//------------------------------// // Fighting Back // Story: The New Era for Equus // by Robert Emerald Fountain //------------------------------// After accepting the fact that war had been declared against the Draconians, the Squidbeak Splatoon began gearing up. Callie and Marie were making sure they were with their children as long as possible before they set off for the battle. Inklings and Octarians were putting on their space suits, prepping their weapons, getting ready to board shuttles to their lead ship, the “SS Inkblazer”, and prepping personal ships if they had one. Deep Cut announced that the battle would be legendary and sent their greatest prayers that they would not be defeated. At the same time, the Equestrian Fleet, the PAW Patrol, and the Disney Fleet were getting ready for the battle. Everyone knew that this battle would be a dangerous one. They knew there was the possibility that they would die if anything went wrong. Everyone knew tomorrow was when they’d be shipping out, so they all laid down to get plenty of sleep. The next morning, it was time to get off the ground and head for Draconia. Callie and Marie gave their children one last kiss before preparing to blast up to the Inkblazer and their kids waved at them as they were getting on their shuttle. Two hours later, it was time to launch. All of the ships blasted off and made their way until they reached space. All of the shuttles in the Squidbeak Splatoon docked on the Inkblazer until everybody was on-board. Once everybody was accounted for, it was time to make the Draconians pay for their crime. “All fleets report in.”, said Flurry Heart. “Space Patroller standing by.”, said Chase. “Disneystar standing by.”, said Mickey. “Inkblazer standing by.”, said Callie. “Warp speed in ten seconds.”, said Flurry. “Ten.”, said Chase. “Nine.”, said Mickey. “Eight.”, said Callie “Seven.”, said Silverstream. “Six.”, said Liberty. “Five.”, said Minnie. “Four.”, said Marie. “Three.”, said Smolder. “Two.”, said Ryder. “One.”, said Donald. “ENGAGE!”, cried Flurry. The engines fired off with a loud BANG and the ships shot towards the planet. Arriving in orbit, they set their cloaks and began descending on smaller ships. As they started prepping their weapons and equipment, Flurry Heart spotted a green light flashing in the distance. Smolder saw the light as well and realized the pattern was morse code. Pulling out a pad of paper and watching the light, she looked at a signal chart and recorded what was being flashed. “We’re being signaled. The light is blinking out the words: “Come Here”.”, she said to everyone over her radio. Flurry sent her and the Young Six to make sure this was not a trap. They investigated the source and saw a familiar face from when they were mapping the year before. “It’s Leon and the others who are not following Koval.”, Smolder reported after a minute. “That’s great to hear, Smolder. Bring them over to us.”, replied Flurry. Once everyone had met Leon and heard the story he had for them, Ryder was disturbed. He agreed that Koval needed to let go and keep going with life. They had landed in a remote area of the planet where patrols rarely searched, so they were safe. The soldiers split up and started making their way to the outskirts of Draconia’s capitol. Not only was the capitol where the Emperor’s palace was located, but it was also where the launching area was for space battles. It was now or never. Night was falling on Draconia by the time the soldiers reached the capitol, so everyone had an advantage. Octavio had hacked into the Draconians’ mainframe and found that the fleet would be getting ready in the morning. This meant that everyone had to place counter-measures to slow down their enemy. The Squidbeak soldiers blasted ink into the engines on all of the spaceships so the Draconians could not try to take off and invade planets, and Marshall set up a device that spewed fire when a laser was broken because the Draconians were known to get startled when fire appeared out of nowhere. ** The next morning, everyone got in position and started priming their weapons. When the space crew boarded their ships and tried to launch, the engines wouldn’t start since the Squidbeak soldiers had clogged them with their ink. The fire nozzles began spewing when a land crew started driving towards a gate that led into the woods. With both of these groups caught off guard, it was easy for everyone to swoop down and stun them with their plasma lasers. Jared received word of this and informed Koval. “This is impossible. How can they have gotten here without being seen.”, he wondered. Jared suspected that the attackers had come during the night, but he wasn’t certain. What he did know was that the air-force was untouched, so it was possible to defend from the sky. Koval sent orders to begin flight procedures, but Octavio knew this from tapping into his mainframe. He sent a digital message to everyone that they needed to get airborne. Everyone boarded personal ships and took off. “Lock S-Foils in attack position.”, said Flurry over radio. Everyone opened their wings, armed their weapons, and began shooting once the Draconians came up on their radar. Many of Koval’s best soldiers were flying and trying to defend their world, but they had no idea how well trained these attackers were. They all suffered from broken windows and damaged engines, to wings being shot off and ruptured fuel tanks. Some of the Draconians had to eject from their ships because they were about to blow up. The area over the woods was in a pattern that none of the Draconians would die if shot down. They would only be knocked unconscious. ** The combined forces of Equestria, the Squidbeak Splatoon, the PAW Patrol, and the Disney Fleet eventually forced the Draconians’ hand in retreating. However, Ryder ended up getting targeted by a guided missile near the end of the battle. He ejected from his ship before the missile hit, but his parachute got tangled between two trees. Luckily, he was able to cut himself free and climb down. Brandon arrived on a speeder to pick him up and then everyone started closing in on Koval’s palace. Along the way, they grabbed some of the Draconians and shackled them as hostages. When they reached the palace, they held their weapons at all entrances and exits, ranging from windows to doors and concealed openings. “Your Majesty, the attackers have reached the palace and they have taken hostages. We are trapped here.”, said Jared. Koval became worried. If his soldiers were down and he couldn’t get out, he could not do anything. Regretting that he sent Jared to begin an invasion of Earth, Koval broke down in tears as he ordered the white flag to be raised.