Shroud of darkness

by LeTriggs

Chapter 19

"Incoming!"

"Take cover!" the mortars hailed down on the ponies sending rock, blood and bone in all directions.The expansive city of Stalliongrad stood as a battleground for the two armies as they clashed in the capital city of the Republic. Stargazer's ears rung as he was thrown to the ground muffling the screams of fear and pain. He looked up to see Victory Dawn firing an assault rifle at the Griffons further down the all but destroyed street. As her magazine emptied she looked over to him and held out a hoof which he grabbed.

"Get up Sergeant! We've got a war to win!" She pulled the Alicorn up before she took cover reloading her weapon. Stargazer aimed his rifle at the Griffons and began firing his weapon at them until the empty clipped pinged out of the top of the rifle brushing against his face. He dropped back under the cover of the trench searching through the patches in his belt for another clip.

"Shit, I need a clip!"

"Catch!" Blizzard threw a fresh clip to Stargazer who caught it then forced it into his rifle. He stood back up firing at the Griffons along with the other ponies in the trench.

"Watch out!" A pony aircraft crashed in the street screeching to halt just in front of the trench that Stargazer was in. Satrenko jumped up into the open door of the aircraft pulling the one surviving member of the crew out calling for a medic which a pony with a red cross on his uniform came immediately and began attending the pilot's wounds. Satrenko then turned and began firing the door mounted gun at the Griffons showering them in bullets. The pony troops held strong as the Griffons fired rockets and tore apart the ground with mortars. After a few minutes of fierce fighting a mortar landed right in front of the VTOL throwing Satrenko out into the make-shift trench and showering the group with small clumps of rock and dirt.

"Victory! we need to fall back!" Blizzard placed a hoof on her shoulder shaking as he shouted at her whilst she retained her calm composure before she batted his hoof away while another pile of a dirt was thrown over them.

"We need to hold the line Leftenant! Armour is gonna be rolling in soon and we need to keep the engineers covered!" A shot ripped through a tower causing it to begin falling towards the ponies in the trench.

"Fall back!" Blizzard screamed over the sound of gun-fire and falling concrete. Stargazer, Daring, Satrenko, Victory and Blizzard threw themselves out of the trench and galloped as fast as they could away from the Griffons who were crushed under the tower along with the ponies still in the trench dumbfounded by the sight of their impending doom.

The group reached the low wall at the end of the street over-looking the rest of Stalliongrad as the tower slammed into the ground. Blizzard looked over the wall trying to decipher a plan muttering to himself as he did whenever he was thinking. On the lower levels of the city a tank crawled into sight pointing its gun straight at them. Before they could react the ground beneath them tore open throwing them to the streets below. Stargazer slammed into the roof of a building then slid off unable to do anything to stop himself slamming onto the cold hard floor where he stayed his head a complete daze.

"Quick get it off her!"

"I can't move it!" Stargazer felt himself being shaken. He moved his head to see Satrenko shaking him violently his magenta eyes full of fear and worry.

"Come on get up! We need you!" Stargazer shook his head coming fully back into conciousness and quickly stood up. Blizzard and Victory Dawn were trying to lift a large boulder that had a small yellow leg poking out from under it. Stargazer and Satrenko joined the pair in lifting the rock with all their strength. Within a few seconds the rock was pushed away freeing Daring from her would-be tomb. A small pool of blood surrounded her. A sharp splintered bone stuck out from her leg and her wing was bent sharply showing the break. Blizzard looked at her then looked up at where they had been muttering to himself again.

"Victory! You get Daring back to the F.O.B."

"But" Victory began to protest but she was cut down by Blizzard who kept his calm talking with his most authoritative voice.

"You're too important to be out here and she needs medical attention now! Private, Sergeant, you two are coming with me. We're gonna go give those engineers time to blow stop that tank column." Satrenko and Stargazer both cocked their weapons in reply to Blizzard who nodded in acknowledgement. Victory nodded to him then threw Daring onto her back as gently as she could then after checking around a nearby corner ran as fast as she could. The trio left moving through an alley towards the main street where they could hear the gun-fire coming from.

