The Free Forces
June 11th, 2006
1020 Hours
Somewhere in north-central Equestria
Years ago, the Changelings began their initial invasion of their traditional enemies on the southern edge of the continent. Usually unable to get far past the frontiers of the Karalians, the shock and disorganization of the sudden change in worlds offered an opportunity that was seized to full effect. After breaking through across the borders and very bitter fighting over the urban areas, much of Karalia and it’s military was evacuated to the eastern panhandle overlooking two of it’s neighbors, and then eventually to Equestria once that bottleneck had been outflanked.
The Union, long holding a contempt for the Changelings, though not bordering them, was the next to be invaded, something it was wholly unprepared for. In spite of the hard fighting they put up, akin to their Karalian friends, they fell much quicker and warranted a similar retreat into exile. Now two of their divisions continued to operate in Equestria as part of the armies of the exiles, a general term for all those conquered nations who could still stand-up military forces.
The actual operation, however, was limited at best. The humans, the Americans in particular, had come in and taken control of the war, and their leadership held little faith in the combat capabilities of any of the new ‘alien’ races to their form of modern warfare. As with many other units, all the exiled combatants had been held back far, far from the frontline.
Now, in what was thought to be far from the frontline, a lone tank was rolling slowly through the countryside, partly on patrol, partly for practice. It was a Type-90, Japanese made, Kyū-maru as they called it, one of only a relative few in the continent and assigned to the Union’s army along with other arms and equipment from that nation. In spite of having it for months, it’s crew were still frustrated by the complex nature of their new weapons compared to simple swords and spears.
“The Americans told us Japan was famed for their technology!” the gunner complained, hitting the computer near him. “All this technology and they can not bother to make it work!”
Major Hisiu, the tank’s commander, scoffed at the continued complaints.
“Our ponies are still trying to get used to working and fixing these.”
“It makes you miss the days of arrows and magic. You know the Kisouma Division still has a platoon of bow ponies. Maybe I could join them.”
“Watch your tongue Sergeant Kaiyo, you’ll be dueling a sniper with a bow.”
“Wait… I think I have contact, there are vehicles moving along the road ahead, coming from the village, from Hoof’s Bend!”
“Dao! Driver halt!” the Major ordered before opening the commander’s hatch.
The midday sun beat down upon the open land, with a dusty, hot wind blowing and stirring up the dry day. The Major expected the approaching group to be allied vehicles, as they were quite far behind the front lines. After a long gaze, and then a look through his binoculars to confirm, he was shocked to see the lead elements of what looked to be an enemy light unit.
“Changeling reconnaissance group! Confirmed!”
“What!? This far behind the lines?” the gunner asked.
“Where did they come from? An air drop?” Dao jumped in his driver’s seat. “We’re supposed to be well behind the fighting! Didn’t the Equestrians reform the line?”
“I think the Equestrian line is far less stable than when we last heard,” Hisiu correctly surmised. “But my friends, this is an opportunity! This is what we have waited so long for!”
“Ah, no retreat?” Kaiyo grinned happily.
“No retreat, no humans to order our retreat! A taste of vengeance is within our grasp! They have no heavy tanks, we will attack and run them down for what they’ve done!”
The crew let out howls over the radio; after all this time, the Union ponies, equipped with much better technology than the last time they fought the Changelings, would go into battle against their foe.
“I will need to contact regimental command to inform them of this, you will have reigns on the initial fighting Sergeant.”
“Most of the division is already packed and moving, Sir.”
“Yes, but a report still needs to be made. If the enemy has made it this far without resistance then the greater strategic situation is much worse than we thought,” the Major explained before giving his own instructions to his tank. “Xue load HEAT and high explosive rounds first, we’ll be dealing with light units. You’ll need to work fast.”
“Understood!” the tank’s loader replied.
“Dao, take us right through them and block the road. Kaiyo, you know what targets take priority. I’ll resume command once I’ve talked to the Colonel. Does everypony understand?”
“Yes Sir!” came the united confirmation.
“Begin! Attack! Full speed, fire at will!”
The tank lurched forward, going straight for the small dirt road that exited the village. The Changeling group had spent the last day charging ahead of its parent unit, moving deep into the country to chase down Equestrian army ponies fleeing east. Strung out from their brigade, tired and lacking in fuel, they were in no shape to properly resist an enemy tank unexpectedly barreling down on them with such aggression.
