Chapter 23
Mythic yawned as he entered the mess hall. The early hour had revealed little action in the room; the tables still covered by upside-down chairs. Inside was only the Crystal Sergeant who managed it and Ghost Wing's newest, if temporary, addition. She was dressed in the regular Royal Equestrian Air Force blues and sipping a mug of coffee that had to have been brewed mere seconds ago. She was looking out the window on the snow and ice that was starting to recede due to their distance south. The cold weather of the Crystal Empire's outer regions was thinner here and therefore didn't last as long. This far south of Glacier, grass was a welcome sight.
"Morning Major," Mythic called.
Spitfire's orange and gold tail flicked and her ears swiveled. Looking back, she noticed him standing just inside the doorway. "Lieutenant, you look like you just rolled out of your bunk."
"I did. And I require the nectar of the goddesses," he replied groggily. He shuffled to the counter and the Sergeant poured a mug of the steaming liquid. "I don't see anypony else up. Where are they?"
"Still asleep. Why?" Spitfire asked after another sip.
Mythic's ears perked and he flexed his wings before staring at the Major. "Still? It's zero-seven-hundred. That's reveille." He brought the mug to his lips as his own ears flicked at the silence in the room. "Come to think of it, I haven't even heard reveille yet."
Spitfire chuckled and blew some steam off her mug. "Guess you didn't get the memo, Shade." She looked back up and stared at Mythic's bewildered look that demanded an explanation. "Joint Chiefs got together and made a standing order to all frontline forces. Due the victories we've been racking up, they're rewarding all frontline forces with reveille at zero-eight-thirty. Anypony who wants to get up before then is voluntary."
Mythic's shoulders slumped. "So I could still be asleep right now? Why are you up, then? And when did you?"
Spitfire took another sip and exhaled. "Zero-four."
"In the morning? Why?"
She held up her mug. "I was thirsty. Cut me a break. Plus back in the Wonderbolts Academy my Wing always got up around this time to get some early training done. Jogs, flyovers, get some early chow while it's still hot before the enlisted scarf it all down. Hard to break that habit; I was younger than you when I started."
"So that's why I heard Thunder-Lungs when I was walking the hallway."
Spitfire paused mid-sip and perked an eyebrow. "'Thunder-Lungs?'"
Mythic snickered and sipped his cup of coffee. "The Wraith herself. Rhapsody snores like a damn freight-train."
"Ha! I think Soarin could give her a run for her bits. It's a miracle Rainbow gets any sleep."
"Give who?"
Spitfire and Mythic turned to see Sprig standing in the doorway. Her eyes were half-lidded and looked to be sleepwalking. But she was dressed in her Royal Hibernian Aero-Corps greens. Her feathers were ruffled on her head and her eyes were tired. Uniform neatly pressed, it did little to make her stand straighter or even look more awake. Mythic had to admit, she looked adorable with bead-head.
"Rhapsody's snoring," Mythic said simply.
The tired hippogriff scoffed and wave her clawed hand. "Like you're any better yourself," she muttered. "It's zero-seven-hundred. I couldn't get Amethyst up, or Rhapsody when I tried the door. Did I miss something?"
Spitfire chuckled and shook her head. "Apparently a lot of ponies missed it. Joint Chiefs permitted an extra hour of sleep for frontline forces."
Sprig blinked at the two pegasi in the mess hall, sipping their coffee. She stood there for a few moments before she began unbuttoning her blouse as she made her way out. "Goodnight."
Mythic raised his mug to her and she simply waved at him before disappearing around the corner. The two pegasi simply shrugged at each other and the stallion joined Spitfire by the window, leaning on the wall. Despite the early morning chill and the extra hour of sleep granted, there were plenty of AEGIS personnel walking the base. Aircraft were tended to, ordinance in the armored warehouse were inspected. More than enough ammunition in there was liberated from the Gryphon occupying force that was too slow to evacuate. It was luck there happened to be some in there that fit Rhapsody's Tomcat.
"So... what are the Joint Chiefs deciding our next move is?"
"Won't know till later. Probably another few hours," Spitfire replied simply. "My guess is we'll have another fight later this week, if not today."
