Nearing the Edge

by Eagle

Fall of Canterlot

May 15th, 2006
1038 Hours
Canterlot

The entry of China into the war proved to be the disastrous hammer blow that many on the allied side feared. After their initial breakthrough, the PLA attacked and destroyed the Equestrian Home Guard’s 21st Lancer Division outside Cloudsdale, capturing it in the process. Still, the breakthrough of the Paradigm Line and the subsequent Battle for Cloudsdale had cost the Chinese far more in losses and disorganization than their commanders had predicted.

As such, the task of continuing the advance was passed back to the Shadow Empire military. With the American military falling back and the Equestrians routed, there was little left in the way of resistance. Now they had pushed all the way to the doorstep of Canterlot, their capitol, the magical kingdom-city that acted as the legendary beacon of Equestria and her kind. Even observing it from a far-off distance, the Shadows could see it shining in the sun, sublime and arcane, as a unique model.

General Vaquero observed it from afar, from the side of a knoll where his division’s command post was set up. Everything was set for the capture of the capitol. Air superiority had been achieved, to a degree, the lines around the sides of the operation were secured and the various units on the flanks pushed in, and once the outlying airbase was captured they could begin. Operation Coronation, this was his personal vengeance for banishment into the void; the Lobos Division would seize Canterlot in a blitz and strike the greatest blow of the war thus far.

“Vaq!” his assistant called, coming over with a long-waited report. “We’re ready now. The 98th Grenadier Division confirmed that Royal Canterberry Air Base is secured. But the American’s demolition work left most of it unusable. Apparently a large group of the US Air Force's Security Forces held off the advance before evacuating their personnel. Unfortunately our Air Force won’t be able to operate from it for a while.”

“Finally! They took far too long to get it done! They should have had it secured in time for our assault at dawn, and instead we’ve had to postpone it! It’s nearly midday! That division’s commander should be sacked!”

“At least we can start now. The plan is staying the same?”

“Yes, thankfully the Equestrians have not reacted to meet our movements. Some seem to be pulling back, along with a large number of refugees. The reconnaissance is reporting panic and confusion throughout the city, including within their military units.”

“Panic? From the airfield capture?”

“Seems so, which means we should strike now to take full advantage of it,” the General surmised. “Roca, go and tell Colonel Arzon to begin the artillery bombardment.”

As his aide left, Vaquero moved to the radio post to contact the assault units himself. They knew what the plan was, and knew there would be no deviation unless specifically told so, and all he had to do was send them the codeword to begin the operation. Two full brigades from his division would be given the task of assaulting and capturing Canterlot, while the remainder would move up afterwards to guard from counterattacks and continue the attack through the city’s outskirts.

All the ponies in the command post wore the same small cape and smocks and patch he did, the same as all the other members did. His division, his chapter, was the Lobos de la Ceniza, one of the many within the Shadow military’s elite Tormentas units. Their lineage traced back to the beginnings of their king, when Sombra created his first guards and expanded them to a greater army with various chapters. They were largely banished, along with their king, into the void by the Equestrian princesses long ago, but they returned alongside him all the same. Though not all of the ponies within them were original members who had been banished, a fair number were fresh, new Shadows, but both he and Roca had been, seeing their time in the first fights, their time in the void, and their return to the world and recognizing their new role to play.

With the military’s reorganization to one akin to the humans, the elite were reformed and acted as their own branch, with the individual chapters being turned into divisions. These by now had formed into another two groups, the División de Escudos, the ‘Shield Divisions’, and the División de Pegar, the ‘Strike Divisions’; a rivalry was already emerging between the two, and of the two he belonged to the latter. He recounted all this during his walk, recalling all they had gone through. Everything had come to this, up to this point, the beginning of their vengeance. It was important to remember, it was worth savoring, and he did so as he retrieved the radio.

“This is Rayo. Acero, repeat, Acero, out.”

A minute later the artillery barrage started, separated into two sections. The tube artillery, self-propelled and other, would bombard the Equestrian front line and the units there. Above the command post, long swarms of rockets raced across the sky; they targeted the rear, saturating the area behind the lines and any units that were waiting there. It was a short but violent barrage, lasting only four minutes.

Once it ceased, the ground units began to move. Two brigades, one mechanized and one armor-heavy, began a full advance towards the city. Large groups of T-90s advanced across the countryside, kicking up large clouds of dust as they approached. There was no resistance as they moved in, up to the limits of the urban areas, where they finally came under fire.

“The lead elements are coming under fire, losses already sustained but no major delays in the advance,” one of the radio operators reported to the General.

The lead tanks of the Red Brigade began to duel with the dug-in Equestrians in the urban area ahead of them, firing their cannons rapidly at any area they suspected and raking the buildings with machine gun fire. Two tanks were lost to ATGMs hiding in the buildings, and another to fire from some of the Equestrian Abrams platoon hiding ahead of them. The heavy return fire served to dampen it a good deal as other T-90s moved in closer, some forward and others around the side.

