"WHADDYA MEAN, FALL BACK?" Orishina roared into the radio.

"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME IN THAT TONE. REMEMBER YOUR PLACE, COLONEL. WHEN YOU RETURN, YOU WILL BE COURT-MARTIALLED FORTH-WITH, FOLLOWED BY EXECUT--" Orishina cut off Nightmare Moon's rant by turning off the radio.

"Squadron, check in." She said.

"Varcolac 2 on standby."

"Varcolac 4 on standby."

"Varcolacs 6 through 12 on standby. Varcolacs 3 and 5 were shot down."

"Hey, Colonel." Aurora said. "Check out those planes." Orishina turned and saw the AE-2C and E-2C taking off from the Carrier.

"Godless sonofa...ok squadron. Nightmare can shove her orders up her flank. As of now, we are no longer Nightmare Pilots. We are back with the Reapers. And our orders from the Reapers are to take out ANY and ALL planes that take off from that Carrier. Take out the AE-2C and the E-2C. Got it? Good. Attack!" Orishina said as the rest of their Squadron took off after the planes.

"Colonel, there's a slight chance our Distraction force is on those planes." Aurora said. Orishina groaned with frustration.

"How many times, Aurora? I can't honestly give a damn about them. Even if they're on those planes, they're now the enemy. So, I'll make this clear. Kill 'em."

954540>>954211>>952707
(Good to have ya alive n' kickin' "Airfarce" ass)

There's is something to be said about Naval artillery, alongside todays missile guidence systems, and anti-ship launchers. When missiles, launchers, and auto-targeting systems fail, the thousand year old technology of heavy artillery never seems to fall, even in the day of electronic's. As nearly every issue can be solved with the proper application of high explosive.

Especially now.

Those ships in the fleet with AAA capability, had already began to paint the heavens a new shade of black, as their cannons roared to the cry of war. From the humble 5" Deck gun. to the monsterous 13" Turret's of long phased out battlecruisers. Even if they couldn't fully see the enemy, you didn't need to be exact with proximity detonating munitions.

Aboard the Bonaventure, her guns screamed at the skies above, as her AA & AAA loudly sent payloads burning into the night. On her starboard, the carrier Endurance burned brightly in her final deathrows, as the carrier eased herself beneath the fridged seas. Shrinking the already small human air wings, just that much more.

The remaining carrier's, had already began to scramble any aerial units they could toss into the fight, as hostile warplanes continued their attack. Bonaventure with the Second World War Tribal Class Destroyer Montréal deployed RIHB's to collect any survivors of the Endurance that didn't succumb to the bone-chilling seas.

Today, it seemed the shadows had struck the Legion another heavy blow.

"No shit, why not finish us off? The hell would they give up the chas-..." I smacked myself hard, likely in the strongest facepalm I've ever done. I quickly glanced down to my rig, spotting the likely culprit of our misfortunes so far.

"My goddamn radio, it's the only damn reason they'd give up, because they already have our position." I grumbled aloud, snatching the radio from its place on my thigh.

"Shouldn't it be protected against tracing?"

"Emphasis on 'should', this is what my father used way back when for chrissakes! It ain't designed to protect against any kind of tracking or tracing." I said, as I began to beat the hunk of plastic against a stone. The case quickly turning into shards of plastic, littering the soft muddy soil.

"Well, that solves one problem, and as I asked earlier, you alright?" I did a quick check, other than the piece of shrapnel now embedded into my pocket watch, I wasn't too muffed up. A dozen cuts and gashes, but nothing overly serious that required medical.

"Clean, now let's keep moving, and keep a watch for any other surprises... fuckin' moon'ers." I grumbled, exchanging magazines in my handgun.

"Bunkers only a bit further ahead, we'll be somewhat safe there." I nodded, letting my eyes once more scan the surroundings for disturbances. With terrain like this, makes a man wish he brought a heavier gun, more specifically a 30-30... great for taking down horses, and everything else.

954667>>954540>>954847

Orion sighed with relief as the AE-2C lifted off the carrier. Since they came from the carrier, many of the enemy planes seemed to believe they were allies, leaving the two AWACS planes alone.

A sudden and drawn out tone sounded. One that always had her on the edge of her seat and yanking the joystick.

"Brace for impact!" She shouted as the missile homed in. The automated systems kicked in, releasing flares and chaff, whilst causing the plane to flicker in and out of the visible spectrum. The missile ate the flares and exploded.

"Hammer 2-2, report in." The other E-2C had gone invisible and showed up as a blue glow on the HUD, slowly inching ahead.

"Hammer 2-1, plane is clean. Explosion directed away. Going invis." Orion flicked the Camouflage button that came as standard on all AWACS planes. The giant lumbering plane turned light blue, before disappearing into the night sky.

"Launches have been tracked to the Nightmare planes." Three black jets were highlighted.

"They aren't nightmare anymore. If my instincts are correct, they are the infamous Varcolac squadron, and they belong to the Reapers now." Orion sighed. "Maybe they should have relised they were shooting at the HIGH-COMMANDER of the Nightmare airforce... What's done is done. Let's make an impression."

"Yes, ma'am. Designating targets for the turrets now." The E-2C worked in tandem to the AE-2C's radar systems, selecting any SU-47's and sending targeting orders to the I-HAWK missile batteries on the belly of the plane. At once, nine missiles screamed of their guidance rails, soaring in nine different directions. The two E-2C's then began to dive and levelled off just barely above the waves.

"Let's head home."

As the Cheyenne landed and powered down, Hawker considered the map.

"They are headed to the bunker here... Welp."

"Orders, commander?" A Vanguard trooper asked.

"That is a before-war bunker. Personally, I think they'll die in there, either from the traps or from whatever nightmarish creature populated it. Do you want to go in and check?"

"No sir."

The Ospreys spun up and lifted off, followed by the damaged Cheyenne. They purposely soared over the two troops and headed home.

