Port Aux Francais, 7:00AM, 3 years after event
The Arrival of the Charles de Gaulle was met with the usual busywork that surrounds the small settlement. The Mistrals have already unloaded the troops into their ground bases for a little bit of R&R after the long journey and the de Gaulle and her battlegroup are currently anchoring themselves in the bay. Refueling and resupplying their stocks for the incoming expedition due tomorrow. It went without saying that the mood for this whole operation is uncertain, troops are very tense about encountering an enemy they have no idea about and the officers are trying their best to raise hopes for the men with mixed results.
With the battlegroup arriving in the small settlement, the Captain of the de Gaulle has summoned his officers for a meeting in the boardroom. It was meant to brief them about their situation, what the orders from Paris were and how are they going to accomplish the mission. Twilight has already left for the research facility and Captain Rousseau is preparing a stack of papers when the officers finally arrived.
“Hey there Jacques” he heard the door opened to see a bunch of flight leaders, colonels, generals and fellow navy captains alike.
“Ah finally you’re here. I take it that you have been informed about the energy spikes in the Southern Continent?”
“Of course Captain, and how will that change mission parameters?” an army Colonel asked
“Absolutely nothing Colonel, but we just need to stock up a few more supplies for the coming expeditionary force. Spare parts for the Rafales and Super Etendards have already been doubled in response to the energy spikes.”
“Oh that’s good then, I was also informed that the number of sorties are increased yes?” the Colonel replied
“That’s pretty much a given Colonel, but other than that let’s get to the meat of the meeting….the Alicorns.”
As soon as the Captain said it the room fell into deathly silence. If the Téméraire incident was anything to go by, these Alicorns could pose a threat to French forces unseen since World War II. The entire leadership in charge of this whole operation knew what was coming to greet them but details about the ancient alicorns are incredibly scarce since Celestia has repeatedly refused any persuasion attempts to spill it out. If anything this whole operation could’ve failed right before it started.
“I have read the briefings regarding the Téméraire incident and I would admit that I’m a bit scared when we’re facing these Alicorns, explosives seems to work on them but what about bullets?” another Colonel asked
“That is my concern as well Colonel, continue the opération as usual but do not explore too deeply inland until we can build an airstrip to airlift more armoured vehicles. We can’t bring every single Leclerc we have just like that” the Captain responded
“Of course sir, we’ll just scout the coastlines for potential threats, what about air cavalry?”
“The Mistrals will take care of that Colonel, my group will be on standby throughout the opération, you can radio in more reinforcements in case you encounter a hostile Alicorn. My air cavalry group will also be conducting scouting missions on the coast as well so we should be able to help you in time if you encounter anything hostile”
“So we have that covered, but how about armour units?”
“We have roughly 14 tanks on store in both the Tonnere and the Dixmude. More tanks are being airlifted but it will take time for the 6th Cuirassiers to come full force. Just wait for ten more days until we can bring in the full force into the Peninsula.”
“Okay then, I also would assume that the fleet will be conducting regular patrols to stop any incursions from the Alicorns?”
“That’s a given of course” The Captain replied
“Then that settles it, now moving on the magical artifacts” the Captain said as the meeting dragged on for a couple more hours until they finally reched a consensus with each other. The expedition will be launched tomorrow and soldiers are to keep their magical gauntlets on at all times
Meanwhile, at the research labs
Twilight walked in through the entrance and was greeted with a meticulously clean laboratory. “Hrmm, so this is how humans design their labs” she quietly said as she saw human scientists reading copies of scanned magical books as well as observing native Equestrian plantlife. As she walked further into her own research room, she saw human scientists lifting objects with their magical gauntlets and even more magically integrated technology like Runic binoculars which amplifies the zoom by 200%...or that’s what she heard about that invention.
Eventually she finally she reached a room labeled “Magical Artifact Analysis” and entered the room. She was greeted with a bunch of human scientists in white suits analysing a piece of enhanced Moonstone with their gauntlets, as she probed the room to familiarize herself. She saw a bunch of what the humans called the EMA or the ‘Enhanced Magical Analyzer’ which is essentially a dedicated device meant to detect more subtle magical energies with multiple Quartz Crystals aligned into the machine’s ley line frequencies.