The defense itself was a poor one, badly spaced and suffering from the confusion and chaos within the city, and further damaged from the barrage. Several Shadow tanks found holes in the line and quickly broke through, moving cautiously down the streets. The initial Equestrian defense sections were now taken from the side, with the T-90s firing into the back of dug-in tanks and AFVs and firing into the buildings the infantry were hiding in. The entire defense line broke away.

“Report, Axe has reached phase line Oak. They’re saying the entire enemy front has broken and they’re unloading the infantry and are preparing to clear out the city itself.”

“What about Mace?” Vaquero asked, hoping they had not run into trouble.

“I can’t reach the brigade commander right now but Axe reports they are moving alongside them at a steady pace with no problems.”

As the mechanized Red Brigade unloaded and formed into teams of infantry and armor to clear the buildings ahead, the Blue Brigade continued on past them. The more tank-heavy brigade of the Division; it’s part in the play was to follow directly alongside the Red Brigade, almost crossing into its operation line, and move to the city. As their comrades advanced deeper inside, the armored brigade would continue on, in the very outskirts of the urban buildup, along the city’s edge to the Eastern end. Their flanking maneuver would take them to the enemy’s rear and cut their main road in and out of the city.

The city itself was in pure chaos as troops ran about trying to find a rallying point for their commanders, and civilians scattered about in search of cover or running from the combat. The preliminary bombardment mixed with the weeks of bombing raids had left a number of buildings damaged from the skyscrapers to small houses and leaving craters in the streets, causing further problems. The advancing Shadow units began to run into pockets of Equestrian resistance but no discernible coordinated defense. The damage and the frantic civilians began to cause greater delays for some platoons.

“Vaq! How’s the advance going?” Roca asked his friend as he returned from the artillery line.

“Very good, exceptional. Our units have already broken their outer defense lines and are moving into the city!”

“Already? Were the losses high?”

“No, not at all! There were some but far less than predicted.”

“Strange, I expected them to try and cut us down outside the city before we got into it for cover,” Roca said as he observed the confusing battle. “Are they trying to use urban warfare tactics? Hiding in the buildings inside the city?”

“I’m not sure, but I do not think so. There are some reports of resistance but there’s nothing to indicate a serious defense against us.”

By now the battle had been raging for two hours. The Blue Brigade had successfully swung around the side of the city and attacked the cluster of units waiting there in the open, starting a short but fierce fight that left dead on both sides but the Shadows ultimately victorious. The armor cut the main road leading East and fired on any military units attempting escape, and at times fleeing civilians on the mistake of believing them to be infantry. Canterlot was surrounded on three sides.

The mechanized brigade continued fighting through the city, encountering pockets of increasingly determined resistance by the remaining elements of the Equestrian military and local police. Casualties began to mount but the momentum was not lost, and any positions they could not capture directly were passed and surrounded, to be reduced at their leisure. As the Shadows began to reach the opposite end of the city, the battle’s outcome was very clear.

Vaquero and his command team watched the final conclusions of the three-and-a-half hour long battle from their hill, with the sun beginning to cross over them. Intelligence reports now began to come in as well, to be compared with what the intel had told them prior to beginning the operation. The Equestrian soldiers were a hodgepodge collection from multiple units, as expected. The primary defense coming from elements of the 2nd Hussar Division of the Royal Guard and the 18th Dragoon Division of the Home Guard, and supported by the miscellaneous others who had gathered in the capitol.

Vaquero was surprised by the end of the operation. Considering it was Canterlot he expected a much harder fight. He had also thought that the fighting within the cities buildings would be much more difficult, much longer, that the Equestrians would use the urban tactics to their advantage. Perhaps they did not want to cause further harm to their beautiful city by doing so, maybe they knew they were going to lose before the battle started. ‘What a pathetic bunch!’ he thought to himself.

“Reports are saying both objectives Moss and Pine have been secured, the city is now largely under our control. Only a few holdouts remain,” one of the radio operators informed the General.

“Any new enemy movements from outside the city?” he asked.

“Ground units are not reporting any visible counterattacks but they are setting up a defensive line to meet one. Commanders are requesting further instructions. Should they continue the advance out of the city or keep building a defense? They say the Blue Brigade can still attack if allowed.”

“No, tell them to set up a defensive line. I would like them to do so, but not now. Even after giving us such a poor fight, the Equestrians will definitely counterattack. This is Canterlot, the head of their country. Even they will not just give up on it as they have before in other places.”

“Yes Sir, I’ll pass it on.”

“Now, where is the Air Force’s liaison?”

A stout pony in an Air Force uniform was summoned, heading over to communicate requests to the pilots.

“Do you need any support General?”

