Iron Kingdom Equestria

by Bitt_Player

The Siege of Canterlot: Part Three

"We should use them to spearhead our retreat," Sorscha Kratikoff said, standing in front of a group of warjacks that the Khadorans had held in reserve. "We intended them as a second-wave offensive, but the Equestrian forces are much stronger than anticipated. We will lose them for nothing if we attempt an attack."

"But surely you realize that we will not get another chance to take Canterlot," Izak Harkevich objected, "their monarch fights on the front lines, we have an opportunity to-"

"The window of opportunity has closed, if it was ever open," Oleg Strakhov interrupted, "yes, Celestia attacked your wall herself, but tell me, were you and all your forces able to harm even a hair on her mane?"

"We cannot give up after a single offensive!" Harkevich said vehemently. "She has not yet received reinforcements, her troop numbers are low, and she has no warjacks! The three of us can overwhelm her!"

Kratikoff snorted. "Yes, and their bombs will be as gentle as a summer rain falling upon us."

"They won't bomb us while their princess is on the battlefield!" Harkevich insisted.

"They will if she falls," Strakhov pointed out.

"Then our power fields will protect us," Harkevich said grimly, "and of those fail, then we will die for Khador."

"To die for the Motherland is a fine death indeed," Strakhov allowed, "but my preference is to make the enemy die for her instead, and I cannot do that from an unmarked grave in a foreign nation. We should leave after nightfall, using the same trick we employed to get here."

"This argument needs to end now, while we still have time to act." Kratikoff pronounced. "As Forward Kommander, I am taking operational control of all Khadoran assets here. Harkevich, you will not lead a single soldier against Equestria, I will not see them sacrificed. However, you may take your remaining warjacks, and three Grolars." Kratikoff motioned to the newest of the reserve warjacks. "If you succeed, we will take advantage of the crippling blow to Equestrian morale and strike at Canterlot. If you fail, pray to Menoth your warjacks bring you back before we leave."

"Understood, Forward Kommander," Harkevich said. Battle mechaniks, having overheard the argument while tending to the warjacks, quickly refueled the three Grolars and lit their boilers. Harkevich went to each Grolar, one at a time, and placed a hand briefly on each warjack's head, telepathically bonding with them. It meant going toe to hoof with the most powerful warcaster he'd ever encountered, as well as casting aside his plan of winning over the Equestrian ponies after overcoming their military, but he had no other choice: Kommander Harkevich would kill Princess Celestia.

---

"What do you make of the situation, Thunder Wing?" Celestia asked, gazing at the tunnel entrance from across the battlefield. Khadoran soldiers and warjacks still held firm at the entrance, but there was no sign of Izak Harkevich.

"They are holding forces in reserve," Thunder Wing said analytically. "likely protecting a central FOB within the tunnels. With this world's sun setting, I think it won't be long before they commit those forces to either a last-ditch attack or a fighting retreat."

Celestia considered her General's pronouncement for a few moments. "I think you're right," the Princess finally said. "What about reinforcements from Canterlot?"

"Already en route," Thunder Wing replied, "A train will be arriving shortly, and Princess Luna is assembling the Lunar Guard. She intends to rotate your forces for hers at sunset."

"Tell me, do you know what my sister plans to do once she arrives?" Celestia asked, "I haven't had a chance to speak to her since her arrival in Canterlot."

"I don't have any official information from her or her soldiers, but if I had to take a guess, I'd suspect that she means to break the siege for good."

"You think she'll rush the caves instead of holding here and waiting the Khadorans out. An interesting idea." Celestia said evenly.

"You know her better than I," Thunder Wing admitted, "but between the two of you, your sister strikes me as more... aggressive."

"I'd say that's an accurate assessment," Celestia said with a small smile, "in my younger years, I was much more like her, but the centuries seem to have mellowed me rather more than my sister. Ah, the Khadoran soldiers appear to be falling back."

"So they are, but the warjacks are staying put." Thunder Wing shot a discrete glance at the phalanx of Royal Guard ponies standing behind her and Celestia, "with our own 'jacks down, that bodes ill. And three of those warjacks that Applejack couldn't identify are here, as well. Looks like Harkevich is controlling them."

