"What do we do when we're on the ground, Captain?" Agate asked, while I was bracing myself in case the copter was next to be hit.
"Survey the area for a few seconds, then either follow my lead or figure out where the enemy is and engaged them," I shot back, rolling my eyes at how simple ponies can be, before stopping as I heard another explosion going off.
"Wait, that sounds like you plan to abandon us?" Night asked, only for Windbag to give a huff.
"No, she said that in case she's taken out the moment we touched ground," Windbag explained, to which I gave a short nod to.
"Touching down in five!" the pilot yelled to us, causing us to steady the grip on our weapons as we braced ourselves for whatever we were going to face. "Bay door opening!" the pilot announced as the back door to the copter opened up, allowing us to rush out of the copter to catch the sight of enemy anti-aircraft fire, taking the form of green shots of pure energy, pouring across the sky as we landed in some grassy region with patches of trees about us.
Landing on the ground, I scanned the area to find that the fire was coming from a localized area, specifically a forested region where some smoke is coming from. "All air transport units, return to the Solar Glory. Air support, keep a safe distance until we find some suitable targets for you. Now, squad commanders, call yourselves out to me now," I ordered, while ducking behind a rock as the rest of my squad found their own cover. After receiving a series of names, I called out, "Sergeant Spear and Staff Sergeant Peaches, have your squads guard the landing area in case we need to pull back. Everyone else, approach the point of origin of the enemy fire, but keep an eye out for any traps or possible ambushes."
Looking behind me, I ordered, "Windbag, you got my left. Agate, my right. Night, you take up the rear, now let’s move!" before heading towards the forest, darting from cover to cover.
"Umm... Captain, why are we mov—" Agate tried to ask while ducking behind a fallen log, only to be interrupted by the whizz of a high-powered laser gun firing off.
"Sniper!" shouted someone into the radio, as we lowered ourselves to the ground.
"You were saying, Sergeant?" I said, only for Agate to give me an apologetic look in return. Rolling my eyes, I called into the radio, "All unicorns, fire off flash spells towards the target area in ten seconds, then be ready to advance on my call. Otherwise, all units remain in cover."
At my announcement, my squad looked at me in confusion as Night asked, "Captain, what are you pla—"
"Just follow my lead!" I shouted, before I saw the distinct flash of flare spells going off in the forest, brightening the area in blinding light as the flares slowly descended from above, to which I reacted by jumping over my cover. "Charge!"
"What‽" Night cried out in shock, before my squad got over their hesitation before they following me towards the woods. It was only a few seconds before I caught the sight of some sniper fire coming towards my troops, probably to suppress them in order to prevent another flash. This allowed me and my troops to finally reach the tree line, to which I got behind a tree, with my troops getting behind cover.
"I can't believe that worked, and I thought robots were suppose to be high-tech," Windbag said.
"Their basic soldiers aren't going to get anything special beyond standard optics. While a flash won't temporary blind them beyond the flash itself, it still can buy us a few seconds," I answered while peeking past my tree, to which I finally caught a glimpse of the enemy. Not far from us, about fifty or so yards, was eight Xartik soldiers, with two of them wielding their brand of a sniper rifle, based on the gun’s longer length and the larger capacitor compared to the ones wielded by the other soldiers . Shifting my radio to a short range frequency, I muttered, "Okay, I spotted eight enemy combatants, with a pair of snipers in it. Odds are once we engage them, the rest of them will be alerted to our presence and try to either pin us down or take us out."
"Do we really need to engage the enemy if they outnumbered us?" Windbag asked.
"Oh shut it, and everyone take aim at their snipers. They're fifty yards northeast of our position. We don't have long before one of them spots us," I ordered as I shifted the radio by to the long range frequency before taking aim. "All squads, attack!" I ordered into the radio as I opened fire at the snipers. Thanks to the combined firepower of my squad, I saw the two sniper's shields go down fast, allowing them to be taken out. However, that left the rest of robots to return fire, forcing us to take cover.
"Oh Sweet Celestia!" Agate said from behind his rock, as projectiles fly by it.
"Everyone, stay do—" I said before even more fire came at us, including a couple sniper rounds. Damn, we really stirred the hornet's nest! I thought to myself as I looked my troops cower behind their cover.
"Captain, what should we do now?!" Windbag cried out before ducking his head lower behind the log he was using for cover as a chunk of it was blasted off by sniper fire.
"Luna damn it, you three just stay down until the rest of the forces arrive!" I ordered as I looked to my left while lighting up my horn.