“No, not yet. Most of the city has already been captured. My soldiers are digging in in preparation for a counterattack but they do not see anything yet. Do you have any reconnaissance planes ready?”

“Not directly, but I believe some are nearby. You want them to search for an enemy counterattack?”

“Yes, from the East. There will definitely be a buildup of Equestrian forces. If you can spot them, let us know. And if so try and hit them, or give air support to the ground forces if this counterattack begins before that. Whatever the situation demands.”

“Of course, General!”

“Vaq, one minute, before the liaison leaves,” Roca called to him. “The Red Brigade reports that a lot of Royal Guards are hold up in the castle. There’s no way we can break into that thing from the ground without serious losses. Should we just bomb them?”

“No, we cannot,” Vaquero denied. “Tell them to set up a perimeter around the castle and prevent any escape. And have the jammers cover their area in case they have radios; we don’t need them reporting our movements from a vantage point that high. We will just starve them out, there is no help coming for them.”

There would have been some pleasure in simply bombing the castle away, to see it crumble away along the mountainside, but it would not be done. Part of him wanted to partake in such, to personally order it, and another part of him wanted to leave it be and not destroy what was, to some, such a landmark of beauty. Beyond this, it was a good vantage and lookout point, and there could still be valuable items and magical artifacts worth collecting there. Of course, as he knew more than anything, the King Sombra would want the flag of the Shadow Empire flying from atop it, every day and night, to show the world who the victor is, for every time the Equestrians looked up they would see it.

---

The Equestrian Seventh Fighter Wing had gathered in Canterlot ahead of the enemy advance as the allied forces staged a general retreat across the entire front. Outside of the capitol, orders on a higher strategic level seemed to be confused, contradictory, or outright impossible to carry out from the commander’s detachment from the frontline situation. Most of the time orders did not come in at all, leaving the local officers to make their own decisions.

They had defended it from enemy air raids for only a day before the order came to evacuate the air base for the safety of one farther east. The disorganization and quick movement from one place to the other had taken its toll, giving little time for rest or maintenance. Even so, the day after they arrived at Royal Firefly Air Base in Las Pegasus, they received an emergency request, sent out to various bases, to partake in a mission taking them back to Canterlot.

Confused, exhausted, and run-down, the ‘Magnificent Seventh’ simply could not respond in full force. Only Captain Wild Fire’s team, the 3rd Fighter Squadron, ‘Phoenix Squadron’, could be sent to assist. As such, her and three of her F-14s flew out to Canterlot, meeting a tanker along the way to refuel.

They soon learned, thankfully, that they were not the only team there; others had answered the request in varying numbers. Four F-22s of the USAF 94th Fighter Squadron, which itself had just been displaced from Canterberry, were on station, as were two Strike Eagles of the REAF 21st Attack Squadron from the 2nd Wing. It was not a sizable formation, but they were told it would suffice for the mission.

As it turned out, it was another evacuation mission. A handful of military transport planes had launched from Canterberry not an hour before, and a few others were preparing to take off from Canterlot International, the civilian airport within Canterlot. The battle for the city itself would begin within the hour, and there was no real picture anywhere, especially on the ground, as to what the defense would be like. That, in turn, told them all it would be a losing battle. All that was left for them to do was to escort the transports out of harm’s way.

Surprisingly, the transports were not carrying anything of great military importance, nor anypony of great significance. All the sensitive military pieces had been removed already, the air base evacuated, and the Equestrian royalty, governance, and military command had left the city two days prior. The close call at Brumbay, which was now quickly spreading in rumors both of how dangerous the narrow escape had been and the seeming miracle that delivered them, had frightened all enough not to take their chances with last-minute evacuations. The transports, who’s urgent mission had been called out to any who could answer, were carrying the many arcane artifacts of great power that were held in Canterlot that could not be abandoned to the enemy.

Books and scrolls containing spells and information on magic that had to be kept. Various talismans and charms with magical properties to them. Staffs of great power, ancient artifacts, enchanted jewelry, armor, and weaponry. Any variety of magical items that could be thought of were held here, along with a handful of ponies tasked with caring for them and research. All crammed into the bellies of a handful of C-5s and C-17s of the 909th and 788th squadrons of Equestria.

“Wand to all allied air units, check in, over,” the Equestrian AWACS called from far-off. “Transport squadrons, what is your status?”

“Prism formed up, heading on course to destination,” the C-5 lead responded.

“Mane is bringing up the tail end, we’re a bit stretched out but we’re on track, no issues,” the C-17 followed.

“Copy that. Fighter escorts, report in.”

“Spad Flight confirms, everything is set, we’re bringing up the rear.”

“Phoenix Flight is good.”

“King Flight checking in, no issues.”

“All flights are go, continue with escort. Don’t break off until you reach the destination. We’ll keep you updated as to new developments. Wand out.”

