PHL RECORD ARCHIVE
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BATTLE OF MAMAYEV KURGAN
BATTLE ON THE MAMAYEV KURGAN
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The Battle on the Mamayev Kurgan, or the Mamayev Kurgan Incident, refers to a series of engagements on board the vessel Mamayev Kurgan, a vessel which disembarked from the Port of London almost a month before the 2019 Berne Conference on the 30th of June.
The incident involved the ship’s crew, its escort, and intruding PER and Solar Empire forces over the course of several months, and resulted in heavy losses inflicted on both sides. Combat was marked by close quarters combat in the ship’s deck, and intense crossfire from both gunfire and potion use.
Further information can be accessed from the interview of one of the ship’s crewmember, Stellar Wind. The interview was conducted in the course of several days, nearly two years after the recovery of Stellar Wind from one of the ship’s lifeboats.
A copy of the file was sent to Colonel Marcus Renee in November of 2023, but forwarded to Cheerilee due to unforeseen complications.
ACCESSING FILE STELLAR WIND INTERVIEW
WARNING: SENSITIVE INFORMATION
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WELCOME, TS
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OPENING FILE
STELLAR WIND INTERVIEW – SEGMENT ONE
DATED OCTOBER 29, 2023
LOCATION : Rothera Military Base, Adelaide Island, British Antarctic Territory
SUBJECT : Stellar Wind (ID NOT FOUND)
INTERVIEWER : MH (ID FOUND)
SUBJECT : Stellar Wind
SEX : MALE
AGE : EARLY 20s
NATIONALITY : EQUESTRIAN
CUTIE MARK : SEXTANT
INTERVIEWER : MH
SEX : MALE
AGE : CLASSIFIED
NATIONALITY : ENGLISH
BEGIN PLAYBACK
He should be coming soon enough, Stellar. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be outside if you need anything, alright?
Okay, thanks for the heads up, Molly!
*click*
Uh, hello? Is anyone there?
Hello?
Good evening, and apologies for the delay, Mr. Wind.
Oh, good evening, sir! And to whom do I owe the, uh, pleasure of meeting?
As much as I hate to be, ah, cliché’d, that information is classified for the time being. For now, I am simply your interviewer, Mr. Wind.
…..alright. I suppose you’re one of those government men in black, right?
From a certain point of view, yes, although a man in black is hardly the term I would use.
Well, I’m just going to call you Umbrella Man if you’re fine with it. Don’t blame me, who brings an umbrella into an interrogation room?
I see no reason not to agree with your terms.
Well, glad we have an agreement here, mister. So, what am I here for?
I am sure you are fully aware of it, Mr. Stellar Wind.
Aware of what?
The reason you are here in this room.
Uh, no, no I don’t.
You’re sweating a bit, the room is cold, hardly a sign of someone in the unknown. I suppose you’re feeling a bit too warm. Unlikely, considering you are not a member of any northern subspecies of ponies known. But I have said too much, haven’t I, Mr. Stellar Wind?
Heh, I, I don’t think lying or uh, stalling would do me any good, here, sir?
I strongly advise against doing so, Mr. Stellar Wind. I can assure you of your safety here. Now, do enlighten us on your experiences on board the Russian vessel referred to as the Mamayev Kurgan.
Wher-where should I start?
Would you like me to pinpoint it first, or would you like some time for yourself?
I, I don’t know sir. I don’t think I’m enlightened to tell you. The boss wouldn’t like it.
Considering your boss is most likely in hostile territory and possibly converted to the Queen’s side, I cannot see your point here.
Alright. I’ll try to remember.
Do try. You have all the time. A bit of advice, we’re on record.
It was supposed to be an easy job, you know? We were supposed to board the ship and escort it all the way to some South East Asian capital, maybe Jakarta or Singapore. We had ample supplies and weapons, and the crew is lightly trained in your weapons. It strongly felt like it would be easy for us.
We might not be one of the largest groups of so called terrorists in your world, but we were heavily armed.
The ship we used was called the Mamayev Ku-
Yes, do skip that detail please.
That was rude of you, y’know? Now, as I was saying, the ship was just an old cargo ship. By the way my human crew members referred to it, I would have thought it was a, uh, crappy ship.
For Equestrian standards though, it was a marvel of engineering.
How so?
