The Pillars of Old Equestria had had a series of long and terrible journeys leading up to this point. It had been a long and hard road for them all, a road that had been filled with danger, entruigue, and lots of dangerous threats. Somnambula had been walking her road the longest, followed by Mage Meadowbrook, with the others crashing in in rapid succession behind them. But alas, that road was almost spent, and the journey was almost at its end. Which left them with one thing to do. They had been directed to enter a large building on the edge of the base, which seemed quite important given the 'AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY PAST THIS POINT' sign that sat outside it, written in giant red letters. The officer led them in, past some other rooms filled with people, and then they finally arrived in the central room, the Command Centre.
Inside, the room was a hive of activity. The room was filled with consoles and control displays, all of them displaying different and many different things. Consoles were illuminated and numbers were running in, and men ran back and forth from one display to another, handing each other pieces of paper with things written on it.
"Mike Two Seven, this is Romeo Actual, please state message, over?"
Romeo Actual, Papa 722 shelling confirmed and on target. Complete destruct, over."
"Mike Two Seven, this is Romeo Actual, confirm accuracy and location of strike. Will upload data for complete picture. Advise you remain hunkered down and out of sight, over."
Romeo Actual, understood, out."
Another set of displays beeped and an alarm sounded as a missile was launched from some unknown location. "Missile launch confirmed! Mississippi launch, inbound for Memphis!"
"Prepare Iron Dome defense system to activate."
"Copy, sir! Iron Dome operational."
The central holographic display gave a clear picture of the entire scene unfolding across the southern United States. Several officers and technicians were looking at the display.
One of them noticed the Pillars had arrived. "General, the visitors are here," he said.
"Very well," a taller man in a peaked cap said, his chest festooned with medals. "Return to your post, Lieutenant."
"Sir!" The man saluted, and then returned to his position. The taller man, whom the Pillars presumed to be the General, leaned forward over the desk to see his visitors, who, being very short, were a bit hard for him to see.
"So," he said. "You're the little ponies I've heard so much about. We've devoted a lot of resources to finding you."
"I do apologise for the delay," Starswirl said, removing his hat out of respect. "We got rather waylaid by traffic and other more... irrelevant matters." As he said this, he looked pointedly at Flash Magnus.
Flash Magnus, on the other hand, completely failed to get the hint. "R&R is important!" he said. "We'd been travelling for days in Faust knows what heat!"
"Gentlemen," Mistmane interrupted, "the General wishes to speak. I imagine we have a lot to learn."
"Thank you," the General said. "I am General James Mattis. I've been put in charge of this sector, and we have a rather serious problem that needs dealing with." He walked to the console again, and moved the display to a different location. "Display, Sector 2, rotate."
The map was, at long last, in the proper position. It hovered over a vast city, a city that seemed to be full of things, none of them good in any way. Mattis pointed to the display. "This is Montgomery, a city that lies a few miles north of here. Project 722, whom I imagine you all know pretty well, is holed up here, and appear to have adopted the city as their base of operations. The city has been surrounded by a powerful shield generator, and vast numbers of enemy soldiers have taken up defensive positions in surrounding conurbations and settlements." He moved the map to show another location nearby. "This is Pike Road, or at least it used to be. The enemy have turned it into an FOB."
Rockhoof couldn't help but notice Meadowbrook flinch upon hearing that news. "How can we help, sir?" he asked.
"We have confirmed the prescence of four major army groups within that area," Mattis said. "They are positioned in different locations to cover multiple different angles of attack. This makes attacking with all our forces at once a pointless exercise. Instead, we shall attack from multiple directions at once. Each of the six of you shall lead a different army, troops from your homeland, whom I imagine you work pretty well with. They will each be supported by US Army divisions. These divisions in turn will be able to call upon artillery and air support to assist in retaking Montgomery."
"Tomorrow morning, we will be dropping a light yield nuclear device on the shield to break it open. Once the shield is open and the radiation is cleared, all units will fly in and assault different locations. You shall then push forward towards the centre of Montgomery, where the enemy commander is located, and engage all surviving targets."
"What are we looking at in terms of hostilities, sir?" Flash Magnus asked, keen to improve on his somewhat poor introduction.
"Enemy numbers are unknown, but number at least in the thousands," Mattis replied, looking concerned. "That's a mixture of Project 722 assets and creatures from other nations. Make no mistake, this will be bloody."
"But we must win," Somnambula said. "Or else there will be no hope for the future."
"Well said," Mattis replied, and motioned for them to exit the command building. As they did, they saw a battery of rocket vehicles lining up outside.
"FIRE!"
In a thunderous and powerful volley, hundreds of rockets lifted off into the sky from the launch platforms of the vehicles. They screamed into the sky, producing a terrifying noise as they did so.