“Phoenix, Spad, thank you for flying all this way to help us,” Captain Rector of King Flight told the others as the radio quieted down. “Especially you, Colonel Ulric.”

“It’s no problem King One. It’s just our job and we love doing it,” Spad One answered. “But make sure you use callsigns and codenames over the radio. We don’t know if the enemy’s able to listen in.”

“Why are you thanking us? We’re supposed to do this,” Wild Fire added.

“Appreciation. You all did not have to come all this way. I know these past days have been brutal to both of your wings. Constant combat, confused orders, running from one base to the next. No pony nor man could be expected to go through all that,” Rector explained. “I have to be here, this is my duty. Personal duty, as who I am, what I have to do. But coming this far is appreciated.”

“That’s what friends do,” Wild Fire replied simply.

“At least we still have that huh?” her RIO interjected from the backseat of the Tomcat. “We still go out of our way to help our friends, that’s what Equestrians do right?”

“Of course Whistler. Why are you getting all… sentimental?”

“I’m not, just something to be happy about. Helps remember who we are,” he explained. “I mean it’s pretty weird right? Flying around in metal contraptions? Fighting a war where we blow each other up with some aliens? Sure doesn’t feel like Equestria.”

“Because you’re not,” one of the American pilots pointed out. “You’re on Earth, so you’ll do it our way.”

“Yeah I noticed. Doesn’t mean a pony should be doing this kind of stuff.”

“Well we didn’t ask you to come here, but you’re in our house so you’ll play by our rules,” the number four in Spad Team retorted. “I don’t care what you used to be or what you’re supposed to be. It’s not about you ponies anymore, we have to deal with your shit now. So you’ll do as you’re told.”

“Listen pal, we didn’t want this either!” Wild Fire yelled, her own rage breaking out as it did in such times. “If our magic still worked as well as it did we wouldn’t need your help! We could probably even beat you! But that wouldn’t matter because we wouldn't be here! We don’t even want to be on this terrible planet!”

“Alright that’s enough!” Spad One interjected loudly, tapping into his command voice. “We’re allies, we don’t need to get into this. No fighting over the comms either, we’re on a mission. You all got that!?”

“Yes Sir, sorry,” his wingman apologized.

“Right, we’ll keep the radio clear,” the Ponies agreed.

The flight continued in silence for a few more minutes before the AWACS called in with a contact report.

“This is Wand, got two new contact reports, both closing in on your position. First one is coming from the northwest, bearing three-three-one. Large formation, Angels Fifteen, moving at about nine hundred, over four-hundred miles from you. We count ten bogies.”

“Copy, I’m thinking we should go intercept them,” Wild Fire suggested.

“Wait, our mission is to escort the transports,” said Ulrich. “They’re coming in loud. They might be trying to lead us away and leave the transports defenseless for some other bandits.”

“Huh, I didn’t think of that.”

“That’s why he’s the boss,” Spad Two agreed.

“We’ll stay here until we have to engage them,” Spad One decided. “Wand, what’s the other contact.”

“Allied aircraft, coming from the northeast. Just one though. Probably another friend coming to help. We’ll try to establish contact and patch him through when we do, over.”

The collection of bogies continued, not changing their speed of altitude, running in towards the transports like ravished hounds. The single allied fighter arrived sooner than they did, closing in closer. The AWACS hailed and confirmed that it was another American aircraft, and patched the pilot through to the others.

“This is Eagle One, are you reading me, over?”

“Spad to Eagle, affirmative. Is that the same Eagle callsign that I think it is, over?”

“Maybe, if you’re still the same Spad Leader I met way back when. Probably is, your squadron's callsign is a lot more unique than mine. You'll see people using mine all over the military.”

“Damn, I haven’t talked to you since we moved over out of your old airbase. Though I heard you guys got redeployed too. Good to hear you’re alive, we’ve been hearing plenty of stories about what’s happened,” Ulrich mentioned.

“Heard plenty about your sector too. Heard Canterlot was under constant attack, just one dogfight after another. Good thing you held them back though,” Cole congratulated, slowly shaking away the thin vagueness over the radio Ulrich wished to keep. “What other teams are with you? Can you guys sound off?”

“Phoenix Team here.”

“King Flight.”

“Phoenix? No way, does that voice belong to the pony I think it does?”

“It’s good to see you Captain Cole.”

“Hey, Wild Fire! You’re still flying too! It's great to see you.”

“You know her too, Eagle Lead?” Spad One asked.

“Yeah, from even farther back. She’s from Ponyville. I played Blackjack with her at a celebration the town threw when we first arrived there, back when it was just us. Or… did I watch her play it with someone?”

“Both, and you both beat me!”

“Ah yeah! Sure did! Keno and Cowboy are still around by the way. You better stay alive, they'll want another game with you.”

“Damn,” Spad Two swore. “Is there anyone here he hasn’t met?”

