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// Chapter 4. Preparations 
// Story: The First Battle of Equestria 
// by Spyderslicer 
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This is a shorter chapter than the last. The reason for that is I’m going to be quite busy this weekend. As in I will be unable to access a computer for the next 48 hours. Work is quite fun. Pfft. On another I can't say sorry enough for the amount of text in this chapter. Not a whole lot of talking. It’s building up for the next chapter. 

It’s not always easy thinking for the men of the Imperium to talk, at least when it comes to the Death Korps of Krieg. If I had chosen a different army like my planet Ozacom (the 106th Red and Blue Hellions is my army) other forces like the Catachan jungle fighters or the Elysian drop troopers would have been good. But neither would allow for the sieges that are going to bring Equestria to its knees. Okay maybe the Elysians might have worked if I wrote it right. They could attack the Griffin kingdom. Ooh or the Tallarns could attack Zebrica or the Mild West. I’m getting off track right now. Read and enjoy what little I’ve given you, again sorry about that.



Aviel cursed aloud repeatedly. The nerve that the Emperors servants could take this long, the Imperial Navy had taken over a week and a half to drop more transports containing supplies. Of course men had slowly but surely been moved by train. But it was taking too damned long to resupply. The Grenadier squad he had attached himself to, didn’t even bother to look to see why he was cursing. These might be some of the finest troops the Imperium had to offer, but they were a very quiet bunch. Even when he sat in with the officers planning future offenses, it was kept very short and to the point.

The final transports were lifting off, Emperor be praised. The supplies would take less than a day to get everywhere they were needed. Their original positions near the ruins of Mareville were already abandoned; anything that couldn’t be moved was destroyed. A week was what it would take to move everything necessary for the battle for Detrot. It had already been dubbed such due to reports from forward observation posts. The equines had begun preparing defenses around the city. Couple that with the women and children being evacuated along with the number of troops seen moving towards the city. So the beasts were finally revealing some ground forces. They would only barely make it, it would make little difference; The Emperor would have the city eventually. 

As Aviel had studied many books on strategy, he was well aware that it could take a lot of effort to break a well-fortified and well-armed group. Plans had been made almost instantly by the leaders of the operation. They had already completed the necessary changes to equipment and battle plans. He was no general, it always interested him how fast those types could formulate plans and calculate for loss of life. The tallies were usually pretty accurate. Only time would tell.

Aviel looked up to the sky watching as the transports entered the upper atmosphere and embarked on the Screams of Retribution. The ship was massive, as he recalled it was around four and half kilometers long, two kilometers wide and a kilometer in height. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how it was constructed.

But now that everything was taken care of it was time to move out. Stepping onto his Centaur and ordering the driver to take them to their destination, Detrot.



It had taken nearly two weeks of galloping to arrive. They of course slowed down as they passed the mares and foals. It made it look as if they could take their time, direct order from Celestia herself. It made no difference to Blue Blade. He was just glad the princess had allowed him the honor of leading his stallions into battle. They would be given air cover by Pegasi as soon as possible. The princess would communicate via magic. He was glad that she had such power at her disposal, without her initiating the spell Blue Blade didn’t think he would ever be able to cast it.

As the city came into view Blue Blade could feel a lump in the pit of his stomach. The kind of thing you feel when you look off of a cliff. The uncertainty that comes from danger, he knew what he was up against. He knew he had trained his stallions as well as he could, but they had still never been in combat. Hay, the biggest ‘war’ he’d fought in till that point was breaking up drunken brawls. But he knew his duty to Celestia, Equestria and his family. He couldn’t afford to just give up. 

By nightfall they had arrived. The stallions still working on digging and reinforcing structures stopped to watch in awe. Twenty-six thousand ponies forming a large column were walking into their city. Celestia had informed them of their coming, but hearing about something and seeing it were two different things. 

