime-green mare she had just been talking to, only to be thrown from his back. He turned to face his wife, his eyes widened in a daze, his irises, once a beautiful shade of blue, had switched to a shade of fuschia. He was panting, and screaming, and grunting as he tried to struggle against his binds.
“D-Dusty, it’s no use! Go now! I don’t want to hurt you!”
“But Trail-”
“Go! Before I- uurk!” It was too late, the khaki stallion fell to the ground, and within minutes, stood up a changed pony. “Must, capture, mare, for empire!!!” Trailblazer charged his wife and bucked her, knocking her unconscious before she could raise her forelocks to defend herself. He turned to face Crystal, the poor young filly trembled with fear. The stallion started, before he went into a pounce. Suddenly, Crystal was violently thrown around, as the filly’s vision exploded into white.
January 6th, 1973 0500 Hours (5:00 AM) Bà Triệu Air Force Base Perimeter, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equuis
Crystal jolted awake as she was rattled by violent movement from her seat. Her heart stopped briefly as she found herself in a small, enclosed space. As she looked around, though, her heartbeat slowed down at the green paint surrounding her, and the men in green seated around her. Most of them were dosed off; how they managed to sleep through turbulent movement, she would never know. She relaxed from the sense of safety, and once again tried to close her eyes in an attempt to get the last few dregs of sleep.
Unfortunately, the constant rocking of the APC, combined with the fading memories of her nightmares kept her from trying to get any more sleep. She decided to look around in the compartment surrounding her. Again, most of the men in green around her were asleep, their gear clanging against the walls of the metal box. To her right, she could make out the green legs of Captain An, who she figured was tiredly talking with the armored officer of how much further they were going to travel. And finally, she turned to her right and found the source of her warmth inside the already hot and crowded box. She smiled fondly as she watched Daleering sleeping against her side.
For the last five years, Daleering had been one of the few friends she had made during her time in captivity. She seemed to know everything. She knew what their masters wanted, how they acted, how they felt (predictably horny). Yet at the same time, it wasn’t as if she was vocal with her knowledge. She found many a time when Daleering had kept away from the crowds, or hid in them if they didn’t attract attention. Had they not been kept in the same pen, and had Crystal not asked a certain anxious Caribou cow whether or not the sleeping space next to her was taken, she doubted she would’ve ever noticed Daleering. But here they were, she had made the first move, and they were inseparable ever since.
Lately though, since they’d been freed and since they started working for the Vietnamese, Crystal began to notice one major change. In the past, Crystal didn’t do a single thing without Daleering by her side. She knew this and she knew this well, they ate together, they drank (water) together, they’d even (platonically) slept together. As of now, nothing had changed, the only things that had changed were her emotions. She noticed since coming onto the base that she had begun to feel flustered whenever she was close to Daleering. When she was on her own, even when she was facing people such as the ARVN officers, she felt brave and confident.
When she was with Daleering she felt nervous and awkward, maybe a little warm. She couldn’t explain it, some of her dreams, while terrifying, were sometimes peppered with happy dreams, dreams of living a normal life with Daleering, where they shared a house, they travelled around and saw new sites, strolled down the streets of Saigon (based on what An told her), or walked the desert sands of Saddle Arabia, or climbed the tall trees of the eastern jungle. She dreamed of a happy life with her, she felt comfortable with her.
She was scared of her.
While it was true that she had dreams of them doing...certain things, and while it was true she had often expressed them through prolonged touches and poor attempts of flirting whenever she was sure she was away from the prying ears of any ARVN soldier, even An, she always danced around the subject.
She had grown up in the camp where her masters expressed their undying love by shoving several dicks into her holes. It was where any favor could be paid for with a simple hoof or blow job, where the only future in her life was to serve her masters, with no hopes of freedom for herself, and for those that come after her. She grew up with that ideal for five years, and she couldn’t help but occasionally make flattering remarks about Daleering’s antlers or her flank, but the truth of the matter was certain.