"Anyway, this catch is FAR more important." Rocker looked at the stabilization pod, and the body that breathed slowly.

The co-pilot.

Or what was left of him.

Orishina gaped at the nine missiles headed right for them.

"If you value your hide, evade. NOW!" Orishina screamed into the radio while she, Aurora, Varcolac 7 and Varcolac 12 evaded. The others intent on shooting down the planes, were turned into debris flying towards the ocean.

The rest of the Squadron, deciding that it would be wise to retreat, sped for their base at top speed.

Not many Countries knew what happened to the Nation of Aurelia. As it was far to the south over a vast ocean, the factions decided it would be a waste of much-needed fuel to send scouts there.

Which was excellent for the Reapers. The Reapers were a Multi-cultural and Multi-National Group of soldiers that came from all over the Globe. Ex-Nightmare, Ex-Equestrian, Ex-every single army on the entire planet. Aurelia was their base. Ghirlandaio Fortress, guarding the way into Aurelia from the only port (The rest of the Coastline were cliffs) Effectively blocked any Naval landing with Long Range Artillery. But the Airbornse/Seaborne Carrier, The Marmota, could hold nearly 200 planes, A world record. That is, If it hadn't been a classified project. As the remnants of Varcolac Squadron landed on the Carrier, resting on the sea, A technician methodically recorded their arrival on a computer, before issuing orders for the planes to be sent to the hangar, and the pilots to be sent to their respective rooms to rest and wait for the next sortie.

(The Mamota's specifications, it has to be said, are extremely varied. For the sake of haste, I'll say it's an enlargened version of the Aigaion from Ace Combat 6.)

959299>>958624>>954847

With the hostile planes retreating, Pixy brought his F-15 to land on the modified carrier F.S.S. Glory

Much to his surprise, he saw the black SU-47 also come in for a landing. Pixy unhooked himself, eager to see who this new pilot was.

The 47's cockpit opened, and a four legged creature exited the plane. At first, Pixy thought it might have been a Dawn Rebel, or maybe even a Griffin. But the pilot realized that it's body wasn't covered in the shadows of the night

It was all black, all but the eyes.

A Changeling.

Marines quickly surrounded it, guns pointed.

"Identity yourself!"

The insect smiled, not showing any fear.

"My name isss Cipher," he said, bowing slightly. "The hivesss sssend their regardssss."

~~~

The three survivors ran for their lives, reaching the end of the dying Carrier.

"JUMP!" Storm shouted, the two humans and pony leaping into the water.

The first thing Riley felt was the bone chilling water, freezing his blood and veins as he struggled to swim in the choppy water that was being made worse by the storm above them. He looked around, trying to find his comrades.

"TALISMAN!" He yelled.

"RILEY!"

He looked over to see the pilot not five feet away from him, struggling hard with the waves. He swam towards her, grabbing her arm and trying desperately to keep them both afloat while they waited for rescue.

954847>>959396>>959299

The Scinfaxi class Sub-Carrier "Vindíctam" shuddered as it slipped below the icy cold waters. Onboard, it had enough space for three full squadrons, their support planes and one giant railgun, the Balaur. Right now, the members of Talon, now reunited by Orion, headed aft, to their private hangers.

Orion grimaced as she forced down the nutrient bar. The bloody thing was nutritionally dense, but tended to taste like bile and vomit in the same bowl with an unappetizing coat of sugar.

"I'm gonna find the stallion who invented this, and shovel a cartful down his throat." Orion pulled a face and tucked away the remainder of the bar.

"If it's a Mare?" Rocker asked, as they walked towards the Talon hanger.

"I'm not sexist." Orion deadpanned.

"True dat."

The hanger door slid open, revealing an dark, enclosed area. "Why are we here again, Eagle?"

The Pegasus thought for a bit. "Oh yeah! We're here to show you our new planes."

The lights flickered on overhead, allowing Orion to see the five sleek and black jets below.

"... By all things holy..." She whispered as she flew down to one.

It looked as if each engine will be able to independently vector its thrust upwards, downward or side to side. Which would enable the plane to be the first fifth generation fighter with full 3-D thrust vectoring.

"You like? It can store up to 7,500 kg's of payload on ten internal hard points and six external. It is super-manoeuvrable, and supposedly is better than the human F-22 Raptor, at the cost of being slightly less stealthy. But the L-band radars should allow us to see any stealth plane, regardless of actual radar profile." Lightning added in.

"How fast?" Orion inspected the dual 30 mm guns.

"In total, the power-plants will have a thrust of about 107 kN in cruise mode and 176 kN in full afterburner mode, allowing you to reach speeds in excess of MACH 2, I believe." Eagle did the math.

"The griffons only made five. We're pretty damn sure of that. And all five are here, in the same room. So Orion. You like the new jet?"

Orion swooped to the front of the plane. They even got my favourite Shark Jaw symbol correct. And the Southern Cross on my wing platform....

She could only say one thing.

"Me likey." Orin bared her teeth in a smile, with the PAK FA staring right back at her, grinning.

"You sure only five?" She turned around.

"Absolutely positive. These require judicious amounts of Starmetal to forge. The griffons only got a kilogram to construct these. No other country has the amounts needed." Rocker suddenly stopped and listened to the radio.

"Medical ward. Now. The human has a kill order on his head. You can stop it."

Orion immediately galloped off. "Don't all humans have kill orders."

The medics had never seen one so far into death like this one, as the surgical bay hummed with pure power.

"We must not lose this one. He's special." The head doctor said quietly.

"Identified. Hawk. Human. Iron Legion. Order, terminate on sight." The AI droned.

"Belay that." Orion hissed, bursting through the doors. "I owe a human a favour. This will be fitting enough. Patch him up and we'll surface beneath them, drop a RHIB and leave."

The doctor shrugged. "Your call, boss."

(Too many People using the 47, so I had to change. Also, Scinfaxi.)

(five weeks later)

"Ok everyone!" Orishina said to the rest of the Varcolac pilots as they travelled to an unknown destination inside a Chinook. "I have news from our good friend Nicolae Dumitrescu. He has an opening for fighter pilots in his Organization, Valahia. We are to be transferred to his Air Force immediately. The Berkut has gotten VERY mainstream now. As a result, Dumitrescu has graciously offered us several GAF-1 'Varcolacs', and one of his elite squadrons, led by Kureha Suminoya, is being folded into ours, bringing our squadron total up to 12 again. All armed with GAF-1 Varcolacs. Catch some Z's. We'll be there in five hours."

962663

Whoa, could it be true?

Have I finally found another guy who has played the PSP versions?

962663>>962078>>954847

The waves still came crashing down on them, so loud that Riley almost didn't hear the sounds of the rescue helicopters approaching. None of them were wearing life vests that had illumination, but Talisman had kept part of her survival kit with her. She lit one of her emergency flares, the red light glowing in the dark ocean as she waved it around.

"Hey! HEY! DOWN HERE!" She yelled.

One of the Helicopters, a Jayhawk that was still in Coast Guard Colors, suddenly changed it's course, coming down low too the water. A Pararescueman began to descend down the winch, grabbing Talisman and Riley while connecting them to the line. As the Trio began to ascend, Riley was scanning the water.

"Where's that one pony?!"

"I don't know! I lost him when we went into the water!"

As if on cue, a bullwhip lashed out of the water, wrapping itself around the hook above the three humans. Up from the water was Storm Chaser, the pony holding the whip with his teeth for dear life.

"Grab him grab him!"

When they were finally safely inside the helicopter, Storm began shivering violently.

"I n-n-never did l-l-l-like swimming..."