Blizzard peaked down the street seeing the last of the engineers in makeshift cover made from sandbags fighting against the Griffons furiously, a bullet tore through his head throwing blood into the air.

"We need to get to that detonator. On my go we move up the street. I'll take the right, Renko you got the middle and Stargazer you take the left." The pair nodded to Blizzard who then ran out keeping low and ducking behind a wall on the other side of the street. Satrenko ran to the middle of the street ducking below a pile of rubble. Blizzard took a second to breathe then nodded to the pair. Satrenko hefted his machine gun onto the rubble and opened fire on the Griffons who immediately scattered diving into cover and returned fire. Stargazer stood taking careful aim with his rifle firing shots at the Griffons each bullet hitting their target, Blizzard ran forward towards a fallen chimney which he dove behind and began giving bursts of fire at the Griffons. He pulled a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin before quickly throwing it at them where it exploded showering two of them with shrapnel. Satrenko vaulted over the rubble he was taking cover behind and began running up the street as fast as he could, an explosion right near him threw the grey pony into the air landing in a heap. He looked up and saw a tank rolling up the street looming at him. He stared in disbelief for a second as it began lowering its cannon pointing towards him, he grabbed his weapon and dove into a nearby alley as the shot fired tearing a hole into the ground and showering Satrenko with rock.

Stargazer looked fired a shot which connected with the head of a Griffon sniper on top of one of the buildings, the clip pinged out of his rifle the tiny piece of metal brushing against his face. Stargazer shoved the new clip into his rifle and began charging forward down the street firing as he did. The tank at the head of the column took aim at him and fired. Stargazer dived out of the way of the shot landing behind a low wall which he began firing from. Blizzard reloaded his rifle and peaked over the chimney he was hiding behind looking to where the engineers were and back to the tanks. He took a breathe and began sprinting as fast as he could, he threw his weapon to the ground and went onto all fours galloping faster than he ever had in his life. The tank fired a shot which threw him behind the sandbags and amongst the bodies of the pony engineers. Blizzard groaned in pain then was reminded as the tank rumbled past him where he was, he threw himself next to a large box with wires leading out under the sandbags and punched the button on it. A series of explosions went up the street engulfing the rear two of the four tank column dropping them into the now collapsed street. The front two tanks pressed on further towards the gate to the central district of Stalliongrad.

Stargazer felt his body begin to course with energy, the same energy he felt at Trotterdamn. He dropped his rifle to the ground and walked into the middle of the street staring down the approaching tank. It pointed the cannon directly at him taking aim, the shell exploded out of the barrel straight at him. The shell stopped just a few meters in front of Stargazer hovering in the air who stared at it with the same look of anger and concentration. He waved his hoof turning the shell around to face the tank that fired it then thrust his hoof forward, the shell rocketed towards the tank which it hit ripping the machine to pieces.

Satrenko pulled himself up and looked at the wreckage of the tank, he grabbed his weapon and fired at a group of Griffons approaching him each one dropping to the ground. He charged out of the alley towards the tank that was now stuck behind the wreckage of the lead. He pulled a grenade from his belt and with his teeth pulled the pin, he dropped the grenade into the exhaust of the tank then dove behind a pile of rubble as the last tank blew open. The Griffons began screeching in fear and quickly began retreating either running or flying from the scene. Satrenko jumped up and fired at the fleeing Griffons as Stargazer approached him.

"Get back here! Get the fuck back here you bastards!" Satrenko screamed in rage as he dropped his gun to the ground and began smacking at the floor tears of rage filling his eyes.

"You are pissed today." Satrenko turned and faced Stargazer looking up at the Alicorn with rage in his eyes.

