//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Antonia // Story: BLITZ // by The Commandant //------------------------------// My men gathered around the squad truck, getting in it one man at a time. I, of course, called shotgun and sat in the front of the truck. Anthony got in the driver's seat a little while after I got in the passenger seat. "You ready to go to war again?" I asked Anthony. "As long as I'm with you, I'll go anywhere." He replied. With that, Anthony turned the engine on, and it roared to life. The truck eventually began to move forward, and followed the convoy headed towards San Fransiscolt. Recon had told us that only the smoldering remains of San Fransiscolt were awaiting us, thanks to constant aerial and ground bombardments. Bombardments were usually a last resort, because we want to keep most of the buildings intact. It would, and I quote, give us less of a mess to clean up. The truck ride, though relatively uneventful, was still bumpy as hell. It eventually became so bumpy that things began flying out of my hands. At one point, I was trying to get my pencil out of my bag, we hit a bump and the pencil flew out the window. It only got a little interesting about thirty minutes later, because the whistle of artillery shells could be heard flying over us. They were probably doing a second bombardment of San Fransiscolt, just to clear it out. Somehow, this made me remember the letter I got off a pony, and I pulled it out of my jacket pocket. It's been a long time since I've sent ya'll a letter, but them humans have been trying to take southern Equestria, so we've moved out to defend one of them big cities, San Fransiscolt, if I remember correctly. We got them humans a surprise, though, it should really throw em off, I can't say much more, but I'll say we could save the city, and all those ponies. I can't wait to see ya'll again after this battle, it's been so long. I love ya'll, Applejack. I read it again and again, looking at every word, trying to figure out something, anything. I don't know why I was studying the letter so hard, it was just a piece of paper from a pony I killed. A pony I killed... ... I knew I was thinking way too deep, so I tried to keep my mind distracted with other things. I did need to check my SAR anyways. I pulled out my semi-automatic rifle, and began to take it apart. I worked on it for what seemed like hours. The SAR rifle needs to be cleaned constantly, otherwise it will jam and never work without tampering with the components. When I finished my rifle cleaning routine, I realized that we were only a few miles out from San Fransiscolt. "Uh, Anthony?" I asked. "Why haven't we stopped?" "I don't know. Every one else is still going." Anthony replied. "HQ hasn't said anything either." "Are we literally going to drive through San Fransiscolt this exposed?" I asked. "I think we are." Anthony replied. "I would go ahead and get the men ready." "Alright." I said, as I open the hatch behind me. "Okay guys, get your stuff ready in case we stop. We're approaching enemy territory." I said. "Yes sir." Zachary said. I turned to look out the window, and saw the city in all of its... previous glory. When the DAF bombards a target, they blow it to hell, and they sure blew San Fransiscolt to hell and back. There was virtually nothing but ash, smoke, and debris. When we got into the city, scorched corpses of ponies were laying on the crater-riddled streets. The convoy had to stop because there was so much undetonated ordinance laying on the streets, and you can guess what could happen when a five ton truck runs over a 500 pound bomb. I opened the door when we made a complete stop and hopped out of the truck. All the burning Equestrian bodies and sulfur made an unbearable smell, I even considered putting my gas mask on. Almost every building was decimated, you couldn't really tell it had been a city. And what of all the inhabitants that lived in those buildings? What happened to them? I guess the answer was all around me; either they didn't make it, or they used some crazy magic to get everyone out of town. It's a sad thought either way, just imagine having to watch your home being bombed and strafed. We roamed around the ruins of San Fransiscolt, looking for any sign of enemies. "God, it would suck to be an Equestrian right now." Dylan said. "Yeah it would." Corporal Wade replied. "Do you think- whoa!" Dylan said before being tackled by a dog. Everyone pointed their rifles and machine guns towards the dog, but then I noticed the dog wasn't mauling Dylan, instead it was licking his face. We eased up, and slowly made our way to the dog, which I guess was a German Shepard. The dog perked its head up, and turned to look at us with its curious eyes. As I moved closer it, it got off of Dylan and ran towards me. The dog stopped to lick me as I crouched to its level, and I began to pet it. "Hello... Boy, you're a, uh, good boy, aren't you?" I said, checking the dog's underside. The dog barked