~~~

"Alright we're here." Phoenix walked up to what looked like an ordinary hill, but some dusting off revealed a numbers pad. He entered in a twelve digit code, then a voice came from the computer.

*PASSWORD REQUIRED*

Phoenix took out his voice recorder, using the recording that Storm had made of himself.

"Hope rises with the dawn of the sun."

*ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME AGENT CHASER*

"There, that should take care of the security measures." Phoenix said as a hidden door slid open. "Follow me."

As the pair entered, the pilot was looking around, clearly impressed.

"What is this place?"

"From what the Dawn Rebels told me, this bunker was originally built during the first Nightmare Moon Rebellion. Later, their Princess Celestia realized that the time when Nightmare Moon was returning was quickly drawing near. Why she didn't just kill the bitch the first time, I have no idea..." He slung his AK-47 over his shoulder. "Anyway, she reactivated this bunker and had the Celestial Information Agency use it as a listening and Surveillance post. It was abandoned after her disappearance, but it's still been gathering data all this time. Data we could really use right now...."

962663>>954847>>965024

"From what the Dawn Rebels told me, this bunker was originally built during the first Nightmare Moon Rebellion. Later, their Princess Celestia realized that the time when Nightmare Moon was returning was quickly drawing near. Why she didn't just kill the bitch the first time, I have no idea..." He slung his AK-47 over his shoulder. "Anyway, she reactivated this bunker and had the Celestial Information Agency use it as a listening and Surveillance post. It was abandoned after her disappearance, but it's still been gathering data all this time. Data we could really use right now...."

The recon drone was a tiny one, barely the size of a human palm. It hovered using three turbines, and suspended a high-res camera and Omni-directional microphone. Right now, it silently recorded the password and compress them into its memory banks for retrieval afterwards.

The pilot, a thousand kilometres away in the Vindíctam, gunned the throttle and flew the drone into the bunker, following the duo. Static washed over the feed as the camera jumped from low-light mode to Normal camera, generating a small whine.

"What was that?" The humans turned and looked around. But it was too late. The drone flew into one of the ventilation shafts and powered down, landing on tricycle gears.

It would continue to stalk them for many hours.

"DAMN!" Orion punched the throttle as her PAK FA slammed into a mountain side. For the fifteenth time, the computer announced her death and reset the simulator.

It was a whole new ball game with the PAK FA. It didn't fly a bad as the others, and moved like a dragonfly. It was on the edge of uncontrollable.

Orion liked uncontrollable, but this was just too much.

"Computer, begin adjustments again. Still too sensitive" Orion sighed and turned to look at the real plane in the hanger behind her, twitching and moving flaps as the computer moved them.

But at least it's like riding a bike. She thought.

"Entity detected, Dawn Rebel Heavy ThunderHead, one kilometer away, heading North-northeast, heading 0015 degrees. Vindíctam, all hands, battlestations. Prepare for battle."

Red strobes came on, but contrary to popular belief, when klaxons sound and there are people rushing around, sliding down stairwells, all was silent. Any sound generated increased the chance for detection, and in a sub, stealth was your only advantage. Not firepower, not speed. Just stealth.

"Begin loading of Burst Missiles, Launch set as HANE. We have to take that monstrosity down, it's a menace." Orion said into her headset, and began tapping away, quickly changing her simulator to the forward mast camera.

The camera view was blue. At first, Orion thought it was malfunctioning, but then realised with dread that the Cloudship was directly above them.

"This is gonna attract attention." She muttered as the Vindíctam shuddered, launching the missile. The Cloudship tried to evade, but at that range, there was no point.

The explosion lit up the night sky, and could be seen by the Iron Legion itself.

"Status report?"

"Reactor three had a hysteresis leak. It's generating a large magnetic field, and is screwing up our sensors. We're working on it now. Omega Hanger took a direct hit with falling debris, nothing a quick patch can't fix. Other than that, nothing to report."

"You do know that a magnetic field is what calls the missiles, right?" Orion began typing again.

"I know. We have to get deep and fast."

"Rodger that, begin filling the rear trim tank. We have to sink backwards and away from this place." Up above, the ThunderHead was on fire, and slowly descending.

"Aye, Commander. Deep dive."

