For several hours, the allies kept watch through their binoculars and by using camera-drones to track Humdinger’s forces. No-one was spotted, and the drones revealed there were several patrols on the water and keeping a close eye on all happenings. Once everyone had a general idea of how the patrols operated, it was time to engage them.
“Alright everyone, SUIT UP! It’s now or never.”, Ryder shouted intently.
All of the troops got into their clothes, which included the Inklings and Octarians putting on wetsuits for swimming underwater. Then they boarded the automated jets to be taken into the front lines. These jets would self-destruct when everyone had jumped off to prevent tracking. These planes’ destruct mechanisms were also designed to ensure no lives or equipment would be threatened in the blast, so no-one would be in danger as they jumped off.
When everyone had boarded the planes, Twilight gave a remote command for all of the planes to taxi into position on the runway and then take off in sequence. After reaching the target altitude and course, everyone prepared to jump. Twilight and Flurry Heart had opened the hatch on their plane and were ready to give the commands to begin jumping when explosions suddenly began ringing out in the sky.
“LOOK OUT! FLAK TURRETS!”, shrieked Ryder.
“What does that mean?”, asked Mickey.
“ANTI-AIRCRAFT SHELLS!”, Taylor yelled back in response.
“We’ve been spotted and Humdinger’s forces are trying to shoot us out of the air.”, cried Skye in a worried voice.
Twilight adjusted the courses accordingly, and prepared to say, “jumpers away”, but then something scary happened. After she and Flurry had clipped their parachutes to the door, her legs and wings abruptly went rigid, her mouth began to foam, she started to shake violently, her eyes became glazed over, and she let out a sound similar to a loud hiccup. Flurry immediately saw what was happening, and screamed out over the radio.
“ALL TROOPS, THIS IS FLURRY HEART, SPEAKING FOR MY AUNT TWILIGHT. SHE’S HAVING A SEIZURE! JUMPERS AWAY!”, she cried.
Twilight went limp and collapsed out the door before Flurry could catch her, and she quickly jumped out after her. Unfortunately, Flurry lost sight of Twilight when her parachute opened. As all of the soldiers jumped, their chutes opened and they glided softly to the ground. The Inklings and Octarians cut free from their chutes as they reached the water to avoid getting tangled up, and then they started swimming into their strike positions while staying out of sight. After everyone had touched down, Flurry quickly searched for Twilight and she found her in the woods, caught between two trees and with her parachute lines around her throat.
“Aunt Twilight, wake up.”, she said.
Twilight managed to get her eyes open for a moment, and she spoke weakly to her niece.
“Flurry, sweetie, it’s too late. My parachute lines have strangled me. You’re in charge of the Equestrian Fleet.”, Twilight replied with her last breath.
Flurry burst into tears for a moment, but then collected herself and took charge of her branch.
“Equestrian Fleet, this is Flurry Heart. Aunt Twilight has been strangled by her parachute lines. She has given me orders to take charge.”, she said to the soldiers.
The Equestrian soldiers quickly acknowledged and everyone began getting ready to engage their enemy. With the Inklings and Octarians armed with their ink-based weapons, and the remaining soldiers armed with energy weapons and natural abilities, it was time to evict the patrols from the city.