Chapter XV: Resolute
One thing about personal shielding is that you must be sure about the kind of personal shielding you have. There are some that stops fire from ballistic weapons or energy based ones. Some shields just generally protect the user from all incoming harm. Mine was the last one, but one thing it didn’t protect me from the intense heat of the flamethrower the Xartik used on me.
“Fuck!” I shouted to myself as my shield blocked the flames, but I could feel my armor heating up still. Teleporting away from the Xartik, I activated my radio as I shout, “All units, the enemy has flamethrower units! Do not engage close quarters comb—what the fuck are you doing Flare‽”
“Taking this stupid fire spitting robot, unlike you pansies,” Flare stated as she rushed towards the Xartik, firing wildly at it. This caused it to turn around and let out a stream of fire at Flare, who merely kept on charging before letting out a roar as she tried to tackle it, only to experience what Rainbow experiences when she crashes into a wall. That was when I noticed that its left arm was different in appearance from its right counterpart, though I could figure out why when the robot swung its fist at Flare, producing an audible thump as Flare was sent flying.
“How that idiot became a soldier is beyond me,” I muttered to myself before reactivating my radio. “All dragons on the field, the flamethrower Xartik may have an impact weapon built into its other arm, so don’t engage thinking you’re safe from harm,” I said to the radio before turning it off as I leveled my rifle’s sights on the Xartik’s head as it was distracted by Agate and Night as they were firing at it from behind some cover. Firing a few shots, I saw that its shield deflected them with ease, though it did turn its attention towards me as a result. Why must I be a better shot than most of my troops? I thought as it charged towards me.
Pulling out my energy sword from my right foreleg, I drew upon another feature built into my armor courtesy of the princesses. A round plate on my left foreleg's bracer pushed outward before its edges extended outward in an x-shaped fashion before generating a shield made out of energy that was just barely large enough for me to hide behind if I compressed my body as much as I can. Unlike my general energy shield, this one was designed to be more robust and resilient to other forms of attack, including fire-based ones. Shame that it wasn't strong enough to fend off tank rounds.
Spewing a plume of flame at me, which I angled my shield to deflect it to the side, the Xartik continued on with its charge, swinging its left arm at me. Thankful that Flare proved useful enough to expose that ability, I lowered my shield, leaning back so that the robot's fist just went by my chest by a few mere inches, before I thrust my sword into one of its left arm's elbow joint. Thankfully, despite the Xartik being heavily armored, its shield wasn’t strong enough to repel my blade as it tore into the joint. Bracing my rear hooves against the ground, I pulled the sword upwards, causing it to cut through half of the joint before pulling free. Teleporting away from the flamethrower drone, I could see that its left arm is mostly disabled, still hanging on but hanging uselessly off the elbow point.
Raising my shield again to block another surge of fire, I activated my radio as I said, “All units, the flamethrower Xartik drones lack a strong enough shield for melee combat, and rely on heavy armor to defend themselves after their shields have failed. Try taking out the arm that unleashes their impact weapon so our dragon soldiers can safely engage them in close combat.”
Finished with my message, I peeked pastmy shield to see the drone still shooting out its flames, keeping a safe distance away from me. Judging that it was probably trying to wear my shields out so it could fry me alive, I readied a teleport spell only to spot something coming down in its head. The sudden weight threw the Xartik's aim off, lighting the ground on fire before it turned off its flamethrower so it can reach its attacker, which was a pegasus of the Aegis Guard, said pegasus pulled out a sword before shoving it into the robot’s eye socket. Instantly the robot began to spasm as the pegasus was digging around in its head with the sword before the Xartik finally ceased its movements before falling over.
Jumping off the falling Xartik, the pegasus landed in front of me before giving me a salute, allowing me to see that it was a blue coated, dirty blond-maned stallion as he said, “Captain General Aura, Sergeant Resolute Sky, reporting for duty!"
Raising an eyebrow, I replied, "Resolute Sky... that name sounded familiar... oh, you were among the top five cadets of the Manehatten Academy's fourth year of recruits if I recalled that correctly.” I made a note of any particular recruits that did well against my assigned obstacle courses. If we were lucky, the cream of the crop would be the ones to prove pivotal in this war, since I doubt my sheer dumb luck would be enough to make a difference.
Puffing his chest out in pride, Resolute said, “It makes me glad to hear you say so, Captain. Shall we press on with the assault? My unit will be arriving shortly, and we will be glad to support your team.”
