Manehatten
Northeast of Equestria
Green Zone
The sun rose on the country of Equestria, signifying another glorious day brought on by they're beloved ruler.
In the city of Manehatten, the main trading hub of Equestia, ponies wake up to another day in the big city. A great fog covered the area as the ponies start about they're day without a care in the world. The streets were filled with ponies as they went to business they work in or they owned. Plays were opened to the public in the early morning. The Statue of Harmony sat in the outside harbor of the city, a testimony the building power of the ponies.
Though, it will not last long.
Several battleships carrying the Nod symbol suddenly appeared out of the fog, like a monster from pony legend. One of their cannons aimed at the Statue of Harmony. The cannons roared as the shells were unleashed. The first one took out the head while the other two struck it from the sides. Slowly, the statue came crumbling down, the ponies within it dead or wounded.
A day of reckoning has come for the ponies.
Carrier ship Salvation
Outside Manehatten
"Direct hit on the statue, sir." A Nod officer spoke to Kaiden as they hit the staute within the city. This brought a satisfying smile to his face, seeing the ponies that destroyed Temple Prime on the defensive.
After the message from Kilian was sent, and the destruction of the so-called 'Barrier', most of the Nod forces began taking back territories lost to the ponies. Already, they have taken back some of New Zealand and Asia, as well as the Balks and Eastern Europe. The victories were many due to the ponies lack in militarization and technology. Commander Kaiden and Ajay are sent on a special mission for Kilian.
Establishing a foothold in Equestria.
The large city, 'Manehatten', is said to be one of the many trading post in this 'Equestria'. Kaiden and Ajay are sent there to capture the city and establish a base of operation for their up-and-coming conquest of Equestria.
Kaiden is on the ship known as Salvation, a stolen GDI carrier, refurbished to Nod standards. The ship itself was big, enough to carry 20,000 men and supplies. The inside of the bridge was bustling with activity, as they gone to their positions for the coming attack. The other ships readied their guns and fired at the city.
Looking over the city from the bridge, he the same shield that nearly destroyed the world being erected in the city itself, the pink shield shimmering in the morning sun. The shells exploded into the shield, seemingly had no effect on it. He heard a siren alarm being sound within the city. Tiny specks of colors danced in the harbor as he saw the ponies fleeing for their lives.
"Incoming Transmission." HADES informed Kaiden. The screen in front of him lit up, showing the face of Ajay.
"I assume that you saw that as well?" Kaiden said.
Ajay nodded. "Looks like the same once that drove most of our forces out of Asia. Though it looks smaller than the big. Whatever it is, our forces can't break through to it, and our guns are useless against it." He shook his head. "Looks like this invasion that Kilian had sent us to do might not even happen."
"We can't give up now." Kaiden said. "There has to be some other way." He looked up at the ceiling, where he installed HADES onto the ships mainframe. "HADES, scan the city for anything."
"Affirmative, Commander. Starting scan now."
Kaiden once more looked over the command bridge, seeing everyone on the deck going to their positions. An engineer was fixing a Scorpion Tank, installing a laser tube in the tank. Two Nod soldiers were escorting several ponies, who have been captured during the failed invasion of Australia, Two Blackbirds landed on the runway, the hatches opened to reveal supplies. A Carryall unhooked a Avatar War Mech from the bottom of the ship.
"Commander, scanners have shown something outside the city." HADES informed the commander. The screen changed, showing the outline of the city from a hacked GDI satellites. HADES zoomed in on a building located outside of the city. "This prison has a massive spike in radiation. It would assume that something in this building is controlling the shield in the city."
"Alright, now we know that they have a weakness." The screen changed to Ajay, in which Kaiden turned to. "I'll send some of my best inside the prison. If there is something that is controlling the shield, then we need to destroy it."
"Alright, Commander." Ajay said over the screen. "We'll keep pounding them with everything we have. Good luck." Ajay disappeared from the screen, the Nod symbol floating on the screen once more.
"I want some of our best soldiers for this mission. Someone contact Natasha and Gabriel as well. We need them to lead the strike force." Kaiden commanded. Already, the crew did as he commanded.
He was annoyed that the ponies were hiding behind a shield. But despite an advantage that they have in defence, Kaiden couldn't help but smile.
When it came to defenses, he was an expert in breaking them.