She had no idea what was true, and what was part of her hormones. And she had no idea what to do.
A groan broke through her train of thought as she felt that same bundle of warmth squirm next to her. Crystal sat there and watched quietly as the caribou’s eyes fluttered open. Daleering let out a soft bellow in her yawn, followed by a blush of embarrassment. She turned to face Crystal, and gave a small smile. Crystal’s heart fluttered as she took in her friend’s disheveled morning look, it took all of her willpower not to sound too enthusiastic to talk to her, “Morning, Daleering.”
“Morning.” Daleering looked around the APC. “Have we arrived yet?”
“I’m not sure, An hasn’t talked to us yet.” Just as she said that though, the aforementioned captain was climbing into the APC, and crawling to them.
“Good morning, did you have a good sleep?”
They both nodded, and Crystal broke the silence, “Daleering was just asking if we were at the base yet.”
An nodded. “As a matter of fact, we are. We’re almost near the main checkpoint, from there, we can get off, stow away our gear, and go do whatever you guys want.” He sighed in exhaustion. “As for me, I’ll have to attend a debriefing, write a few reports, clean out my pistol, stow away my gear, take a shower, and anything that might involve our new guests and allies.”
“Are you sure you don’t want us to help you?”
An shook his head and raised his hands up, “I’m sure, this is a matter of national security, I’m pretty sure the higher-ups won’t be pleased if they found out some locals have access to potentially top secret works. Besides I don’t want to burden you.”
“You’re not a burden to us, An. You gave us a new home, and plenty of food to eat, what can be better?”
An nodded, “It’s still a tiring trip, I wouldn’t want to add anything unnecessary. Speaking of which, Princess Flurry Heart might need a translator if she wants to talk with our officers, I made a recommendation that you should be the translator, Crystal. The choice is up to you, but this can really help with Vietnamese and Equestrian relations.”
Crystal’s face scrunched up in a weird sort of way as her muzzle curled up and her eyes squinted in concentration. An was right, it was a long journey, and as a growing mare, she did need more sleep than the minutes she put in in between patrols in the APC. But she had to have done something right if An had recommended her to translate for royalty. With finality, her face regressed back to its normal state, then she smiled as she said, “I’ll do it.”
An’s lips curved into a smile and he nodded, “Alright, get yourself cleaned up, then meet me at the Joint General Staff headquarters building, it has the flags flying from all the nations involved in this conflict, you can’t miss it. I’ll see you over there.” An said as he began to walk over to the regimental headquarters to be debriefed.
Crystal nodded, and turned to walk to the showers, but not before she turned to Daleering and offered a hoof. “Want to take a shower? It’s been a few days.” Daleering silently nodded, and accepted her hoof, the both walked closely together off to the showers.
She’d just have to take things one step at a time.
January 6th, 1973 0700 Hours (7:00 AM) Bà Triệu Air Force Base, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equuis
“Woah… it’s so huge.” Scootaloo exclaimed. She looked around with Freiheit as Truc drove the “MUTT” through security checkpoints around the base. Moving through the fields were several of the boxy vehicles with large “guns” that she saw at the battle, rumbling through the hills as they did some training maneuvers. Further in, she saw MUTT’s, transport trucks, and strange little vehicles speed around as their traffic interconnected with that of the aircraft.
There were different flying machines of all shapes and sizes. The strange, dragonfly-like vehicles which were hovering and flying, the propellered aircraft rumbling through the air and across the tarmac. But what struck Scootaloo most of all in awe were the jet aircraft. Her jaw dropped as she saw sleek, propellerless aircraft, and shorter, wider variants roar across the skies in blistering roars, reaching speeds that she only remembered Rainbow was able to reach. And the way they moved, they were quick and graceful, as if they were swans with rocket boosters attached to them.