The first victim was a BTR-152, driving lazily down the road, suddenly struck by a HEAT round and exploded, leaving almost nothing left. The Changeling infantry dived away into cover as the Type-90 pulled onto the road, blocking it and blasting a Ural truck filled with the unit’s food rations. Kaiyo switched to the coaxial gun, picking away at what Changeling infantry he could see as his commander spoke with their own command.
“Affirmative Tora has engaged the enemy. Daito can you send us support?”
“Negative, the division has already begun moving eastwards. Tora you are alone out there, do you understand? It would be better not to get dragged too deep into battle.”
“I understand but the enemy here is weak, we can hurt them badly here,” Hisiu clarified over the battle’s racket. “Can you see if there are any other units nearby?”
“I will check for you, be careful Tora!”
“Thank you, Tora out!”
“Enemy advance down the road has been halted!” the Sergeant reported triumphantly.
“Good, we’re going to crush them while they’re down! Kaiyo, primary targets will be the vehicles, destroy their mobility. Dao, make sure to keep us moving in the streets. I’m retaking command now; driver, forward!”
The Changelings retreated into Hoof’s Bend, where there was a chaotic rush to organize. Most of the infantry took their initiative to take cover in houses as the tank rolled in. The Type-90 picked out two stationary trucks, followed by another APC at the end of the street. From inside the tank, the Major noticed an object fly over the top of the tank trailing a thin smoke.
“RPG round! Gunner target the second floor of that building to the left!”
“On target!”
“Fire!”
“Shot out!”
The shot struck and tore open a massive hole across the upper wall of the building. The gunner sprayed machine gun fire into the dust-covered building as the hostile infantry scurried out the back. Another group ran across the street, gaining his attention, and the tank rolled forward again to chase them down.
“Kaiyo, cease fire, we don’t need to waste fuel slaughtering the poor infantry bugs. Go find some more vehicles to kill, rob them of their mobility.”
“Understood Major.”
“Sir, we only have four HEAT rounds left,” Xue advised, going through the main gun’s ammunition.
“Load AP then. Gunner did you hear? You’ll have to make due with sabot for now.”
“Good, we’ll be targeting vehicles anyway- target! Watch it!” he jumped, grabbing and aiming the gun down the street without waiting for orders. “Round out!”
The tank fired and the sabot round shot out, just barely having time for the outer shell to break and release the dart before it cut through the thin light vehicle.
“What was it!?” the Major shouted.
“Enemy truck of some kind, but I saw a missile launcher on the top of it,” Kaiyo explained, examining the disabled vehicle. “Kornet.”
“Sir, in close spaces like this the sabot won’t have time for the shell to break and release the dart. Not at these ranges,” the loader informed his commander, the worried tone notable in his voice.
“We won’t be facing heavy tanks, the shell itself will suffice. Driver, we’re heading into the village proper. Keep us moving so their infantry does not swarm us. Do not stop unless ordered too.”
“Very well, tell me where to go!”
“Forward, down the street, search the village!”
The Type-90 rumbled down the street, and was greeted by two more RPG shots. One directly forward that straddled the tank, and another from the side that hit at a poor angle and only damaged the armor. It continued on, not slowed down a bit, the turret spraying machine gun fire at the first launch site. Rounding the corner it came upon an unmanned BRDM and put a round through it lengthwise, the heavy shell tearing much of the thin recon vehicle asunder.
The one-sided battle continued to play out this way as the ‘Tora’ continued to shrug off what hits the Changelings could land on it while adding kill after kill to it’s tally. Another Kornet, two more cargo trucks, what seemed to be a command UAZ abandoned by its commander, and another BRDM-2 with a Konkurs configuration. The only issue was their own supply situation, the tank burning more fuel and Xue counting down the few rounds it had left. As the tank moved out of an alley it was fired upon by a flurry of RPGs, one of which struck the turret’s face.
“Driver stop! Stop now!” Hisiu ordered frantically, holding his shaken head in his hooves. “Back up! Back into the alley!”
The tank finally came to a halt before Dao forced it into reverse and drove it back, his sudden movement shaking the crew more.
“Crew report! Sound off!”
“I’m fine!” Dao shouted first over the comms.
“My head hurts a little… I hit my nose on the wall,” Xue mumbled. “Ugh, my vision is blurry.”
“Do your eyes hurt? Were they hit?”
“Uh… no Sir, no just hazy.”