She didn’t notice that while she was observing the general outline of the room, the attention of the staff quickly turned from analyzing the Moonstone to watching her instead.
“Umm miss?” she heard one of the scientist ask as she finally realized that she’s being stared at.
“Oh...w-well hi there! My name is Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you.” Twilight extends a hoof as they awklardly shook.
“Name’s Robert Boulanger, former head researcher at these labs. You got the memo?”
“Definitely. Now that I’m the head researcher, show me what you got.”
“Of course, right over here Ms Sparkle” as the duo walked through the room filled with magical artifacts and runes. Which is a bit ironic because if these scientists would conduct their research at earth, they would be immediately excommunicated from the rest of the scientific community at the mere thought of researching magic.
“There’s not much we can go on in terms of magical artifacts, we have a piece of Moonstone that you’ve seen right there but outside of the that, there are only two more cursed artifacts and several ancient runes we recovered during the Arimaspi expedition.”
“I see...and based from what limited resources you have I will admit that you’ve done some excellent progress here Mr Robert, all the obvious and less obvious magical properties of the moonstone have been analyzed and the reports I have been briefed about the artifacts and the runes are pretty good, I will admit that you have done unbelievable progress here. In 3 years just to add it up!” Twilight complemented him on the progress of the program
“Why...hehe thank you Ms Sparkle.” Robert replied.
“But despite your amazing advances, there is still room to improve..and it seems the student exchange program can’t help you with this one.”
“Oh? What is it that our excellent team can’t do Ms Sparkle?” he asked sarcastically, knowing what she’s going to say next
“Magical Spells”
“I knew you were going to say that...and I must say that yeah...it’s true, unlike Unicorns, Kirin, and Changelings, we have been struggling in creating active spells that will help us in furthering our advances in spellcasting knowledge...it’s been a massive block in our division if not the entire scientific community of France because our advances have always been in a supportive nature, and that’s also mostly concentrated in rune creation”
“And that’s where I’m going to help. And let’s hope that your analytical skills and my ability to cast advanced spells will be beneficial for both of us...for all our sakes”
“Of course Twilight, for all our sakes.”
The Guiana Passage, 9:00AM, 3 years after event
After thousands of years of Isolation, the Alicorn remnants have finally risen to retake their place in the world. Their warriors are ready, the foundries have been restarted and Manshira has finally achieved maximum capacity in terms of production. With the old Capital of the Alicorns operational, the general has decided to send scouts out into the southern passage in order to begin plans to secure a base for further reclamation.
Commander Neshira is in charge of this vital part of the operation and she couldn’t be any prouder. Soon her Zebra corps would lead the charge into Zebrica’s vast Savannahs and liberate the Zebras from Alicornian oppression once again. Her small army of only 3000 Zebras, Ponies and Alicorns alike might be the only thing alive in this alicorn-forsaken tundra, and although the situation could be better, she will admit that the general has been unusually generous, appointing some 300 Alicorns to assist her in building a base camp in what used to be one of the most prosperous cities in the southern passage.
To think that this great city is now reduced to rubble she thought as she oversaw the base camp being raised from the ground as a symbol of the Alicorn’s return.
“Commander Neshira” she heard as she saw an Alicorn walking to her
“Yes Captain Fe’lusha?”
“I’ve noticed that there is something….peculiarly strange happening here. I sense that there’s something off in here, particularly in the skies above...I can’t put my hoof on it but I think something is watching us” she said with a hint of unease in her tone.
Immediately after she heard those words her head immediately turned to pay attention to what she’s saying, she knew that Alicorns are more attuned to the ley lines than any other magical creature they knew about and can read the tide of battle just by spying on the enemy via ley line sight (although there are limits for that spell as she found out on the battle of Ouagadugou). So naturally she will listen to what the Alicorn has to say when she said she sensed something.