Say for the mares with saddle bags with red crosses on them, the devices on the stallions were foreign. Metal constructs with strange pieces sticking out. The ponies dispersed across the city. As the stallions finished working they were shuffled deeper into the city. As the enemy wasn’t seen stallions were allowed to return to their homes. As Blue Blade watched out over the massive stretches of land he saw nothing. He had no way to see the dozens of pairs of eyes watching him. 



Miles away on several hilltops lay dozens of guardsmen under camo cloaks, giving constant reports to high command about enemy movements. A guardsman had just hopped out of the Salamander after sending a message regarding the arrival of enemy troops; he went back to his position on over watch.



The ponies spent days watching out across the emptiness. Way off in the distance they saw smoke. But they had seen it come and go for days. Blue Blade felt like he should be fearful of whatever it was. But at this point it was too late to turn tail and flee. He was a royal bucking guard for Celestia’s sake. He hadn’t been taught to fear, he had been taught to protect his princess and country. That was what he was here for. Checking his weapons for the hundredth time he went back to over watch. Several ponies had already gotten bored with waiting. Several unicorns were playing cards using rations in place of poker chips.

“Hey Blue, wanna join in next hand?” His second in command, Tall Spark asked.
“No I’m going to keep watch,” Blue replied, “I get this feeling like I’m being watched right back. Yet I see nothing.”
“Sir, has anypony told you, you sound a bit loopy,” Spark said with a chuckle.
Blue Blade just chuckled and shook his head. It was almost like he could feel the hatred burning his fur.

They had been waiting for half a week with no sign of the bipedal creatures. Little did Blue Blade or any of the ponies know what was readying itself in the darkness. 



The Commissar stood beside his centaur. Look through his magnoculars he could practically count the hairs on an equines xeno face. It was a disgusting blue visage, the image might get a bit fuzzy at times but this was a piece of Imperial equipment. Perfection was a requirement, The Emperor wouldn’t let them down, He only gave them the best.

Getting into contact with the leaders of the operation was easy when you were a hand of the Emperor. At exactly eight o’clock standard time all of the one-hundred and eighty-one remaining guns would open fire. The beginning bombardment would last two weeks. While the shells gave them cover the men of the 501st would again begin digging trenches. They knew not how strong a foe they faced, or how well they were dug in. The men of Krieg were excited, if such a word existed among them. To finally face someone trained in the art of war was what they lived for. To die for their Emperor is the ultimate sacrifice to them.

It is better to die for The Emperor then to live for yourself.

They would then attempt to breech the defenses with a quarter of a million men. If this was a larger operation the entire regiment would move in to prod the line and find weaknesses. Another regiment would then attack those weak points in key. The Commissar had all confidence in his men. They were fighting for the Emperor, they wouldn’t let him down.

Guns were being wheeled into position. The master of the ordinance stood on a hilltop miles from Detrot. His bionic eye was a bright red and it swiveled as he used its built in range finder. His range finder was telling him it was approximately seven and a half miles to Detrot. There were multiple complex algorithms that were at work, saying exactly what angle the guns will need to be set to. He thanked both The Emperor and the Machine God for this piece of equipment.

“Send the message along the line, all guns are to aim upwards at 73.4 degrees,” he said to the man behind him.

“Sir,” his vox operator said before sending out the message.

The master of ordinance also made sure to fix the problem the man responsible for the last operation fouled up. Dozens of hydra flak batteries were placed along the line. The large quad cannons constantly manned to prevent another incident.

The night went by in peace at the pony line. The Krieg line was a mass of bodies moving to finish preparations. Heavy weapons were still being distributed; Atlas’ were still being brought up. Now that an enemy had shown itself trenches were going to need to be made faster. The line was ready, on the morrow they would trap their enemies between the hammer and the anvil of war. The men of Krieg would be tested, but it would be the equine scum that would be smashed. They were His servants, they had to prevail.




Again apologizes for the shortness of this chapter. Plans are for another longer chapter to be out sometime next week. The battle of Detrot will begin.

Hunter C. Creed