Camp Columbus Airstrip, Equestria
June 13th, 2060
Anon walked briskly down the hallway of the airbase’s main building, his face showed little emotion, but his heart beat rapidly in his chest. The weight of his pack making him move a little slower than usual, and the rhythmic tapping of his slung rifle against his back seemed to move in tandem with his heartbeat. The hallway was poorly lit, with buzzing fluorescent bulbs flickering in the ceiling, and casting a cold, white light on everything in the hallway. As he made his way towards the exit, a shape moved in from his peripheral vision. It was Gramov.
“How are the troops Kommandant?” he asked with a serious tone
Anon kept looking ahead, “Fresh faced and eager Comrade Field Marshall, ready to show the Greys which way is up.”
Gramov nodded, “Very good Anon, how did the training go?”
“Excruciatingly tedious” Anon answered flatly
“Heh, they’ll be glad for it, back in the Great War all we had for training was five hours instruction on how to use an AK, then they tossed us into the meat grinder against those NATO boys.”
Anon’s eyes descended to the door handle as they approached the exit, and he paused, “Sir, what are you up to?” he asked.
Gramov stopped dead in his tracks, “What makes you say that? Am I acting suspicious?”
“No, it’s just that… this isn’t the kind of thing that you normally throw a fresh unit into… Also why were you so insistent that I be given a group of greenhorns? Any other commander would have just given me back to the 41st, but you were so insistent on this…”
“Are you thick? We had a long discussion about this.” Gramov replied with a furrowed brow.
Anon shook his head, “I know sir, but you also wanted me to train this group myself. You also told me that you had ‘big plans’ for me. You must have meant something by that.”
Gramov’s face became very serious, and sighing, he took his hand off of the door handle “Anon, this is not for you to know. You will know things when I give the go-ahead for you to know them. Understand?”
“Yes sir.” Anon replied gravely as he began to open the door.
“That being said” Gramov’s voice rang in Anon’s ears and forced him to stop, “something is not right. There have been some… disturbing orders coming from New York recently. Orders that conflict with orders coming from Leningrad.”
“Orders for who sir?” Anon asked as he closed the door.
“Orders… for the Revolutionary Guard.”
Anon’s face showed confusion, “The Guard? Why? What kind of orders?”
Gramov cast a quick look over his shoulder, the first time that Anon had seen him show fear, “Orders that place the Guards in a number of very… influential positions, very… strategic positions. Positions very close to Celestia and other nobles, very close to major officers in the Royal Guard. Positions that could, if need be, lock down the entire Equestrian government and military in less than twenty four hours.”
Anon frowned, “What are you saying?” Anon asked, “They’re planning a coup?”
“Let’s just say that all is not right in the Kingdom of Denmark.” Gramov answered cryptically as he pushed open the door.
Anon was momentarily blinded by the light, but as his sight returned he suddenly became aware of the great uproar that surrounded him. Around him were all five thousand troops of his brigade, their fanatical cheering somehow audible over the roar of the priming jet engines. All along the airfield, the heavy lift planes of the Red Army Air Force were lined up, ready to deliver their deadly cargo of troops to the front lines. In front of Anon was a writhing sea of brown uniforms, black body armor, and the dull green steel of helmets. Both humans and ponies, eager to bring the fight to the Fascists and the Griffins, were lined up, cheering their commander on. Suddenly, a new voice broke the din.
“Tovarische!” the commanding voice of Gramov called. Immediately the noise quieted down, followed by the thunderous sound of five thousand soldiers snapping to attention. “I am so happy to see you here today, especially our Equestrian comrades. You have the singular honor of being the first Equestrians to serve with the Red Army, I congratulate you on your bravery.” Gramov’s voice called as it carried across the whole tarmac.
As he spoke Eric emerged from the crowd, dressed head to toe in thick engineer’s armor, designed to take the blast from a satchel charge- and then some, he nodded to Anon before he stepped up beside Gramov.
“I am confident that you will show those Fascist cowards what a real soldier looks like!” Gramov continued as a cheer once again began to rise, “I’m confident that you will teach those Nazi dogs how to fight! I am confident that you will show them that they underestimated Equestria and her people! They underestimated the Red Army and its soldiers! They thought they could crush you beneath their boots like insects! Well today, I want you to show them that you sure are some insects!” the cheering rose louder, “And they are going to need one hell of a boot to crush you!” the roar continued to grow, “Today I want you to let them know that Equestria will be free!” he shouted, putting emphasis on every word, “And today, I want you to show them, what a free soldier of the Red Army is capable of!” it was at this point the cheering reached its apex.
Anon had to admit that he was impressed, and as he heard Gramov’s next words he knew that even he wouldn’t be able to resist what was about to come.
As Gramov opened his mouth again, there came a cry of “SOVIETSKY SOYUZ!!!”
To which every soldier, including Anon, replied, “URA!!! URA!!! URA!!!” the cry rang in Anon’s ears, and as if on cue, a squadron of INFIDELs roared overhead in V formation.
At this point Anon stepped forwards, “Comrades!” he called, “Get to your planes! We go to war! URA!!!”