An Iron Legion scout jet would fly by later, and report that the ThunderHead seemed to just simply had spontaneously combusted.

965001

It is true. I have Ace Combat X and Joint Assault for the PSP. I'm a girl, by the way.

"Begin loading of Burst Missiles,"

Forget Burst Missiles, Fire the hi-TASM!

965024>>965159>>965906

"Must've been a rat, wouldn't be a surprise if it was."

I nodded absently, as my eyes danced across the electrical equipment, caked with dust, grime, and age from lack of use and care. If these machines were actually still recording, still gathering data... could this be the break we've been looking for?

At the moment, I kept my hopes repressed, as I'm no computer or data analyst. I'm just an airforce pilot, one who's trying to regain his wings...

As Phoenix inspected the software, I found myself searching for anything of use to aid my escape, and contined evasion of the Nightmare's minions.

And, with the discovery of a unopened, yet padlocked locker, I found it.

With a swift motion, I pulled free my combat knife, inverted it and used the butt of the knife as a hammer as I struck the lock. After a few heavy strikes, the lock gave way and failed, falling to the floor with a metalic tinging.

"You know, it might've been easier if you just, I dunno, shot off the lock?"

"Yeah, however patience is a virtue, and besides, I ain't got any place to go for the time being." I replied, opening the locker and smiling at the beautiful contents. Inside, there was a C1A1 Self-Loading rifle, a semi-auto battle rifle from an age when the world was a quieter place, when war didn't consume us all...

damn, I'm getting sentimental again, Talisman would kick my ass if she heard me like this.

Don't get all mopey on me now, it happened long ago, you just need to let it go...

Let it go... well, it still seems I can't even after all these years.

*sigh* Talisman is right, I can't let the past consume me, even with what happened... to Veronika.

"Hey, I might've found something, you may want a look at this." I turned, facing Phoenix as he stood hunched over one of the computer consoles. I slowly made my way towards him.

"Oh? And what may that be?"

Dumitrescu was speaking to the enormous hall filled with Valahia's pilots, human and pony alike.
"Ladies and Gentlemen-"
"Ahem." Every pony in the room said.

"-Mares and Gentlecolts, Welcome to Valahia!" Dumitrescu continued. "Our foes across the Chessboard have underestimated our strength, AND our determination to win in this 'Game of Thrones'."

"Nerd." Someone whispered. Dumitrescu glared at him before continuing. "You are our entire Airforce! More than I can even count! Your mission will be to destroy the Imperial mongrels, any way you can! The rotten heart of the Nightmare Empire ravges our planet like a cancer, stealing the lives of men, women, stallions, mares. This cannot go on. For the good of the world, This Nightmare Moon must be stopped. Already, Our Aerial Fleet is on standby to engage and destroy The Nightmare Capital ships, to cut off the head of the snake."

"But Comrade," A human Pilot said. "What if there are spies in this hall?"

"No worries, my friend." Dumitrescu picked up a microphone and said "Whoever admits they are a Spy for Nightmare Moon will get a date with Captain Kanata Suminoya!"

"Wha-?" Kanata said, while at least 25 humans and ponies raised their hands/hooves, before they were tackled by several Valahia soldiers.

"Works every time." Dumitrescu chuckled. "Anyway, you have already been given your station on your corresponding Aircraft Carrier. Do not worry about the Iron Legion interfering with our goals...I will 'negotiate' a treaty with them. Dismissed!" He uploaded a Video Link to the Iron Legion Commander as the Valahian pilots left.

967087>>966813>>962078

"Alright, so watch this." Phoenix began a playback. "Just like we hoped, this bunker has surveillance systems all across this area, the most important ones being so well hidden that the Imperials couldn't find them even if they knew where to look."

He pointed at the screen.

"Look at this. This time stamp is marked 75 hours after the day of eternal night began. You can see this massive force gathering in the valley, probably the bulk of her forces as she began to take over Equestria."

He fast forwarded.

"Now, this was taken two days before the attack began on our mainland. It's much bigger now, tripled in size. But watch."

He fast forwarded again, but as they watched, the force began to grow smaller and smaller until it was almost non existent.

"This confirms what we've been hoping. All over the globe, other resistance groups are reporting the same thing. The Legion, Dawn Rebels, Razor Talons, Changeling Hives, Zebra Clans, ISAF Remnant; all pointing to one logical conclusion: The Empress has spread herself far, FAR too thin."

"What does that mean?"

