Twilight was at a loss for words, as were her friends. They had never witnessed such destruction, which they knew was worse than anything Equestria had ever seen, even from hundreds of miles away.
"Well… now what?" Asked Spike
"We fight back." Celestia said
"How can we fight against that?!" Twilight said, beginning to lose her calm, rational demeanor.
"I know things look bleak, but we will make it through this my little ponies" Celestia said, attempting to console her student "you are the Elements of Harmony, and we can defeat any foe if we work together to restore harmony"
Shining Armor joined in on the conversation
"And the Royal Guards are no pushovers either sis, we'll stop those droids!"
Twilight felt a little better but was still worried about the future. This conflict would be brutal, and Equestria would never be the same.
"So," she began "where do we start?"
The Mane 6, the Princesses and the royal guard's finest strategists gathered around the table, with Ember who had returned with her fiercest surviving dragon warriors who waited outside.
"Twilight, would you do the honor of starting the briefing?" Celestia said, placing her wing around her student.
"Well… we know they have their camp set up somewhere within the Ever-free Forest, likely around this area" Twilight said, gesturing to it on the map, where a cartoony icon of a Battle Droid head appeared "we don't know what various kinds of troops get will have, but most likely it will be like what they attacked Pony ville with."
"I will lead my dragons in from the air to take down their heavier defenses" Ember said, drawing a line through the air toward their base icon with her staff.
"Very good" Shining Armor said "my ponies will advance through the forest, with me leading them in his assault."
"While you 2 have them distracted, the Elements, my sister and I will take an alternate path around to their base and attempt to capture their leaders." Celestia said
"Do we even know what their leader there looks like?" Twilight asked
"No, but I'd imagine he looks different than the others, probably has special markings, like the yellow one we had captured." Celestia replied "are there any other questions or objections about the battle plan?"
"No, your highness!" Said all the guards.
"Excellent, now let's get a move on!"
TA-175 was command center, sitting in his chair monitoring the different feeds from scouts and security systems. One particularly caught his attention, one of a Viper Recon Droid situated on the edge of the Ever-free Forest. From its tree perch it could see a large number of guards ponies dressed in their golden-roman-like armor, with blue plumes on their helmets, and dragons gathering around Pony ville, with groups of the ponies advancing into the Ever-free Forest.
TA-175 walked close to the monitor and activated the audio feed. He couldn't make out much, but he did hear the voice of a stallion clad in similar armor, except colored purple with golden highlights shout out "all right, move out!"
TA-175 immediately spun around to face his OOM Commander Assistant.
"Prepare for their immediate ground assault. All troops to battle positions, deploy garrisons!" He demanded, pointing his finger at the Droid
"Roger, Roger!" The droid complied, running off to complete its assigned task.
TA-175 contacted Kraken on his holo pad
"Sir, the Equestrian Military force is launching an assault on our outpost."
"Ensure the base does not fall. Avoid capture at all costs. What is the status of base defenses?" Kraken replied
"Our AATs are in position around the base, with several legions of Battle Droid positioned around the perimeter. We also have Dwarf Spider Droids dug in defensive positions to provide covering fire, and Crab Droids to support our forces." He reported proudly
"What units does the enemy force contain?" Kraken asked, wanting to check subordinate's calculations.
"Unknown entirely, but probes report that they consist primarily of armored guards Ponies supported by Dragons, I calculate around 270 Ponies and 7 large Dragons supported by 13 Smaller sized Dragons."
"What are your methods for countering with the Dragons?"
"Our AAT are equipped with armor piercing cells and bunker buster shells to penetrate the creature's scales and destroy them. I calculate that they will be unable to survive them, like the last one we eliminated, sir."
"AATs are unable to attack airborne forces, I would suggest aerial support. I have 2 Squadrons of Vulture Droids and 3 Hyena Bombers prepared for flight."
"I will request them if needed"
"Understood. Do not fail." Kraken reminded him, closing the message.
He did not need to be reminded not to fail. The whole reason why he was there was to ensure there was no failure, as the Droids under his command were too incompetent to be able to create successful strategies. There would be no failure. Not this time. He would make sure of it.