Celestia lowered her head slightly, and her horn began to glow. "Let's see what young Izak intends to do."

---

The Grolar was a marvel of Khadoran engineering. It was a marvel how long it had taken for the Mechaniks Assembly to decide to create a new warjack based on the popular and successful Kodiak chassis, for a start. The Kodiak had been released nearly sixty years ago, and the very first Grolars were only two years old. The improvements that the Assembly had managed to make in the design's boiler and movement systems were also marvelous, as were the machine's advanced -at least for Khador- weaponry. Its left arm had a fist similar to the Kodiak's, but instead of the heavy, shield-like cowling on the lower arm, the Grolar featured a twin-barreled auto cannon capable of rapid linked fire, letting the Grolar fire a terrifying amount of lead at its enemies. The auto cannon's short range was offset by the Grolar's ability to increase its speed in short bursts, surprising enemies with its mobility as it rushed to ideal positions to bring its guns to bear.

The auto cannon was not the Grolar's only weapon, however. The machine wielded a heavy piston hammer in its right arm, capable of delivering brutal force to its enemies. The piston hammer struck with enough force to shatter warjack armor, and was designed to batter aside obstructing enemies to give the Grolar a clear line of fire for its auto cannon. With a specialized cortex able to instantly switch between fighting in melee and at range, the Grolar could smash an opposing 'jack to the ground and bring its gun to bear on second-line troops depending on warjacks for cover. The machine's weakness was its reliance on warcasters. The Grolar demanded intense focus from its 'caster to function at anything resembling maximum effectiveness, draining its warcaster's reserves of arcane power and demanding total attention while it made its assaults. 'Jack marshals were right out for the machine, and few warcasters could manage more than one at a time. Kommander Harkevich did not intend to have his three brand-new Grolars attack Princess Celestia at once. Ideally, they would strike one by one, each machine cutting deeper into her defensive lines until the third reached her with its auto cannon. of course, that plan depended on Celestia remaining on the ground, but the Grolars' auto cannons could easily shoot her down if they could fire before she gained too much altitude. Even if they didn't end her life, such a hail of bullets might convince the Princess to remain on the ground, where she would be more vulnerable to Harkevich's warjacks.

Harkevich stood at the tunnel entrance, watching as Celestia walked towards him, her expression grim. The ponies behind her stood in phalanx formation, allowing their Princess to move further and further away from them. The Kommander wondered if Celestia intended to engage him in single combat. He had no intention of a duel, however. Harkevich waited until he judged Celestia was close enough, then, with a sudden outpouring of arcane power, he accelerated his warjacks into a dead run, focusing his power on one of the Grolars. Looking through the warjack's eyes, he saw Celestia's eyes and horn glow bright gold.

In a flash, Celestia was in the air, almost directly above Harkevich. The Grolar which currently had his attention raised its auto cannon and launched a stream of bullets at the Princess, but she vanished again. Celestia reappeared behind the offending Grolar just long enough to ram a hoof into its boiler before vanishing again. As the Grolar collapsed, its steam venting from the hole in its steam tank, Black Ivan fired its bombard cannon at Celestia. The Princess vanished in another flash of light before the shell struck. Harkevich drove his second Grolar to fire a burst at her just as she appeared behind Ivan, prompting Celestia to vanish again, reappearing behind the warjack. As she raised her hoof to strike its boiler, Harkevich's third Grolar opened fire.

This time, Celestia appeared directly in front of Harkevich and slammed her hoof into his armored chest. Her hoof punched through Harkevich's power field, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger backward. Celestia vanished once more as the Kodiak's massive right fist plowed through the spot she had just been in. Harkevich was still trying to catch his breath, but he was ready for her anyway. The warcaster spun around, swinging Minister in a wide sweep just as Celestia teleported behind him. The heavy, mechanika-augmented club slammed through Celestia's power field and into the side of her head. Harkevich was sure he heard the sound of bones breaking, but Celestia still stood, bleeding onto Minister and glowering at Harkevich. The Khadoran stared in amazement as Celestia slowly raised a hoof and forced her dislocated jawbone back into place. What manner of creature was she, to withstand such a blow without even flinching? Minister could stagger warpwolves and dire trolls when he poured such arcane power into it.