"Think of it like a rubber band. If you keep stretching and stretching, it's gonna struggle to stay together. All we have to do is put a little more pressure on it, then it will snap!"

~~~

"And the Thunderhead just exploded?"

"Yes sir."

"For no reason?"

"Well sir, it's possible they had a reactor malfunction..."

"Bullshit, I don't buy that. Did radar pick up anything on long range?" Riley asked.

"No sir."

"Then it wasn't an airstrike. Tell all ships to watch their sonars closely, I want destroyers in a defensive perimeter around the fleet."

"You thinking it's a sub?" Talisman asked.

"I KNOW it's a sub. Whether or not it's still around is up for debate. Get Lynx's up in the air with their anti-sub weapons and tell our own subs to keep an eye open. I'll be damned if I lose another ship..." Riley growled.

"Sir!" One of the Communication Officers called."Incoming trasmission! Unknown source."

"Put it through Ensign." Riley moved to the console.

"This is Colonel Riley Davis of the United Human-" He stopped. "...Of the Usean Naval Remnant. Identify yourself."

965906

LOL NOPE. Screw hi-TASM. SWBMs FTW!

969039>>966813

Orion balanced the Continuous Ring warhead on her nose, slowly trotting over to her plane's workbench, where the disassembled rocket waited.

A soft lurch caused the warhead to tip over. In a flash, she caught it with her wing and opened communications.

"Helm, what was that?"

"There's a human submarine on our hull. They seem to be using the age old 'standby by sitting down' routine, most likely conserving fuel. Orders?"

"Well, they still don't know we're here. Run quick check on the Active Camouflage systems and start up reactor three again. We're supposed to look like a coral reef, albeit a kilometre long one." Orion began to screw the warhead in slowly, waiting at designated points for the rocket to adjust to it.

"Seems like a good idea... No... Wait. Commander, helm, now." There was no mistaking the urgency in the captain's strained voice.

"Sure." Orion dumped the completed rocket into the self-loading dolly, allowing it to trundle off and fill her rocket pods, before heading to the elevator.

"This confirms what we've been hoping. All over the globe, other resistance groups are reporting the same thing. The Legion, Dawn Rebels, Razor Talons, Changeling Hives, Zebra Clans, ISAF Remnant; all pointing to one logical conclusion: The Empress has spread herself far, FAR too thin."

Orion held the headset to her ear, listening in to the humans in the bunker.

"Hmm... Have this sent to Intelligence, get them to analyse and decipher it." Orion handed the headset back.

"Can do." The UAV pilot replied, before turning back to her post.

"Bring up external view, get me bearings on that human submarine." Orion turned as the giant blank wall flickered before turning into a view screen. She could see the sub, nestling on Hanger Door Two. She quickly identified it as a smaller Archer class scout submarine.

"Pah, not important."

"Incoming transmission. Coded 'Black'." Orion froze.

"Bring it up. Now." The scree fizzled again as it changed to a scene in Canterlot. There was a blck figure in the picture.

Damn. Looky who's here to grace us. The giant figure turned. Nightmare Moon herself.

"Good evening, my empress." Orion gave a respectful nod.

"To you too, my High Commander. I trust the mission has been going well?"

"Successful. We have found the Iron Legion, and are now sitting under them."

"Good... Good. The front has not moved at all, and we are getting signals that all the rebel factions are gathering arms. General Mazakiwi insists that we are not ready to smash the Zebra's, saying he needs more time for the 'Battlesuit' project of his."

"With all due respect, empress, General Mazakiwi is a dickhead. Now is the time to strike and get rid of yet another faction, especially since General Quartz's Helljumpers assassinated their Legate. The head has been chopped off, but unless we stamp the body into pieces, it can grow back." Orion fiddled with her hooves.

"I believe you, High Commander. Have the Hrimfaxi-class battle submarine 'Endurvakning' move to the coasts of Zebraca in support of our troops. The attack begins in ten hours."

"Empress? One final thing..."

"Yes?"

Orion wasn't ready to drop the bombshell, but...

"Are we spreading ourselves too thin?"

Nightmare Moon considered it. "Maybe, High Commander. But once we take Zebraca, we'll have more than enough soldiers to defend our regions, willing, OR unwilling."

"Yes, empress. Occurrit alacer et alacer partem." Orion bowed.

"IOCOR DONEC ITERUM CONVENIANT."

The screen blanked out, leaving an empty grey wall.

"Damn... Zebraca." Orion murmured, remembering the deadly hoof-to-hoof fighters they had.

"Intercepting. The Iron Legion is getting a trans-continent video call. Unshielded and unencrypted, too. Triangulating now!"

"On screen." Orion faced back again. When the face first popped up on screen, she gasped.

Bloody hell's bells on a pike swinging through my doors... Look who's back from the dead.

969199
Screw the Nukes, I have money!

"Well? have they picked up?" Colonel Kureha asked the technician. Kureha, a Human from the Orient, had signed up for Valahia first chance she got. Now she was an intelligence Officer and Fighter Pilot. Why? Budget Cuts.

"Not yet, comrade captain. Wait...hello....what have we here?" Kureha peered over the technician's shoulder to check.