Several Blackbirds sored through the air as they went towards their objective. Natasha, in one of the transports, checked on her weapon as they prepare for what is to come. Both Gabriel and her have been called upon by Kaiden for another mission, a sabotage. Something that she and Gabriel are good at. It has been a while since the explosion at Temple Prime, and the retreat to Australia. While they did enjoy a little break now and then, they were eager to get back to the field of battle. Kaiden had announced that the new leader of Nod, Kilian, wanted to capture a city in the name of Kane and establish a base of operations there.
Natasha slide one of the energy cells into the chamber, the glowing red as she done this. Inside one the transports she was in, several Shadow Teams and a couple of Saboteurs readying themselves.
Natasha put one of her fingers into her ear, activating the earpiece. "Gabriel, can you hear me?"
"Aye, loud and clear." He responded.
"Good. We'll keep in touch once we get to the prison." She said. It was a big building, from what she saw at the briefing. If anything, there would be a large number of enemies in the building.
"Right. We'll up into teams. I'll take the right side while you move to the left."
"Roger. See you on the other side." She wanted to end the conversation there, but there was something she wanted to ask, as much as it pained her. "Do you think what she said is true?"
"About what?"
"Kane being killed."
There was a silence that weighted heavily in the air. Indeed, the news of the Destruction of Temple Prime and the supposed killing of Kane has spread throughout the Nod infrastructure. Everyone was still mourning for their leader. But that didn't stop them from following Kilian's command to take back everything the ponies have stolen. Many Chapters still cry for blood of the ponies, and would like nothing more than to go into the aliens land and kill every single thing in the land.
"Don't give your hopes up." Gabriel said. "Kane has survived worse throughout the years. I know he's still alive somewhere. Our messiah will come back to use."
Natasha sighed. It was one of those things that she hated about those Black Hand militants
"We're almost at the drop point. Ready yourselves." The pilot of the craft said over the intercom. With a whine that emitted from the laser rifle, she was all ready to go. She look at the others, seeing some of the Shadows and Saboteurs ready to go. She brought her left forearm up, revealing to be a miniature computer. Pressing a few buttons, her entire body disappeared, leaving a shimmering silhouette.
The cargo bay doors opened, and all hell broke loss.
Security sighed. It was another day in the job, and he hated it.
The Manehatten Security Prison is said to be one of the most heavily guarded places in Equestria. With huge brick walls, magical security defense in case of a riot, and security systems that can put Canterlot's defenses to shame, it houses many of the most dangerous criminals in the country. Ranging from Diamond Dogs to Minotaur's, from mob bosses to warlords, many a criminals are housed here. Since the start of the Conversion Wars, the staff had undergo a slight change in management. Everywhere he went, he saw Royal Guards marching about the place like they own it. Not that it matters to him. He wanted a job that can support his apartment, and help move out of his parents home.
His hind legs were outstretched onto the table as he crossed them, while his fore hooves were behind his head. He was inside one of the checkpoints they have inside the prison. The inside of it is small, with a rolling chair and a wooden table to put his stuff on. The monitors inside the prison were alive, showing different parts of the prison. His coffee mug floated to his lips with a lime green aurora. He is a unicorn with a lanky, but very strong body. His coat is a light yellow with a blue mane and tail. His horn, which is a lime green, had the same aurora on it as he brought the cup to his lips. The warm caffeine past through his lips and into his throat.
Once he was done, he set the mug down and continued his work on watching one of the feeds to the left, which showed the kitchen. The staff were preparing the meals for the prisoners, including a few meat mixed in the pots. Although he was used to meat eaters eating in the prison, he still scoffed at them. Why they didn't convert some of them was beyond him.
He turned his head toward one of the other feeds, his block, which showed two guards in one of the lower decks of the prison. His block is where they housed some of the most dangerous, ruthless, and merciless beings that could send even the bravest of ponies running for the hills.
Once again, he turned towards one of the feeds showing the courtyards........
.....and he almost threw up his breakfast.
The courtyard was a mess. Blood and skin littered the ground, spilling out like a river. Some of the guards ponies looked like they were roasted, the coats burned and charred. He saw a few guards ponies alive, but were running around confused like headless chickens. One of the ponies, a guards mare, grabbed the attention of them. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but she was trying to command the troops to do something. An alarm sounded throughout the prison itself.
However, her head was suddenly blown off, bits of brain everywhere.