Well, for one, it had one of the fastest engines I’ve ever had the chance to examine. Not that my teammates bothered. In Equestria only the wealthiest would have these kinds of engines. According to Dimitri, the Mamayev Kurgan was commissioned over thirty years ago for the Soviet Union, and named after a hill in a Soviet city. Or maybe the battle on it, I don’t know.
You’re trailing off, Stellar.
Right, right, sorry.
So, yeah, there you go. You have an old Russian ship, a crew of untrained humans, and the escorts, which is to say, me and my team.
There were five of us on board. Five escorts, not all of them trained, but escorts nonetheless.
Ana, the only girl in our team. She’s the marksman, sort of. By marksman I mean the only one of us who can actually use a scoped rifle. And the easiest one to approach personally, quite sweet. Clumsy, yes, but she can use practically anything as a club.
Viktor, the team leader. Though, we’re all leading ourselves at this point, he’s pretty much the guy that keeps the team together. Really, really bad with pistol use though. Give him a machine gun and he’ll be fine on his own.
Grigori, the sailor. He was assigned to steer the ship to Jakarta. Of course, he was only a fisherman in the nineties, but he’s the closest one we’ve got. Keep it safe, just in case we get attacked. Someone has got to defend the bridge, right?
Dimitri, our demolitions man or something. Guy’s got the strength fitting for an Ursa Minor, but he’s a nice guy once you get to know him.
And then you have me, the one non-human in the team. They had a need for a unicorn on the team, so they recruited me off the streets. Literally. There were so many newfoals in their city that they were willing to pluck the first non newfoal unicorn they see in the city.
How exactly did you come across them?
Well, you know how it went back in 2018 to 2019. A whole load of ponies poured on to Earth, and we started to explore this new world we came across. I was not alone.
I came to Earth to learn about the stars they had there. It’s really jarring to learn Earth orbits the Sun, and not the other way around. Not to mention the fact that humanity has set foot on the moon. Heck, if the war hadn’t happened they might’ve colonized the planet Mars by now!
Course, my dad didn’t agree with me. I should stay in Equestria, he said. Do not mingle with those apes, he said. He would disinherit me, he said (not that we had loads of fortune back then). I then said screw him and left for Russia. You should have seen his face; priceless.
Have you wondered why he disagreed?
Haven’t given him much thought. Though, come to think of it, he didn’t seem overtly hostile towards other species. He had a minotaur drinking buddy back in the day, so dunno why he’s suddenly a speciesist, if such a thing exists.
What was his occupation?
Uh, I think he was an intelligence officer in the Guard. Why?
Nothing important. Please continue with your tale.
Right. After I left home, I got into a bit of trouble. No cash, no work, no home, nothing. With little option, I was just another unicorn immigrant wandering the streets of Moscow.
It lasted about a day, this homeless period of mine. Not even a day, more like a few hours.
So there I was, minding my own business in Moscow’s Cathedral, when a woman came to me. She asked what my special talent is, and I said it was star gazing and navigations. She asked again, if I needed any work. Naturally, as an unemployed stallion, I said yes.
You didn’t bother to learn what the employment was for?
People make split second decisions, Umbrella Man, I was sort of desperate, alright?
It was foolhardy and illogical of you.
Like I said, it was a split second decision.
Anyhow, I started to have second thoughts by the time we arrived in St. Petersburg’s harbor. Turn around, I thought. Turn around before it’s too late. I ignored it completely, and found myself in the company of armed men.
I tried to back off then, but it was too late for me. They needed a navigator who wasn’t a newfoal, and Ana conveniently spotted me in the Cathedral. That, and they offered a decent place to stay in tropical Indonesia once the job’s done.
Victor assigned me to communications and navigations. Yes, I have a limited experience with Earth’s night sky, but I was the only one experienced in any form of navigation. That, and the boss had some odd worries about newfoals. I’ll get to that later.
Almost forgot; we were carrying a whole lot of weapons.
According to Grigori, the weapons we brought on board were mostly automatic rifles – AK-47s, if I remember correctly, or was it AKMs? Maybe 74s, I dunno, can’t tell the difference – marksman rifles, as well as – get this - a 40mm caliber autocannon hidden among the containers. I thought Dimitri might’ve fainted there.
Not only that, the ship also had secret rooms and vents. Viktor found a secret room behind a staircase, stuffed with even more human rifles.
I asked for a weapon of my own, just in case. They briefly debated giving me a weapon, considering my innate magical skills. Eventually they relented, and gave me a small weapon they called a MAC-10. In hindsight, I dunno why I asked for it in the first place. We were taught defensive and offensive spells not long after the whole Crystal War. Compulsory once the Great Equestrian, uh, blew up a bit.