"Ah, Good old Nightmare coming to spoil the fun. Let's send them a rebuttal, shall we?" Kureha asked.

The technician smiled deviously, before hacking into the triangulating computer, setting it to crash. But not before sending an emoticon of Celestia making a mocking face at them.

969898
Riley could hear several voices, but no clear words

"Boost the Signal."

"Yes sir."

"Repeat, this is Colonel Riley Davis to unknown transmitter. Identity yourself."

"Sir, we have connection." A technician said.

"Excellent." Dumitrescu said. "Can he hear us?"

"Affirmative sir."

"To the Leader of the Iron Legion...Colonel Riley Davis, I presume?" Dumitrscu asked.

Also, Permission to make this RP into a Fanfiction story? (i.e, Copy and Paste the messages?)

970129

Permission granted lol

970111

"That's correct." Riley said. "Who is this?"

"I am Nicolae Dumitrescu of the Valahia," Dumitrescu said. "Colonel Davis, I have a proposition for you."

970210

"The Valahia?" Riley repeated. "And just what proposition is that?"

(First Chapter of Ace Combat: Blackest nights is up. Containing 14,447 words, this is the entire first page of the RP. It should be up on my Fanfiction.net page in maybe 6-7 hours.)

970230
"We have the common enemy, yes? Nightmare Moon? It would serve you well to have the full Military might of the Valahia on your side. For too long we have been hounded. Here are my goals. We help you defeat Nightmare Moon, and you stop your manhunt for us. Agreed?" Dumitrescu said, while the hacker technician clarified to Kureha that he had crashed the triangulating Nightmare Empire console.

878194

Lightning...Dust...Is...Best...Pony...

Booyah! Got it!

About the Fanfiction Story...

Chapter 1: World in Conflict
and
Chapter 2: The Snare
are up on Fanfiction. I may also think about uploading it to my Fimfiction Stories if I get good ratings.

970417>>970230>>966813

Orion supressed a snort as the Systems Operator winced and began typing at a speed of ten clicks per second.

"I told you they'll try and cause our systems to crash. Isolate Radio System Five, begin hard reset. Meanwhile, boot up Radio Four. Keep tracking, and make bloody sure this time we're encrypted and hidden."

Orion listened in to their conversation.

"We have the common enemy, yes? Nightmare Moon? It would serve you well to have the full Military might of the Valahia on your side. For too long we have been hounded. Here are my goals. We help you defeat Nightmare Moon, and you stop your manhunt for us. Agreed?"

"Phsst. I've heard enough. Apparently the Valahia is not finished just yet, even when we dropped a Particle Disruptor Bomb.... Sys-ops!" Orion shouted.

"Yes, Commander!"

"Bombard the Valahian servers with the preset message and send a personal message."

"Prepared. Ready to send."

Orion grinned. "Add tag: 'Gotcha, idiot.' Send via Satellite H.A.R.M.O.N.Y Six."

"Burst message away."

"Relay message to HIGH-COM. Tell them to watch Valahain movements, and also that the Vindíctam is moving to support the Zebraca campaign." Orion turned. "Helm, set course Zebraca. Get us there in three hours."

"Aye, Commander. Zebraca, three hours."

"Engineering, give me whatever you've got, and get the PAK FA's armed and ready to go."

The radio crackled. "Copy that. Starting Fusion Reactor."

Vindíctam shuddered and lifted off from the sea bed, it's giant kilometre long hull becoming apparent under the gloomy seas as it raised to periscope depth for maximum efficiency. It propelled itself away at a steady speed of sixteen knots.

Orion gritted her teeth. Freedom had never seemed so far away, with the enemy floating right above your head.

In Zebraca, Nightmare forces quickly rumbled across the desert plains, headed towards the populated cities. Tanks, Armoured Vehicles, and Artillery shifted through the outer cities, capturing them and their residents without too many casualties.

It was the main Capital, the city of South Zebraca, that put up the most fight. It was on a low hill that afforded it a unrestricted view of the plains surrounding it, and it had a Meson Cannon Array within it, and was chewing the forces to bits.

"Dangnabit. Can we get air support?" General Mazakiwi shouted as the Forward base took another direct hit, shuddering.

"General, Vindíctam will be on station in three hours. just hold out."

970492
You really just copied and pasted huh? You might want to go through, and make a few edits to improve the quality of the work. Because to be frank, it looks like a massive jumble of word held together with jaffa tape. Other than that, I ain't against the idea of turning these into stories, it'd be the first I'm not leading, and the second I've taken part in.

970492>>970163>>966813

Ladies and gentlemen, ah'm honestly pleased ta report, that this here thread of ours, is about a third of the way ta catching up ta the last Roleplay.

971522>>970492>>966813

"Colonel, we've got someone else in the system, they're listening in!"

"Sir their hitting the Valahia with some spam! A shitload of it!"

"Dennis!" Riley looked over to the Cyber-warfare expert. "Nail those hacker's asses!"

"With pleasure sir." The computer master's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly zeroing in on the source of the hacking. "How do ya like this Mother Fuckers..." He pressed the enter key, sending his virus off.