Once again the troops returned the battle cry as they all stormed off towards their planes.
Anon called out again, “Command squad! On me!”
Shortly a number of humans and four out of six elements of Harmony stood in front of him.
“Support squad one! We’re moving out!” Eric called as mixture of humans and ponies emerged from the crowd, among them the remaining two elements.
None of the Elements had ever thought they would see a day such as this, Twilight stood a few feet in front of her, and examined her unit. In the center stood Anon, tall and imposing with his wide officer’s hat and his seemingly pre-historic rifle. To her right was Rainbow Dash, a PPSK submachine gun fitted into her saddle. She wore a blue VDV beret, and had painted thick, dark smudges under her eyes with camo paint. She had a cocky smile on, like she expected she would take Hawken City singlehandedly. To Twilight’s left was Rarity, her brilliant white coat smudged with war paint until it was mostly a dull grey colour. Her nearly disgusted look betrayed how she felt about this, and she nervously fiddled with her gear, making her sniper rifle wobble slightly with her battle saddle. Finally there was Pinkie, with her fireproof body armor, and heat resistant faceplate raised above her head, with the tip of a flamethrower peeking out from her saddle. Twilight herself was nothing special, and wore the standard fatigues, helmet and body armor of a Red Army footsoldier, along with the standard AK. Twilight cast a glance over to Eric’s squad, who were already on their way to the nearest plane. She watched as Eric kneeled down to give Applejack a quick hug while the rest of the squad moved out.
“Atten-TION!!!” Anon barked.
Immediately the whole squad stood straight.
Anon smirked, “Are you mean?”
“YES SIR!” came the reply
“Are you angry?”
“YES SIR!”
“Are you ready to tear some Griffins a new egg hole?”
“YES SIR!”
“Then get your asses to that plane and strap yourselves in! Won’t be long before you’re knee deep in paradise!”
The formation took off past Anon towards the plane, as Anon turned to follow them he came face to face with a grinning Boris his hand stretched out
“Going to leave without sayings goodbye? After all we’ve been through Anon? I’m hurt.” the Russian chuckled
Anon reached for the hand and began to shake, “You and your guys just make sure we get there.”
“Da, not a problem Tovarische…” he then turned to towards Anon’s squad “Dashie!” he called, the Rainbow Pegasus stopped to look, “Be careful!”
She smiled and took off.
Boris then turned back to Anon, “Break a leg” he said
“Meh, I’ll probably just get it blown off” Anon chuckled as he took off after his squad.
He got halfway to the plane before he was interrupted once again
“Comrade Mous!” an unfamiliar voice called
Anon turned to see an eerily thin black clad man walking towards him, dressed in full combat gear
“Fuck” Anon muttered to himself as the stranger drew near
The officer stopped in front of Anon, and saluted, “Commissar Van Houte, 1st Revolutionary Guards”
“Of course Comrade Commissar!” Anon answered politely, “What brings you to my unit?”
“Special orders, direct from New York. I am to accompany your brigade on this mission, in order to assess the situation at the Crystal Mountain front and report back to the politburo.” Van Houte answered smugly.
Anon frowned slightly, “What is the reason for this? Why wasn’t I notified?”
“Last minute special orders sir. As I said, straight from Revolutionary Guard high command. The reason is the business of the politburo.” the Commissar replied, his smile unflinching.
Anon’s frown deepened, “It must be comforting knowing that orders from New York override orders from Red Army high command.”
“Indeed it is sir.” Van Houte replied for a final time.
Anon looked towards the waiting planes, “I suppose we have room for you Commissar, welcome aboard.”
The Commissar reach out to shake Anon’s hand, but Anon simply walked away.
17,000 feet above the Crystal Mountain foothills, Equestria
June 16th, 2060
Twilight was shaking. She was shaking violently. All this time she had been preparing herself, both mentally and physically, she had done the fitness training, she had done the weapons training, she had done the practice jumps, she even brushed up on a few combat spells, and all the while she mentally prepared herself for the act of killing another sentient being. But now that it was all about to happen in real life, she just couldn’t stop shaking. The plane rattled and shook as in moved through the air, causing the troops inside to grasp onto anything they could to stay steady. Suddenly, a particularly violent jerk caused and several others to fall right out of their seats.
“Wha… what the hey was that?” she asked to nobody in particular
“Anti-aircraft guns” Eric replied simply from the seat across from her, “We’re over the front now.”
Twilight suppressed the urge to vomit.
Two seats beside Eric, Anon stared at his feet. This was certainly nothing new to him, and as far as he was concerned this was just another routine. He had been wanting to kill Fascists since he was six, and he had been learning to do it since he was ten, as far as he was concerned this was just another day at the office. He almost found himself dozing off despite the violent rocking of the plane.
Anon was pulled out of his short snooze as a cyan hoof jabbed his side, “Hey Anon” Dash’s voice called as he jointed awake
“Huh? Uh yeah Dash, what is it?” he responded somewhat groggily
“Who was that guy in the black uniform? The one who got onto the other plane? I don’t remember seeing a uniform like that anywhere else.” Dashed asked, looking towards the ceiling as she tried to recall anybody she had seen that had looked quite like Anon’s mysterious visitor
Anon rubbed his eye, “He was from the Revolutionary Guard… there are a few of them around Equestria.”