“I don’t think I’ve met King yet. But my memory with people isn’t the best. Or ponies.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t met you yet Captain, but I have heard good things,” Rector greeted the human. “Thank you for coming to join us. Is it just you?”

“Yeah, just me. I know flying out here alone is nuts but me and the squad just barely got away from Brumbay. Was cutting it real close, they need some time to rest. But I heard the emergency call from Canterlot and I couldn’t… well, not help.”

“I’m grateful you made it all the same.”

“So am I, figured you guys were throwing a little party and I didn’t want to miss it! Is the attack on Canterlot underway? I’m ready to defend where needed, got my air-to-air loadout ready.”

“We’re not here to defend the city Eagle One,” Rector explained in a somber tone. “We can’t hold it. It will likely fall within a few hours.”

“It… you what!?”

“There’s no way we can hold the city, it’s simply impossible.”

There was a silence before Cole spoke up again. His voice was far harsher, angrier, whipping and striking out angrily like a biting snake, like a predator sinking it’s talons not into prey but an opponent. It was a deep fury buoyed by Hell he had suffered through and the battle, the near death and deaths suffered by others, getting nearly wiped out, the constant frustrations building up to this now, and it took control of his thoughts.

“You mean all this- everything that happened everything I got through! I flew all the way out here after what happened! What the Hell, you’re just giving up!? We’re not going to fight for it at least!?”

“The enemy has a much greater mass of forces arrayed against us.”

“You’re just fucking giving up!? You’re giving up the heart of your country, your home!? You won’t even try to fight!?”

“Eagle Lead, calm down!” Ulrich asked. “We know it’s bad, we know we’re running, but we still need your help.”

“Help? With what? What was the point of that call being made?”

“We made it because we needed escorts for a transport flight evacuating Canterlot. It’s VIP stuff, Eagle Lead. The kind of stuff that can lose us the war if it doesn’t get out.”

“Yeah… alright, I’ll help escort the people or ponies to wherever they’re running off to. Who’s on board? I know it’s not the government. Generals?”

“The ah... main cargo isn’t ponies,” Rector further clarified, a bit saddened and afraid from the outburst of his ally. “It’s various magical artifacts of great importance that we can not allow Sombra or his allies to capture.”

“Artifacts? Magical artifacts!? All this shit, another evacuation, and I left my team behind… you called everyone across the country to get help running away with a bunch of fucking trinkets!?” Cole raged over the radio.

“Eagle Lead, please calm down we can explain this in detail when-”

“It’s been explained before. I thought you all said your magic barely worked anymore. All this high-end stuff didn’t work anymore.”

“It doesn’t, but there are some that can be made to work. We just haven’t found out how yet!”

“You haven’t found a lot of shit out yet! You can’t even use this stuff to defend the city?”

“Captain, knock that shit off, now!” Ulrich finally reprimanded. “We don’t know how this stuff works, we’re not experts. This war’s not over, and we’ll be back for the city. But we can’t be fighting each-other. You understand?”

“Copy, Spad One. I’ll help escort to where you’re going. I’m going back to my squadron at Goldenray after that,” he agreed coldly, resigned to his superior, knowing he was right, at least partly.

“This is Wand, allied aircraft you’ll want to switch to an open channel. The enemy’s broadcasting a surrender request.”

“What?” Wild Fire asked. “They haven’t done that before. Too bad for them, I don’t plan on just giving up.”

Far off, a well-trained squadron of Ye-8 ‘Flippers’ was moving to intercept at high speed. The planes were painted in a dark, ashen grey, the canards near the nose a bright scarlet red, the lines and edges along the wings a fiery orange, the stabilizers in the rear a cold black, and the tail a clear white. They had no intention of luring away the escort fighters as Ulrich theorized, they intended to attack on their own. The allied fighters switched their radios to an open channel, hearing a rather spiteful, deep voice calling to them.

“This is Gallo Squadron, of the Shadow Imperial Air Force. Transport aircraft you will surrender, be taken under escort by us, and will follow our guidance. Follow our instructions and you will be taken prisoner. Any Equestrian escort fighters, now is your chance to bail out before you get killed. Don’t think of running either, because we will catch you.”

“Surrender? You really think we’ll give up that easy?” Rector responded first.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but because of what you’re carrying my orders are to try and capture first,” Gallo Lead admitted. “I’m glad you won’t, I’m ready for another round of vengeance against you Equestrians!”

“Guys who is this stupid bastard jacking his jaw on the radio?” Cole asked his pony counterparts.

“Who is that? An American!? It figures you would be here to interfere. This battle has nothing to do with you, this is revenge against the ponies who banished me!”

“Yeah? Well I’m already pissed off so I’ll enjoy taking my anger out on you! You can consider this my personal revenge if that fits your view!”