So there you have it. You have the crew, the ship, and the escorts. What next?
Let’s see. Ah, there we go; you had newfoals on board the ship by the time you left London, correct?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, things were different back then, mister. For everyone, especially fans of a sci-fi British show, newfoals were just people with different appearances and slightly different personalities. It was also the easy way out for the terminally ill too. For us natural borns, the newfoals of 2019 were just other ponies, and their smiles were signs they were happy with being saved!
You don’t strike me as the pony supremacist type, Stellar.
I’m not, poor choice of words there, sorry.
I was fascinated with human culture, but not to the extent of ponies like Vinyl Scratch or Lyra Heartstrings. And no, I call utter horseapples on newfoals being saved from their constricting human form. It was the general idea of the time, Umbrella Man, so please be considerate, kay? We didn’t know… we had no idea what they were really like.
The trip from St. Petersburg to London lasted a little over a month, or was it three? Don’t know for sure. It had its hiccups along the way, had to elude a ship off the coast of Germanei- I mean Germany. It’s an aircraft, uh-
Aircraft carrier
Yeah, that. Captain Wahid seemed kinda worried about it. It was huge, with tons of aircraft and soldiers on it. I think it was called the, uh, Gerald Ford? Anyways, uh, we had to elude the Gerald Ford a bit. Come to think of it, we didn’t even need to avoid it. The ship’s just, sitting there. Like, it was waiting for something. We passed it without a hassle in the night. What was it doing there?
Simple patrol duties, nothing else. Do proceed, Mr. Wind, we have a schedule to keep.
What’s the rush? You’re not running around, interviewing other people left and right, right?
No, but I have a schedule to keep, Mr. Wind. You will find it in the best of your interests if you would continue, Mr. Wind.
Hmpf.
Anyways, the rest of the trip went pretty well. We ran into a storm near Belgium, a submersible, and some autogyro like thingies. No real threats for us, mind you; they seemed a bit agitated. The vehicles, I mean. Viktor identified them as belonging to Russian and French forces. They didn’t seem to pay us any real attention, and we reached the Port of London at last.
Now here the story goes a bit sketchy; the plan never did involve stopping in London; we were supposed to stop in Malta. Or at least, that’s what I think.
And why is that, Mr. Wind?
Heck if I know, Captain Wahid decided to take a detour to London. So I asked Ana why. She then told me we were refitting in London for a couple days. I first thought this was an improvisation in the plan, but then it turns out we were planning to refit the whole time; the others didn’t bother to tell me.
What next then?
It’s obvious isn’t it? We refitted the ship in London.
You misinterpreted, Mr. Wind. What I meant to ask is what did the crew think of you?
Well, uh, being a mixed bag, they had varied opinions on me. But mostly good though. Especially the few ponies in the crew. Like, uh, Raven! Raven Cross was a good pony, if a bit prejudiced.
And yet, he joins the crew of a human owned, human operated vessel?
Hey, he didn’t have much of a choice back then, like me! He was starving in St. Petersburg, so they took him in as a crew member. A pegasus would be very useful for a ship’s crew. He did admit that he was reluctant to join the crew, and If he wasn’t desperate, like I am here, he would’ve refused on the spot.
Other than the whole ponies-should-be-in-charge-of-humans attitude, he’s a pretty nice stallion.
I can hardly imagine it.
It’s just you then. Raven’s a nice stallion. Believe what you want, I don’t care.
I mean, yeah, he thinks ponies should be in charge of Earth, but he wouldn’t kill for it. Maybe that’s why he didn’t bother picking up any weapons on board.
Does Mr. Cross show any desire to ponify humans?
No, actually. What about it?
Just making sure. Carry on, Mr. Wind.
I think we’re, uh, in London! Yeah, in London.
The boss secured us a dock for the ship to stay in for the duration of the refit. We’re given a few weeks to mingle around in the city before we return to the ship. Then again, we slept in the ship, so I guess we mingle around in the city before we return for the night, etc, etc.
London’s quite the gloomy city, I can tell ya. I felt like it had a permanent cloud cover over the city. Even the pegasi in the city struggled to keep it clean; something to do with the lack of magic on Earth.