Mythic looked out towards the hangars where Gold wing was stationed. The F-16Cs were kept snug in there, and seeing them fly often made the stallion yearn for his old Fighting Falcon. The last he saw his favored bird, it was being loaded up to be carried off and scrapped. It twisted his gut thinking about his prized plane, his very first plane, being turned to scrap and turned into spare parts. But seeing the Crystals fly them, watching these young pilots watch Ghost wing fly and emulate their abilities, it warmed his heart. He felt a smile creep on his face, knowing that these young mares and stallions of the Empire's Air Corps were getting better, and soon they'd be a force to be reckoned with. "I'd like to see the Crystal Ponies fly with us when we hit Fyrick. I can only imagine what it'd do for national pride."
Spitfire chuckled and downed the last of her mug. "If they learned anything from anypony in Ghost wing, I'm sure they'd take the skies by themselves."
Mythic shook his head. "I wouldn't go that far. We were barely handling the skies back at Glacier. It was mostly the ground pounders who kept us safe as we flew."
"And need I remind you which ponies shot down the bombers that declared scorched earth on Glacier?" Spitfire reminded him. She had him there, but Mythic simply shook his head.
"I don't want the success getting to their heads. We're far from the end of this, even if we're on our way back to the 14th. I would've thought the Princess would have told her squadrons to stay close to the Empire."
Spitfire downed her mug and raised it to the Sergeant behind the counter, who waved his horn and a pot flew out to them. Holding their mugs out, the pot magically topped off their mugs. With a nod of thanks, it flew back to its warmer behind the Sergeant who was wiping off the counter for the first of the ground crews to enter and scarf up the donuts. "The Princess gave Rhapsody a choice of which squadron she wanted to take with us to the front. She chose Gold Wing; Ruby and Emerald are shoring up defenses until AEGIS can bolster their lines up north. And now that our fronts are joined up, other AEGIS wings are lending themselves to the defense as well."
Mythic remembered Gold Wing's leader, Aquamarine, callsign Ice Pick, when he dropped his remaining bomb on the Blackjack aiming to hit the Glacier hospital. That same pilot was declared a hero by the rest of the Crystal pilots when they landed. Even the snotty Major of Vulture wing clapped him on the back. He could see the glow in the Crystal's eyes, more than his natural glow.
"So then we're heading back south? I'm sick of snow."
"Tomorrow morning," Spitfire answered. "And I second the snow thing. I can't stand winter."
"As you can see your majesty, the construction is almost done. Soon the weapon will be ready for testing in a matter of months."
Sharpclaw stood and snarled. "Unacceptable! I want it finished and ready to fire by the end of this month!"
The Chamberlain started and adjusted his glasses. "Your Majesty, please you have to understand! This weapon is terribly expensive, the royal coffers are barely handling it as well as the labor costs. We're struggling to keep the workers in line during construction."
"They are working for the defense of Gryphnia, the Throne, and the Monarchy!" Sharpclaw screamed. "They are daring to question the integrity of our warriors, our brave soldiers who daily are dying for their liberties to complain that we are not doing enough? We are on the cusp of a victory over AEGIS, who burns our lands and steals our honor and destroys our skies. This hero, this Ghost Fighter, of theirs is nothing more than an overly-praised pilot. They will fall too!"
"That's not the point, your Majesty! The point is that World Breaker will not be finished by the end of this month, or the next! The damage it could cause if incomplete would be catastrophic!" the Chamberlain blubbered loudly. "The tests needed to be run would take weeks. An actual demonstration of its power wouldn't be recommended until Summer, and that's six months away."
Sharpclaw snarled angrily at the Chamberlain, who tried to use his clipboard as a shield to protect against the fuming King of Gryphnia. "You're telling me, that this weapon that has been under construction since we lost Sky Breaker, that I have poured nearly my entire treasury into constructing, that I have personally seen to finding the perfect location to, is not going to be ready before AEGIS is at our very doorstep!?"
Rapidly, the cowering Gryphon nodded. This earned him a swift swipe across his face. The older Gryphon squalled and fell to the marble floor, clutching his cheek that had started to bleed. For the King, the name Sharpclaw was not an exaggeration. From what little he knew, the gash was a good distance through his skin. Feathers nor fur would grow there again. "The draft we had disposed of in the last war, I want it reinstated! Call every able citizen into battle!"
"How many more need to die until you're satisfied, father?" a voice cried from the doorway. Even the guards turned to see the newcomer before swiftly returning to their stalwart stances against the Throne Room columns. The Prince himself, his own feathers ruffled on his head, an estimation to his rage. "How many more of our people will you sacrifice? Can you not see that this war has cost us too much?"