Scootaloo lunged forward as the MUTT came to a complete halt. In front of her was a large, rectangular building with a facade of some sort dotted with holes it, in front of the building two ARVN MP’s guarded the doorway, and out in front of the building, five banners flew majestically in the sky. Around the doorway, many men and women in green were rushing around carrying files and papers. She turned to look behind her to find another MUTT parking behind them. She smiled in delight when she saw who stepped out.
Crystal and her Caribou friend stepped out, as An shut off the engine and followed. An quickly stood at attention and saluted as Truc stepped out of the MUTT. “Reporting for duty, sir!” An shouted.
Truc returned the salute, and said, “At ease.”
An lowered his hand and stood relaxed. “Sir, I’ve brought Crystal, just as you requested.”
“Very good, Captain.” Truc turned to face Scootaloo as Freiheit stepped out from the passenger’s seat, “We’re going to go into the Joint General staff building now, don’t worry, Crystal here will translate what you say, I’m assured by the captain here that she is rather talented when it comes to languages.” Scootaloo nodded, and together, the group entered the Joint General Staff building.
As Scootaloo entered the building, she felt a surge of warm air fly into her her face. The room was stuffy, even with the windows open. Around her, more men and women in uniform were rushing around, some carrying papers, others carrying trays of coffee, even more men and women were at the typewriters furiously typing away, the clattering filling the air and intermingling with other soldiers talking, and telephones ringing. They passed another room, where there were several large maps of Equestria, with areas they occupied marked with blue pins, and enemy positions marked with red pins. Another room had a similar map, but was filled with men wearing strange devices which looked like earmuffs over their ears, they were speaking rapid-fire Vietnamese and Equish (English? She wasn’t sure what to use).
Eventually they passed enough crowded corridors and climbed enough stairs that they reached an office. Above the doorway was a placard labelled, “Gen. *Ngô Quang Trưởng, *Sĩ Quan Chỉ Huy.” Crystal faced Scootaloo and whispered, “We’re going to meet with the commanding officer of the allied forces, don’t worry about anything, alright?” Scootaloo nodded, and she looked around the hallway.
Colonel Truc knocked on the door, while Freiheit was shuffling his hooves and looking around the hallway. An was standing as straight as a rod, as was the colonel. The door opened, and both An and Truc saluted. “At ease. You may come in” A voice called from the doorway. An and Truc lowered their hands and walked in. Scootaloo slowly walked in, her stomach fluttering from butterflies at not only meeting a stranger, but the leader of the forces which might change her life forever.
She was met with a jovial man. His face was pinched, his nose small, and he had smile wrinkles around his mouth. His head was huge compared to his body, he looked to be only 5 foot 7. He had little specks of grey hair, his chest was adorned with a cloth patch with a black design of wings. A smoking cigarette hung from his lips.
“You may be seated.” Scootaloo did as she was told, following Freiheit and Crystal’s example, and soon after the general sat down with them. The general picked up a file and opened it up, briefly scanning its contents before he looked up, “So Freiheit, you’ve been in service with the Caribou Empire since your birth, is that correct?” Crystal nodded, and turned to repeat what Ngô said in Equish.
Freiheit nodded, “I had belonged to one of the higher echelons of Caribou society, we weren’t too rich, per se, but our family had a long line of soldiers.” Crystal repeated what he said in Vietnamese to the general, to which he nodded.
“You appear to have a lengthy career, Colonel. According to your military records in Las Pegasus, you had enlisted as a private, turning down favoritism from your father’s name, then slowly climbed up the ranks to lieutenant protecting the empire’s borders. You were then recalled back to the capital to quell civil unrest.” Freiheit flinched as the general mentioned his involvement in the civil unrest. Truc turned to glance at Freiheit in concern, but returned his gaze to the general
“You partook in the coups d'etats to overthrow the monarchy, and was promptly promoted to captain for your involvement. You then led a platoon in the campaigns for annexation of several states, and shot through the ranks eventually reaching lieutenant colonel during the war with Equestria. Five years later you became governor of Las Pegasus, and here you are.” The general laid down the dossier and put his cigarette into the ashtray. “Vietnamese intelligence said that from what they gathered, you may be a valuable asset, could you clarify for me what you can do for us?”