Looking around, I could see that the Xartik were being pushed back, as our forces seemed to be making headway after taking out the flamethrower units. “No, take me to the command post on the ground. The Xartik are already stepping up their game, so it’s time to take a few more precautions before pressing on with the forces.” Turning to look at Windbag as he was approaching, I ordered, “Go see if Flare survives that stupid stunt of hers and bring her back. Hopefully, she doesn’t need to go to the medic so we can use her for something.”
The forward command post wasn’t much of a command station, but more of A few tents with shielding placed over them. One tent was devoted to ground side command officers that were overseeing the battle, another serving as a medical tent, and the other a small supply stash in case the post comes under attack. Around the trio of tents were some hastily built fortifications, mostly either ditches with shields placed on top or stone cover, with ponies in position on full alert.
In the central tent was a portable minimal, which I stood behind with my team and several other officers around it. Off to the side was a few monitors, most of them dark except for the one that had Shadow’s face on it as he said, “So far after your explosive expert took out the enemy armor and adapting to the inclusion of flamethrower Xartik into the enemy forces, our forces are once again pushing into enemy territory with only moderate difficulty, Captain.”
Grunting, I had my forehooves on the display table as I said, “Best to assume that we won’t be able to keep that push up for long. There may have other surprises the Xartik have brought along with them, so it’s best that no one gets too far ahead that they could be isolated and cut off. No signs of any flanking forces?”
A teal unicorn mare with a blue and white toned mane answered, “We have scouting forces positioned at both sides of the main force reporting at regular intervals, so no signs of the enemy. We even have patrols at our rear as required, Captain.”
Nodding, and answered, “Good, then we might be fine for the moment. If we’re really lucky, the Aurora has softened them up enough that they don’t have any fortified positions, along with no underground shelters were they might be setting up shop. Do we have any of our tanks on the ground yet... um...”
“Colonel Flash Bang, Captain, and we have some on the field with the left flank, the ground is too uneven for them to be placed anywhere else for the moment. But we did have more infantry with the core and right flank of our forces to compensate for the lack of tanks,” the teal unicorn answered.
Rubbing my chin at that info, I replied, “Hmm... odds are that while they may not have set up a ground side portal, they may still be transmitting data back to their masters. So odds are that the might be going to test our tanks soon, but gray might leave their forces in the other parts with fewer troops. Colonel Bang, I want you to send some more infantry support to the tanks. Captain Shadow, soften up the sides of the army so that the left can hold its position while the right may get a chance to push forward so they can hopefully flank the enemy. Celestia should be here soon, so let her know what I recommended for her to support the tank division. If they throw something big at our tanks, then she’ll be able to repel them with ease. In the meantime, my squad and I will lead the center, and hopefully, I’ll draw their attention onto me to relieve pressure off the rest.”
Flare raised up an arm with one claw pointing upwards as she said, “Wait, are you literally making us a giant target?”
Snorting, Windbag said, “One of the cons with being in the captain’s squad is that we might get some suicidal missions. Or so she says, cause I bet all of our missions would be suicidal in nature.”
Turning my head towards Windbag, I countered, “Windbag, shut up, or I will have you test the effectiveness of our drop pod system, without you having a drop pod.”
“Captain, forgive my choice of words, but are you really making us a giant target?” Night asked as we were trotting at a fast pace to the front lines.
“Somewhat, but it’s more of me trying to be the most aggressive target, with the rest of you doing something to take out the target,” I answered as I could hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions getting louder as we neared the battleground.
“Wait, what do you mean by something, Captain?” Agate asked, causing me to turn my head back towards him where I saw a confused expression plastered on his face, with the rest of my squad right behind him.
“I mean something cause if whatever the Xartik throws at us is something new, then we have no idea what we need to do to counter it,” I explained before returning my attention to the front of me, where I saw Resolute and his team which consisted of a diamond dog, two griffons, a unicorn, and a zebra.
“You’re sure we should just teleport our entire team over the enemy, Captain? It would give us a chance at a surprise attack,” Resolute proposed, causing me to shake my head at him.
“No, cause we need to save something like that for emergencies like a sudden infiltration into enemy territory. They may have seen some unicorns teleporting on their own, so there is a possibility that they might assume we can only teleport one at a time. So best to save that as an ace in the hole,” I answered while shaking my head before we finally came onto the battlefield. Pulling my rifle off my back, I could see that our forces where spread out, engaging the Xartik who were behind their own kind of energy shield barriers, rectangular in nature as the form up natural walls that were made up of three connected shields, the third one angled to prevent grenades from landing right behind the shields. With the wall being ten feet tall, I wondered if the commanders on the field were setting up a mortar line before an explosion went off near some of my troops. “Incoming mortar fire!” someone shouted into the radio as more explosions went off, forcing me to glance over the field before noticing an outcropping of rocks.