“You have no clue what it was like to be stuck in there, this is retribution for-”

“Shut the fuck up already, you just got here and I’ve already had enough of you! I don’t care what you think about them, I’ve got a fight to pick with you now!” Cole yelled. “I don’t care how long you were gone you pissy son of a bitch, I’m sending you somewhere much worse!"

“A thousand years! We were banished into a void for a thousand years! You humans have no idea what it was like!”

“You get ready Rat, I’m sending you to burn in Hell!”

The F-15 redirected to intercept the incoming fighters, attempting to move into AMRAAM range. Wild Fire also ordered her Tomcats to break off and close range with the enemy squadron, likely out of her own frustration. The Shadows noticed the movements and, rather than take their enemies apart piecemeal, elected to split their squadron as well.

“Gallo Six through Ten, break formation and go after the transport squadron!”

“Phoenix watch what you’re doing!” Rector warned. “Spad Team, it’s just us, we have to protect the transports!”

“Wasn’t planning on leaving! Keep your eyes open, they’ll be on us soon! Hang on, I've got a plan.”

“Coming into range now,” Cole said as the missiles locked on at maximum range. “Firing, time to crash and burn!”

Two of the Slammers were volleyed at the five aircraft before putting his own into a dive from the high altitude. The Shadow jets also broke formation to evade, while two of them were able to fire their own long-range missiles at the Eagle from an awkward angle. Turning around, dropping countermeasures, and enacting evasions, the F-15 avoided both. One of the two AMRAAMs, in turn, struck a Ye-8 as it banked too late to evade, tearing the aircraft to pieces.

“Gallo Four is hit!”

“Charge them all down! Drive them into the ground!” the Leader shouted. “How could you ever know what happened!? What right do you have to stand in our way!?”

The Phoenix team also moved into range between the two groups of bandits, and volleyed most of their own radar-guided missiles at them. They were able to hit one of the bandits going after the transport group, but had no more success from the enemy's maneuvers, instead electing to move into range to help Cole as he was vastly outnumbered and attacked the enemy group directly with no intention of retreat. The four chasing after the F-15 quickly began to close the distance, moving in at afterburner to close the range.

As they charged in, the Eagle banked off left and reduced power, hoping to play the energy fight the Flippers had against them. As the fast-moving Shadows followed, lagging just outside of firing, the American plane suddenly pulled up, increasing power again. Pulling into the apex of a high yo-yo, the Eagle turned back down, pulling in behind the turning jets. Most either increased speed or banked hard out of it, but one lagging jet fell perfectly into the pilot’s sights. The hard lock tone for the AIM-9 whined and two Sidewinders were loosed at the target, striking it and sending Gallo Five crashing to Earth.

Meanwhile, the other half of Gallo Squadron was closing in on the transports. Ulrich elected to take full advantage of his F-22’s stealth capability and brought them closer to the bandits at a high, slower, and straight trajectory. It had worked so far as the five enemy jets moved within range of their ally’s radar missiles.

“King to Spad, enemy aircraft are in range, we’re volleying now!”

The two F-15Es fired off all of their AMRAAMs at maximum range or further, hoping to break up their target’s coordination. It did so very well, and though because of this they were unable to score any kills, it left the Flippers in a broken formation unable to keep watch or support each-other. The four Raptors, utilizing their stealth, dropped down on their scattered enemies with total surprise and opened fire, quickly shooting down two of them. The remainder were left to try and find their way, with some trying to utilize their already built-up speed to escape the trap.

“I got one at my two, he’s running,” Ulrich notified his team. “I’m on him, you with me Soda?”

“Right behind you Whiskey, keep on him! Don’t let him get away!”

The running Flipper attempted to escape but was forced to turn and dodge the attempts by Ulrich to lock on, beginning a winding fight. The F-22 kept it’s throttle up, thinking the enemy interceptor was still trying to use it’s high speed to escape. After pulling into a left lag turn, the Flipper dumped it’s speed and just barely achieved the upper hand as the Raptor passed. Ulrich in turn cut his own speed and pulled the stick back, breaking off right in the opposite direction and up to escape the foe. However, the now-slow Ye-8 turning to follow had made itself a much easier target, and a quick missile shot from Spad 2 blotted the Shadow pilot away.

The other battle several miles away was entering its next phase as this occurred. The Tomcats of Phoenix Team had merged into the fight as well, making it far more cluttered as the Shadows attempted their high speed energy maneuvers and hit-and-run tactics. One of the Flippers was able to lock on and hit an F-14 with a heat seeker; the large plane shuddered and lost power, it’s crew bailing out as the plane fell in one big piece.

“A thousand years! A millennium of confinement in the void, left to be forgotten! Vilified by legends! What can you say of this!? We will destroy every human who stands in our way, no matter who!” the leader continued fanatically.

“I don’t care about your semantics, you don’t belong in this world! So I’m sending you to Hell instead!” Cole retorted, unable to keep himself collected.