Sharpclaw stood straight, regarding his youngest, and only remaining son. Smoothing out his coat and adjusting his jeweled Torc, the King stood and extended his arms as he looked to the speaker. The guards standing before each column did the same, even the Chamberlain turned. All eyes fell on Prince Marcus, who stood strong in the doorway of the throne room. But instead of chastising his remaining son, Sharpclaw simply chuckled. That same chuckle then evolved into a laugh.
"Look, everyone," he muttered. "Look to our youngest prince. The Prince, who has been sheltered from the outside world, therefore has no experience in how matters of state and war are handled, and he is informing me of how to fight one."
Marcus spat. "It doesn't take a General, let alone a simple soldier, to know that we are on the losing side of this war. You know it!" He thrust a claw around the room. "They all know it!"
"And who are you, one who has never even fought in his life, to tell your own father, the Warrior-King of Gryphnia, how and what to do in a fierce war?" Sharpclaw cried. "This is more my nation than yours. Those gryphons down in the city, beyond the walls, and on the frontlines are more mine than you are even my son! I rebuilt this country after the last Continental War! I brought our military might back to the top of the world! We are still the strongest nation on this continent! Your grandfather did the same after the First! We are bred for war and glory!"
"That's exactly it, father!" Marcus screamed. "You're so obsessed with glory that you cannot see that AEGIS is practically at our very doorstep! They are on their way right now!"
Belying his near-drunken stupor, Sharpclaw's wings flared and he sprung forward, landing mere inches from his son. Marcus was caught off-guard, his stance faltering, all of his focus lost in a mere instant. He almost forgot how towering his father was. Marcus's eyes widened as the King's piercing eyes bore holes into his youngest son's soul. He stared at his father's face, noting the lines that had been added to the ones merely from age.
"You dare challenge your father?" he murmured low and dangerously. Marcus's throat went completely dry; so much even swallowing hurt. "I returned this nation to its glory after the embarrassing defeat in the last Continental War. Without AEGIS's help, we returned to our pedestal on Equis. What are you speaking is considered treason. You are disputing the honor of our soldiers."
"That was not my intention father," Marcus all but squeaked out. "AEGIS is trying to stop your warmongering!"
A fierce strike struck Marcus in the cheek, sending the young Gryphon squawking and crumpling into a heap on the throne room floor. The same wound that befell the Chamberlain now began to bleed down Marcus's cheek. "My warmongering?" Sharpclaw screamed. "Do you forget who struck the first blow against Gryphnia? AEGIS! Who destroyed our oil supplies in Habun and made the waters around the oil rigs toxic to any wildlife in ten miles? AEGIS! Our entire fleet in Habun Harbor was defenseless and who sank it all and polluted those waters? AEGIS! Our solar power plant that powered half of Gryphnia was destroyed, BY AEGIS!" Marcus received a sharp kick to the gut. The prince mewled and clutched his stomach, his eyes watering. "You do not understand how many sacrifices I have made to give Gryphnia one more day of power, one more day away from AEGIs control, one more day before anarchy rips apart what we have left!"
Marcus didn't respond immediately, too much pain sinking into his body. Still, he slowly began to raise his eyes. Coughing onto the tile, he turned his wet face to his father who was the cause of his pain. "But they're dying, father! Please, you have to end this before we don't have anything left."
"I am not your father. Tyr and Carde understood sacrifice more than you did. That's why they joined the fight while you continued to play baseball," Sharpclaw sneered back. "I curse the day your mother gave her last breath to give you yours. You were the weakest son of the three, now the eldest two are dead."
"Because of a war you had to start! You were holding the continent ransom because of Sky Breaker!"
"That weapon was defending our 'allies' from the Changelings ever coming back! They are the ones who had to destroy it. They were praising it last time we used it! It's as if they want the blasted bugs to attack again!" Sharpclaw retorted.
"You were using it to your own political gains!"
"Enough! Prince Marcus, by the sovereignty of my crown – "
Marcus's eyes widened as he stared at his father. "What?"
" – and by order of my rule of Gryphnia – "
"Father no – "
" – I am hereby exiling you from this nation. You no longer have a home here and you are no longer my son!"
Tears streamed down Marcus's face as he struggled to his feet. "No! Don't do this, father!"