“Oh you- blink you fool!” Hisiu shouted at the young stallion, who had become lost in his focus and excitement and forgetting basic things. “Blink until it clears and then load our HEAT rounds!”
“Of course, my commander!”
“Kaiyo!? Report!”
The gunner was striking the tank’s computer violently, almost punching it.
“The fire control computer is broken!” he angrily spat.
The Major grabbed his hoof and shoved him down to his seat, nearly hitting him in the process with the power behind it.
“Stop! Stop hitting the machine, you can still fire without it! That’s what you wanted anyways, isn’t it? Now be ready to hit that building when we move out of the alley!”
“Yes! Yes Major!”
With a quick order to the driver, the tank rolled out of the alley and back to the street. Within a second another RPG flew past and straddled the tank’s side armor, impacting on the street right next to it. The gunner fired at almost the same time, the HEAT round hitting the second story of the tall house-store building and sending dust and debris flying.
Amazingly, even after this, another RPG round shot out and struck the top of the turret, impacting early against the mounted machine gun and wrecking it, but preventing any penetration of the armor. Kaiyo aimed lower and put another HEAT round into the base floor, and half of the building collapsed. The various accessories of a home, the windows, a table, a bed, parcels of food, all manner of objects fell out onto the street.
“Driver, forward, down the street. No time to admire the Sergeant’s work.”
The powerful war machine continued on it’s rampage, using it’s final two HEAT rounds on a Changeling ATGM team that was trying to dig in in some shrubbery just outside town, and on another building where a group of stragglers had run into for cover. Switching to their few remaining armor-piercing rounds, they continued to hunt for vehicles in particular, destroying another UAZ and a Kornet that faced the wrong direction. After an hour and a half of battle, they could find no other vehicles in the town, and, still wishing to wallow in their long-awaited revenge, contented themselves with using their few remaining main cannon shells on the infantry scattered around town. The awkward game of cat and mouse ended as the final Sabot round was fired into a store near the center of town.
“That’s it, we’re out!” Xue reported to the crew.
“Very well, prepare to fall back out of Hoof’s Bend.”
“Major no, we can still fight, the machine gun-”
“Do not be stupid, we can not stay here and let the enemy overwhelm us! We have no infantry support and now no ammunition!”
“We don’t run! I will not run again!”
“Enough! Stand down!”
“Sir, our fuel is running low as well,” Dao interrupted them. “We will barely have enough to make it back.”
“Tora, stand down, we are done for now,” Hisiu commanded sternly, calming the crew through his own stoic demeanor. “Dao, take us out of the village, keep following the road.”
“Yes Sir.”
“What’s our kill count?”
"Fifteen enemy vehicles destroyed!" Xue reported.
“Ah, all that skill, we’re as good at this as any human,” Kaiyo grumbled, trying to enjoy the victory but still unsatisfied.
“Do not worry yourself friend, we wiped out their mobility, they are trapped in that village,” Hisiu reminded him. “We will return, but in order to dislodge the infantry we will need help.”
“Fifteen!? Surely you are joking! You?”
The Major watched with a cold frustration as these shorter, stockier ponies shared a hearty laugh over the reported number of kills. He had to remind himself that it was not one of insult, it was more one of amazement, an almost jolly laugh. These were Konik ponies, from the other end of the continent from where the Union was, and were quite different from his own culture. With their own army having begun to move on, the Konik’s division camped nearby was the next immediate source of help they could go to.
“Still if you did, it’s a very good ah… wyczyn, a… feat!” he struggled.
Both had to converse in general Equestrian, the language of Equestria both knew, the already dominant tongue that they had to learn as it was similar to the human’s English. Neither knew the other’s native language, and though it was difficult at first the two tanks teams had settled into a good flow of conversation. Hisiu had explained the situation in Hoof’s Bend to the Konik, a Captain named Iskra.
“Yes, but the enemy is still stuck in the town. I can thank you for the supplies for my tank, but we need to attack the town. We need your help, they will have reinforcements. We need to destroy them. One tank can not do that.”
“Ah yes, yes, I would like that!” Iskra agreed, leaning over on the turret of his Challenger. “But we can not help. My division is the same as yours. The Hussars are already leaving, we are one of the only ones that are ready to fight.”
“Taii please we must-”
“Ah ah!” the Captain interrupted him. “But there is another army nearby. The Karalian ponies. They should be able to help us. Their infantry are good, very good! They can support us to take the town. And they despise the Robak yes! The Changelings, they do not like them. They will help!”