“Reva-what guard?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow
Anon looked at her like she had grown a third eye for a moment before Twilight managed to pipe up, “Gah Dash! Didn’t you pay any attention to the political education in training?”
Dash’s attention turned to her feet, “Uh… I might have slept through it” she said with a nervous glance at Anon
Twilight sighed, “The Revolutionary Guard is an international paramilitary organization that was established after the Great War to safeguard the Socialist governments of the IOFR against all threats both external and domestic.” she said, quoting from the lecture.
“Oh.” Dash mumbled, “Well… what is he doing with us then?” she asked, turning back to Anon
Anon rubbed his chin, “I’m not quite sure…” he said, “The Guards and the Army have never quite got on well… we’ve had more than a few disagreements over the years. I guess you could think of them as our answer to the Fascist SS… they’re more loyal to the state and the politburo than the cause or the people…”
As Anon finished speaking, a new set of turbulence hit the plane, ten times more violent than the worst they had yet experienced. Anon nearly fell out of his seat, and he raised his head to see the entire company either on the floor or clinging onto anything they could find for dear life.
Anon took a firmer grasp on the handles fixed to the wall as his radio crackled a message to him, “Anon! Anon! It’s Boris! This isn’t good man!”
Anon raised the radio to his mouth, “I hear ya Boris, what the fuck is happening out there?”
“We’ve got a whole load of Fascist bogeys on our hands… French Mirages, and they’re coming straight for you! You need to drop now, I don’t think my boys can hold them off forever!”
Anon gritted his teeth, “Fuck it! Alright Boris, we’re dropping in two minutes! Keep them off us until then!”
“Blackbird Squadron will do its best! Boris over and out.” the radio replied.
Anon stood up and made his way to the front of the violently rocking plane, with great deal of difficulty he managed to make it to the pilot’s cabin.
“Pilot!” he called
One of the two men sitting in the cabin turned his head, “Sir?”
“We need a yellow light! Now!” Anon barked
The pilot hesitated, “Sir, we’re still a few hundred clicks from the drop zone! We could wind up right on top of the Greys!”
Anon yelled again, “I don’t give a fuck! I want a yellow light now! Relay the message to the whole brigade, I want every one of my troopers out of their planes in two minutes! That’s a goddamn order!”
Anon didn’t wait for an answer, but he got it as the light in the cabin changed from red to yellow.
“All right!” he screamed, “This is it! Masks on, helmets on! Check your chutes! Check your weapons and ammo! Check your air! Check all your gear! We are bailing in two minutes!”
Twilight began to telekinetically fumble with her gear, pulling her gas mask over her face and attaching the tube that would feed her air at the high altitude.
‘I really hope I don’t puke…’ she thought as her heart raced.
“Right then!” Anon barked over the din roaring engines, “Our rallying point is Archangel Sector, grid reference G2! When you hit the ground, ditch the chute and head straight for the point! You DO NOT stop for ANYTHING!” the plane rocked violently as another flak round exploded nearby, “Is that clear?”
The company responded with a few scattered acknowledgements
Anon gritted his teeth, “I said… IS THAT CLEAR!!!”
He got their attention this time, and the troops responded in unison, “SIR YES SIR!!!”
The troops began to get up and shuffled to form a single file line near the door as Anon put on his helmet and has mask.
Twilight was having a hard time seeing, the mask she had on restricted her vision to two circles of light, and all she could hear in her head was her beating heart and her heavy breathing. A human stood in front of her, obstructing her view of the door. Twilight’s breath had been steadily getting faster as the digital clock below the yellow light counted down the seconds until the jump, she was nearly hyperventilating now. She placed her hoof on her chest to try to calm herself down, but was interrupted by a jab from behind.
It was Rainbow Dash, “You’ll be just fine Twilight” Dash told her, “Just concentrate on flapping your wings and getting down safely… Just like training.”
Twilight looked back and nodded while gulping hard.
Anon’s voice interrupted her thoughts once again, “Jumping in ten... nine… eight…”
Twilight screwed her eyes shut
“…seven… six… five…”
She gritted her teeth
“…four… three… two…”
Twilight’s eyes shot open as the floodlight changed from yellow to green. A split second later the doorway swung open and the temperature dropped. The wind roared ferociously as it tore out of the doorway and into the freezing air, and through it all Twilight could still hear Anon screaming
“LET’S GO!!!” he bellowed, “GET OUT!!! LET’S GO!!! LET’S GO!!! MOVE IT!!! MOVE IT TROOPERS!!!” he continued to yell as he stood by the doorway, patting each soldier on the back as they sprung from the plane.
All too soon, Twilight found that the soldier in front of her was moving towards the door, and an instant later there was nothing separating her from the outside but air. Closing her eyes tightly, Twilight sprinted for the doorway, and leapt. Anon’s yelling trailed away as her body entered a freefall.