That wasn't the only thing that he saw. The feeds now showed numerous red, bipedal creatures inside the prison. The guards were trying to hold them back. A row of guards in one of the prison blocks were roasted by a blast of fire from one of those creature that had multiple red eyes like a spider. Two guards in another block had their brains blown out. A second later, a creature shimmered into existence, looked down one of its kills. It saw one guard twitching, trying to get to his spear. The creature aim one of its L-shaped objects to the head of the guard. A second later, the guard's head exploded.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Security's breath caught up in his throat when a voice spoke behind him. He shakily and slowly turned around, his eyes widened as he saw the figure before him. He saw the strange armor that it wore, an all-black outline with a symbol of a scorpions tail on the chest. It's four, red eyes pierced through his very soul. On its hand was a strange tube-like item with a hose that connects to the tanks in his back, a little fire coming out of the tube.
The same tube that the other on had when it burned half of the guard.
"Wait! Don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!" Normal, he would try to fight them, giving them the ol Manehatten Welcome. But he knew that if he attacked the creature, he would be roasted alive like the guards.
The creature chuckled in his mask. "That a good boy. Now tell me what's in this block?"
"All of the dangerous criminals, including some species that haven't been converted yet!" He exclaimed in a frightened tone.
"How dangerous are we talking?"
"Some of the head families of the mafia, including the BloodFlower Family. Also some resistance groups and terrorist."
He couldn't see through the mask he wore, but he was sure that he was happy with the answer. "Good to know. Now die!"
The last thing he felt before the world lit up was a searing sensation on his coat and skin.
Father Gabriel finished 'purifying' the pony in front of him, reduced to ashes. The raid had gone as planned, taking the ponies by surprise. While Natasha lead the stealth team to infiltrate the prison while his main force, composed of Confessors and Black Hand Militants, checked block after block for the machine. It was a taxing job, since the prison is the size of the Pentagon. But he wasn't worried about that.
He searched and searched to no avail, until he came across this block.
It was twice the size of the normal cells he visited, and more secured than the others. Metal doors were presented in each block, with a different kinds of locks on them. Even as he was passing through, a shiver was sent up his spine when he passed some, giving of a murderous vibe.
Once he was finished, he looked over to one of the control consoles that they have. He had to hand it to the ponies. They may lack in military might, but the technology they had was somewhat similar to the ones in the 80's or 90's. The televisions showed different parts of the prison, or at least this area. He saw some of Natasha's handiwork, was well as his other forces searching and burning any pony they come across. On the table were a variation of buttons. The one that he was focused on was a big red one with the words 'Do Not Push' inscribed at the bottom. If he didn't know better, he would guess that this button would release the prisoners in this sector.
He weighted the options that was presented to him. The pony said that this is where they keep some of the most dangerous criminals. If he would release them, they would try to kill him. However, he needed to know where the machine was. If he can't find a guard that would tell him, then the criminals would be his best bet.
With that in mind, Gabriel pushed the button.
An alarm sounded within the sector as the doors began to open. He went out of the booth and saw the doors open slowly. He went down some metal stairs, readying his flamethrower in case some of them would try any funny business. By the time he reached the bottom, , the doors stopped. He could see some ponies coming out of the cells. He also saw some species that he had never seen, ranging from bipedal dog creatures to bull creatures as well. Some of them he recognized for Greek mythology.
"All right, lads. Listen up!" He grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, they're eyes directed to him. "I freed all you from your prisons." His eyes stared back at them through the mask. "I'm looking for something, and you can either help me find it or be on your way."
The prisoners whispered among each other, probably decide on what to do. He saw a unicorn stallion with a white coat and a green mane and tail. A scar ran down his right eye. "What do we get in return?"
Under his mask, he grinned. "Simple. Getting revenge on the ones that did this to you."
The pony looked at the others, in which they nodded at him. The stallion turned back to Gabriel, a murderous grin on his face.
"What do you want us to do?"
"Where. Is. The. Machine?" Natasha proceeded to interrogate a pony, a blue earth pony mare with a green mane and tail, who was tied down in a chair. The rest of the Shadow Team lined the ponies in the room by the back wall and securing them.
The raid on the prison was successful. The ponies were caught unprepared and there were no casualties among the Nod special forces. However, the prison was big.
Natasha started to think on what to do. It would take some time to search the entire building, and they don't have the luxury to keep the main force waiting. That was when a thought hit her. If the prison was controlled somehow, then there has to be a control room somewhere in the prison that hold some type of information she was looking for. After some time searching a few sectors, she found what she was looking for.
A control room was presented before her. The technologies weren't as primitive as the ponies, but still behind on what Nod and GDI had. There were buttons on consoles, televisions that showed different feeds of the prison, and some tables with schematics of the prison. The crew in charge of it were unarmed, saved for a few guards. They quickly took out the guards and secured the room.