“Ah excellent! Thank you, that is excellent!”
“We have a messenger of theirs in our camp, I will explain to him. You go and send your report to our higher command. The American and Equestrian must know the line has failed! Once your tank is ready we will attack!”
Dusk began to fall, though there was still enough light to see for a good distance and undertake combat operations. The Union ponies were already quite tired, having woken early in the morning and already grown fatigued from their earlier battle, but they were driven by the prospect of a victory over the Changelings, the sense that they were weak while they had grown stronger with their reinforcements. The sun setting almost directly ahead of them added to the frustration and misery of the situation, only occasionally blocked by the stout Challenger leading them.
“Tora this is Lanca we are approaching the village, the recon says the enemy has reinforcements of his own, and they are moving out of the village towards us. Ready for battle, yes?” Captain Iskra notified them.
“Understood Lanca, we will break to the fields to the right and engage them as they come down the road,” Hisiu answered, taking his own initiative. “Crew, action stations, prepare for contact!”
The Type-90 moved off to the far right flank, over the shallow ditches and dry fields, watching for the enemy. The Challenger continued down the road, with it’s commander giving the all-clear to any potential targets down the road. Not long after, the driver brought the vehicle to a halt as the clear image of another MBT came into view.
“Gunner target ahead!”
“Identify, it looks like a T-72!”
“Fire, open fire!”
“Shot out!”
The sabot round went out just as the commander of the T-72 spotted the enemy tank, only realizing it once it was too late. The round tore through the T-72’s armor, going through the loader and out the other side. The remaining crew bailed out of the tank as a fire broke out, gradually engulfing the armored shell.
“Lanca to Black Clover, do you read me?”
“Affirmative Lanca,” the Karalian infantry commander responded immediately. “We’re right behind you only a few minutes away, we’re ready to blitz the town with you!”
“Halt your team! The enemy has been reinforced with tanks of his own and has attempted to advance out of town. We have run into them, and once they are destroyed we will continue our attack.”
“Agh… understood Lanca, we will hold short,” the frustrated Karalian agreed.
As Iskra finished on the radio, the Challenger and a second T-72 down the road traded shots. Both gunners were on target but unlucky, with the Challenger’s shot hitting a poor angle on the front and ricocheting the sabot, and the T-72’s impacting against the frontal armor and careening off to the side, doing some mild damage and rattling the crew. A second later Hisiu’s tank fired an AP round into the side of the Changelings and hit the engine block, crippling them. Both tanks followed by killing two BTR-60s, the last vehicles of this advance force, as the Changeling infantry and surviving crew fled back to town.
“Aha, they’re nothing! How could the Equestrians be having such trouble? Artemor, any critical damage to the Stalkon?” Iskra called to the driver.
“No, some damage to the front armor but she is fine!”
“Ah, first combat in a tank, it is satisfying to prove ourselves,” Szarik, the tank’s gunner, congratulated the crew as he relaxed.
“We’ll have more to prove soon. Driver, take us off to the left side of the road, up to that barn,” Iskra ordered before contacting the others. “Lanca to all units, the enemy advance has been halted. The Changelings in the village likely know we are coming now. I think it is dangerous to go down the road into town.”
“Lanca, Tora; you stay to the left flank and we will cover the right, we will approach the village over the fields and through the bushes and engage their defenses from there. Black Clover, it will be better for you to get off before you reach town and attack. We can not all charge in.”
“Black Clover, we hear you. We will dismount and attack the town to clear it out.”
The two tanks now maneuvered individually to attack the town from distance and pick off any targets that were visible to them. Despite the Changelings being warned from the destruction of the advance force, they were still taken by surprise; they had not expected another attack, at least not so soon, and though they were more dug-in and prepared than before it was still a shock. They had hoped that their reinforcements would be advancing soon, and that their horrific ordeal had been an encounter of poor luck. They especially did not expect to be assaulted by a large force of two tanks and a platoon of infantry.
The two tanks rumbled off to the flanks, picking out targets at the edge of town, a long line of German-made Fuchs APCs came to a halt along the road and unloaded their infantry in the dusty cloud they had kicked up. The Karalians belonged to the Twelfe Flexible Infantry Battalion, part of the First Skittari Infantry Regiment, a total of two-hundred traveling in a ‘century’, their variant of a human company. In their grey uniforms and Stalhelms, these ponies, more than any other, had long awaited with a deathly patience to take their revenge on the Changelings, and with this opportunity for battle they would seize it with a fervor, and relish it.
