//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Battle of Thorax - Assault 
// Story: Equestria Commandos 
// by Richer19 
//------------------------------//

1 hour

Changeling Wars

Thorax

I felt the gunship land, the impact being absorbed by my armor and me holding onto the rail. Watching one of the clones opening the door and we were soon under fire from laser. They quickly move off, a few of them getting shot and falling onto the ground as I held back surveying the situation.

It was a right mess. Changeling swarms were attacking the defending clones who quickly built trenches to protect them from fire. Still they were not being cowards as they keep up a constant stream of laser fire doing their best to keep the bugs back. I hopped off the gunship and readied my rifle. While I was tempted to help out with the base of fire, I had a mission to do and the clones had their jobs. Keeping my head low, I begin to work my way through the trenches towards the spire where our target was. If I was lucky then I should be able to meet up with Trixie. I didn't try to think about the chance that something already happen to her especially considering how nervous she was when we were on the landing pad.

Bringing my rifle up, I start to make my way through the trenches, passing by the dead and dying that were around me. The filters on my helmet were cleaning out the worst of the smells but there was only so much it could do. As I was walking, I heard one of the clones shouting "Bugs have broken through our lines! There in the trenches." Almost after he had said that, I see one of the trench walls blasted open and three drones coming through. Without pause, I bring my rifle up and pull the trigger. I watched as red-orange laser came out and nailed the drones right in their heads causing them to collapse dead. With automatic motion, I detached my current magazine and replaced with a fresh one. Solarshield always did stress the importance of going into a battle with a full clip.

A few clones move to patch up the hole as I got back to following the trench towards the spire. Along the way, I saw and fought a few drones and flyers who had managed to make their way into the trenches. All of them were easy enough to deal with since the overall thinking with the Changeling Armies was putting as many forces into the field as possible. While it is a sound plan it does mean that individually their drones were weaker than our clones. It got to the point where in order to save some ammo I switched to my side arm, a standard issue R6 Mk 3 pistol that didn't need ammo but could overheat if I fired it too much.

Eventually I came across a few clones who seem to be pressed up against the side of the trench wall. Looking down, I saw that several drones were marching towards us and were already firing their blasters. A few of the shots managed to hit me but my shield held out. Pulling back, I look at the other clones and say "Magic Detonators on my mark." They nodded and each of us pulled out a small metal ball. I keep my eyes on the advancing column and once they were close enough shouted "Throw." All of us activated the detonators before throwing them at the bugs. They only had a chance to look down at them before they were blow up in a blast of rainbow color. Once the dust cleared there was only a few stragglers who we finished off with blaster fire.

Once that was cleared off, I put a hoof to my helmet and says "Twilight Lead to Twilight Fourteen do you read?" I was close to the spire at this point and there still wasn't a sign of her. I tried not to let my worry get to me as I knew Flash was monitoring our vitals so he would have informed me if something was amiss. Of course that was assuming that he wasn't...

I was jolted by my thoughts by a sudden explosion that caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Diving to the side of the wall, I saw several drones were falling down into the trenches along with rocks and debris with a lot of burn marks on both. As I was still trying to understand what had just happen, I hear on my comms "Yeah take that you icky bugs. That is what you get for trying to touch the Great and Powerful Trixie." Smiling, I move away from the wall and watched as Trixie appeared in the hole that was now created. She looked over around a bit before her helmet's visor focused on me. Placing a hoof to the side of her helmet, she says "Fourteen linking to your tactical HUD now Boss."
I nod and place a hoof on my helmet as well and saw Trixie's vitals appearing next to my vision. A quick look showed that she was doing great with no real injuries though her shields had taken a bit of a beating. No doubt it was from her explosions. Still they were holding and her ammo was still plentiful. Making my way up, I lowered the visor cover and give Trixie a smile while saying "Glad to see you have gotten over your nerves Fourteen." Since we were on mission I was to refer to her by her number.

Trixie lowered her visor as well and replied "Oh believe me Boss I am shaking in my armor but things were not as bad as I thought. In fact it feels just like the simulations."

I nodded my head before giving her a pat on her shoulder and saying "That is good to hear. Just make sure to keep your eyes and ears open because anything could happen."

Well it seems like Harmony decided to call me out on that as I hear a warning sound from my armor. Acting on reflex, I push Trixie back while jumping myself and not a moment too soon as right where we were was a large scorch mark. I heard Trixie shout "Spider Tank!" Pulling my visor up, I dive to some hard cover and looked to the source of the shot.

There standing in front of the spire was a large brownish spider that was loaded with weaponry. I could just make out the few drones that were riding the monster creature which was easily half as tall as the spire it was guarding. I could see laser fire from our clones directed towards it but its hard shell and size were making those shots useless.

Realizing what I had to do in order to save our brothers as well as complete their mission, she put her hoof to her head and said "Twilight Lead requesting gunship support. We are pinned down by a Spider Tank."

"Gunship Nimbus on approach." Flash replied which caused Trixie to face me with a curious look. I could imagine the questioning gaze on her face.

I didn't have to wait long for her to ask "Was that Flash. Isn't he the one who..."

"If you want to not be doing latrine duty for the rest of the war you will refrain from finishing that question." I replied in a low tone that caused Trixie to let out an audible gulp. At that moment, a gunship flew past us and fired at the tank with its rockets. The spider let out a death scream as the armor-piercing weapon smashed through it. The Spider Tank did its best to stay standing but another pass from the gunship caused it to finally collapse into the ground. That caused the ground to shake a bit as we did our best to keep our hooves on the ground. Once the shaking had stopped, I looked up at the gunship and gave it a nod before moving down the now clear path towards the spire with Trixie following close behind me.