Chapter 1
They promised the shield would save us from nuclear annihilation. They were right. They also promised, a new era of peace.
They were wrong.
After the Freedom 4 was destroyed by our own laser satellite that was hacked by the Russians, they and the USA declared war on the European Federation. The Freedom 4 was the final payload, to complete the Freedom Star, The USA’s first military Space station.
While blaming us for this, the European Federation Enforcer Corps was successful against both sides.
We will win this war soon.
I was a Grenadier in Battlegroup 20. My Platoon had the call sign “Locksmith.”
I had fought in many battles. I was hardened.
Our commander gave us state-of-the-art equipment.
Target acquisition system, Range finder and a Squad Taser. I loved the Squad Taser as I was a pacifist when it comes to killing.
For survival we had Acoustic coagulation and a Battlefield Target Identification Device for defense. We had also Enhanced command.
Our orders were to defend an Uplink called Foxtrot.
As we were slow and cumbersome, Badgers transported us to the Uplink.
At the Uplink, Kommandos with the call sign “Broadsword” secured Foxtrot.
It was one rank higher than my Platoon. They had Urban Warfare, Grenade Launchers and Marksmen for attacks and Interceptor armor for survival.
Also, Broadsword had Active Camouflage and the ability to storm Buildings.
The Lieutenant of Broadsword, Tom was my best friend. Sure he was Frenchman and I am German, but we both served in Team Rainbow. He could speak fluently German and I French but we mostly talked in English to each other.
Tom sighed. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“My wife’s pregnant. I wish I was back home with her.”
I was a father myself, so I could understand his feeling. “You know Tom; I got a little boy back home. I hope I get to see him again. Thought of any names for your child?”
He gave me a smile. “If it is a boy, we will name him Thomas and if it’s a girl, we will name her Jade.”
“My boy is called Otto.” I returned the smile.
“Broadsword, secure Delta.”
“Yes, Sir. See you later, Peter!”
He called out before he left. My Platoon guarded Foxtrot with Ural so was the call sign of the Badgers. They were upgraded with a TOW missile system for attack. For defensive, Ural had ECM Decoy, Laser Countermeasures and a Subsonic Scrambler which emitted a Non-lethal HPM.
I never saw the lethal HPM but I heard reports about the end results. For me, even the non-lethal HPM was horrible.
Ural was very fast as it was upgraded with Hydrogen Cells and a Power Unit.
Our commander used the same tactic every time. Kommandos and Grenadiers are guarding the Uplinks with Panthers and Badgers, while Marksmen artillery took care of any target the Cheetahs spotted for them.
It worked every time and we won every battle we fought with no casualties.
This time, we didn’t know if we would encounter the Russians or the Americans.
But we got reports about ponies on the area. Not normal ponies but talking ponies.
When I heard this, I couldn’t believe it. But the description fitted for the Ponies from the TV show my little pony friendship is magic.
My Son was a fan of the show and so were my wife and I. A 35-old Elite Soldier. Even Tom was a fan of it.
Otto liked the CMC and Dinky Hooves or Dinky Doo as she was called sometimes. Otto even liked the idea that she was a member of the CMC.
The Show itself had many fans. The sixth Season was planned for 26th March 2016 but was canceled after the nuclear terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia.
I didn’t know much about my commander but he was a caring man when it came to his men and civilians. He ordered if we should be attacked by Ponies, we should only exercise Non-Lethal Force. I could never hurt or kill a pony from the show. Especially a foal. But we had access to the world's best “less than lethal" weaponry.
“’See the world.’ Great. But then they forget to tell, that you get plugged into such a thing!” a crew member of the Badgers complained.
We waited in cover for the enemy. If there was one.
While we were no match for riflemen, we could take out any vehicle or Combat Engineers that would get in range. Plus the Badgers could take of any enemy Riflemen.
“Locksmith, upgrade Foxtrot for Force Recon.”