“Get to that cover!” I shouted as I ran for it, the rest of my troops following suit. Soaking my back to it, I took a breather as I felt the ground shaking with each explosion.
“Captain, do you have a plan,” Resolute asked after coming to my right side. “Should we request air support?”
Shaking my head, I replied, “No, they’re entrenched for the moment, and I don’t want to see if they brought some anti-air guns to test against our copters. Besides, we need to learn how to break their lines now on our own instead of further down the line when they have better robots against us.” Looking at Cherry, I sighed as I said, "Cherry, hoof over some of your spare explosives."
"Yes Captain, are you planning on teleporting some 'gifts' to the enemy?" Cherry asked as she pulled some of her explosive charges out of her mane as I raised an eyebrow at the nature of her question.
Grabbing the charges, I answered, “No, I’m just going to teleport behind enemy lines and blow a hole in their wall of theirs. Then you lot will charge, which may encourage those that aren't pinned down to follow suit. Then we can smash a hole their line and hopefully break up."
"But what about you, Captain? Wouldn't you be exposed behind enemy lines while you're taking down their shield wall?" Resolute asked, which a couple of his troops along with Night nodded to.
"It's a risk I have to take, and it would distract some of their numbers for a time, which would make the charge a bit easier if things go according to plan. Now make sure your rifles are load, cause break time is over!" I declared as I lit my horn up as I turned on the explosive charges, much to the dismay of my troops.
Letting loose my teleport spell as I pulled my forelegs back, I saw the world around me flash briefly before I saw the back side of the Xartik wall, scores of Xartik behind it as they were firing past small slots in the shield while a few were setting up some kind of equipment. Throwing the charges at two different parts of the wall, I turned around and some more rocky outcroppings. Teleporting to the rocks, I took cover before witnessing the charges going off, blowing two large holes into the Xartik line as I watch pieces of the drones near the explosions flew all over the area. All the while, my ears shifted toward the sounds of my troops yelling as they charged, probably to encourage others to charge with them.
Readying my rifle, I was about to open fire at another part of the enemy line when a boulder next to me suddenly exploded, causing me to be sent flying ten feet before I crashed into the ground as the shattered remains of the boulder rained down all around me. Lying on my back still, I shifted my rifle to aim at the source of the explosion, only to gasp at the sight of the assailant. Standing over the remains of my cover, stood a six-legged Xartik robot, it’s sleek form seeming to be of a feline nature, its legs ending in claws that looked sharp enough to cut through metal. Its armor was black as night, with its size easily being three times longer than Celestia herself as well as a head taller, as it stared at me with the five glowing eyes on its narrow head.
Off the bat, I knew that this Xartik robot was of a much higher caliber than the other ones sent against us so far. Hence, it prompted me to say the one thing that came to my mind. "Fuck."
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Well, that sounds like an issue.
EDIT: Typos being handled
Big fan of this chapter
Well at least they think of you as a dangerous target, if they send something like that after you
I don't understand why Aegis would want Celestia there. She may be powerful, but if the show is any indication, she has very little knowledge or experience at using that power in battle. Plus, if I recall correctly, Luna is already there, which puts both of the country's leaders in the line of fire-- an unacceptable risk.
All in all, Celestia's presence would be nothing but a liability.
if Flare survived that stupid stunt of hers ”
peeked past my shield to see the drone still shooting out
but more like a bunch of tents with - (sounds better this way!)
Comes with being a part of the
turned around and saw some more rocky outcroppings.
Edited--since someone killed my youtube link [ embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGLekxd6fv0[/embed ]
"
"
tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/1/1e/ROTF_Ravage_promo.jpg
Aether: "Fuck!"
Fluttershy: "Oooh! Pretty kitty!
Aether: "Fluttershy!? Seriously!?
9263499
Working on the editing right now.
They killed Flare!
wish i could give this more thumbs up than just one. I'm always happy to seen an update into what Aura is upto, and wish more people could as well. Dammit WandereD, give this a feature already!
9263499
Editing is done, and our beloved author has in fact thumbs-upped it.
Nice to see some progress, but at this point I may have to reread the past sections to remember how the battle has gone so far.
Update please
Curious though that it would be a six legged feline. Generally those are built for speed rather than stability, as a double tripod step would be slower than a quadruped, especially at high speeds since a tripod needs to have one unit always on the ground to keep moving.
oh, i just remembered something i saw on TV a long time ago: some people were working on a 6-legged walking vehicle.
it moved in an interesting way, using the center leg on one side at the same time as the front and back legs on the other side.