Freiheit nodded, “I’ve known the latest troop movements from reports within the empire, and where they’re all stationed.”
“We can get those from the papers we’ve seized in the nexus.”
“I understand that, I also know of several key government officials within the Caribou Magistrate which may want to try to negotiate peace, or have the same desire as I do to end this empire once and for all. We were just waiting for the right time, and this appears to be it.”
Truc nodded. “That is important, we’d want to limit the amount of blood spilled liberating this land. But why? Why defect now, and with us out of all the factions in Equestria?”
“General, my spymaster had given me an assessment of the resistance groups within Equestria, the Equestrian Alliance to restore the Diarchy is struggling with supplies and manpower as it is, the Equalist guerrillas had also faced severe beatings in their numbers, and from what I had understood from Colonel Truc, they are as bad as your ‘Viet Cong’, they murder, they assassinate, they rape, and they take no prisoners.”
Freiheit paused for a little bit, turning to face the view of the surrounding mountains and fire bases in the area. “The Yaks are still recovering from the war after their defeat nine years ago, even then, they might not be able to stand a chance to fight against the empire on their own. From what I have seen from your defense of my city, general, you are the only faction capable of possibly standing a chance against the Caribou Empire. You’re the only ones who have any chance in restoring sanity. I’d rather have you help us, Colonel, you’re our only hope.”
“And you’re so certain that you’d bet your life on it?”
Freiheit paused, and took in the view before him. The silence blared on for several minutes. Neither the ponies nor the soldier had any idea what Freiheit thought as he stared out the windows through blinds. He turned and said, “Many have made the promise that they could save everyone, you’re the only one I feel confident that could follow that promise.”
Crystal repeated what Freiheit said in Vietnamese. General Ngô sat in silence, pondering. His faced pinched in even further in contemplation as he chewed his cigar. He then pulled the brown deathstick from his smiling lips, and offered out his right hand, “It is clear where your heart is, governor. Congratulations, you will be allowed to go through repatriation and then if successful, be given commission within the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam or any branch of your choosing.”
Freiheit raised his right hoof, and laid it on Ngô‘s hand in acceptance. “Thank you, General, I will do my best to serve the Republic of Vietnam, and to be an exemplary soldier.”
Ngô swatted his hand, “No need for formalities, Freiheit, though this is only the beginning. As a member of the repatriation program, you will be taught skills to prosper in Vietnamese society, that will mean language courses and lessons in things which may seem strange.”
“I understand, General, and I thank you nevertheless.”
Ngô nodded, he then turned to Flurry Heart. “You must by the princess my subordinates have been talking about.”
Flurry Heart dipped in a small curtsy. “I am, greetings, general. I am Princess Flurry Heart, Daughter of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, niece of Princess Twilight, and relative to Princes Celestia, and Princess Luna of the Equestrian Diarchy.” Crystal made a move to translate, before Flurry raised her hoof, “I don’t mean any offense Crystal, but it is clear that the general knows Equish, save your energy for when it’s needed.” Crystal nodded.
Ngô nodded. “It is an honor to meet you, your majesty. As the leader of an ally to the Republic of Vietnam, we are willing to help you in any way we can.” the general turned to the officers and the remaining ponies, “Captain An, you are good to go, just fill out the needed paperwork. Truc, you’re needed here for a little while more. The rest of the ponies, except for Freiheit and Crystal, are cleared to go as well. Dismissed.” An saluted, and he, Scootaloo, and Daleering walked out of the office. Scootaloo looked up to the Captain.
“What now?”
An thought for a moment and then replied, “I’ll show you around the base, is there anywhere that you want to go?”
Scootaloo smiled and nodded, “I know just the place I want to go.”