"I won't tell you anything, you ape freak!" The mare glared and shouted at Natasha. In response, she slapped the mare across the cheek. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with this sort of act. Many GDI dogs that she has dealt with in the past do this sort of thing. They would be a stupid idiot and try to act brave in front of her. And, like many times before, she broke them.
"I won't ask again." Natasha said in a threatening tone. "Where is the machine?" She was on her last nerve with the pony mare.
"Buck.......you...." The mare breathed in.
Under her mask, Natasha had a savage grin. "I thought you would say that." She turned to one of the Shadow commandos. "Give me your knife." He did as he was told, unsheathing his knife from his left boot. He gave her the knife.
"Alright, you little bitch." She diverted her attention to the mare. "I don't have time for your false bravado. If you don't tell me where the machine is, I will cut off your own coat and wear it when I go to a place that is cold." She floated the knife right to one of her forehooves.
The mares eyes had gone wide when Natasha showed her the knife. She struggled to get free from her bonds, but it was to no avail.
"Now, lets try this one more time." The knife inched closer to her eyes, which now had tears. "Where....is...the-"
"....n you come in. Natasha, do you read?"
Natasha moved away from the mare to answer Gabriel. Natasha put her two of her right hand fingers to her ear. "Yes, I can hear you. What is it?"
"I found what we are looking for."
Natasha was surprised by that statement. There was no way that they would find it before her. "Really? How did you come across it?"
"I found some of the prisoners that told me what I need to know. Most of them are trying to free the others so they can join."
"Interesting. Stay put, I'm on my way." She ended the call and turned toward the mare. "Well, looks like its your lucky day. You get to live."
The mare sighed in relief.
"But then again, I don't like sparing you."
She pulled out her pistol and shot the mare in the head, a surprised and painful expression on the mare's face. The blood from her head fell like a waterfall. Natasha turned toward her team. "We found what we are looking for. Kill them." The second she said that, the team opened fired on the ponies, killing them with glee. The blood flowed from the hold ridden bodies and formed a puddle.
The rest of the Shadow Team, including Natasha, filed out of the room and toward their objective. None of them noticed a flashing yellow light on one of the consoles, including some floating words.
"Warning! Cells A-Z unlocked! Security personal on route! "
Warden Flower was scared.
She is the boss of the prison, the leader. She has ran this prison for a least two years, ever since her father died and gave it to her. Her family had a history of working for the prison, ever since Manehatten's founding after the Three Tribes united. They started out as guards before they climbed the ranks so they can run the prison. She was strict, punishing anyone that looks at her the wrong way. She would also beat on the prisoners when she would get some alone time with them. She is like one of those bad ponies in the comic books.
Now though......
The alarms inside blurred as the 'hoemans' ran amuck in her prison, killing every guard they come across. From the feed she was reciving, it was not good. One of them actually released some of the dangerous prisoners in Equestria, while the otherone just released every pony she imprisoned. The prisoners themselves ran amuck in the prison. She saw a few prisoners stabbing a mare. Another one showed the hoeman with a flamethrower and another prisoner pony working together, one burning royal guards while the other beat them with her hooves. She had heard the rumors of a new world Equestria come in, a new species that know only war and slavery. She though that it was just propaganda nonsense, something to scare the masses into giving the government some money.
Oh, how wrong she was.
The door slammed open, earing a yelp out of her. A royal guard stallion was at the doorway, his throat looked like it was cut open by a set of claws. The guard had a surprised look on his face, his eyes wide and pricked. He slumped on the ground, blood pouring out of his wound. She sat there, her heart stopped pounding. She then heard claws scrapping against the flooring. Looking up, her whole body began to shake.
Out in the doorway, a griffon stood, tall and intimidating. Her head had that of an eagle while her body is that of a feline, splotches of . The tips of her hair were purple. Her left eye had an eye patch, while her right golden eye glared at her, a longing for revenge that has finally come. The claws were stained with blood, probably from either the royal guard or from others.
"Hello, Flower." She said, a satanic grin on her beak.
Flower was shaking like there no tomorrow. Her bowels almost released when she started to move towards her.
"M-m-misses Gilda. H-how nice to s-s-see y-y-yo-u-u-u." Flower tried to act nice to the non-pony that has very, sharp claws!
Gilda was almost there.
"N-n-now, le-e-t-ts be civil here. There's no need for violence." She tried to reason with her. "W-w-we need to escape from here. If you help me, I swear that I will p-p-pardon you." Her rump had backed up to a wall.
Gilda didn't stop.