“Don't belong in this world? You don't belong in the sky at all! What gives you the right to do this!? What makes you think you and your kind should stand before us!? In a conflict you could never understand!? I have the right to revenge!”

“I don’t care what you think you deserve. All that matters is what actually happens, and I can see reality! We’re picking a fight, the two of us, and you’re not going to get to see the end of it. What you want doesn’t matter, you hear me rat!? Doesn’t matter one damn bit!”

“Gallo Two here! I’ve got an Eagle behind me! Trying to increase throttle to escape but he’s keeping up!”

“Three here I see you! Give it max thrust and try and lead him straight on, I’ll swing in on his six!”

“Eagle One you’ve got a bandit pulling around on your tail, coming in high at your four! Phoenix One is moving to get on him.”

“Copy just shoot him off me, I’m not letting this one slip away!”

The crafts entered into an odd four-ship line chase burning across the sky. There was some maneuvering as the lead jet, Gallo Two, attempted to follow his wingman’s instructions and make it easier for him to lock on to the F-15, while also not getting shot down himself. Trying to stay somewhat straight, the afterburner was fired on in full, causing the same reaction down the line to cause the high-speed chase.

“Eagle One, we’re having a hard time locking on. Recommend you break,” Wild Fire warned.

“Just stay with me, shoot him down!”

Cole was able to keep the distance close, his engines burning up the fuel and the long, colorful fires flying behind. He began to fire the gun in long bursts, hoping to get lucky striking the fleeing aircraft. Some did strike at the win and tail, but not enough to cripple or slow the Flipper down. Finally, a perfect angle shot was achieved and the Sidewinder’s burned through a row of dropping flares to find the massive heat output of the engine.

“Fire Fox Two!” he signaled, letting the missile fly and successfully killing the bandit, the plane falling apart into hundreds of pieces from the velocity. “Got him! Bandit terminated!”

Cole slowed down slightly, cutting the afterburner and giving the engines a respite. Wild Fire was also able to achieve a hard lock on at this time on the tailing Flipper, itself not moving very much from the line. Two AIM-9s and a volley of cannon fire tore the plane apart, the extravagant paint being shredded and torn away as the plane broke apart and fell, burning up as it went.

“Gallo Seven here, all of our team here is down! They ambushed us with Raptors! Two of them on my tail now, another coming in at my nose!” the second-to-last Shadow pilot warned his commander. “My left wing’s hit! The canard’s been torn off too! I’m bailing, sorry Gallo One!”

“I won’t retreat, I won’t be denied the moment I’ve waited so long for!” said Gallo One.

“You stay and you’ll lose, it’s as simple as that!” Cole rebuked.

“I won’t lose to you, not to you humans! Wild, sick barbarians!” the Shadow pegasus shouted. “This may be your world but you don’t belong here! You don’t belong in the sky! You can’t fly!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what we mean, you’ve seen it in our propaganda. Humans, no wings, you don’t belong up here, you weren’t meant for it! You forced your way into the sky with metal machines! You being up here does nothing but taint it! You hear!? You don’t belong!”

The final Flipper continued to duel with the F-15 and the two F-14s, using its energy for height and better movement while the others followed, trying to force him to bleed off his speed. With each lag turn and high or low maneuver, one of the allied fighters would threaten him and force a sudden break in another direction, causing the interceptor to gradually lose energy. There was no chance of turning the tables against three aircraft, and maybe a chance of escape if a lucky opportunity presented itself, but no such opportunity was appearing. As he and the Eagle pressed each-other in a final flat scissors move, the number two of Phoenix Team, which had been trying to follow in lag turns, finally achieved a perfect firing solution and shot two missiles at the Flipper. Both impacted by proximity, shredding both the wings with metal and sending the smoking jet into a shallow dive.

“So, after all this time… denied by them,” Gallo One lamented as the plane fell, the voice crackling over the radio from the damage. “AWACS, can you hear me? Send a report of this… failure because of interference, the Americans, humans. They’re as arrogant as we thought, rageful, don’t think we can work with them. Remember us, keep it up until we’ve hammered them into submission. You will carry our pride with us, the pride of the Shadow Empire.”

“Hostile pilot, eject from your aircraft now,” Ulrich ordered, hoping to convince him.

“Another thing, one of the pilots that intervened was an F-15 Eagle with a white nose cone, I think I saw a flash of gold too. The same squadron we’ve heard about for so long, been causing us problems since before the war. The ones we heard rumors about… they were right. That flying though, swooping in like an angry vulture. A buzzard… not what I’d expect. You can beat them; remember they don’t belong up here.”

“Enemy aircraft, your altitude is dropping, eject now!” the Equestrian AWACS ordered.