“Have you sent in your scouts to confirm your unease?”
“They are being deployed Commander.”
“Good, report to me once your scouts have returned.”
“Of course Commander.”
‘Buckeye’ Flight, The Guiana Passage, 9:30AM, 3 years after event
As part of the preliminary reconnaisance needed to map out the Area of Operations for the first landings tomorrow. Two of the fighters are armed with observation pods and 4 MICA missiles, ‘Buckeye’ flight was launched from the carrier just two hours ago to take part in the reconnaisance missions meant to detect any possible threats in the peninsula. The flight was about to enter the peninsula when the lead pilot of Buckeye 1 spotted something
“Command this is Buckeye 1, spotted something unusual. Requesting permission to drop to 15,000 feet.”
“Permission granted Buckeye 1, be careful out there.”
And with that the flight of Rafale fighters swoop down from 20,000 to 15,000 feet, allowing the observation pods to have a better look at what’s going on down on the peninsula.
“Sir, we have 2 bogeys at 45 kilometers south. Permission to engage”
“Negative Buckeye 3, move out of the bogey’s position and get a fix on what the hell is below us”
“Roger that.”
The flight of Rafale’s soon realized that the direction of the bogeys was in parallel with the direction of the target they detected when they arrived at the recon area. Knowing that a decision is needed, the flight leader contacted the Carrier’s command center for further guidance
“Umm Command this is Buckeye 1, bogeys that are approaching us are in parrallel direction with the target. Requesting further orders to engage the bogeys or abort the mission.”
“Buckeye 1 this is Command, what’s the range of the bogey?”
“Target is 45 Kilometers ahead of us Command, requesting permission to engage”
“Negative Buckeye 1, ascend to 30,000 feet and conduct recon from that altitude. Oh and switch to thermal, command out”
“Roger that command, you heard it boys! Ascend to 30,000 feet now”
And with that all of the Rafale flights climbed to 30.000 feet as fast as their avionics allow them.
Ruins of the Southern City, 10:00AM, 3 years after event
As Scout Captains Radiant Dawn and A’ra Lushanka landed after their scouting missions, they were greeted by Captain Fe’lusha rushing towards the still tired Alicorns.
“Did you spot anything?”
“Nothing ma’am, but there is some strange noises when we were conducting our scouting somewhere west of the Peninsula.”
“Did you manage to at least know what it sounds like?”
“No idea ma’am, it’s definitely not a dragon sound because it’s too...mechanical, and it’s definitely not an airship either, so we don’t know what it is.”
“*Sighs* fine, if the enemy’s not showing themselves then so be it. We’ll be ready when the time comes. Now get some rest.”
“Understood ma’am” the scouts said as they returned to their quarters after a very long mission.
Battlegroup Headquarters, 10:00AM, 3 years after event
A million scenarios are filling the Captain’s mind about the potential impacts about this situation. On one hand indirect contact with the enemy has been made but the fact that the Alicorns are capable of flying at 15.000 feet is disturbing enough for the Captain to think about. Their capabilities might damage the whole opération if we’re not careful he thought as he paced back and forth in his room anxiously, thinking about scenario after scenario of potetential conflicts and agreements.
Eventually the pacing stopped as the Captain returned back to his desk. He took his hand to his phone and dialed in the number for France’s military command center: The Hexagon Balard.
“Hello here this is the Hexagon Balard, name and rank please?”
“Jacques Rousseau, Captain of the Charles de Gaulle” he said and he managed to hear a gasp from the operators voice as the operator collects himself.
“Oh y-yes Captain, do you want to speak with the defense minister himself?”
“Yes please.”
“Just one moment and i’ll forward you into his line.” as the line suddenly cuts into pleasant jazz music. Three minutes later the music was suddenly cut by the sound of an old man grunting in his chair.
“Yes Captain Rousseau? Did something happen down there that might attract the attention of the President?”
“Yes sir, can you please tell the chiefs of staffs as well as the President that the first reconaissance flights into the Peninsula has confirmed Alicornian presence there, we weren’t expecting to encounter them so soon. Requesting further orders.”