Scootaloo hovered in awe as she saw the various planes take off and land. Many different planes, in many different shapes and sizes, going at their own paces. Some were even circling around their airspace, practicing dives and maneuvers. They all made some loud noise, granted, but all it did was show the power of these flying machines.
“The control tower technicians said it may be a good idea if you looked over there.” An said as he pointed to an empty field in the distance, littered with targets.
“What are they going to do?”
“Look up, you’ll see.”
Scootaloo did as she was told, looking out to the desolate field, simply marked with a target. An corrected her gaze, tilting her head upward. Scootaloo’s eyes widened in awe at what was laid out in front of her.
A single boxy, propellered plane had just done an aileron roll and now dove down at an angle. Two strange barrel-like canisters full of holes lit up as streaks of orange light roared toward the ground, littering the ground with explosions. The propellor plane continued its onslaught as it dropped its load of bombs, lighting up the ground in a flurry of fire as the plane recovered from its dive and flew off.
Scootaloo was in awe, she had heard of the dragon attacks during the war, even seen some of it when her home was attacked. But the steady breath of fire seemed like nothing compared to the large explosions created from such a small, slow thing.
An turned back to face Scootaloo, her face was still stuck in a look of shock and awe at the power, “The colonel noticed you had a fascination with flying, you know there are a lot of things you could do in the South Vietnamese armed forces when you grow up, right?”
Scootaloo quickly shook her head and turned back to the Captain, “Like what?”
“Well, we have the airborne, they’re soldiers who jump out of aircraft, you get a dose of the land and the air with them. But I’ve got a feeling you’re more fascinated with the air force?”
Scootaloo nodded, “You seem to be so powerful.”
An shook his head, “Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean? With the amount of explosions you were creating, surely you would’ve won your war back home to come fighting for us.”
An’s face sank, he sighed. “If only things were that easy?”
Scootaloo landed, and tilted her head in confusion, “What do you mean?”
“The war we’ve been through has been going on for nearly twenty years now. We are the strongest power in the region back home, but it hasn’t been without sacrifice. When we started, we were just an army leftover from when we were conquered ourselves.”
Scootaloo’s mouth dropped in shock, “You...were conquered?”
An nodded, “I’ve explained most of this to Crystal, but we used to be under the control of another nation called France, we were just becoming independent from them when our war started. Even then, most of the weapons we got were handed down to us from the last world war we were in. They were out of date. That plane you saw bomb the targets, that’s been fighting since the last war America had fought in twenty years ago, in a nation called Korea. Since then we have used some newer weapons, but still...”
“Then how were you able to be the strongest nation in you region?”
“Well, our enemies, the communists, they nearly defeated us many times, but most of the time, they thought one thing. We were weak, we were puppet soldiers, that our nation hated us, that the people we’d protect, and maybe a few of our fellow men, would turn and fight for them. They didn’t take one thing into account: loyalty. Most of our men were willing to fight, to defend their country to the bitter end. We had our cases of cowardice, but in the end, we managed to put up a good fight to kick out the communists both times they tried to invade us. We had help, but the last one was reduced to some air support from our allies, the Americans. They have a stronger air force than us.”
“Stronger than you?”
An nodded. “Either way, from what I’ve heard, the Americans have bombed our enemy so badly, they’re bound to give up any day now.” An sighed, “From there we can focus on rebuilding. At home at least. Most of us are tired of fighting as well, and a lot of us are tired of some of the corruption that goes on once in a while in the government. But what can you do when you’re a nation that’s fighting a war with a struggling economy?”
Scootaloo looked down and shuffled her hooves. “Captain?"
“Yes”
She looked up and hesitated, before asking, “Do you regret coming to help us?”
An simply turned back and looked out towards the mountain range. The silence pressed on for a few minutes, with nothing but the sound of aircraft, clacking typewriters, and quick, high pitched chatter of the VNAF air traffic control. Scootaloo frowned, and began to turn to leave before a voice broke the silence “No.” She turned back, “I don’t regret what we’re doing here.”