"I'll take that as my punishment for being a one-trick pony," Celestia said as the fury in her expression was slowly replaced with absolute calm. Wordlessly, Harkevich pulled Minister back to deliver another blow even as Black Ivan and the Kodiak rounded on the Princess.

Suddenly, Harkevich's entire world was agonizingly bright, white light. He withdrew his mind from his warjacks' cortexes to avoid seeing through their optics, and was forced to shut his own eyes as well. Just as suddenly, he felt a large, blunt object punch through his power field and slam into the side of his head, and the bright light shining through his eyelids was replaced with total darkness.

---

Kommander Izak Harkevich lay on his back in the middle of an open field. The sky above him was cloudless, and dominated by a bright, full moon. Not the three moons that orbited Caen according to their own ineffable patterns, but a single white moon that loomed large and full in the sky. It seemed to Harkevich that this moon was somehow closer to him than a moon generally should be. The arcane turbine on his warcaster armor was not powered, but the weight of his armor seemed meaningless. Nonetheless, he found himself unable to move.

"Well, if it isn't Izak Harkevich." A voice said. A dark blue pony superficially resembling Princess Celestia appeared at Harkevich's side, looking down at him. "I wasn't sure I could enter a human's dreams, but here I am."

"What do you want?" Harkevich grumbled. He was completely nonplussed at the situation.

"Quite a bad attitude for a man being paid a visit by Princess Luna herself," Luna chided sardonically, "but I suppose I can understand it. My sister defeated you quite soundly."

"What in Menoth's name happened?" Harkevich asked, speaking half to himself.

"You were warned, you know," Luna replied, rolling her eyes, "you made the sun your enemy, you shouldn't be so surprised that its light blinded you." Luna paused to idly examine a hoof before continuing, "an interesting difference between my sister and I. She felt that since so many Khadorans had already died today, it wouldn't do to end your life. My attitude, on the other hand, was that since so many Khadorans had died already, it wouldn't hurt to end the life of one more. Quite the dictotomy, wouldn't you say?"

"I prefer your sister's way of thinking," Harkevich found that he couldn't help being argumentative. Perhaps that was the nature of the dream.

"I get that a lot, from those forward enough to say so," Luna said flatly, "in any case, I acquiesced to my sister, provided that I could personally lead the forces that herd your little gang out of Equestria. Oh, your soldiers all surrendered after my sister smacked you on the head, I should have mentioned that."

"Then I am your prisoner?"

"Oh, don't I wish," Luna said glibly, "no, some of your loyal engineers came under a white flag and took you and your 'jacks away. They even convinced my sister to give up that lovely black 'jack of yours. I wanted to try to break its cortex lock."

"You don't think enough like a Khadoran to even attempt it." Harkevich growled.

"That was very kind of you to say," Luna said, "unintended flattery aside, your simpering minions are dragging your impudent self and all their dangerous toys back to Khador, and I will personally make sure none of you make any detours. With that in mind, I'll leave you to finish your little nap." On that note, Luna vanished, and Harkevich could do nothing but lay on the ground and stare up at the moon.

Author's Note:

Celestia got herself smacked one. The debate over whether she or Luna is a better warcaster can now rage! Or not. Preferably not, in fact. Let's not have raging debates.

Comments

[Obsidian]

Haha... Celestia smacked him and his 4 jacks down all by herself, sure she got cocky and took a clock to her jaw, but still. Good for her, though really... kill them. Loosing 3 senior warcasters would be devastating, do a favor to Cygnar and turn them over to them if you must...

To kind by half.

[Bitt_Player]

4965205
Although she describes the discussion rather calmly to Harkevich, I think we can assume that Luna objected quite... strenuously.

[Valthorn Illian]

The crap is that new warjack? Please tell me that's not in the Vengeance book or I may have to second guess using Legion for a while.

[Bitt_Player]

4975690 It is Khador's new Vengeance warjack. Every faction except Retribution got a new 'jack on their one-off chassis. The Grolar's main weakness is that it has the same RAT 4 as the rest of Khador's mass-produced warjacks.

[Valthorn Illian]

4976109 Well that doesn't sound bad then, I thought they were RAT5-6 with the way you wrote them.