"Damn right I'm pissed! This is my home dammit!" Blizzard emerged from the sandbags and limped over to the pair gripping his leg which bled from a gunshot wound.

"Let's.....Let's fall back to the F.O.B. no tanks are getting in this way. The others nodded to him then Satrenko let him lean on his shoulder taking the pressure of his leg as they slowly made it back to the base.

Victory Dawn moved as fast as she could with Daring on her back who kept groaning in her unconscious state. The explosions could be heard thumping all around and the shots from anti-air cannons could be seen rising into the air high above the buildings.

"Come on Daring hang in there, not far now." A trio of Griffons landed in front of Victory making her yelp in fear as she ground to a halt. They pointed their rifles at her watching her as she panicked. "Wait wait wait! Let's work out a deal." The Griffon in the middle lowered his weapon and scowled at her.

"What kind of deal?" He growled. Victory gently placed Daring on the floor who kept groaning to herself.

"I'll surrender. Go with you without a fuss. Just get her to the Pony base. Alive." The Griffon stood silently for a moment then pointed to the Griffon to his left.

"You! Get that one back to their base. Go unarmed or they'll shoot you." The Griffon looked to his superior in disbelief for a moment standing dumbstruck. "That's an order soldier. Disobey and I'll kill you myself!" The Griffon dropped his rifle to the ground along with his grenade belt then moved over to Daring whom he carefully picked up and took off in the direction of the Equestrian F.O.B. "Well then ma'am you're coming with us." The remaining pair each grabbed Victory who help up her side of the bargain going without a word.

Blizzard Satrenko and Stargazer finally entered the camp. The place was largely deserted except for sentries, a few soldiers who were resting and the doctors stationed within. The trio moved towards the medical tent where they could get Blizzard's wound bandaged. The medical tent was filled with the sounds of ponies groaning or screaming pain as doctors and nurses ran around tending to their needs. A white unicorn nurse ran over to them who had clearly been at hard work for a long time, the bags under his orange eyes weighing them down.

"What's up with you?"

"Gunshot wound to the leg. I just need a dressing." The nurse quickly inspected Blizzard's wound then rose back up.

"Okay sit there and I'll get you sorted. You guys two six?"

"Yeah, why?" Satrenko replied with a raised eyebrow.

"We got one of your squad dropped in to us about an hour ago. They're over in the far corner if you wanna talk to them. Just make it short they need to rest." The unicorn floated a set of bandages over from a nearby table and slowly unravelled them.

"How did you know we were in the same squad?" Stargazer quizzed.

"She said that we'd tell it was your squad from a mile. And not trying to offend but you stick out like a carrot among cabbages. Now if you mind I need to concentrate." He set about cutting the bandages and went to work on Blizzards leg slowly whilst Stargazer and Satrenko went over to the far corner of the tent where a yellow pegasus sat lay on a cot with bandages covering most of her. She tried to sit up as she saw the pair approaching but quickly collapsed in pain.

"Hey how are you?" Satrenko sat down on a stool next to the bed while Stargazer merely looked at her placing his hoof on her shoulder then turned away.

"I'll be okay. They said I'm being discharged. Not fit for duty with my leg now, gonna be on the first transport back to Equestria tomorrow."

"Well that's good isn't it?"

"I guess. but I liked it with you. I mean who's gonna look after you Stallions now?"

"I'll have to watch out for them from now on wont I?" The pair chuckled as Satrenko spoke.

"You better. And you watch yourself too okay?"

Stargazer emerged from the tent looking at the setting sun followed closely by Blizzard.

"Apparently Victory Dawn got captured en route back here. She bargained her capture for Daring's life. They executed the Griffon the got Daring here not long before we arrived." Stargazer stood still staring at sun as it lowered to the horizon. "Hey buddy. You still with us?"

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"About what?" Stargazer turned his gaze to Blizzard as the sun finally dropped below the horizon.

"This war is going to get a lot worse before it's over."

"And how do you know that?"

"Can you keep a secret?"