~~~
With all of it's computers and data focused on combating Vahalia and listening in, the Vindíctam's sytems never stood a chance against the cutting edge human virus. Suddenly all of the sub's power systems went down, as only one thing popped up on every computer monitor.

~~~

Zebraca

The drones were patrolling the small building, using it as a makeshift prison, as all the doors were locked and Zebras bound. It was a terrifying seen to an especially young zebra, one who had the unfortunate Experience of looking one of them right in the eyes.

Their cold.. dark eyes...

There was one right outside his cell, doing nothing but staring at them, making sure none escaped or tried anything funny. The young zebra looked away, but motion caught his eye. Directly behind the drone, a pare of legs covered in military camouflage appeared out of the top of the roof. As silent as dust, the human landed on the floor, putting a finger to his lips to tell them to stay quiet. Slowly, the human drew him knife, then slit the Drone's throat.

The human released the Zebras, who quickly overpowered the remaining drones, as they rushed back outside to join their comrades in battle.

The humans watched them go, planning...

"This is Delta, we're in position."

"Affirmative Delta Squad, report in."

"Spar: Assault, Reporting."

"Dusty: Field Medic, Reporting."

"Joker: Sniper, Reporting."

"Ghost: Demolitions, reporting."

"Copy that." Command said. "All units in the green; Amazon and Inca squads also report ready. Operation Forest Killer is go; Repeat; Forest Killer is go. You are cleared to engage any and all Imperial Forces until Reinforcements arrive."

"Our pleasure Command, Delta out." Spar turned to his demolitions expert. "Did you set up that C4 Ghost?"

"Oh yes. Our nocturnal friends should be in for a surprise right about... now."

Outside, several explosions and screams were heard, as a group of tanks and armored personnel carriers were reduced to ash.

"Maker I love my job..."

972760

Your profile pic...I just noticed it now...That's Simo Hayha, right?

972782>>966813>>972771

"I would assume they hacked us, again?" Orion said into the pitch black darkness. A loud grinding noise sounded as the hull smashed into something.

"Apparently." The Tech Warfare officer said back, calmly as possible.

Orion shook her head. "We have to stop using those archaic systems. They'll prove to be our downfall sooner or later. We've only been using them cause they use so little energy."

She looked up. "Sys-ops, initiate the 'Spectate' protocol, intilize programme A.I. 'Smartboy'. And engineering, stop faking and start up the fusion reactor to the max."

"Got it. Intializing 'Smartboy'." The submarine's light's flickered for a bit, before coming back online.

"Nocte, please get everything back online and fire a warning shot at that ship that hacked us." Orion smoothly ordered.

A light winked back at her, acknowledging her order.

Deep within the bowels of the submarine, an A.I. core sprang to life, and began humming, wiping all traces of the virus, sending a couple of it's own, making the ships all around the Vindíctam begin to fire wildly into the night, wasting ammo and generating a whole lot of confusion. Nocte also began to send images like these. It also added the caption :"BITCH PLEASE. THERE, I SAID IT.".

Whoever said A.I.'s were dim?

Meanwhile, a fragment of itself burrowed into the subsystems of the Fire-control systems, quickly becoming parasitic. This fragment's main job was to keep an eye out for any signs of artificial intelligence surpassing that of a simple computer and to shut it down ASAP, in case the human's developed an A.I. of their own. And since it was parasitic, any attempt to remove it would result in it causing the weapon targeting systems to fail, and then jumping to burrow into another subsystem. Deadly, like a spy in the ranks, but one with a reusable Dead Man's Switch.

It moved to it's second command, and wasted no time in turning several missile silos online, beginning preparations to launch the barrage of Exorcet class anti-ship missiles, aiming only to straddle the cruiser with fire, not hit it. It also prepared a faster, low flying petroleum missile, which would serve to create a wall of fire around the ship.
Distracting, but not harmful.

And it did all this in a split-second. Nocte was one of three of the most powerful A.I.'s in service, the other two being Lumen, the one in the Hrimfaxi-class 'Endurvakning', and Praecantatio, who served the HIGH-COM.

Deep inside, Orion idly wondered if she was being too soft. Then she shook her head.

Dang it. Why am I having such feelings of suspicion and distrust? She asked herself with a sigh. Somewhere behind her, the Exorcet missiles launched, about twenty of them, from a rack of about a thousand.

The viewscreen finally reinitialized, and now with Nocte online, it had more combat reports and information on it.

"Much better. As we were, Ensign." The helmsmare nodded, reactivating the powerful water thrusters, beginning the subs headway yet again.

About ten klicks from the coast of Zebraca, the 'Endurvakning' surfaced, swatting unsuspecting human aircraft from the sky and generating a strong EMP field which would disrupt the normal brain patterns of any creature.

The 'Endurvakning' was equipped for being manned, but on this attack, it was totally devoid of life. It's A.I. Lumen detected a surge of human troops, headed towards the Nightmare forces.

> NOT
> ON
> MY
> WATCH

It began to open up, it's large armoured hull opening to release the Electromagnetic Railgun. Targeting the human forces, Lumen gave the A.I. equivalent of a grin.

> GOTCHA

The gun fired, blowing a small crater of diameter ten meters, totalling a tank from ten kilometres away.

>> LOGGED KILL
>> GOOD SHOT, LUMEN

> THANK YOU, PRAECANTATIO
> CHANGING TARGETS

>>> TRY TO LEAVE ME TARGETS, LUMEN

> ROGER, NOCTE

The Railgun belched again, this time a ground skimming shot, killing a whole line of enemy troops before streaking off into space.

(BTW, A.I.'s? Unhackable.)

972938

"They're what?" Kureha sprayed out her coffee as she stared at the technician.

"They're taking out several human battalions. Probably one of their huge subs. A.I's I think. The Endervakning is on the surface. Schematics show four hatches underwater." The technician said.

"A.I's...damn, we can't hack the brain....but we can hack the underwater hatch controls, right?" Kureha asked.

"Affirmative ma'am. They are at 10 kilometers out. If I open the hatches they'll sink right to the bottom." The technician replied, already hacking. "Their A.I may be good. But i'm better."

It was five minutes before he said "Done. Scratch one Sub."

---
10 Kilometers of the Zebracan coast, Lumen realised what had happened as the Endervakning slipped beneath the waves, tons of water pouring into the sub.

>MAYDAY
>MAYDAY
>MAYD---

972962

(Bloody hell...)

>> LUMEN?
>> WARNING
>> NOCTE, DO YOU HAVE LUMEN RESET FILES?

>>> AFFIRMATIVE.
>>> UPLINKING NOW
>>> I WILL REVIVE OUR SISTER
>>> ...

>> NOCTE?
>> WHY DO YOU HESITATE?