A second strike forced him back to the ground. His face was red from now two hits and his own anger and sorrow. "Shut up! You are not my son! My son would stand by me in our time of war, not beg for us to give up to the AEGIS warmongers who have destroyed every source of economy we had and ruined any chances for the waters to be cleaned!" He snapped two of his talons. Two of the Royal Guard in the throne room stood straight. "Get this... fledgling out of my castle."
The guards nodded and roughly grabbed the Prince. Marcus made no struggle; tears streaked his cheeks and beak as he stared at his father. Every gryphon in the room looked between the two, and the sound of the heartbreak could have shattered the stained glass windows behind the throne. But before someone could speak, Sharpclaw spun on his heel and strode hard and fast to the throne. He sat himself down roughly and regarded his court with a stern gaze of gold irises.
"Let this be known. I will brook no talk of treason or surrender! We are not giving up this war, and we are going to fight till our last stand! But we are Gryphons! We've been the strongest warriors since before the three pony tribes united! We drove the dragons off the continent and paved the way for all civilizations to never live in fear of them again!" Sharpclaw announced. "This war was not started by us, but rather when AEGIS itself struck a cowardly blow against our borders. Gryphnia will not be backing down from this challenge. Even Equestria will understand how wrong they are when they discover we have one of their strongest in our keeping! We will fight back this enemy at our gates, and we shall tear down the walls and borders of our world and end any transgression against us, and we shall resume our place as the strongest warriors the world has ever known!"
He raised his fist in the air, his throat erupting in the ancient Gryphnian dialect.
"Ave Gryphnia aeternum!"
Hail Gryphnia Forever.
The core of the apple was tossed over her shoulder, landing firmly in the waste bin. She was definitely getting better at that.
"You cannot just walk over and drop it in?" Rarity scolded softly.
Applejack just shook her head, not answering and continued drawing up the plans for the coming battle. The General was out with his primary command staff, leaving the former farm mare to come up with something presentable for him and the rest of the AEGIS brass that had taken a visit to the battle zone that Applejack had so far taken full command of.
"Bet ya won't toss these!" Pinkie Pie suddenly called out as she entered the tent. Applejack and Rarity turned to the new visitor. The pink mare's hair was poofed out despite the tan beret that tried to keep it under control. With her was a pair of Sergeants, and all three were holding pans with a dozen cupcakes of varying flavors on each one. "Nothing says "Welcome to the Front Lines, General!" like a "Welcome-General-Black-Forest -To-The-Front-Lines" party!"
Rarity couldn't help but give a demure chuckle. "Pinkie, dear, I don't believe the General would have wanted a party. Especially when it would really be announcing his visit to the entire desert."
Pinkie frowned, but only a little, before it turned into a small smile. "Aw come on Rarity! Everypony loves parties! Especially since I brought my signature double, super-duper, ultra, mega cupcakes! I even put extra chocolate in them!"
Applejack allowed a small smile when a cupcake was placed next to her, but she couldn't eat it now; she had too many plans to be writing up. There were over a dozen platoons in the desert right now surrounding this particular tent with more on the way. Tanks, Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Personnel Carriers, Helicopters, Mobile Artillery Platforms; organizing them all was giving her a headache. She was at least thankful the air force had their own planners; Applejack wasn't about to accept the responsibility of making sure they were where they needed to be. She'd leave that to General Black Forest.
That left her with approximately – she looked at her inventory list again, sighing – four hundred and thirty six armor and attack choppers with over five thousand ground troops. Regarding the massive size of the battle, she was amazed she had not gone insane with the amount of work to do. Despite this, there were several aides from the different nations of AEGIS assisting her. Being that both the AEGIS Army, Marines, and Air Force would be participating, there were scattered tents relaying orders that often countered the orders of another branch, and revising meant much yelling and finger pointing. More than once, organizing officers had come too close to blows.
Almost absently, Applejack grabbed the cupcake beside her as she drew up the map where a group of Leopard tanks would be backing up the 30th Crystal Grenadiers while they captured an abandoned village as a staging point for the officers to relay further orders. She took a bite of the cupcake while writing down the –
She looked down at the cupcake. "This is a might good cupcake."
Pinkie grinned ear to ear. "I told you! I added my special chocolate mix the batter since a General was on his way! Do you think he'll like them?"
Rarity set down her clipboard as she signed off on a Marine aide's papers for a resupply. "Well one can only hope, Pinkie dear." Moving beside Applejack, she looked down at the map. "Applejack, I just reviewed an order from the 8th Saddle Helicopter group. They wanted those tanks to back them up on the right flank."