in response, which surprised me. "So, who's your owner, huh boy?" I asked rhetorically. I looked for a collar of some sort, but there was none to be found. How can a stray dog be this tame? "What's his name?" Zachary asked. "He doesn't have one." I replied. "We can give him one." "Pork!" Ethan suggested. "Pork? What kind of dog name is that?" Wade said. "How about, uh... Richard!" Zachary suggested. "Eh, I don't think that fits well." Hodge said. "Yeah." "Well, how about Frankfurt?" Dylan suggested. "I like it." I said. "That definitely fits." Ethan said. "It's a lot better than pork." "What even made you think that pork was a good dog name?" Wade asked. "I dunno, it just felt right at the time." Ethan replied. "So, it's decided?" I asked. "Wait, are we keeping him?" Anthony asked. "Sure, why not?" I replied. "I don't know, what if something happens to him?" Anthony asked. "Hey, it's not like we're taking him into battle." I said. "Yeah, but still..." Anthony said. "Frankfurt! Come here, boy!" I said to Frankfurt, but the dog just stared at me confused. "I guess we need to train him commands, don't we?" "Yes sir." Hodge replied. "I'll help with that, sir." "Sir! We have orders to pull out!" Fredrick said to me. "HQ says we have control of San Fransiscolt." "We do?" I asked. "Yes sir!" He replied. "Can you confirm this?" I asked. "Yes sir, I can." He replied. "Would you like me to, sir?" "Yes, please do. I want to know if this operation is finally over." Two days later. "Get aboard, grunts! The Navy wants to go home now, and we aren't waiting on any slow-ass person!" Well, that's the DAF Navy for you. "Calm your Naval ass! We've been through hell like you've never seen!" One army sergeant yelled back. "Oh yeah? You wouldn't have gotten off the beaches of Neigh Orleans if it weren't for us!" The sailor replied. The two continued arguing on and on, while the rest of the men began to board the giant transport ship, which was docked at the tip of the Cavaliia peninsula. I guess a lot of guys earned the points to go to Antonia for a week. "Hey, Mathew!" Someone yelled to me from behind, I turned around and saw Jonathan. "Jonathan? Is that you?" I asked. "Yeah, it's me!" He replied. "Oh, wow! You got enough points to go, too?" I asked. "Yep! I also have enough points to buy myself an Obsidian pistol, so I'll run by the Obsidian Gun Co. store while I'm there." He replied. "I still have some points leftover from the Griffon Campaign. I could stop by as well and see what they have." I said. "The Griffon Campaign?! Geez, man! My points didn't even last that long!" He said. "Can I have some?" "Nope. They ain't for free." I replied jokingly. "Damn, I was really hoping for extra." He said. We walked onto the ship and I found myself a seat next to the window facing the harbor, Jonathan sat a few seats away from me. "Attention passengers, we are departing in three minutes. Secure loose gear and supplies and be ready to depart as soon as possible." A voice over the onboard intercom said. "I'm Finally going home!" Someone near me said "If the Equestrians don't try to bomb us." Someone else said. "Way to jinx the whole damn ship, man." Someone said. "What? I'm not saying they will, I'm saying if they don't try to bomb us, we're going home safely." The other person said. "That's still jinxing us!" The same person from earlier said. This went on for two minutes, and stopped when the horn on the ship bellowed. The ship began to shake, then it began to move forward. The giant metal behemoth found its way out of the harbor, and onto the ocean beyond, headed towards Antonia. I looked out the small window to my left and saw Equestria getting smaller and smaller the farther away we got. After a while, Equestria was just a small island over the horizon. Finally, I'm away from this war. Finally... I'm going home. I must've fallen asleep halfway through the trip, because it was night when I woke up. I could also tell we were almost there just from the mood. I got up to check if my things were right where I left them. "Attention passengers, we are approaching Eagle Harbor, and will dock in two minutes. Please do not leave anything on the ship, check yourselves to see that you have everything on you. That is all." The Captain said via intercom. "I can't wait to check everything out!" One man said. "Don't spend all your money in one place, kid." Another said. "I won't!" The other man said. I looked out the window and caught a glimpse of the town's lights in Antonia, which excited me. After what seemed like forever, we finally docked into the harbor. We all got out of our seats to grab our stuff and exit the ship. When we left the transport, it was extremely hard to see because it was so dark outside. Thank god for street lights. "Alright, we are assigning all of you your own rooms. After that, you guys can do what you want, though most of the buildings are closed at night." An officer told all of us. "Everyone, form a line on me." Everyone moved to