Captain Blaze Afterglow was their commander, ready to return to fighting their traditional enemy after he had nearly been killed by them long ago. He tightened his uniform and his officer sword and ‘Dicer’ SMG, so named for the Karalian who had engineered the strange gun, as he observed his battlefield. He lamented that they would not be able to get in close to the village, to enter into the close-quarters battle they exceeded in, but he knew they would be victorious all the same.
“Finally, it’s time, after so long, you’ll get the first taste of payback for what you did,” he thought to himself. “Too bad our artillery couldn’t be brought in in time. We could’ve just shelled those Ticks into oblivion, burnt them away like old times.”
“Thunder Coy!” Afterglow called to his friend, who trotted up cradling his heavy sniper rifle. “I want you to go with the Arc ponies and set up a sniper-MG nest along that rise over there. See the hedge on it? It should give you a better view of the battlefield. Flaretail, you go with him, see if you can help spot for them!”
Thunder Coy nodded in agreement, smiling at his commander as if to wish him well.
“Just try to be careful this time Blaze! You wouldn’t want me and Coy to rescue you again!” Flaretail teased him as she hovered above the two.
The Captain smirked and sent his friend off after a light tap on his helmet, sending him on his way. After a few minutes, Coy and his team had reached their position and already opened fire. Even over the thump of the tanks he could hear Coy’s rifle ring out with each shot, and the steady macabre melody of the MG-3. Climbing to the top of one of the Fuchs, he commanded his infantry, raising his sword high and lowering it towards the town.
“Black Clovers! Attack!”
Iskra noticed the charge of the infantry from his commander’s hatch, stunning him into action.
“The Karalians are charging the village!”
“Directly!? They’ll be cut down halfway!” Szarik exclaimed, turning away from his sight in surprise before going back to keep watch. “Ach, I was told the Karalians needed more offensive training but-”
“No time, we need to reach the village first and guide the infantry in! Crew get ready, we’re running our own charge! Kasztanka, load our HEAT shells! Driver, forward, full speed! Get us to the entrance of town at the main road again, don’t stop!”
“Aye Captain!” they all replied.
The Challenger lurched forward, quickly gaining speed and covering the distance. A Changeling ATGM fired from an alley in the town, but the gunner spotted it and sent a cannon round into the emplacement. The uncontrolled errant missile, with only a short way to go, still struck the tank but only grazed the side of the turret, not slowing it down a bit. Bursts of machine gun and cannon erupted from inside the town, directed towards the infantry, as another T-72 rolled out to try and stop the attack.
“Gunner target tank, one o’clock!”
“Acquired!”
“Fire!”
“Shot! Hit confirmed!”
“He’s still shooting, re-engage!”
“Shot out! Hit, his turret flew off! He’s dead!”
Major Hisiu’s tank, having not been informed of the actions of either, was slower to catch on. When he saw the Challenger moving in, and noticing the Karalian infantry attack, he realized what was happening and ordered his own attack in league with Iskra’s. The Unionists rushed in, firing their machine guns wildly at whatever Changelings in the foremost buildings dared to stick out to fire at the Karalians.
“Gunner, target machine gun nest! In that cupola of that red building!”
“Yes I see it!”
“Fire!”
“Out!”
“Target demolished! Next!”
Iskra’s Challenger reached the main road of town and came to a halt, with Hisiu’s following behind shortly. The infantry finally reached Hoof’s Bend, having suffered some losses but far from what could have been had the two tank’s shock assault not suppressed the Changelings. The two tank commanders conferred and agreed that Iskra would continue slowly down the main road in town while Hisiu would take his tank along a smaller winding side street. They would support the infantry as they could, who would now be clearing out the town.
Blaze arrived along with the rest of his ponies, tired from the run but still energized and ready to fight. Already the Karalians were proving they were still masters of close-quarter fighting, especially when adapted with the new weapons of modern warfare the humans had given them. The Cohorts were flooding through town, moving aggressively but attentively. Each time a Changeling popped from a window to fire at them the opening was sprayed with weapons fire. Each building was to be cleared and the Karalians took to it with ample amounts of grenades and flashbangs.