Couple of interesting views and sites in the city though. Like, uh, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, loads of wonders! I mean, the Eye was ridiculously huge for a ferris wheel. I’m sort of sensing a pattern here; I think you humans have a tendency to make ridiculously huge stuff. For fun and games, that is.
You should have seen what the Japanese have made during the Second World War.
Huh, maybe I should. Anyways, yeah, there were loads of wondrous landmarks I’ve seen. As to the Cathedral, I dunno. Felt oddly peaceful in there, with all those praying people and generally silent interior (Don’t know why you worship a man nailed to a cross. What’s up with that?). Could’ve sworn there were humanoid robots in there though.
...humanoid robots?
Yeah, freaky things.
...St. Paul’s Cathedral had humanoid robots?
Not sure If I was drunk or something, but I think they’re either actual robots or cosplayers.
...carry on. Just, continue.
Uh, alright then.
None of us had any real experience in London, so there were some little, uh, incidents. Like the one time Ana tried to use the subway-
London Underground, the London system is called the London Underground.
Yeah, that. She was trying to go to the London Eye, but for some reason she got lost all the way to Blackburn. Took us a week to get her back to London. You should’ve seen how Viktor reacted to the phone call from Blackburn. He was waaaaaaaaaay mad then. After that, we weren’t allowed to travel without a partner.
I was partnered with Dimitri till May the 3rd; he decided to stick around to help refit the ship. So I got assigned with Raven Cross. Boy did we have fun around the city. Even met a cute mare to boot. She was kind of busy then, so we didn’t stick around for long.
And what was her name?
Winter Fall, a beautiful name for a beautiful mare. Used to work for the Cloudsdale weather team, but now she’s an independent newfoal activist.
What exactly does she do?
Well, campaign for newfoal rights of course! I guess she became an activist once the HTF- sorry, HLF reached the “insane extremist” phase. So, in the wake of the little war the HLF is waging against the PER, Winter decided to be an activist herself.
So far, she’s campaigning just in London, and every day she would march to the London Bureau and demand protection for the newly converted newfoals. Raven and I weren’t really interested in that; we were too busy trying to get her to date one of us.
She found it rather amusing, and asked to join us in our little endeavour to Jakarta. We didn’t see the immediate problems and thought “Well, why not?”
As it turns out, it was the first of many invitations to come on board the Mamayev Kurgan. Viktor didn’t agree at first; said we’ll blow our cover. Only Grigori supported him; me, Ana, Dimitri, and the boss all agreed to bring them on board. It’ll strengthen our cover, he said.
Next up, we had a couple more people and some other ponies.
There were, in order, a couple heading to Jeddah or Mekkah, two men heading for Jakarta, maybe a dozen more heading for Singapore. Most of the ponies who came on board wanted to go to Asia and India.
The two men; who were they?
These two were two of the most mismatched pairs I’ve ever seen. No romantic attachments, mind you; they were just a couple of diplomatic visitors. They had four bodyguards with them, ostensibly for the younger one.
Said younger one is named Joko Widodo (did I say that right?). He has got to be one of the nicest and most polite men I’ve ever met. Said his family is waiting for him in Jakarta; they were planning for a get together.
The older one, and I mean OLD, was named Michael. That’s it. Michael the First or something. According to Joko Widodo - actually, I’m just gonna call him Jokowi, he preferred it that way – Michael has had his share of violent history back in the day. He was Romanian, and he was almost one hundred years old by the time he got on board our ship.
Did you know about their actual identity?
Of course we do! We might have found too late who they were though. Jokowi is the newly reelected President of Indonesia, and Michael was the last king of Romania. Bit of an odd coincidence, don’t you think?
Do you honestly expect me to believe that you, and your crew, had no clue as to the real identity of Joko Widodo and Michael I of Romania? One of them is the recently reelected President of Indonesia, the other the Last King of Romania. How do you miss such a fact?
Well how the heck were we supposed to know? You would not know that that man is the President of Indonesia! He blended in with the crowd of civilians perfectly, he didn’t talk down, and he was an all around nice guy. All we could deduce was that he’s someone important judging by the number of guards. Michael? He didn’t say much, and he looked just like any other old man. Our conclusion was that he was a foreign friend of Jokowi’s.
That was an excellent deduction by you and your companions.
Well, we’re not exactly Sherclop Pones now are we?
…Sherclop Pones?
Famous literary detective in Equestria. What about him?
Nothing. Just, does he possess exceptional deductive capabilities?
The very best. Why?