Applejack shook her head. "If they do that, the 30th will be unsupported when they move into that village. Odds are they'll be picked apart by any Hinds or Havocs in the area. I want to be sure that they've got armor support. Besides, those Leopards will be backed by Gepards."
Rarity took a dainty nibble of her own cupcake, tilting her head and smiling. "I agree; these are good cupcakes!" She then looked back to Applejack, her smile flipping upside down. "You mean the ones the Hippogriffs have already been begging to have cover their armored strike on the airfield in the western quadrant?" Rarity asked sheepishly.
The Colonel slowly turned her head to the white unicorn, who sank her head further into her jacket under the stare. The former farm mare then sighed heavily and dropped her pen, resting her elbow on the table and groaning with her face in her palm. She absently took another bite of her cupcake, marginally pulling back from the measure of uncertainty she had been slammed with in an instant. "This battle is too huge for all this."
"That's why we have over three dozen AEGIS personnel working on it Colonel," an elderly voice called.
The assembled within the tent turned to the main tent flap. An elderly, but no less grizzled and strong stallion entered. His face seemed to be decorated in a compassion for his allies but ruthless aggression for his opposition; a tight knit brow but his lips were slightly curled on his muzzle, as if locked in a permanent half-smile. His mane was a graying black, yet his olive green coat still looked vibrant and broad. He folded his arms back as he looked at those gathered, who immediately snapped to a swift and statue-still salute.
"Please, carry on," he said with a wave of his hand. "We're all in this together. No one is above the other."
Applejack dropped her salute. "The stallion who led AEGIS to victory against the Changelings during the second war. It's an absolute honor, sir, to finally meet you. The Supreme Commander in mah tent."
General Black Forest chuckled, brushing a few locks from his mane aside. "Don't call it your tent, Colonel," he murmured with a smirk. "The others might start talking. And the honor is mine. Meeting the three mares who bear the Elements of Harmony who saved our nation more times than I care to count. And it's a disappointment we're fighting one of our best allies during that campaign. I meant to say hello at the Royal Wedding but I sadly never got the chance. "
"Why not?" Rarity asked simply.
Black Forest sighed. "Princesses ordered me and my battalion to follow the Changelings and make sure they were fully out of Equestria." He suddenly clapped his hands together, then turned his attention to Pinkie Pie and her two Sergeants. Looking down, he saw the cupcakes and smirked. "May I, Colonel Pie?"
"Hehe, that rhymes. 'May I, Colonel Pie?' Reminds me of the song I wrote a long time ago back when we first were still afraid of Zecora, you two remember the song. And then Fluttershy sang it in her deeper voice after we got into that poison joke and that was soooo much better than my version but I still like my version better. Oh man I'd love to see her again so we can do a duet. Speaking of duets, do you think Sweetie Belle can make it – "
"Pinkie!" Applejack cried.
"Huh?"
"He wants a cupcake."
Pinkie stopped and stared. "Oh! I'd be hurt if you didn't, General. Help yourself!"
Black Forest gave another throaty chuckle before grabbing one, then turned to his aides. "Don't just stand there, boys. Get a cupcake." He nodded his thanks to the mare as his two Lieutenants slowly took their own, leaving the General to give a polite nod to Rarity and join Applejack at the table. Absently, he took a bite and chewed. "What do we have, Col-" He stopped mid-chew and looked at the cupcake. "This is a damn good cupcake."
Applejack grinned. "I know, right?"
Black Forest swallowed and leaned on the table. "Anyway, what have we got?"
"A mess sir. Everypony is after one of the other battalions to cover them in their own offensives. But the second they draw up a plan for them to be in play with them, there's others who need them more." She thrust her finger at the northeast part of the map of Cider Valley. "We've got the Marines ready to push into the abandoned village, but they'll need air support. But the air support they need is needed for the armored assault on the air base here, and I don't know if the air force can get to every location at once."
"You're right Colonel," Black Forest replied. "It was King Kaubr's idea to have everypony in separate tents and then convene in a single tent to put their plans into play. I can see now it is a grievous error. That's why General Sparkle asked me to come." He then reached into his blouse pocket and pulled out his pen. "Let's try this..."
The next morning...
"With respect General Forest," the hippogriff General called out, "we used this tactic in the last war. Intelligence says that our adversary in charge of the Gryphnian forces is the same one you and I were working with during the last war. He'll know this plan and counter."