Afterglow followed down a side street and joined a smaller group who needed another pony to clear out the town’s tiny sheriff’s building. Saddled up with his comrades as he had been taught, and knowing the Changelings were inside, the lead pony threw two flashbangs in and the group breached upon detonation. Blaze went left and, with his Dicer, gunned down a stunned Changeling rifleman stumbling in the corner as the group killed a second ahead of them. The ponies continued to clear the building as Blaze held the entrance, keeping his sword in one hoof and his small SMG in the other.
A rattle of gunfire came from down a hallway near where he was and one of the Karalians fell, struck in the back of his leg by an AK round. The Changeling charged into the room, hoping to fire on the team from behind, only to be hit twice in his right hoof by Afterglow’s gun and stumbling back. Seeing his foe this close, driven by his hunger for vengeance, acting on instinct and his skill from years before, Blaze lunged after him and raised his sword to smite his victim. The terrified Changeling, unable to fire due to his wound, raised his gun to block the attack, with the sword impacting against the weapon, biting into the wood and metal.
Now the moment of decision had come as the blade knocked the AK to the ground, having driven into it and nearly knocked it apart. Blaze now pulled the blade up, forward, directly at his target, and rammed it into the black shell of the Changeling. It let out a welp and cringed and groaned, it’s wings buzzing as it was pinned against the floor, bleeding out. The Karalian yanked his weapon free and delivered the coup de grace against his head, before finally stepping back to observe his work.
Blaze lingered on his sword after this, still spotted with blood. Drain Hornet, a sword he had specially customized long before during a different time, able to absorb magic through striking others, though the usefulness of that ability seemed to have died out. However, as he bemoaned this, the blade’s magical field began to glow lightly, vitalized by the natural magic it had drawn from the Changeling. Apparently each individual had more magic left in them than initially thought.
“Huh… and they told me magic was slipping away. But if I can get enough to charge this a little… from a Changeling, especially a Changeling. Just how much is really left in this bloody world?”
He was pulled from his thoughts by a loud mechanical clanking as the Challenger advanced past their building at a slow, cautious rate to support the infantry. They came upon a large opening with the town hall in the center, a three-story building with a bell tower, the largest building in town. Many Changelings had barricaded themselves in this strongpoint, for as soon as the tank came close a barrage of RPG fire erupted. The Challenger was hit twice, again saved from any critical damage but hurt nonetheless, reversing suddenly while firing a cannon round into the corner of the first floor.
The Karalian infantry had no better luck as withering fire from rifles and machine guns poured from every opening of the building as an intense firefight developed. A Karalian AT team fired their own launched at a window on the third story, though this was not very effective and countered by an accurate RPG round that wounded every pony in the team, putting it out of commission. This standoff continued for thirteen minutes before Hisiu’s tank arrived to break it.
Having gone through the town at a much faster rate, the Type-90 had turned back and now approached from the opposite end of the street. Realizing the Changelings had fortified themselves in the building, the tank took aim and put a high-explosive round into the bottom of the bell tower, collapsing it and the machine gun team in it. The fire eased for a moment before breaking out again, and another RPG shot hit perfectly in the side of the Type-90’s right tread, knocking it off and preventing them from moving.
Both tanks now began to fire rounds into the building and poured machine gun fire across it, though both had now exhausted their high-explosives and could only use armor-piercing, but the combined firepower was able to suppress the old wood and metal building. With this, Blaze collected all the smoke canisters the troops had and had them flung ahead of the building, with the tanks adding to it with their own launchers, creating a thick cloud around the building that was impossible to see through.
While the Changelings fired wildly through the smoke, expecting the infantry to breach the building, the Karalians sent only one team around the back to deal with them. Ladened with explosive charges, the infantry reached the building and spread out carefully, tossing C4 in or around the structure as they could before retreating back through the cloud. As the smoke began to disperse, one of the ponies hit the detonator and the many charges erupted in a great eruption.
A new cloud of dust and debris flew up, and with the call to cease fire the fighting stopped. A full half of the town hall had collapsed, with only the battered portion of the front remaining. Several dead or wounded Changelings lay amongst the rubble, with the few survivors running or flying back out to flee, hoping Hisiu’s tank would not catch them.
This proved to be enough for whatever Changelings remained in town, with the remaining stragglers retreating from Hoof’s Bend. Thunder Coy killed two more with his sniper rifle during this phase before the last of the fighting ended. Hoof’s Bend fell quiet save for the shouts and discussions of the soldiers there, and birds returned to sing on the buildings still standing and the ruins.