…carry on with your story, Mr. Wind
Wait, why the sudden interest in Sherclo-
Just, continue, Mr. Wind.
Okay then. It was May 9th, the escorts minus me were celebrating something they called “Victory Day”, while the rest of us, including me, Winter Fall, and Raven Cross, socialized with the new passengers. They were a unique bunch, apart from those two men. We’ve got some backpackers, immigrants, and of course, Mr. Widodo and Michael. And Mr. Widodo’s escorts.
It still eludes me how you fail to identify Mr. Widodo’s occupation.
His bodyguards didn’t speak English much, okay? Sheesh.
So there we were, frolicking with the humans. Most of them were friendly, like that couple leaving for Jeddah, or was it Mecca? Anyways, we were busy discussing faith with said couple when Grigori burst in and told us the city’s been rocked by an explosion! During the breakfast at one of the restaurants, some madman detonated a car bomb. We didn’t care much for it, until Ana pointed out Dimitri was in the city.
Viktor, in one swift movement and talk, told everyone to stay put, and beckoned for us to follow him. He wouldn’t let anyone else but some of the crew, and the escorts, to come with him. Guess his reasoning was that there’s always the off chance they would discover what we’re really up to here.
By the time we got to the scene, it was one hell of a mess. We couldn’t tell what the building was before the bomb detonated; a paramedic said it was a restaurant filled with people having their breakfast. Bodies everywhere, ponies and humans alike, it was a nightmare to see. Couldn’t hold my breakfast, seeing a mess like that, y’know? But you’ve seen your fair share of dead bodies now haven’t you?
By Luna, the screams, you can’t forget something like that. Smoke rising up, people crawling on the ground wheezing and gasping and dying. And the newfoals. By the Moon, the newfoals, I’ve never seen them quite so…excited.
How excited? In what context? Do enlighten me on the matter, Mr. Wind
Have you ever seen a happy newfoal, Umbrella Man?
I can’t say that I haven’t. What do-
A genuinely happy newfoal. Have you ever seen one of those, Umbrella Man?
…
Sir? Are you, uh, alright?
…no
Huh?
No, unfortunately, I haven’t. What about them?
They were beating a corpse. No, they weren’t having that usually perpetual smile on their face, but I can feel they were happy. Took the paramedics and police a while to pry them off, but I can feel the happiness and utter hatred in them. One of the paramedics on the scene told us it was the bomber’s corpse.
It was then I sensed something so utterly wrong in them. Didn’t think much of it back then, but still, it was wrong. I mean, yeah, that bomber was one, uh, bad man, but come on, beating his corpse isn’t going to make everything better, right? I remembered someone, this, this absolutely enormous stallion I thought was an earth horse-
I’ve met him before, actually. An interesting fellow, I might say.
Wait, you’ve met him? Who was he?
That is irrelevant, nor is he important to this, Mr. Wind. Please, continue.
You had a run in with him before?
I’m afraid I must refuse to speak of it. Personal reasons, Mr Wind. None of your business, just...continue with your story.
…okay then. That huge stallion said something along the lines of “if that’s what being a pony means”. Don’t know for sure, the stallion passed out soon after. The whole area was covered in thick debris, but I can tell he was badly injured. His head was covered-no, wait, soaked in blood, it looked like he’d suffered a nasty injury and concussion.
Miraculously, the supposed target for the bombing somehow survived it, according to this detective of sorts. Pointed his finger over to somepony, couldn’t see whom, though. I got distracted by Ana calling out to us; she found Dimitri.
He was buried under rubble, cuts and bruises, and a broken leg, but other than that nothing too threatening. The detective seemed quite interested in our little group, and had quite the keen eye too. He pretty much spouted Grigori’s entire life story when he tried to tell him off. Quite some…embarrassing details, to say the very least.
Viktor didn’t like him. Not one bit. Even when the offender tried to apologize, “old habits die hard”, he said. So, I ended up taking the detective over to a corner to ask a few things, while the others brought Dimitri back on the ship.
This detective, what was his name?
I was just getting to that, hang on.
He introduced himself as William Scott –
Of course he did.
…right. Anyways, William here told me – albeit a bit reluctantly – that he was busy investigating odd disappearances all across the British Isles from way back in 2016. Nothing more than that; he went off with a female friend of his. Bit of a weird man, he was, but the best detective I’ve ever seen. Like a real life Sherclop Pones, know what I mean?
More than you know, at least.
You know him?
Obviously. Now, continue, Mr. Wind.