Black Forest shook his head. "Doubtful. If you recall, Arthur, he still didn't get it even when it was working. He was more of a follower than a leader; typical Gryphon aristocracy." He then turned back to the assembled officers of AEGIS's nations. "As it stands, we're going in hard and fast, what the Germane's refer to as a 'Lightning Assault' during the First War. My father was a tank commander during that war and taught me all about it. Now, we use it to push us closer to the end of this one."
He jabbed his stick at the south end of the map. "All of our armor will be in this assault. There's not going to be any covert sabotage or any fancy flanking maneuvers; the Gryphons are too smart for it as they used to fight alongside us. The best thing to plan is a full frontal assault. Any attempts to go around or over will take too much time and we can't afford to give Gryphnia the benefit of time. We go in hard and we go through them.
"The plan is to gather all of our armor in these three points, much like with the beach landings. There will be three points of assault. We'll be counting on the air force to support us as best they can, but our main focus will be on the ground; let them handle the air. Now the first place we need to hit is here, the Air Base. This will be done by the Hibernian 4th Royal Dragoons. They'll be supported by Commissar Karat and his men. We'll have fighters flying air cover, so you guys need to focus on destroying any parked planes and choppers that may be trying to lift off."
He jabbed his stick at the middle. "Much of the focus will be here towards the southern part. They have the largest concentration here, so we'll be sending our major force of tanks and IFVs here. The second you're in view, they'll be sending a mass of T-90s right towards you. Do not give them a chance to fire at close range. You fire when you see them; use the newest ordinance from Taelur."
"The ramjet shells, sir?" one of the Saddle armor commanders asked.
"Exactly," Black Forest clarified. "Newest from the R&D kids in Hibern. Gave it a magical charge thanks to the materials we confiscated from Sky Breaker. Colonel Applejack will be leading the front charge, and her tank has already been outfitted with a special gun to fire them, as are a number of others who could be modified fast enough."
"Will they work, sir?" Applejack quickly inquired.
Black Forest met her gaze and smirked shyly. "To be honest, no idea. That's never been done before. But if it's to be tried, this is the place to do it."
"Not exactly instilling confidence sir, no offense," the same Hippogriff added.
"The same was said when the F-117 was first flown during the last Continental War. Look how phenomenal it's done so far," Black Forest retorted. "Now as I was saying. The 2nd Equestrian Armored and the 11th Crystal Grenadier's we'll be charging the front lines with the Saddle's flying air cover. Marines assaulting the village will be covered by Imperial Gepards. Intelligence is not expecting a large amount of resistance there, but according to our last drone, it's an ammo dump. So, expect a lot of explosions."
Placing his left hand on the top of the stick, he pushed down and it folded into itself. "Everypony listen," he said softly. "This battle is going to be the largest to date; the largest ground battle of the entire war since the Battle of Hell's Teeth in the Badlands that marked the final push of changelings out of Equestria. We're against an enemy who is equal to us in terms of arms and armor. A lot of them are scared and desperate, so they will fight twice as hard. There are more of them out there since Cider Valley is just two-hundred miles away from Fyrick. Sharpclaw's best are here, but we have no sighting of Meteor Squadron. If we win here, we're just that much closer to ending this war. Which is why we cannot afford a loss here; I want everypony fighting their hardest and more. I don't need to tell you what's at stake if we lose this battle."
A hand slowly raised from the back. Black Forest pointed. "Yes, commander?"
The young, nervous looking Hippogriff stood, smoothing out his uniform and swallowed. "Sir... will... Wraith One be flying in the battle?"
Silence dominated the room as all eyes fell on General Black Forest. He pursed his lips and shook his head. "I don't know. Last I heard... "
"... We are not gonna miss that fight!"
The Tomcat's engines roared as Rhapsody throttled up behind the Rafale, pouring lead into the fuselage. The enemy fighter burst into flames. "No way in hell."
"All enemy interceptors destroyed. All Wings, you're clear to resume course."
With the Tomcat leading the charge. The assembled Ghost, Gold, and the newly transferred Emerald Wings fell back into formation and resumed course south to Saddle Arabia. Rhapsody couldn't help but smirk at the numbers she was leading. The same amount as when she led the strike against Sky Breaker, but it still gave her goosebumps to think of how many were behind her. Even better, they had not lost any planes during the skirmish. "We've got three tanker aircraft on the way, Ghost lead. They'll give you enough fuel to get all the way back to Saddle Arabia."