"Please." Flower started to beg, tears in her eyes. "I don't want to die. I'll give you anything you want. Anything!"
Gilda stopped at the mention of 'anything'. Her face was neutral, so Flower couldn't read her. She was telling the truth, after all. She has some noble support from Canterlot that can make the pardon happen. All she has to do is pay off some prick in Canterlot, and she could get the pardon she needed.
Gilda, after some time thinking, soon had a sadistic grin on her face. "I like that eye you have."
To this day, some say Flower's scream was heard throughout the prison.
Gabriel waited around for Natasha to show up, even if it was a pain. One of the prisoners lead him to some unknown sector of the prison, which was hidden in another block.
He and his team were lead down by some pony named Batter Up, a unicorn stallion that used to be an enforcer for a gang known as the Bloodflower Family. They were sort of like the mafia from those movies that he'd seen when he was younger. They were also known for controlling some of the lower districts of 'Manehatten', as the locals called it. Unfortunately, when the royal guard showed up to defend the city when the Barrier fell, they were rounded up and put in prison. Batter Up wanted revenge on some of those members that tear apart his family.
They reached some other sector of the prison, which was abandoned for unknown reasons. The inside looked like one of the Yellow Zone buildings he have seen when the Third Tiberium War started. Moss grew in the corners of the sector, along with some of the support beams. Rust was also present in the metals beams of the cell. Some spiders had taken residence in one of the cells.
They stopped at one of the cells, the rusty bars gave away. The inside of it was worse like those of the outside. The toilet was filled with some sort of green-like fluids that he didn't what to know. The mattress was ruined beyond repair, the mat torn and moths flying over it. The stallion approached the ruined sink and turned one of the nozzles. A path opened before his eyes as the stone wall next to the sink opened. Batter Up knew this passage way. It was used during the founding of Manehattan, when crime lords would either recruit ponies from the prison, bust somepony out, or to kill them.
He followed the stallion down the spiraling stairs. After what seemed like hours, they finally arrived at what appears to be the sewer system in the prison. They walked for another good minute before they approached A big, dome-shaped area, with more green-like fluids flowing down a river. Tunnels connect it to other parts of the city. A large hole was in the ceiling where I gave off some light, and other stuff. Apparently, they weren't the only ones alone in the passage way.
Machines were controlled by ponies in lab coats pushing buttons with their hooves, while royal guards patrolled around. In the middle of the room was a large, box-like machine that had a huge pipe connected to one of the wall that lead into the city. As soon as Gabriel and his team entered, a fire fight commenced. The unicorns guards fire magic at them while the normal and winged ones gathered their weapons. The militants stared shooting at the ponies, killing the one that were getting their weapons. Gabriel ran up the metal stairs while the Militants were busy distracting the enemy. Once he was on the platform, he unleased a bust of flames at the ponies, burning them all. The scientist and the remaining guards tried to retreat through one of the tunnels, but they were quickly mowed down by Militants.
With the room secured, Gabriel radioed in their position to Natasha, who told him to stay here and guard it until she gets there.
As Gabriel waited for Natasha to get there, he looked around the room before him. Indeed, the ponies may lack in military might, but the technology here was simple. Computers were like those 90's computers he'd seen in some ruined stores in the Yellow Zones. Buttons occupied some the consoles, beeping with different colors. The saw Batter Up looting some of the bodies of the ponies, earning him some gold coins that had an imprint of the leader of these ponies, Princess Celestia.
He heard some footsteps coming from one of the tunnels. All of his soldiers, including himself, aimed at the tunnel, expecting an enemy counterattack. They stood down as Natasha and her team emerged from the tunnel. "Had any trouble come here?"
"Нет. We had no problem." She looked up at the machine in the middle of the room. "So this is the one that's been keeping this city safe."
"Sure looks like it. There were some guards in the room, heavily armored. But it didn't stop us." Natasha looked at the machine with a questioning look. "So what now?"
"Stand back." She went right up to the machine and started planting a explosive on it. She pressed a few buttons on the device in her hand. "The charges are set. I suggest we get out of here.
Gabriel nodded. He motion some hand signals, telling the men to move out. They collect whatever they can, even the stallion, and started to retreat. Through his helmet, Gabriel decided to contact the commander. "Commander, charges are in place. We're heading out."
"Good. We'll prepare a landing party for the capture of the city. There's a military base to the south that I want to capture. Clear it out the enemies in the base, and await further order."
Under his helmet, Gabriel couldn't help but grin.
The ponies will know the true meaning of war.