"Captain, what are yo—" Windbag tried to say before I cast a teleport spell, arriving at a spot thirty yards away from our original position. Taking off a pair of grenades, I searched for the original group we were engaging to find them behind their own cover, then used my magic to levitate the grenades over to the enemy before pulling the pins. Turning my head after the grenades went off, I scan the area before I felt a shot going right past my head, causing me to duck. "Fuck that was close," I muttered to myself before saying into the radio, "Okay, you three, I want two of you to provide cover fire while the other moves to a new position. I'll be doing my best to attract their attention to get some fire off you guys."
Looking off at the distance again, I found a large rock that was suitable for my next position. Casting another teleport, I peeked my head past the rock to view the area once more, watching the fire that was coming at my old position and my troops to determine where the enemy was. Off in the distance, I could see various Xartik troops roaming about, using the forest for cover as they were closing in on our position. I bit my lip as I thought about how we would hold out before I saw my troops rushing into the forest as they open fire. Hmm... doesn't looks like the Xartik are taking us seriously yet, or their officers didn't make it through, I thought to myself before taking a few shots at the enemy before a griffon came to my spot.
"Captain Aether, Lieutenant Gervas reporting in," the griffon said, before taking a pot shot at the enemy.
"Yeah, just keep things sweet and to the point, have we sustained any casualties?” I asked while shooting the head off a Xartik soldier. With the reinforcements, the tables have turned with the Xartik being pinned down. With no apparent response to this attack, it really seemed like they were sent here with simplistic orders on how to engage us, thinking we may be easy pickings.
"No captain, only a couple of the troops were hit but their shields withstood the shots."
"Good, now pull a couple of squads and send to in a flanking maneuver. The enemy isn't responding to our attack properly, which means they currently lack a command structure, or they're up to something."
"Understood captain," Gervas answered before pass on my orders while I chosen to observe the battle unfolding around me. My squad had finally manage to gather around me, while various squads were pushing forward towards the enemy front lines, while peppering at their cover. So far, it appears that we outnumber the enemy three to one, but oddly enough the enemy weren't using any kind of explosives. This caused me to bite my lip a bit before forcing me to turn my radio on.
"All troops, avoid clumping together in groups. The enemy isn't using explosives, so they may have mined the field. Is there anyone trained in mine detection?" Getting a couple of response, I continued, "Okay, scan the field before our approach for any signs of explosives. I also want a couple of soldiers covering them while they do this."
"So, I take it that battles won't be like this in future battles?" Gervas asked me, causing me to turn my head towards him while narrowing my eyes at that remark.
"What was one of the first rules of engagement the Aegis Guard have to observe, Lieutenant Gervas?" I asked, causing him to gulp.
"To be able to adapt to any situation, Captain."
"Yes Captain, for anything could happen, even an attack from a fifty-feet tall monster. So never get comfortable with the idea of the enemy being predictable, cause odds are it is just a ploy to get us to drop our guard," I replied, before returning my attention to the battle.
"Sorry Captain, I will take this lesson to heart," Grevas vowed as he placed a claw over his heart.
"Oh stop being a kiss ass and get back to shooting Lieutenant!" I yelled before noticing something off in the distance. "Shit! Get down!" I cried out as I tackled Grevas to the ground, pushing him out of the path of an explosive projectile that hit a nearby tree instead, blowing apart its trunk. Looking up, I saw the tree coming down at us, causing me to throw Gervas away before teleporting to a new spot.
"Gervas, alert the troops that the enemy may be getting reinforcements!" I ordered as I charged my horn.
"But why do—" Gervas tried to say before I finished casting my spell, teleporting me right in front of the Xartik soldier that fired at us. While Xartik robots weren't capable of making any kind of expressions, I was certain this one was surprised of my sudden appearance, right before I jam the barrel of my gun into its head before pulling the trigger. As the robot's head shattered into scrap, I quickly viewed its surrounds to see that I was in the middle of an enemy squad, with a couple of them baring their own rocket launchers. Thankfully, my surprise teleport was still affecting them as I charged my horn for a third time while I grabbed onto the fallen Xartik's own weapon before teleporting back to Gervas.
"Captain, what were yo—is that one of the enemy's weapons?" Gervas asked in confusion, as I pulled out a trigger attachment from one of pouches on my armor before attaching it to the weapon's trigger.
"Yeah, but deliver the order Gervas before they blow us out of the fo—" I shouted before the sound of a cannon went off, followed by an explosion and screams of terror.
"Sweet Celestia, what was that‽" Agate cried out, as I threw a shocked Gervas behind the fallen tree before giving him an answer.
"Damn it all, they brought a fucken tank!"