“But why?”
An turned to look at Scootaloo again. “Every nation has the right to defend itself. By doing this, we are upholding our right to defend ourselves.” His gaze focused a little more on the teenaged mare. “And then I look at ponies like you. Fillies growing up in this war. During my time out in the jungles, I’ve seen children like you: scared and tired of war. People with little sense of hope that there’s something decent in the war. Being a soldier means defending the people who can’t defend themselves. I have little doubt in my mind that people will eventually hear your plight, and we will get more help. As a famous man from our world once said, “United we stand, divided we fall.”
Scootaloo turned and looked back out towards the airfield. “Captain?”
“Yes Scootaloo?”
“I hope I can join you someday.”
An smiled back, “I hope so, too.”
January 6th, 1973 1100 Hours (11:00 AM) Bà Triệu Air Force Base, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equuis
“You want me to do what?!” An shouted.
General Ngô scowled at the yelling insubordinate. Colonel Truc replied calmly for the general. “After what we’ve talked about with Crystal Heart, and what President Thieu has given us, the world wants to see the results of our involvement. We want you to select a group of Equestrians, as well as some of your best men in your platoon, and escort them to Saigon so they can be interviewed in the National Assembly.”
“I know that, but… but…”
Truc sighed, “I know… we didn’t expect that President Nixon would be visiting to meet with our new Equestrian allies.”
“It just… seems to sudden.”
“I know that. We’ll assign some men to work out some of the paperwork. The only thing you’ll need to worry about is paperwork for who will be going with you.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Any questions?”
Silence rang out in the office.
“Good, dismissed.”
An saluted, turned about face, And was about to leave when-
“Oh, and Captain?”
An turned to face the colonel, eyes squinted in an insane glare, complete with eye twitches, and a smile which left one of the nearby passing aides in a petrified horror, as if Madusa herself decided to possess the ARVN captain. “Yes?”
Truc frowned and replied with concerned eyes, “Try to get something to eat, it’s nearly lunchtime.”
“Yes sir, I will, sir.” An again turned, and left. So much for downtime, he thought to himself depressingly.
January 6th, 1973 1100 Hours (11:00 AM) Refugee Housing Block A, Bà Triệu Airbase, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus
“Really? You want me to come with you?” Crystal asked. Daleering sat next to her, seemingly unfazed by the news.
An nodded, “You have a basic understanding of Vietnamese, and enough English to answer some of the questions the press will have.”
“Will I be alone?”
“No, Corporal Nim, Sergeant Trần, and Corporal Diem will be with us.”
Crystal frowned, and turned towards Daleering, “C-Could I take Daleering with me?”
An nodded, “Of course, she’s your best friend, I think you’ll need the support.”
Crystal sighed in relief and turned to hug Daleering closely, “Oh I can’t wait, we’re going to see An’s home world, Daleering! Oh I can’t wait, the sights, the sounds...”
“The insane Saigon traffic.”
“The-hey!” Crystal glared jokingly at An as he laughed, bent over and gasping. She smiled and sighed. “I’ll do it, I’ll go to Saigon.”
“Hey, don’t forget about me!” Another voice yelled, Scootaloo rushed out of the door, “I want to come, too!”
“Don’t worry.” Freiheit said, approaching the group, “Truc is coming along with them, so you can go, too. I’ll be going with you as well.”
Scootaloo smiled, “Oh yeah? That’s awesome!!!” She shrieked as she took off and flew a little circle in the air.
An stood there, crossed his arms, and sighed, “Well, this is going to be a long week.”
January 6th, 1973 2300 Hours (11:00 PM) Hanoi, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Hanoi was in ruins, it was simple as that. And in more ways than one. After Ho Chi Minh died, his successor, Tôn Đức Thắng, was appointed as president, but the politburo was the true power in charge of North Vietnam, and even then the politburo was full of its own politics. Lê Duẩn was Ho’s true successor, and was an influential figure within the North Vietnamese Politburo. He was walking through the cratered streets, “And that’s what we’ve got from some of our sources?”