“Over your territory? So you can take me prisoner? Prisoner again for you Equestrians, I won’t take that shame,” he denied vehemently, resigned to his fall. “The damage prevents it anyways, and that’s for the best. I still lived to see Canterlot fall to us, you won’t be able to beat us. The weapons we’re building, you can’t stand against us! You won’t-”

The ranting was cut off as the radio broke down to static and silence as the plane fell apart and finally struck the ground. It was an odd thing to witness; many fighters that fell in combat were lost instantly with no chance for last words or death calls, often not even noticed by their teammates. This one had been strangely lucky, giving out the details to his far away observers. Regardless, with his death, the airspace was finally cleared and under allied control once again.

"Huh... well... it's over," Cole said, still suffering from some lingering frustration but now tired. "He sounded like he was pretty temperamental. Drama queen."

“Guess that’s it huh?” Wild Fire observed as the aircraft leveled out from the fight. “He shouldn’t have messed with us to begin with.”

“We’re not picking up any other bogies near you,” the AWACS reported. “I think we’re in the clear. All aircraft reform and continue escort operations.”

“Copy that Wand.”

“I’m running a little low on fuel from that fight,” Cole added. “I’ll follow you guys as far as I can go. Are there any tankers you can call up?”

“Not on station, but I’ll see if I can find somepony who can help.”

“Copy that.”

The fighters moved back to regroup with the transport aircraft. It was a very quiet flight, no one seemed to want to talk, even with regular reports. There were no further disruptions as the group of planes fled the combat zone slowly, carrying the arguably precious cargo. Behind them the city was left to it’s fate as the battle for the capitol began it’s final conclusive phase. As for what would come next, none could tell.

Author's Note:

Sorry it's just one chapter, I've got more I'm working on. Took some time to write this out since I've got some more now with what's happening. Still, considering that, things are pretty nuts; there's just a lot of different stuff to take care of now. Hope this helps you guys eat up some more time while you're at home.

Thanks for reading, especially the whole story up this far. You all take care out there.

Comments

[WarDragon]

MORE Pleas

[damnaion]

you and it alive!

[Mr Swanky Hat]

If I was a pilot in this, I’d point out the shadow empire bought “human interference” before America got involved, so they can’t complain about what was in Pandora’s box when it was them that opened it

[Eagle]

10181774
In time

10181972
Yeah I'm still around, I don't have any plans to stop.

10182090
I re-wrote that chapter a long time ago, I think you should go reread it. And read more into China and what happens there.

10182177
Yeah, that always happens on both sides of war. Reasoning, excuses, etc. Happens with every side, every conflict. Though it doesn't matter as much as who's actually winning in the field.

[Earthpatriot117]

Thanks for the update dude! 👍
Looking forward to the next chapters.
This war ain't over, not by a long shot. The allies will rise!

[Time Reaper]

Good to see this update.

[Eagle]

10185323
Not really Mister X in character, more along the general honor-bound pilot trope just for now than old guy who lost his wings. But I wanted to make another rival fighter that's more similar to Cole but is also the opposite to the usual toe-the-line Chinese soldier as a foil (represented by 'Dragon' in that fight, and later in the story) as well as one to clash with Nightingale and the Shadowbolts. Basically another enemy but one that's human that adds another angle to the variety we have already.

10188703
Thanks, I'm glad I was able to put it out.

10197139
Yeah, one of the running themes in the story is how unlike or opposite to MLP it is, and how the ponies themselves sadly lose importance. It's not their world, bloody war isn't the way they would handle things, taking part in that war is not the way ponies act, it's not their 'show' as it were; they don't get as much screen time because of that. They have to play second-fiddle to the humans because of this, rather poorly because of the awkwardness of modern warfare, something so opposite to what ponies themselves are, and they have to find out how to deal with not being the 'stars of the show' anymore and having to do things a far worse way than they'd like. You'll see dialogue here and there, like in the latest chapter, that mentions that, how ridiculous it is and how they don't feel like ponies anymore and things are all messed up.

Granted I also try to write in how they have an impact on the humans, their effect having a greater effect on friendship, kindness, and other 'softer' such things you would see in the show, which will become more prominent as the war goes on and the two allied sides build camaraderie. So far you can see it in a small scale as the effects Dash and the others have on the main character and the squadron, and vice versa.

Though if you want a more direct answer, now that the war has started I want to focus a lot more on actual combat. So you generally won't see things that are too high-up, usually perhaps through a general here or there for an overview, and perhaps you'll see them and other world leaders very occasionally for overviews. Majority of the chapters are going to be focused on combat though.

[Earthpatriot117]

When next AWESOME update?

[Eagle]

10316325
Eventually, not sure but I'm still working on the next few chapters. Can't say exactly when. Thanks for keeping up with it though.

[Earthpatriot117]

10317117
👍

[AcerSpacer]

Finally had the time to sit down and catch up. I love reading these.

[Eagle]

10317704
I remember you actually, from your pfp. Good to see you're still around.