Having obtained what they came for from the Eldeer, the Pony Marines returned to their ship and finally made for Cyrene. When they arrived, the first thing Spike's scans picked up on was chatter between Discord Pony Marines, as well as Blood Phoenixes who had turned traitor.
*This armor is a sacred relic of the Adeptus Astartes.* a Pony Marine said. *WE shall deliver it to our Chapter Master.*
*Lord Traytus now serves the dark powers. You now serve the dark powers.* a Discord Marine said. *This corpse goddess's base we stand in is not a sanctified shrine of your chapter, it is a vault to be plundered! And this Land Raver we have unearthed is not a relic, it is a spoil of war, to be defiled and bent to our will!*
*My lords, come in. Do you read?* a traitor Guardpony called.
*What is it, whelp? Why do you interrupt?* the Pony Marine answered.
*Beg your forgiveness, my lord, but... we've found another one.*
"A war machine... a sacred Land Raver... In the hooves of traitors?!" Spike said angrily. "By the Celestial One, Traytus CANNOT be allowed such a sacred weapon."
"Agreed." said Helios, "Not only shall he be denied it, we shall have it for ourselves. The ruin that such a war machine will sow among these traitors will be terrible."
___________________________________________________________________________________
Helios, Spike, Applejack, and Pinkie deployed upon Cyrene. The world that once was home to a proud population of Equestrial citizens was nothing more but a barren wasteland. It was this very planet that Michael Pegalos called his home, his responsibility. But when heresy broke out upon the planet, he forced his hoof to do the worst he could do, and let the Inquisition unleash the holy firestorm.
"Fall back, renegades! Come no closer!" the Traitor Blood Phoenix demanded as he struggled to get the Land Raver to work, but to no avail. "Damnation! Siblings, the Land Raver will not move! Its machine spirit... Quickly, we must crush them!" The tank crew took their positions and readied their weapons, but Helios and the Pony Marines dispatched them in little time. Spike approached the Land Raver and initiated the repair rites to get the tank working. After thirty seconds, the Land Raver's engines roared to life, and Spike entered.
With the Land Raver under their control, any and all the forces of Discord on the battlefield would fall.
Applejack and Pinkie boarded the Land Raver's stable, and Helios got on top of the tank. The Land Raver moved out, and they soon came to an Equestrial Guard stronghold. The Land Raver's Lascannons blasted the stronghold to melted piles of scrap, and the Heavy Bolter turret laid waste to the treacherous Guardponies that were nearby. The Land Raver then moved onto the next location were another stronghold stood. Guardponies tried to used their own Lascannons against the tank, but were outmatched in firepower. Both they and the stronghold were destroyed where they stood. There was now one last stronghold to take out, and this one was well defended by Anti-Vehicle units, but not well defended enough. The Land Raver utterly wiped out every last traitor and heretic, and demolished the base.
But their mission was not yet complete, for there was still another Land Raver, one that was under enemy control.
"Yes... now I can feel it..." the corrupt Pony Marine said, "The frenzy, the bloodlust that Lord Traytus spoke of..."
The enemy Land Raver was surrounded by cultists assuming a crucifix position in midair. The tank was covered in chained, mutilated bodies, and had turned black from the desecration of the Discord forces. The Land Raver then began to slaughter the cultists, their blood further painting the tank with defilement. The surviving cultists broke from their trance and fled from the war machine.
The Blood Phoenixes' Land Raver drove in, and was greeted by the appearance of fallen Termineightors.
"Yes! I shall grind you all to gristle beneath my treads!" the fanatic traitor yelled. "Blood for the Blood God!!!"
"I shall pay it the honor of battle." said Helios.
The Termineightors fell, and the Land Raver went in to engage the other. Both tanks shot each other with their Lascannons and Heavy Bolter turrets. A Harmonaught walked into the combat zone and attacked with the strength of its steel. Loyal Termineightors came in as well and fired their shoulder-mounted missile pods.
"Lord Traytus' gaze is upon you." the heretic said. "Do not fail him! Blood for the Blood God!"
Enemy drop pods landed near the fight, and more traitor marines emerged to battle the Blood Phoenixes. The loyal Termineightors fired their Autocannons at the heretics and kept them from getting closer. Spike's Land Raver was taking some damage from the enemy's Land Raver, but his repairing expertise is what kept it from sustaining any critical damages.
"Firing the Bombardment Cannons! Die!" the traitor marine yelled as his Land Raver shot a blast that created a large explosion on impact. Despite the heretics' firepower, they were being overpowered by the Blood Phoenixes' determination and strength. The enemy Land Raver was taking severe damage all over its hull. Soon, with one final shot from Spike's Land Raver's Lascannons, the desecrated tank was done in.
"The Land Raver is lost!" the traitor marine said. "Disengage. Leave the cowards to their doom!"
With their forces in great number, and a Land Raver at their disposal, Helios and the Blood Phoenixes were ready to finally confront Traytus, once and for all.