As the deployment ramp began to move, Rockhoof prepared himself for combat. His armour glistened in the dull light inside the lander, and his muscles, thick and rippling, tensed as he prepared to move off into battle. Unlike most of the offensive operations, they were simply detailed to plough into the enemy lines as fast as possible. This would allow them to clear the defensive positions of enemy soldiers and allow the advance to continue at its existing high speed.
The lights inside the landing craft went green as the ramp dropped into the down position and stopped, a dull thud against the Earth indicating that it was fully open.
"GO! GO! GO!" called a voice over the intercom. "DEPLOY! DEPLOY!"
Rockhoof nodded. "Come on, you Sassenachs! Do you want to live forever?"
The other members of the Mighty Helm, adorned similarly magnificently to he, nodded and cheered at the sentiment. And with a roar, the heavily armoured warriors charged down the ramp and into a maze of enemy fire. The bullets and explosives whistled all around as they advanced, bullets bouncing off their armour and flames erupting all around the troops as they pushed forward. Infantry continued their push forward as large cargo planes flew overhead. They dropped their rear cargo ramps, and tanks were suddenly offloaded into combat, with weapons already primed to fire the moment they reached the ground. It seemed as though their engines were fully fuelled as well, as the moment they landed on the ground they began to move forward, guns blazing. Abrams tanks featured an automatic target tracking system, so the machine guns had no issue firing and moving at the same time. Sprays of red and green bullets flew back and forth as explosions continued to light up the rainy sky, producing a spectacular technicolour light show reminiscent of a battle in Star Wars, only considerably more lethal.
Rockhoof continued his charge, countering an enemy soldier charging the other way by flipping him with his shovel. He flew through the air like a meteor, before slamming into a tree and landing still. "More than you deserve!"
His communications gear suddenly buzzed, and he answered it. "Rockhoof here, how can I help?"
"This is Raider 2-1. We are advancing on your left flank, but we are having difficulties advancing past the enemy's heavy anti tank defences. Think you can soften them up?"
Rockhoof didn't know of Raider 2-1's exploits personally, but Somnambula had put in a good word for them, and they seemed like brave and noble soldiers, so he would help. "Say no more. We'll get rid of those guns."
"Understood, please hurry. Out."
Rockhoof called to his troops. "This way, my brave lads! Our tanks need help, and we are to provide it! Clear out those anti tank guns and we'll have scored ourselves a great victory!"
War cries rippled up and down the battlefield as the Mighty Helm began their charge. They weaved across the battlefield, manoeuvring between tanks and lighter armoured vehicles that continued to attack and engage enemy infantry positions, their guns making relatively short work of light machine gun emplacements and trench positions never designed to withstand the assault of a tank.
As Rockhoof and his followers made their way across the battlefield, not stopping to consider the chaos erupting all around them, they dived into a trench to avoid weapons fire, and then charged down the lines of enemy soldiers, sending them flying and demolishing the defence lines. "For Lafayette!" they cried, as they charged down the line, wreaking havoc as they did so. Those soldiers who weren't sent flying were soon made short work of by axes and other equivalent weaponry.
At last, they reached the target indicated to them on the map. The heavy guns were of a model he had never seen before, and were protected by several rings of infantry. To prove the point of Raider 2-1, one of them fired. The shell was so heavy the earth shook when the gun fired, and it impacted the nearby enemy tank with such force that its parts were hurled in all directions.
"Sir?" asked one of the Mighty Helm. "I don't think we have enough C4 to blow those guns up. At most, we could take out two of them."
"We don't need C4 to remove this lot," Rockhoof smiled. He activated his radio and began to speak. "USS Alabama, are you reading me, over?"
"This is the USS Alabama, please state your message, over."
"We are pinned down by heavy artillery and anti tank fire. Request fire mission on position Two Zulu Four Alpha Foxtrot, over?"
Fire mission on position Two Zulu Four Alpha Foxtrot confirmed. Fire will be on your position in a few moments. Stand by."
Rockhoof indicated back. "We'd best take cover. This is going to be loud."
As if to prove his point, a series of incredibly loud bangs echoed nearby as a crater was detonated by Project 722, swallowing up an advancing infantry unit. Seconds after that, the shells that had been fired by the USS Alabama flew home, whizzing in onto the target with the force of a meteorite. They slammed into the artillery position with incredible force and exploded. The explosions blew the guns to pieces and sent their operators flying through the air. Fire and flames danced on the air as the shells impacted and exploded.
"Confirm fire on target, over?"
Rockhoof smiled. "Confirm target destroyed, over."
"All units, be aware that we will be unavailable for a short time. Fresh ammunition is required to- EVADE!"
Rockhoof looked into the distance and could see a series of more explosions directed upwards. The enemy had access to heavy duty anti ship and artillery guns, which could threaten the fleet if not silenced.
"With me!" he called, as he charged into the forest, the Mighty Helm following as he did so. "We must silence those guns before they silence us!" And onwards they went, weapons swinging.