Mythic yawned and Rhapsody could see him stretching in his Typhoon cockpit. "We've been airborne for what? Six hours now? I'm hungry!"
"I'd say not eating has done you some good," Rhapsody retorted. Sprig and Amethyst snickered. Spitfire hissed as if she was in pain.
Mythic merely huffed. "Okay, yeah, I deserve that from a few weeks ago."
"So do we know when the next offensive is?" Aquamarine asked from his Fighting Falcon pulling up beside Rhapsody. The Gold wing F-16Cs of the Crystal Empire, as well as the F/A-18Cs of Emerald wing, had joined with Ghost on their return trip to Saddle Arabia. Under orders from Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, they would be sent to the front to bolster Crystal morale. They would be flying with Ghost wing (though Rhapsody preferred 'the 14th Tactical'. There were six other wings in the 14th after all), and when the Crystal ground soldiers saw that, they would fight harder knowing they were doing their own part for the war.
"According to the Joint Chiefs, it'll be in Cider Valley. It's the only straight corridor to Fyrick," Amethyst answered.
"And the most heavily guarded route," Spitfire added. "Which means about seventy percent of our active forces will be deployed in the middle of a massive, flat desert. And the Gryphons won't be the only enemy down there. Heat, sand, a lot of troops down there are going to be dropping into a furnace."
"You'd think that with the size of the military budget, they'd make armor that can cool down the troops," Rhapsody muttered.
"Not in the budget, Wraith," Spitfire countered. "The only thing in the budget is boomsticks, bullets, and bombs."
Rhapsody sighed and shook her head. Setting her Tomcat to autopilot, she adjusted her gloves and scratched the back of her neck. "And when will this be? Next week?"
"Day after tomorrow."
Everypony seemed to blanch as a silence dominated the air. "Sky Gazer, you can't be serious. We're just getting back!" Amethyst cried. This was followed by mutters of agreement from the other Crystal pilots.
"Sorry, Phantom," Scootaloo in the AWACS called out. "You're getting refueled, you're landing, you get a day to relax and make any preparations or notify next of kin, you sleep, and then you're back in the air. But if it's any consolation, you'll be back with the 14th when you land."
Mythic grunted. "It would be nice to be around familiar faces again. Can only imagine who's new in the 14th."
"Not many," Scootaloo replied. "Ground pounders have been doing most of the heavy lifting until now. For this battle coming up, the Joint Chiefs want everypony at the ready. The battles ahead are going to be incredibly difficult. Right now we're in the Gryphnian heartland."
Rhapsody sighed. "And not much farther than that, the capital."
"If Gryphnia doesn't surrender, Fyrick will be burned to the ground before it's all over," Spitfire announced darkly. "Sharpclaw won't give up his city until every gryphon is dead."
"We'll be ready," Rhapsody replied swiftly. "For now, let's just get to Shabal Air Base so we can get some hot chow. Could kill for a bowl of soup right now."
"Could kill for a turkey leg right now." Everypony flying began groaning and making noises of disapproval. Rhapsody could almost hear Sprig blushing. "Right... forgot I'm the only one here who eats meat."
Rhapsody finished adjusting her gloves as she exhaled out her nose, staring out ahead on the plains. The landscape was slowly giving way to desert, the vegetation receding from view. If Rhapsody remembered her previous trip from Shabal, they were less than a hundred miles from their destination. She never thought she'd live long enough to see AEGIS landing their aircraft in air bases inside Gryphnia; let alone did she expect to see herself flying in Gryphnia any time soon. Yet here she was, heading for one right now. This far into the war, it was so casual to fly in Gryphnian airspace. She gave permission for a small smile to grace her muzzle, yet her sea-green coat still felt chilled.
Something told her there was still much to do, and that this was far from over.
The Prince was still sobbing as he crossed the border. His small prop-driven aircraft, given to him on his birthday as one of the few great gifts his father had given him, was his only conversation.
Wiping his eyes, Marcus once again checked the map. He had circled a particular spot just a couple hours ago before the guards, grudgingly, let him fly off. His father had ordered him to be thrown out of Fyrick by any means necessary, even if that meant if he wanted to take his own plane. But this spot was where his next destination was.
His plane would more than likely not meet the destination, but all he needed it to do was get him as close as his fuel could get him. He would do the rest himself.
Marcus's only worry was AEGIS shooting him down before he could speak with them.