“Understood Captain, proceed with the mission and send a Diplomatic team-no, don’t do that. Land your troops somewhere near the encampment and try to get contact with the enemy, if enemy’s hostile then engage them with maximum prejudice. I’ll leave you in charge of the details.”
“Of course sir, over and out.” he said as he ended the call
Well...so much for a smooth opération I guess he thought reflecting on the talk. He’s definitely going to summon the rest of the officers to his boardroom to talk about the situation of course. But what next? Should they preemptively strike the Alicorns? Should they try negotiation first? Whatever the outcome is going to be, it’s going to be discussed 15 minutes later in the boardroom.
15 minutes later, in the boardroom
“Come in men, we have a lot to talk about.” the Captain said as the officers once again converged in the boardroom to discuss updates to the operation
“I heard that we have made positive contact with the enemy. Is that true Captain?”
“Not really General, yes we have made contact with the enemy but it is not direct contact. Instead we have made indirect contact with the enemy which are essentially 2 radar blips on the Rafale’s radars”
“Whew that’s a relief, and here I thought that the whole op might be in jeopardy if the enemy detects our recon. So are we proceeding as planned?”
“Yes General the Tonnere and the Dixmude will proceed to land into the Peninsula. Here’s the general outline of the peninsula itself.” as the Captain gave the General a roll of paper which details the peninsula from satellite recon and force recon.
“Thanks Captain, now about the Alicorn itself. What do we have about their capabilities besides the Temeraire incident?”
“Still not a lot General.” responded the Senior Flight Officer “We only have knowledge that they’re capable of flying 15,000 feet but other than the capability of hitting a sub a couple of kilometers from the coast, not a lot to go on.”
“Ugh damn, can’t organize a force suitable to deal with them if things go south. Whatever, we’ll just send more tanks and missiles if need be, what about the terrain?”
“Terrain’s flat and by the looks of it, capable of handling the Leclerc’s weight. But other than that, I suggest that you bring in extra artillery because by the looks of it, we’re going to be handling a species with very strong magical abilities. And although the Rafale is more than capable of handling itself if things go south, I feel that we need the extra insurance General.” an officer replied
“Very well then, more tanks and artillery for the transports. Anything else?”
“Send in a diplomatic team first before shooting begins?” the Captain replied
“Oh...of course, how silly of me.”
The Hexagon Balard, 11:00AM, 3 years after event
The busy day at France’s central command just got busier as a black citroen accompanied by police motorcycles and other black vehicles arrived at the building. After the police have declared the area secure, out comes President Ayrault and immediately he went straight into the building. There is something important that he needs to attend.
Once inside the building he quickly went into the boardroom, which is filled with only the French Military chief of staffs and the defense minister.
“Ah you’re here! Come sit down, we have a lot to talk about.” the defense minister said as he welcomed the President to the boardroom.
“So you’re here. What do you have in store for us?” the President asked.
“Here you go.” the defense minister replied as he handed a report for the President to read.
“So have we confirmed this?”
“Yes Mr President, do you have anything to say on the matter?”
“Yes I do Jean, first off prepare the task force for an incursion into the peninsula.”
“That is already being done Mr President, but what about diplomatic options that we can pursue?”
“That too as well, but we will conduct diplomatic negotiations after we landed troops into the Peninsula, when we negotiate we negotiate from a position of strength. I do NOT want another Iraq on our hands again” He exclaimed.
“Of course sir and that’s already taken care of as well. Have we informed you about the rundown of the situation on Kerguelen?”
“Yes of course, tanks are being airlifted en masse to the Island, and they’re about the launch the operation tomorrow right?”
“Yes sir, we will link you up with a satellite orbiting the area tomorrow to get a birds eye view of the operation.”
“Good then Jean, anything else?”
“No sir”
“Then you are dismissed then. See you tomorrow Jean, I look forward to the success of operation.”
“Of course Mr President” the defense minister replied as they concluded the short meeting and went to their business preparing for the coming op.