form a line, and I managed to get fairly close to the front of it. It moved slowly, but I eventually got to the front. "Grade, name, and number please." The officer sitting at a small table said to me. "Sergeant Mathew, 6.5.9.4.1.2.10." I responded. "Alright, Corporal Banks right here will show you to your hotel room." The officer said. "Next!" "Alrighty, sir. If you'll just follow me, we'll get you settled in for the week." Banks said. We walked around the town with a bunch of other sergeants, including Jonathan, when we finally came across the hotel we would be staying in for now. We walked in the building, and surprisingly there weren't that many people trying to check into rooms. "Alright, here are your room numbers and keys. Remember that we are leaving next Tuesday at 4:00 pm." Banks said. "Thanks, corporal." One of the sergeants said. I grabbed my key and room number and headed into hallway A, looking for room A15. A13... A14... Here we are! A15. I put the key into the lock and turned it to the left. Click! The door opened, and when I walked in, I dropped everything I was holding. In front of me... was an actual bed. I walked towards the bed and just fell on it, letting all my muscles relax. I took a deep breath, feeling my chest expanding on the fabric. I got up after ten minutes and began to unpack my stuff. When I finished unpacking, I was extremely tired and weary, so I decided to get some shut eye. I lay down on the bed, turned off the lamp, pulled the sheets over me, and closed my eyes. I couldn't wait for tomorrow. I woke up with the sun directly in my eyes through the hotel window. I looked away so that my eyes wouldn't burn out of socket or something. On top of that, I had what I called "Morning Drowsiness", and it sucks. "Ugh..." I moaned, putting my hands over my face. I shut my eyelids tight and reopened them. I looked to the hotel door, and saw what looked like a newspaper in front of it. I stretched my limbs out before standing up off the bed and walking over to the paper. I bent over and picked it up, unfolding it as I stood upright again. The Antonian Post It was a newspaper, and it's headline blurted out: WAR TURNING TO OUR FAVOR! POSSIBILITY OF IT ENDING NEXT YEAR! The article continued on in the front page: The troops on the front have done it again! We have now successfully completed two major operations in the Equestrian campaign! With Operation Bronco completed, the higher ups are now deciding their next move! It continued on and on, but I was too lazy to read the whole thing right now, so I threw the newspaper onto my bed. I began to hear faint voices coming from the door, so I went to investigate it. As I got closer to the door, the voices grew louder, I opened the door, and the voices began to come from the lobby. As soon as I saw the lobby, I realized that it was breakfast, and the voices were from the sergeants chatting with each other. I went back to my room and began to get my things ready for the day. I was prepping my things, when there was a knock on the door. "Hey Mathew! It's me, Jonathan!" Jonathan said. I went to the door and opened it, and sure enough, there stood Jonathan. "How did you know where I was staying?" I asked. "I saw you leave this room, so I assumed that was where you were staying." He replied. "Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to come with us to Antonia City?" "Us?" I asked. "Me and a few other guys are going." He replied. "Sure, I'll go with you guys." I said. "Awesome! I'll let you get ready." He said. "Alright, where should I meet you guys?" I asked. "We'll be in the lobby." He replied. "Ok, thanks." I said before closing the door. I went over to my pack and looked around for my point bag. After some time, I found it, laying in the bottom of my pack. Geez, I haven't pulled this out in a while. I stuffed the pouch into my pocket, grabbed my keys, and made my way to the hotel room door. I opened the door and headed down the hallway towards the lobby. I realized I forgot to shut the door to my room, so I ran back and closed it. About three guys were waiting for me in the hotel lobby, including Jonathan. "Hi, name's Joe." Sergeant Joe said, holding his hand out for me. "Mathew." I responded, shaking Joe's hand. "I'm Thomas, sergeant Thomas. Nice to meet you Mathew" Thomas said. "Likewise." I responded. "So Jonathan, what are we going to do today?" "Well, I was thinking we could first go to the Obsidian Gun Co. store." Jonathan suggested. "And then we could go see some professional airsoft matches, I heard the next game has the Hunters vs. the Arrowheads." "What time is the match?" I asked. "I think it was around 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. We would still have time to go to the gun store before that." Jonathan replied. "Sounds like a plan." I said. "Let's go!" "Alright! Let's go buy us some guns!" Joe said as we were walking out of the hotel. You know, I might actually enjoy my stay. If we could get some food first.