PonyHammer 40,000: Magic of War II | Discord Rising

by Dragon Heart

Battle for the Array

At the array on the planet's surface, Spike was doing everything he could to hold back the forces of Discord that assaulted him. Cultists were trying to defeat him with great numbers, but Spike's bolter rounds kept their numbers in check. A call came to him from the Blood Phoenixes.

"Spike? Are you receiving?" said Applejack.

"Sergeant Applejack?" Spike exclaimed. "Thank the Celestial One! I am defending the array, but the Traitor Legions are here!"

Applejack called the Strike Cruiser. "Retribution, prepare to provide close support." She said.

Hammerheart and the Pony Marines headed out to save Spike. It didn't take long for them to reach him, but danger had already came to him as he fought against lesser daemons of Khorne.

"Away from me, fiend!" Spike yelled. "Get- Augh!" The daemon slashed him with its flaming sword and brought him to the ground.

"Spike!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "We must revive him!"

The daemons and Discord Pony Marines turned their attentions to Hammerheart and the others. The daemons lunged at Hammerheart, but his Thunder Hammer dispatched them easily. The Discord Marines opened fire, but were soon gunned down by the rest of the Blood Phoenixes. Hammerheart rushed up and gave Spike quick medical revival treatment.

The fallen TechDrake got back to his feet. "My thanks, Commander Hammerheart." Spike said nearly out of breath. "I am glad to see you again."

"We had thought you lost when your Lightningeagle went down, Spike." said Applejack. "How did you survive?"

"A story for another time, Applejack." Spike said, getting back to the mission at hoof. "The heretics will surely try for the array again any moment."

"We cannot stay here defending this relic for eternity, TechDrake." said Hoovitus.

"Indeed." said Spike, "But we cannot leave the valuable data in its cogitator for the enemy to take." He brought his left hand to his comm link. "Strike Cruiser, this is TechDrake Spike." He said. "Deploy power generators to the following coordinates." He laid out the positions for the generators to land, and after finishing, more Discord Cultists came after them. Hammerheart and the Pony Marines unleashed a barrage of fury, dwindling their numbers next to nothing. Then four generators landed in their designated locations.

"Good." said Spike, "Now that the array is powered, I can initiate a cognition transfer rite to secure the records. Just keep the enemy from destroying those generators."

And so began the long wait for the data to be downloaded to the ship, but the bandits that Spike mentioned in his distress call came into view.

"Oy! Poniez! Dis place belongs to da Hogs!" A Hog shouted.

"Pigskin Bandits." said Spike.

"A fight on two fronts, then." said Hoovitus.

The Pony Marines did away with the small Hog party, and Pinkie noticed something that could help them in the long run.

"Commander Hammerheart, the Hogs are using a gate to access the complex." She said. "We should seal it."

"The Pigskins will just go around, Pinkie." said Hoovitus.

"Exactly, directly into the Traitor Pony Marines." said Pinkie.

Hammerheart went to activate the gate switch just as more Hog Bandits came in. The mechanism began to hum, and the gate rose from the ground, blocking the Hogs' way.

"Garh! The ponies done closed da gate!" one of the Hogs complained.

"Den go around da udder way, ya gitz!" another Hog said impatiently. "And kill every ponie ya see!"

The Hogs turned and headed towards the other entrance, little did they know that they would run into Discord forces on their way there.

Meanwhile, one of the Firagun Turrets that Spike deployed was shooting at incoming cultists and Discord Marines. Hammerheart and the others went over to fend them off. They shot at the heretics with their righteous fury.

Spike approached Hammerheart with some information. "Commander, I have gathered several valuable relics from the wreckage of my Lightningeagle." He said. "They are in a storage area a short distance away. If possible, we should recover these items before they are looted by the Hogs."

Hammerheart went alone while the others defended the array and generators. When he found the storage area, Hogs were already trying to break in, but Hammerheart shot at them and caught their attention. The Hogs took up their axes and went after him, but were pitifully overpowered by Hammerheart's Termineightor Armor and weapons. He retrieved every single relic inside and headed back to the array.

When he returned, Spike approached him again with more information.

"Commander, I have diverted some power to the array's capacitor nave." He said. "Discharging it will slow the enemy, but severely damage the array. Using this pulse could mean losing the array for good."

Hammerheart weighed his options, but would have to reconsider as more Discord Marines and daemons appeared. The Blood Phoenixes fought back with all their might and skill. Hammerheart dealt with the daemons while the others picked off the Traitor Marines.

Meanwhile, the Hogs were also trying to kill off the heretics, but one foul Discord Marine came into play.

"Anudder ponie ta kill." one of the Hogs said. He snorted the air, and the scent was stomach-turning. "Smells ripe, he does!" The Hogs were killed by a Discord Marine that was surrounded by a super strong stench and swarmed with flies.

The forces of Discord returned to make a final large assault upon the Pony Marines. Hammerheart and his strike team opened fire at the huge squad. A majority of the Discord Marines were engulfed in a thick, nasty fog.

"Avoid those foul plague clouds!" A Pony Marine yelled.

The Blood Phoenixes managed to eliminate the entire army in an hour, leaving only a Plague Champion standing as he was their leader in this assault. The Pony Marines kept their distance from the disease-ridden heretic as they unleashed Equestrial fury upon his foul existence. After minutes of shooting away at the traitor, the Plague Champion dropped dead.

Hoovitus scrunched his face in disgust from the putrid odor. "Bah. Not even the deepest Paranid hive was as foul as that scum." He said.

"Indeed, Hoovitus." said Spike. "Commander Hammerheart, cogitator recovery is complete. We can safely leave this place."

"Now you can tell us the story of your survival, Spike." Applejack said, wanting to really know how he lived.