What about Willi-
Continue, Mr. Wind
Alright, alright, you’re the boss.
Dimitri’s wounds turned out to be more serious than we thought; broken legs, cracked ribs, fractured hand, and a suspected punctured lung, I think. The ship’s doctor provided us with a few treatments, nothing else. We couldn’t risk blowing our cover by coming into the nearest hospital, too many questions, not enough answers.
We had to confine Dimitri to a wheelchair. Boy, was he mad; Dimitri here is one of the most hyperactive person I’ve ever met. Wheelchair confinement is practically torture for him. He would’ve strangled Viktor if we didn’t restrain him. And it still took some effort to do so.
It turned out Dimitri’s injuries were the least of our problems in hindsight. The only conceivable instant cure was ponification, and there was no way in hell Viktor would allow it at the time. Not because of some deep seated hatred, no. The situation outside wouldn’t allow it.
The whack jobs known as the HLF had started to screw everything over.
What was your opinion on them?
Isn’t it obvious?
Total, hatred. These idiots would shoot anyone that isn’t human! They’re like the Daleks of Doctor Who, in human form, minus the extermination beam, and the tank forms, but it’s the attitude that counts.
We were stuck in the Mamayev Kurgan for five weeks. Everyone was agitated, especially the civilians. Rather miraculously, they stuck with us for the five weeks. Even Jokowi and Michael stayed with us.
And you still haven’t found out about their occupation?
None of our business at the time, mind you. Although, Jokowi did mention being a modestly successful carpenter in his native city of Solo. And Michael said something about being a soldier in World War II. Well, both technically true; now I know Jokowi used to be a carpenter, while Michael did lead a coup back in his day. And Jokowi’s bodyguards wouldn’t talk.
Everytime me and Raven, or Winter, went out, the city’s situation deteriorated further. Policemen everywhere, with the occasional soldier; London was under martial law at this point. People were afraid to come out of their homes, for good reason.
It escalated into war in the streets. Well, not war by your standards, more like mass riots, but still, war in the streets. The HLF were fighting the PER, street by street. And we were caught in the middle of it; humans feared the random forced ponification, while ponies feared death in a hail of bullets.
By the time we reached the second week of May, London was a warzone. I intercepted several radio messages telling that they had to bring in the Special Air Service to suppress the situation in Belgravia. Apparently the HLF thought the elites were siding with the PER, through some insane logic. The main problem for the Brits was that the whole area was right next to the parliament, practically right next, I mean.
It wasn’t limited to London, or even Earth either. It turned out that in May 1st the HLF attacked ten bureaus across the world, totally destroying some of them. On May 14th, a madman aligned with the HLF bombed the Graz Bureau in Austria to oblivion, and started killing people in the streets.
Not only that, no sir. He then proceeded to wipe out PRACTICALLY EVERY PONY IN INNSBRUCK! And then he BLEW UP THE INNSBRUCK BUREAU! I completely blame him for the Queen sealing off the Bureaus in May the 21st; he blew up Innsbruck JUST the day before.
It was that, that butcher’s actions that convinced Raven and I that not not even us natural borns were safe from the HLF! The HLF were attacking anyone and everything they could reach and see for Luna’s sake!
And what of the events off Earth, Mr. Wind?
Well, I heard it from a second hand source, so I don’t think it will be reliable…
So am I, as of this interview
Touche, Umbrella Man.
In Equestria, it was the opposite; PER supporters did mass, anti-human demonstrations all across the country. From Baltimare to Manehatten, Trottingham to Las Pegasus. Everywhere, half the population rallied against humans. A mare that managed to get out of Equestria told me things really kicked off in May 4th, with anti human ponies demonstrating in practically every major city, and then some. And THEN the battleship strike happened.
The Guard cracked down on pegasus workers in the Strike. From the tone of her voice, I’d say she left because of the Strike’s crackdown.
Did you ask why they were building battleships?
Well, yeah! I mean, Equestria’s been a peaceful nation apart from the whole Sombra-Returns-To-Make-War thing, why would we be building battleships now? Doesn’t add up for me, so I thought she was lying at the time. Although, Raven pointed out that with the current crisis, and talks of war breaking out, it made sense for Celestia to be building counter weapons, y’know? But that just made me more suspicious.
Have they reverse engineered human weaponry at the time?
No, actually. The repurposed skyliners were basically airborne troop carriers.
Noted. Carry on.