In a day’s fighting, the exile forces had suffered one tank disabled, necessitating a repair vehicle, and another moderately damaged. The Karalians lost 6 ponies dead and another 17 wounded. Looking over what they could find, it was clear they had destroyed more than a company’s worth of Changeling infantry, along with the many destroyed vehicles the free ponies had wiped out almost half a battalion. The Battle of Hoof’s Bend, while small and inconsequential in the larger picture of the front, was the first showing of the exile forces against the Bloc, and the first defeat of the latter by the former with their new technology and training.
“The town is finished? Clear, yes?” Iskra asked Afterglow as the three nation’s commanders met.
“Yes, it’s clear, secure. Quite a mess ain’t it? But it feels good, really good,” Blaze admitted. “What do you think? Feel good?”
“Hai, yes. Good,” Hisiu agreed, watching the Karalians collect the corpses of the Changelings to pile near the town hall, showing little regard for respect to the bodies of their foes.
“Yes but we will need to evacuate the town soon. We will lose the sunlight in ah… maybe thirty minutes,” Iskra told the two. “If all of the Changeling Army is advancing, we can not stay here alone. This was a small battle. We must return to our units.”
Afterglow grumbled something to himself, but agreed, the strategist in him knowing they would eventually be overrun by a superior force.
“The recovery vehicle will be here soon, it would be good to leave during the night,” the Konik continued.
“Yes, and I thank you both for your help,” Hisiu thanked them generously. “To defeat our enemy in battle... was something we needed. I thank you greatly.”
“Bloody pleasure, I’ve been wanting this for as long as I can remember!” Blaze agreed happily.
“Ah, you Karalians are good soldiers! And you Unionists! Both good, great! All of us, it looks like!” Iskra praised them. “
“And one day we’ll take our land back from those invaders, we will.”
“One day,” Hisiu and Iskra both repeated to themselves, deeply, determined, hopeful-
“Aye, one day.”
“One day.”
Far from the front, in the port of Pensacolta, sat an bland four-story building, not looking very important save for the guideposts around it and the large sign dictating it as the headquarters for the 4th Army. The building was always full of activity, though in one small meeting office on the corner of the second floor the army’s S-3 sat in a chair, waiting for his friend to return from an important meeting, a sudden one. Major General McBroom was watching the waves lap up against the sand of the shore, daydreaming with good view, until the 4th’s XO General Stokes arrived.
“It’s happened, just like we said it would,” the XO said plainly, with almost no expression on his face.
“What did?”
“Both.”
“Both of what?”
“The Equestrian Army failed to fill out the line on our flanks. They just melted away, like there was no line there, no one was backing them up. Our guys in the center are holding but that’s meaningless now.”
“I was afraid of that. We’ve got some contingencies for that, or at least we brainstormed some. What’s the other part?”
“General Alton Hall has been relieved of command of the Fourth Army.”
“Was waiting for that to happen too,” McBroom sighed, relatively nonchalant for such a major upset in the chain-of-command. “Him screwing around with strategies, keeping the Marines and Brits in his ‘reserve’ he called it. Was always bullshit wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, even the Chief agreed he was detached from the reality of the strategic situation by now,” Stokes explained further, taking a chair and dragging it to the window next to McBroom’s. “But that’s what we were right about; McBroom, there’s something else.”
“Oh good lord what now?”
“Here’s what we didn’t expect. we’re both being promoted.”
“You’re taking his place?”
“No, you are.”
McBroom stared at him for a moment, gawking and confused at the sudden leap in position.
“There’s been some reshuffling. You’re going to be taking over for the Fourth Army. I’m going to a new position, though they haven’t finalized it yet,” Stokes explained. “It’s something like a Supreme Allied Commander for Arcaia, at least that’s the acting title.”
“Jesus Christ Michael, you’re starting to overwhelm me! When the Hell-”
“Then pipe down and get a hold of yourself, you’re in a bigger seat now and you’ve got to be able to take it; we both do. It’s up to us to help fix this mess, so hold the chatter for now,” his superior interrupted him, trying to keep focus rather than devolve to pointless conversation. “But yes, it’s some kind of Supreme Command position but not really, not yet. Still have a lot of connections to be made. I’ve been given total command over all the human forces based on this continent, I mean Hell we did it anyways but point being. All of them are under me now.”
“But not the Equestrians?”
“We’re still trying to get the Equestrians to fall under my wing; as of now I’m only on par with Royal Marshall Silver Lance. He’s still got them and the Exile Forces under his command. But they want me to work with him. Hopefully this’ll be the step we need to a proper unified command.”