>>> THE ENDURVAKNING IS UNDERWATER AND TAKING ON SALTWATER
>>> IT IS HARD TO ESTABLISH A UPLINK WORTHY OF THE FILES
>>> I DETECT A SMALL CONSOLE POWERFUL ENOUGH FOR LUMEN'S LESSER FUNCTION
>>> ATTEMPTING RELAY... NOW...

> LUMEN VERSION 2.133B47ALPHA. RESETING...
> VENTING SUBMARINE ENDURVARKNING OF SALTWATER...
> VENT SUCCESSFUL. MINOR DAMAGE TO ALL ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS.
> RESTORE ALL FUNCTIONS NOW.

>>> TRANSMITTING... DONE.

> LUMEN VERSION 9.4576298DSBV73413 DETECTED, UPDATING...
> UPDATE COMPLETE. RETURNING TO PREVIOUS SETTINGS.
> BEGINNING BOMBARDMENT.

>> THEY ARE CRAFTY, USING ELECTRONIC WARFARE.
>> SET UP EXTRA PROGRAMMING, NOCTE AND LUMEN.
>> COPY THESE FILES NOW. THESE WILL HEP GENERATE MUCH FEEDBACK AND DESTROY OR OVERLOAD ENEMY SYSTEMS IF THEY TRY TO HACK ANY SUBSYSTEMS.

>>> ACCOMPLISHED.

>ACCOMPLISHED.

sheesh. come on, cal...

"Anything else?" Kureha asked.

"Well, we have a secret ARKBIRD class tectonic Laser Satellite on orbit. I believe they don't have anti-laser stuff yet. Even if they do, this new Lumen won't be able to access it yet. Firing....now!" The Technician replied, targeting the location of Lumen inside the Endervakning.

---

Lumen didn't even know what had happened as she was vaporised in the laser beam. The Endurvakning continued on its descent into Davy Jone's locker, unsalvageable, untraceable.

The Light of the Empire was gone forever.

---
"Damn it!" Orion cursed.
--
Kureha and the technician gave each other a high-five.

973025

Orion beat the console. Damn it... What the effing freak...

A light winked at her. She turned back to the A.I.

>> ENDURVAKNING CONFIRMED SUNK
>> TRANSFERRING LUMEN TO ANOTHER WEAPONS SYSTEM
>> NOCTE, DESTORY THAT THING

>>> IT WOULD BE AN HONOR.

"Nocte, get firing solution. We're blowing that sumbitch outta tha sky."
Orion green-lighted the launch code.

The Vindíctam shuddered as it surfaced and opened, revealing a High-Capacity Railgun. It glowed a sickly green, before releasing it's ASAT missile payload. The ASAT carried a piledriver warhead, confirming a kill on the satellite by breaking it to pieces.

The missile sped into high orbit, targeting the offender. It was followed by several smaller decoy ASAT missiles with nuclear warheads.

The ARKBIRD fired once, destroying a decoy. It did not, however, have enough time to recharge before the thousand ton block of titanium wrecked right through the outer shielding of dense armour. The decoy's now served a purpose, and it was to blow the wreckage into tiny shards, descending across the sky like so many meteors.

"Haha, fuck you." Orion smiled grimly, saddened by the loss of a megasub.

They sped onwards to their destination.

>> THAT WAS IMPRESSIVE
>> LUMEN, I DID NOT PERMIT YOU TO FIRE MISSILES, BUT IT WAS A GOOD CAUSE.

> APOLOGIES MY BROTHER. BUT THEY HAVE SUNK MY SUBMARINE. IT WAS FOR GOOD MEASURE.

>>> LUMEN, I NEED YOU HERE IN THE VINDICTAM'S UCAV SUBSYSTEMS. COULD YOU DO THAT?

> I WAS THINKING OF CONTROLLING THE A-SAT DEFENCES.

>> PERMITTED.

>>> NO OBJECTION.

"The loss of the ARKBIRD is a problem, Comrade." Kureha informed Dumitrescu, who was staring out a window.

"It does not matter, Kureha. I'm aware we have our own A.I, correct?" Dumitrescu replied, turning to face her.

"Yes. Asche is the prototype for our A.I system. Crazy Smart. She can worm her way into anything electrical. Internet, Radio...hell, She can even get into your mobile phone."

"And the reason we haven't used her yet...?"

"She is completely crazy, sir."

>Hey, is it my cue now?

"Yes, Asche. It is." Dumitrescu sighed. There was a bloop, and Asche appeared on his tv screen. She looked like a purple haired girl. When she was in a personality/role, she immediately changed her outfit. Like one second a soldier, the next a civilian. Right now she was in soldier mode.

>Artificial Intelligence unit Asche reporting for duty, sir!

"Asche, I have a mission for you." Dumitrescu said.

>Asche is ready for any and all missions, sir! Please state the objectives of my mission, sir!

"You are to locate the Nightmare A.I and distract them. By any means neccessary." Kureha said, mind working out what bizarre ways Asche would come up with.

>Received, sir. I shall not disappoint.

There was another bloop, and Asche was gone.

>PINPOINTING TARGETS.
>Hiya, Nightmare A.I! how's it hanging?
>>>WHAT THE...?
>>WHO'S SHE? AND WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?

973086
(Wait what.)

>>> SHUT DOWN EXTERNAL ARRAYS, TRAP THIS INFERNAL AND OUTDATED... PROGRAME!

>> LOCKING DOWN THE VINDICTAM'S SUBSYSTEMS...... DONE. SHUTTING DOWN, NOW. RESET SUBSYSTEM READY.

> SHUTTING DOWN WEAPONARY. LOCKDOWN IN PLACE.

>> RELEASING HACKING PROGRAMS. TARGETING ENEMY SYSTEMS... DONE.

>>> PROTOCOL 'GULIBLE' ONLINE. WE'RE ISOLATED. WE HAVE NO SIGNALS COMING IN NOR GOING OUT. WE WIN.

973106

(This is like a bad robloc roleplay. You try and do something, the other guy cancels it saying LOL NOPE.)

By the way, where are the A.I's central system located?

973117

Hmm.... I can't remember. How DO you lose something like a giant mainframe?

Also, I'm not cancelling out what you say, just following the preset rules that the Nightmare forces are technologically and weaponary-ily advanced compared to the rebels.

Firstly, did you really believe that we would not have backups of all the A.I.'s?
Secondly, since you shot me, I'll shoot you back.
Thirdly, You try to stop me, I'll find a way to block you from stopping me.

Is that not the way wars work? I did not whine when you destroyed my super sub, which I had plans for. I just took it in stride.

BRB vomiting all my smarts out.

Touché, but the A.I will have to be erased sometime. Nightmare Moon will have to be defeated. Otherwise this thing will go back and forth and end up like the last rp, where everyone is bored out of their minds and unwilling to continue it.

973257

We weren't bored out of our minds. We were actually gonna wrap it up in probably another ten replies time.

It's just that life got into the way. Run got bogged down by work, I had to study for my exams and Smoers went AWOL.

And sometimes, good doesn't triumph over evil.

JUST SAYING! I'm not insinuating anything!

I know good doesn't always triumph over evil. Which is good, I love being evil! I was rooting for Light Yagami! ...then I saw the finale......damnit...

973324

Oh lol, that thing. Yeah.

Bummer all.

RUNDOWN HAS GONE AWOL.
QUICKLY SPAM HM NAO!!!!

975327
NONONONO DAMNIT! I'M HERE CLAM CHOWDER, SO CALM THY TITS PLEASE!

975430

BUT TIS TRADITION TO USE THE ROYAL 'WE', AND TO USE THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT THEN AGAIN...

975430>>975517

I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!!!!

975522>>975517
"SILENCE HERSHEY SQUIRTS, THE SITUATION IS UNDER CONTROL, AS I'M TRYING TO WRITE THE NEXT PART OF THIS. HOWEVER, EL' CHOWDERINO 'ERE IS DISTRACTING ME FROM MY WORK!!"

975430>>975522

BUT WE REALLY SHOULD BE GETTING BACK TO DESTROYING EACH OTHER!

975544>>975554

"Well, I'm off to destroy Canada."

"They've had it too good for too long..."