“Yes, sir.” An aide replied, “The South Vietnamese are real keen on building an alliance with this new land, and intend to rally the west to fight along with them.”
“Then we have an opportunity.” Duẩn muttered. “If we can drag out that war, it will weaken South Vietnam even further, and open the land up for us to once again liberate our brothers and sisters in the south.”
“In the shape we’re in? I don’t want to doubt it sir, but we’re in no position to fight, we’ve just lost many of our sons to them a few months ago, we can’t do another attack on them. The Soviets are considering pulling out their support for us.”
“Ah, but you can see, we still have some sympathizers in the south, our comrades in the National Liberation Front. They have enough manpower to perhaps conduct a few more guerilla attacks, and an assassination attempt on the Equestrian Delegation. With them out of the picture, there will be even less support coming in from South Vietnam’s allies, and the South will eventually choke on its own commitments, leaving them open for us to attack.” Duẩn replied back calmly.
“We still have the others to worry about, *Trường Chinh is considering rallying the Chinese to help.”
“And let him do it, if and when he messes up, we can blame him for being a Chinese sympathizer and let the crowd kill him.” Duẩn replied in turn, “For now, we’ll wait for the South to starve.”
“What about Nixon? We barely survived the last American bombing, if we try to liberate the South again, we will be destroyed for sure.”
An groaned as he walked from the set of desks, “First I had to clean my carbine, then I had to store my gear, then I had to write my report, and then I had to deal with the paperwork with the upcoming delegation to Saigon. Why did I…” An trailed off when he heard some scuffling. Right behind him, he spotted Crystal, leaning against the wall, asleep. The captain tiredly smiled, “Looks like they worked you to the ground too. Having you translate for both the Equestrian and the Vietnamese representatives.”
Crystal snored back.
The Captain chuckled and walked over to the filly. He forked his arms under her barrel and grunted as he lifted her up, “Alright let’s get you home.”
January 6th, 1973 2345 Hours (11:45 PM) Joint General Staff War Room, Regional Headquarters, Bà Triệu Airbase, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus
Flurry Heart scanned the well-lit room in front of her, listening to the calm rhythm of the typewriters as ARVN personnel worked around the clock in the war room. Alongside her was Scootaloo, watching in awe as she saw her second adoptive father stride around the room to other cubicles, talking with his subordinates and then walking over to his superior to talk more before he walked over to the war room map and relayed some orders, moving markers, and moving back to talk with his subordinates.
“How can he do that so quickly?” Scootaloo asked, “Rainbow Dash would’ve just torn up the room if she went just as fast.”
“He’s really within his element.” Flurry replied. The silence dragged on between the newly-minted royal and her older friend. Her left forehoof scuffled the linoleum floor.
The royal sighed, “I-It’s just that, this will be the first time I will be following my mother’s footsteps. And it will be in front of an audience of aliens. And I’ll be in a strange new land, even more amazing than what we have seen so far. You’ve see what they can do if we are on the wrong side. What if I mess up?”
“What are you saying? Of course you’ll do great, you did great presenting your essays… the amount of graphs and charts you showed and the way you used note cards for everything kinda reminds me of your aunt.”
“But that was just between you, me, and the private tutor, Scootaloo, this will be in front of a lot of people that I’ve never known before, and the stakes are much higher.” Flurry Heart turned to face Scootaloo, “You hung out with my aunt when you were younger, what was she like?”
“She was insanely neurotic, that’s for sure.” Scootaloo giggled, and Flurry soon followed. “In all seriousness though, your aunt was wise, and helpful. She helped tutor me, Sweetie, and Applebloom. She managed to fight off so many monsters and evils before the Caribou came, and even though she never ruled a country, she was spectacular at being the leader in friendship.”