The mare that talked to us didn’t hang around for long; she left for Mainland Europe, or Russia not long after. There were more we’d like to know, but we couldn’t exactly blame her with all these stupid HLF idiots running around, shooting ponies and burning shops left and right, that sort of thing. At this point, I think Winter’s seriously considered going back to Equestria.
Raven, rather amusingly, managed to convince her not to. I can’t remember the monologue, but I think it has something to do with the wonders of human peaceful protests. Or the fact that we have an equally sucky situation in Equestria, any of those two really, I don’t know. Maybe the internet actually, or cup-a-soups, or even B-
Stay on topic, Mr. Wind.
Right, right, sorry, about that.
Dimitri’s wounds deteriorated further, and Dr. Zhirinovsky told us he will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of the trip unless we brought in even better medical supplies.
The only problem was that it was the third week of May; London was under martial law. Scarcely any newfoals were seen, none of the city’s usual attractions were bustling with people (I heard one of the museums got burnt down in the fighting), and there were very strong rumours of war breaking out.
We decided to risk it and go.
Viktor stayed behind to watch over the immigrants and civilians, along with Jokowi and Michael, while the five of us went to look for supplies. Not an easy job; we almost got caught by some patrols, and we weren’t exactly following curfew.
Winter figured out an easy way out, though. I vehemently protested against it, saying it’s not what Viktor wanted, nor Dimitri, but Raven and Winter both told me they were going to do it if Dimitri’s condition worsened.
What did they intend to do?
They, they intended to ponify Dimitri.
We were desperate alright? I didn’t know what it would do to him other than it will give him a fresh set of body. Like, like a Time Lord regenerating! You know, people change their appearance and personality, but still the same person! It, it was the general idea at the time.
How are you, and your companions, intend to pull that off?
Winter knew somepony from the Bureau. Pony doctor, called Steady Aim. Weird name, I know, but a doctor nonetheless. She told us he was a friend from Equestria back in her school days.
The Bureau was closing; all time low amount of ponifications by Thursday, and all the human staff were already withdrawn the day before. Only the pony staff remained inside, with several newfoals staying in for the week. So, it didn’t surprise me that Dr. Aim would readily supply us with almost all the remaining potion stocks as long as we deliver it to Jakarta and anyone who needs it. Rather excited and happy to help us, actually.
What were the newfoals doing in the Bureau?
Beats me, I think they’re staying in there for safety. The HLF were kidnapping and killing newfoals everywhere, so I guess it makes sense. Anyways, we had several crates worth of ponification potions, and no way of transporting it out manually without looking ridiculously suspicious.
We ended up taking it slowly across the city, past policemen and soldiers alike. Took us all of three days to reach the safety of the Mamayev Kurgan, but it was worth it. By the time we got to the ship, all the Bureaus were summarily closed by Celestia, and contact was broken off with Equestria. No thanks to the Luna-damned madman who blew up Innsbruck. It was all over the news the day before the Bureaus were cl-
Was it really worth all the trouble, to drag several heavy crates filled with potions, across a city under martial law, patrolled day and night by the military?
Well, it was tough, but worth it nonetheless.
What convinced you to bring those potions across the city?
It was a favour; Dr. Aim was Winter’s friend, and a friend of a friend is my friend, so I helped him.
Is that all the reasons?
Well, yeah.
Mr. Wind, did you feel anything when you entered the London Bureau?
Nothing. Really.
Did you feel anything when you were in its presence?
Nothing.
Are you sure?
Of course I’m sure! What’s with these questions?
I find it absurd that you would readily accept a difficult task with no personal gain, from a stallion you only knew for a few hours.
It was a FAVOUR! It was a FAVOUR for WINTER. A favour for a FRIEND. Get it?
…hm. What of Ms. Ana and Mr. Grigori?
Hu-oh. They split off early on, told us they had some business to attend to. The boss wanted them to run an errand for him as it turned out.
What did he want them to do?
He wanted them to secure…something. I don’t know at the time.
Relative time hardly matters. What did he want you to find?
Well, Raven, Winter and I weren’t in the know, bu-
What did he want, Mr. Wind?
…missiles, sir. Some prototype missiles. Ana and Grigori were sent to recover it; according to Ana, they had a few contacts ready to smuggle the missile outside of Great Britain. Sh-she said it’ll give us all a fortune when sold. Oh, Luna, it didn’t work out too well for us.
Mr. Wind, you can continue your story later. Tell me; what, exactly were these missiles called?