As they charged forward, they suddenly sped past a formation of the Hayseed Swamp Native Guard. They were entrenched and gearing up to repel an enemy attack. The enemy infantry were massing for an assault, and the Guard looked in surprise as the Mighty Helm joined them.
"What are you doing here?" one of the guardsponies asked. "Aren't you meant to be on the flank?"
"I could ask the same," Rockhoof replied. "I thought you were meant to be acting as a field hospital!"
"We came under attack from unidentified hostile forces, and had to repel them," the guardspony replied. "Those heavy guns are rendering us unable to advance." As he finished his sentence, the guns fired again, several massive shells flying through the air.
"As long as those guns are active, our own ships will be unable to provide artillery support," one of the Mighty Helm noted. "Each of those shells is powerful enough to blow open a cruiser, and even the Alabama is at risk."
Rockhoof nodded. "Guardsponies, will you provide covering fire?" he asked.
"What were you planning?"
Rockhoof grimaced. "We're going to charge the guns, and then use the terrain against them. Fight like water."
The lead officer nodded. "That plan sounds so crazy it might just work. Men! Get ready to lay down covering fire! Our muskets can put some holes on those soldiers!"
"SIR YES SIR!" they replied. They chambered some heavy duty explosive rounds and prepared to fire upon the enemy.
Rockhoof and his fellows. They climbed up the battlements, and looked ahead of them to see the enemy before them. Weapons continued to blaze furiously as the enemy worked their hardest to slow the advance. Another tank was destroyed as a missile impacted it, and another group of fighters was forced to break off its attack as several flak tanks engaged them. The time for action was now.
Rockhoof raised his hoof.
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"
The Mighty Helm roared and bellowed victoriously, brandishing axes, hammers, and any weapon that would allow them to push forward and complete their objective. They charged out of the defensive emplacement and towards the enemy lines, weapons swinging and clashing together.
An enemy officer looked on in disbelief. "Ponies... charging at us!" he said, trying not to laugh. "Open fire!"
Seconds later, the sky was saturated with musket balls as the Native Guard opened fire. Each shot exploded when they impacted their target. The weapons were innacurate, but more than did the objective of forcing the enemy to keep their head down as the Mighty Helm advanced. They hacked and carved their way through anything that got in their way.
Rockhoof swung around a tree and observed the situation. The artillery guns that threatened the ships were positioned in a fortified position, set slightly below the ground so that only the tops of the barrels were visible. The enemy, however, had made a fatal miscalculation in putting the weapons there. Nearby was a large dam which was holding back water. Normally, there would be relatively little water in this body. But the rain, combined with the shelling and the storms, had filled the resevoir with water and dirt, producing a lake in the midst of a sea of mud, oil, and blood.
Rockhoof had an idea in that moment. He dived down into the area where the dam was, and began digging furiously at the retaining wall with his shovel. His every muscle strained and his nerves screamed at him with the strain, but he refused to give up on his goal. Swipe by brutal swipe, he removed more and more earth. Water began to pour through as the wall took more and more damage from his assault. Eventually, the tidal wave proved to be unstoppable. Rockhoof jumped out of the way as the water cascaded down the trench towards the enemy position. A raging torrent roared from the dam and down the channel, turning the area into a watery hell as the cascade gathered up everything. Soldiers were thrown through the air and sucked underwater. Tanks and vehicles were tossed like toys into the air and sent onto the tops of buildings. The heavy guns were sucked underwater and torn apart by the atmospheric pressure, with the parts sweeping out into the open waters, eventually reaching the sea and landing underwater.
Rockhoof, breathing heavily as he witnessed the devastation, radioed the fleet. "Threat eliminated," he gasped, as he dived for cover as more bullets flew his way. "You may resume firing."
"Copy that. You saved our asses there. All vessels, saturate that area with fire and drive the enemy back!"
Moments later, the largest naval bombardment in the history of the United States Navy commenced. Battleships discharged shell after shell and missiles flew through the air towards the position not far from where the guns had once been. The ground shook and was blown apart by the ferocity of the explosions, and the enemy were forced to fall back.
Rockhoof and his followers, as well as the army, charged after the enemy, who were now in full retreat as extra reinforcements were flown in behind them. They soon reached a destroyed residential area filled with ruined buildings. Ponies were horrifically injured, and soldiers with varying levels of wounds were on alert, trying to fight despite their injuries. Rockhoof helped to search through the wreckage, and when he pulled one beam back, his eyes widened in horror.
Lying beneath the beam, with broken limbs and several severe cuts, was his beloved Meadowbrook. He pulled her out, trying his hardest to not make her injuries worse. "MEDIC! Meadowbrook, what happened here?"
Meadowbrook was barely able to speak from her injuries, but gasped one word. "Drag- on." Then her eyes closed and she went limp.
Rockhoof looked in horror. Meadowbrook, his constant companion and fellow in this struggle, the one with whom he wanted to settle down, was dead. He howled in anguish as Lord Torch suddenly touched down, roaring triumphantly.
"Time to finish what I started," he said.
Rockhoof grabbed his shovel, and stepped forward. "You took Meadowbrook from me," he said. "Now I shall take your life from you."