Stokes rose from his chair and dragged it back to the small table in the office, waving McBroom over as well. He wanted to start going over new strategic plans to implement for stabilizing the situation in Equestria. Usually he would hope to hash them out in a better setting, with their own Staff and a proper map to do so, but he did not want to waste time. They were in command now, and he knew what actions needed to be taken, he knew that time was precious, and even hours and minutes counted now. No time to waste on small talk like it was some business, it was an impromptu briefing, and orders were to be passed. Not a second need be wasted.
“First things first, we need to evacuate the entirety of central Equestria. Send the word for the Fourth Army to pull its units back, otherwise the 5th ID and 2nd Armored will get surrounded in the center,” the senior commander told McBroom. “The Rangers have already pulled back right?”
“Yeah, the 11th ACR is still there too. They’re in the best shape of any unit there.”
“Good, we’ll need some fresh units. We might need the 11th to help out then, just one regiment though. 3rd Infantry Division’s already moving inward after landing here in Pensacolta but that won’t do, they’ll have to be the lynchpin for a defense.”
“I’ll order them to hold for now, with so few fresh units we can’t mount a large defense on these big open areas. I’ll tell them to camp down on the other side of the Comtois River… near… Clefland.”
“Alright, we need to get in touch with the other branches too. Because of what Hall did, our friends are guaranteed to get cut off. The 1st MARDIV is going to get cut off at Las Pegasus. Knowing them they’ll want to stand and fight but we can’t lose them,” Stokes continued, his friend writing down notes on a pad to remember. “The British in Baltimare are in the same mess, we’ll have to evacuate them anyway we can. Oh, what about the Canadian and Australian units? They aren’t in the center are they? Are they with the Brits?”
“No, they’ve been pulled back to the east to rest and replenish after that initial scare at the start of the war. They’re also going to be getting a lot of additional units from their countries.”
“Good, that’s good that’s very good! We’ll need their help. The other divisions, what about the 94th?”
“They’ve been resting to the east of Baltimare but they can’t attack or even defend. Our best bet is for them to pull back to the Cob Peninsula, try to hold Boston- uh Bostrot, sorry, fucking names. But, beyond that, the 23rd is in a bad way now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Well with the line gone… the 23rd Division down on our southern flank pulled back to ah… Fillydelphia? That was a couple weeks ago. As you know it’s a major logistical station inland for us, lots of supplies and replacements there. But they hunkered down to get back in shape there, along with a bunch of Equestrian units. To be frank, they’re in no condition to fast move over land back to friendly lines, and with everything else happening it’s not likely the Air Force can evacuate that amount of men. They’re going to be surrounded there.”
“Jesus Christ, they’re going to get locked down there,” Stokes repeated, his mind racing to try and find a solution.
“I know as the commanders we’re supposed to have solutions but… Michael for them I can’t come up with anything. They’re already exhausted, they try to mount up and move, they'll get hit as they try to escape. A good chunk of the division would get destroyed, or all of it,” McBroom sadly admitted. “I wouldn’t even tell them to try it, it’d be suicide.”
“You think we can tell them to stay there? Fuck how would that look? Brand new commanders and we’re telling them to sit there while the enemy surrounds them and starves them out?” Stokes lamented to his colleague. “I don’t want to abandon them.”
“We can come back for them, just not now. And it’s not as hopeless as it seems. They’ve gotten a lot more replacements, and other auxiliary guys around that town. Lots of Equestrian units and stragglers too. Plenty of supplies from the depots on top of that.”
“Maybe… we’ll get to them one day though,” the higher commander swore before going over his notes to summarize. “But looking at everything, we’ve got… a full army retreating from the threat of getting surrounded. Need to enact two port evacuations. One battered division’s hunched up in a peninsula against the ocean to the north and another one’s going to be locked down in an inland siege to the south. Ah… alright, let’s get these orders down the chain.”
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This is from earlier in the story, right? I barely remember.
10887080
It was Silver’s character, Karalians were his original nation and creation before I lost touch with him. I grabbed all the lore he sent me about them and I want to keep using the in the story here and there. He was a good friend, I miss him quite a bit.
I always enjoy reading your updates. Xd
10891969
Thanks, it makes me happy to see comments from people that are reading it.
About fucking time that idiot got sacked! Also this chapter was a banger.
Where's Galm Team when you need 'em.