Silence fell on the two mares as they looked back to the war room and continued listening to the rhythm of typewriters, telephone rings, and fast talking.
Flurry broke the silence by voicing a thought, “What do you suppose Saigon is like?”
“From what Colonel Truc said, it’s like Las Pegasus, but larger, and a lot more crowded.”
“There’s bound to be so many wonders to see, I’m glad that you’ll be coming along with me, it’d be worse if I had to do something like this alone.”
Scootaloo nodded, “Hey, you’re family at this point until we can find Twilight. We have to stick together.” Scootaloo looked back to her adoptive father, “Colonel Truc is going to take me to see his family, he says he has seven children.”
“He must have quite the responsibility.” Flurry heart looked back to Scootaloo, “Do you think I can tag along?”
“Aren’t you going with Freiheit?”
“He has some other business to deal with.”
Scootaloo laid her head on the railing before she muttered her reply, “I’ll see if Truc will let you tag along.”
“Alright.” Silence blanketed the duo again for several minutes.
“Scootaloo?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks, for everything.”
Scootaloo smiled, “You too Flurry, you too.”
January 7th, 1973 0900 Hours (9:00 AM) Bà Triệu Air Force Base, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equuis
The sight in front of her was astounding.
She had grown up in her mother’s castle before the war, but the sheer size of the building in front of her trumped that. Blocking it was a solid steel door, and surrounding the building itself was a bunker made out of a thick layer of concrete, and even then, from what Flurry could see the place was heavily guarded by men in green, in towers, behind barricades, behind strange ‘machine gun’ turrets, their ugly, black barrels thrusted out of their shielding portholes intimidatingly.
Next to her, Freiheit, Scootaloo, Crystal, and Daleering stood in equal amazement at the sheer size of the building, and the large amount of light emanating from it as the steel door was slowly lowered. In front of them were Captain An, Lieutenant-Colonel Truc, Corporal Nim Sergeant Trần, and Corporal Diem, if she had remembered correctly from the introductions to her security detail, and leading the group was General Ngo.
Closely guarding the group, and the doorway to the portal, were two ornately dressed members of the military guard (If that was what the QC meant on their helmets). They were dressed with white belts and coils, and their hands were covered in white gloves, their eyes covered by sunglasses, perhaps to hide their identity, or simply to make the short guards more intimidating. Scootaloo broke the silence, causing Flurry to turn her head towards her. “This is where you came from?”
Truc turned to face the teenage pegasus. “Yes, it is. This is also what we’ll use to get to Saigon.”
The general nodded, “Keep in mind, when you get to the other side, you will see things that are astounding, things you have never comprehended or experienced before. But please keep in mind, we are still fighting a war over there, keep close to your escorts. Also, you will arrive at an air base in a nearby city called Bin Hoa. Once you arrive, be careful for any more vehicles, they are a lot busier than we are. Understood?” Flurry shakily nodded for the group. “You have my blessing,” He turned to Colonel Truc, “Good luck colonel, let us hope this will better our chances in this war.”
Truc nodded back.
“They’re cleared to go, sir!” Yelled one of the VNAF technicians.
Ngô nodded with a grunt, “Godspeed, colonel.” Truc nodded again, and soon they began to walk through the portal. Flurry clenched her jaw. Freiheit had given her Twilight’s memoirs regarding her experiences from the portal, but still, the idea of being hurled through time, space, and dimension unnerved her. She turned to look at Daleering and Crystal; Crystal had unconsciously wrapped her hoof around Daleering’s, perhaps equally as frightened about this as she was, and Truc did the same with Scootaloo to reassure her. Pretty soon, she and Freiheit were the only ones left to go though. She held her breath, and tepidly walked on through.
All around her were various bright colors, swirling around her spinning head, she cried out as she felt her body being stretched from the high G forces that rushed through her. She closed her eyes in terror, and tried hard to keep herself from breathing too fast, then she felt everything become still, absolutely still.