Wellll, that’s where it gets confusing.
See, the missiles were a part of an overall program, you see. Said program is usually used to colloquially refer to the missiles themselves.
Explain this program, Mr. Wind. Any term you’d like. Just explain it.
It’s been three years or so, Umbrella Man. You obviously knew already; you must’ve checked the wreck, identified the missiles.
This is on record, Mr. Wind. It’s for the record. Please, describe it. It may be essential
…The Bruce-Partington Project
We were near France when Viktor finally explained it, what it was, and how to use it.
It was a joint defense program, between the Brits and the Americans, first developed waaay back in the 1980s. Or at least, one part of it was. Basically, what the Bruce-Partington Project was is that it’s a-a missile version of, of those gas, gas grenades used in protes-
Tear gas
Yeah, tear gas, except this one is airborne and lethal.
The initial phase involved a hallucinogenic drug of sorts, something to do with a hound or, or a devil’s foot, I don’t know. The project was put on hiatus in ’86, or the British ended their cooperation with the US, I don’t know.
They revived the project with, with missiles and an intelligence network back in 2010. It got a little drama surrounding it; the plans were stolen that same year. Some Irish terrorist got hold of the plans, but it was a close call. Said terrorist somehow decided to throw it into a pool, or maybe he sold it, don’t remember which.
These missiles were, as I’ve said, basically missile versions of tear gas grenades, as Viktor explicitly compared it to. Not only that, there were plans to use some sort of heat seeking device to target specific enemies on the battlefield, like an oversized sniper bazooka assassination device.
What I personally believe to be this thing’s greatest asset is its compatibility with ANY ship. As long as you’ve got the Stewart Launcher you can launch this thing from any ship with sufficient size to support it. That, or you can use the, whatsitcalled, the Unified Intelligence Defense Network or something to launch it remotely. Or even, launch numerous missiles, in synchronized motion, to the highest priority target!
No, wait, actually, the missile’s greatest weapon is itself! It has quite the long range, and where it goes it leaves a trail of clouds dispersed from its Saxon-class Cloud Dispersants (I think it’s supposed to be a peacetime cloud making device).
With, with common sense they can fill it with toxic gas, or even liquid poison (did I mention it’s a GIANT FREAKING FLYING AEROSOL?) and use it against whole armies or cities! Grigori speculated it can be used to wipe out half a city filled with a million people when used in conjunction with the UNIDEN.
The missiles had some sort of compressor to increase the density of the clouds, however light the gas being used is.
I have no idea why the United Kingdom would use such a weapon when they already have the ultimate defense of the realm (FREAKING ATOMIC WEAPONS! By Discord, we don’t have ANYTHING close to it!), but according to Viktor, the Bruce-Partington Missiles were a defense program. It didn’t take long for someone or somepony to figure out it can be used offensively.
Luckily for anyone not on the side of the British, the missiles were Luna-damned expensive. Four missiles were all we got; just enough for us to use.
We, we didn’t know what it meant to the PER. I swear, I SWEAR, we didn’t know. Oh, Oh what have we done? I, I swear we didn’-
I’m sure you didn’t, Mr. Wind. That will do for today.
I-uh,-what?
That will do for today. I will give you a call for the next interview session, Mr. Wind. I have some…errands to attend to, for the time being.
Really?
Yes, really. Now, off you go, Mr. Wind, and thank you for your time. Have some rest.
Oh, uh, al,alright then. Wait, what about the-
That is none of your concerns for now, Mr. Wind. Off you go. Now
Uh, okay then. Good night, Umbrella Man.
*click*
Well, that went well, don’t you think?
…
Hello? Are you alright, M-?
…there were two Saxon-BP missiles retrieved from the Mamayev Kurgan, Molly. Debris we’ve recovered from the area confirmed the detonation of another one prior to recovery.
…so, wait, one’s missing?
Yes, precisely. Do tell Anthea to contact the Indonesian and Russian Governments. Request further information on the current whereabouts of the missiles, Molly, that is essential.
What about the fourth one? The, the missing one, I mean
Yes, what of the fourth one? The question, Miss Hooper, remains – what happened to the missing one?
END SEGMENT ONE
RELATED FILES:
>Battle on the Mamayev Kurgan
>Bruce-Partington Program
>Unified Intelligence Defense Network (UNIDENT)
>Saxon-BP Class Missile System
>Project Eris< SELECT
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