"That'll teach them... or at least remind them we're still here!" said one technician.
As the rest of the afternoon and evening had drifted onwards, the bombardment had not let up. Artillery batteries had been bombarding Montgomery for several days straight, and the streaks of light from rockest as they screamed across the sky made it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. The trails from both US missiles and the interceptor system set up within Montgomery provided clouds of smoke so thick it drifted across the bay like a storm, and the thunder of guns from nearby battleships and cruisers continued relentlessly, so much so the ground was shaking from where they were.
"Why are they dropping so many weapons on that shield?" Mistmane wondered, as she looked from a hill in the centre of the base. "Those weapons are unable to breach the shield that Project 722 have built."
"The intention isn't to break the shield," Rockhoof commented, startling the unicorn as he approached. "The nuke they're dropping tomorrow will be useless if they can simply blow it out of the sky with interceptor rockets. By firing this many rockets and missiles, the intention is to overwhelm their defensive systems. If their rockets can't keep up with the amount of ordnance being fired, the chances of them intercepting the nuclear missile are considerably reduced to almost nill."
"It's a risky strategy," Stygian noted, looking in his book. "Based on my calculations and memories of being under the Pony of Shadow's control, there is no reason to think that he won't intercept the missile himself."
"Who said anything about there being one missile?" Rockhoof said.
Stygian looked at Rockhoof, slack jawed in disbelief. "You cannot be serious."
"Rule number one of military tactics; why drop one of something when you can drop two for double the cost?" Rockhoof said, rhetorically. "Besides, the radiation will be blown upwards by the force of the shield dissipating. At least, that's what Starswirl tells me. He'd know more about the science of ballistics than I would. The most I would know about it is that things go up and things go down."
Mistmane shook her head in disgust. "All you can talk about is violence and war," she said. "Does it not upset you that it has come to this? Why must ponies and humans always insist on resolving their problems with massive shows of military force? Have we forgotten the ancient art of diplomacy."
"If countries wish to avoid conflicts, they should avoid the pinpricks that precede cannon shots," Starswirl noted, joining the others. He looked on as well, and seeing the sadness in Mistmane's eyes, put his hoof on her shoulder. "War is a terrible thing. But good things can come out of darkness. This nightmare will end. We will defeat the Pony of Shadows, and we will restore the light to the world. And when this is all over, we can return to our native lands together, and live in peace."
"I hope that day comes sooner rather than later," Mistmane replied. Just then, their attention was attracted by a loud fanfare. As they glanced to see the central plaza illuminated, the leaders of several military units were marshalled together, and they saluted an older man ascending the podium and coming to a stop at the top. The lights were soon refocused on him.
"Is that?" Stygian asked.
"It is indeed," Meadowbrook said, looking in amazement. "The President of the United States is here! It must be important if he has arrived!"
The microphone came on, and the lights shifted as the barrage continued in the background, unimpeded and uninterrupted.
"My fellow Americans,
"Today, we are united in a spirit of comradeship and unity. Never has our nation faced a crisis like the one we are experiencing now. A brutal disease continues to ravage our lands, and there are forces intent on exploiting that tragedy for their own gain. The greatest threat our world has ever faced, the Pony of Shadows, and his followers are holed up in that city, and if they succeed, there will be no history to record our defeat.
"In a little over 10 hours from now, forces from the Marines, Army, Air Force, and Navy will join together to liberate Montgomery, and our allies in the Pillars will be assisting in the fight. We will not be alone in these hours. This will be a hard fight, and our soldiers will suffer losses. Not all of you will return home tomorrow. But if we don't fight, there will be no tomorrow to return to. We must stand together against this foe, or else Government for the people, by the people, will perish from the Earth.
"I pray that all those above will aid us in our bold endeavor. To all of you, we will stand against the darkness! This is the day when we rose up with one voice and drew the line in the sand! We will not fail! We will not falter! We will liberate our country of this evil... or we will die trying!"
The troops, and all assembled, cheered as President Biden finished his speech. He had never anticipated he would be a wartime president, but time had forced his hand. And truly were the men inspired by his brave example.
Starswirl suddenly noticed that two individuals were suspiciously missing from the scene. He quickly went to look for them, and soon heard noises coming from a building. He popped the door open, and he looked in surprise.
Flash Magnus and Somnambula were in there. Flash's armour was hastily discarded on the floor, and Somnambula had removed her headdress (but thankfully nothing else... yet). Both turned in surprise to see their commander there, and started to stammer.
Starswirl looked at them. "Lights are out in ten, unless..." He paused, waiting to see how they reacted.
"Unless what?" Somnambula asked, and then got the implication.
Starswirl nodded. "Make that twenty minutes." He closed the door behind him, and set off for his own hut.