“Yes, Sir.” I entered the Uplink with four of my men to upgrade it. As we were tech experts, it took only a few minutes.
After this was done, regular troops of the European Federation Army relieved us.
Then, the Badgers transported us to Delta. The Battlefield was near a forest in Germany. Since we defeated every attack on European territory, it was strange to me why we were deployed here.
At Delta, Broadsword and Panther tanks with the call sign Olympus waited for us.
Olympus was upgraded with Sensor fueled shells and an Auto-Loader making them one of the fastest-firing tanks in the world. Also Olympus had like Ural ECM decoy, Laser Countermeasures for defense and Hydrogen Cells and a Power Unit for mobility.
We upgraded Delta for Air Strikes. As I walked out, I saw Emerald, a group of Cheetah Gunships. Emerald was scouting ahead. Emerald had a Laser Guidance and HOT Missiles. They were also equipped with an ECM Decoy and Warning systems.
For mobility they had also Hydrogen Cells and a Power Unit.
“Emerald here, no sight of hostiles.” I heard one of the pilots via radio.
Even Tom scanned with his E3000 for hostiles. I had my Squad Taser and my MP12 4.6MM sub machinegun ready.
While it had limited knock down power, it was still effective against body armor.
A Kommando sighed. “The waiting is harder than the fighting. What are we waiting for?”
Two Grenadiers had a conversation.
“I have the feeling that the ponies are our enemies.”
“You’re actually believe that?”
“I am not so sure. But since we drove the Russians back to the gates of Moskau, and the Americans had not even a chance to conquer our territories, it is the only thing I can think of.”
“You cannot be serious. Have you been drinking?”
“No. But it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Of course. What brilliant logic.”
“Emerald here. Possible contact.”
“Check North-West Quadrant, eyes on T-80 Tanks.”
“With pleasure, central.”
I could see in the distance how Emerald took care of the tanks.
“What the?” Hostile spotted! 12 o clock!” one of my men shouted. IFVs and Combat Engineers closed in. Ural and Olympus retreated to avoid getting destroyed by them.
We Grenadiers took care of the IFVs, while the Kommandos took care of the Engineers. They were neither Americans nor Russians. They were members of the Forgotten Army.
“The Forgotten Army?! I thought we got rid of those guys!” Tom shouted as the Engineers were killed.
They were not very well-equipped or trained and made poor use of cover and the munitions they carried so they were easily defeated.
I reloaded my weapon. “Well, this should be easy.”
Compared to the American JSF and Russians Spetznaz, the Forgotten Army was a joke.
“Right, Peter.”
Another attack started. This time, AH-1 HueyCobra’s attacked with Engineers.
Again, we defeated them.
This is easy. Almost too easy.
“I feel sorry for them, but almost.” Tom said after getting a kill.
“This is Locksmith, we got a kill.” I reported after taking the last Gunship down.
“These clowns do believe in their cause, eh?” Tom taunted after killing the Engineers or Terrorist Irregulars as they were called by the Russians.
The next wave came. This time, they attacked with infantry and tanks. “Broadsword, you have permission to use your marksmen.”
“Yes sir, it’s my turn.” Tom used his sniper rifle and fired. The Marksmen took out an entire squad, while we took care of the Tanks.
“This is Emerald, we engaging.”
The Cheetah Gunships used their HOT missiles on the T-80s completely destroying them.
Another group of T-80s entered the battlefield.
“This is Typhoon, inbound on your target.” Eurofighter Hailstorms damaged the tanks heavily.
“This is Selfbow, our fire is effective.” Our Marksmen artillery reported as they destroyed the last of the tanks.
“Well, it appears that this was the last one.” I said, not even break a sweat.
Suddenly I heard a whistle. “Artillery!” One shell was smashing into the ground right next to me. The explosion threw me into ditch in the forest.
“Peter!”
I heard Tom calling out to me before I hit a tree with my head and everything went black.