Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXV
I don't know how long we stood there, locked in each other's embrace, her body pressed into mine. It could have been years for all I cared, and because of my implants, it would have been so easy for me to make the moment last at least that long. I didn't want that, though. The last thing I needed right then was a reminder of how inhuman I had become; all I wanted was to enjoy the feel of her form pressed into mine, and the way her fingers trailed in little circles around the small of my back.
Sadly, nothing can last forever, and after far too short a time for my liking, Valerie pulled away, her eyes sweeping up and down my form. I couldn’t blame her; I was taller than I used to be, but I was also much, much ganglier.
I was also an unspeakably horrifying monster from beyond the stars, but at this point I was just splitting hairs.
As I stood there, just drinking in the sight of her, she gently reached up and rubbed her hand over my bald head as her lips turned down into a frown. “I liked your hair…” she half-muttered to herself.
“I did, too. Trust me, I wasn’t presented with the option to keep it,” I replied dryly. “I got it back for a few days, but… it didn’t keep.”
Valerie looked confused at this, as she should have. “You… got it back? I don’t understand. Alex, what happened to you? Really?”
“It’s a long, long story, one we really don’t have time for.” This didn’t seem to satisfy her, as I knew it wouldn’t, but it was the honest truth. “Look, you deserve answers, you deserve my full story, but that’s something that’s going to take days to tell properly. Right now, people I care about have hours at best.”
"Uh-uh, you're not getting away with a half-assed explanation like that," Valerie said, tapping her foot angrily. "You're going to sit down, get some snuggles, and you are going to tell me everything."
I tried to protest, tried to say anything to stop her, but anything I tried was ignored as she gently, but firmly, pushed me back into the couch and curled up in my lap like a kitten. "Now, tell me," she said, the look in her eyes slightly threatening. "What happened to you after you disappeared?"
I knew that we really didn’t have time for this, that people's lives were at stake, but the feeling of her warm body cuddled into mine was just too good. It brought to mind memories I had all but forgotten, of seeing her for the first time, the first time she smiled at me, our first date which, while admittedly started off pretty rocky, was nevertheless one of my fondest memories with her. She smelled slightly of flowers, which brought to mind rainy nights curled together, sipping cocoa and laughing at really bad movies.
It was no surprise, then, that when I opened my mouth, I began spilling my guts, just as she asked. I had the presence of mind to keep to the cliff notes version, but I still spent way too long talking to her about the horrors I had been through, about my miraculous escape, and about how me and my fellow experiments had fought tooth and nail for our freedom.
Valerie was a good listener, too. She didn't interrupt me even once while I went through the terrible things the krin did to me, and I couldn't see even an ounce of judgement when I told her about what they forced me to do. I did, however, notice that she became progressively more angry with each word that came out of my mouth, and something deep inside me told me that it wasn't just because of what I had gone through.
Something else was bugging her, of that I was certain.
I wanted to ask her about it, but something kept me from taking that step. Instead, I selfishly kept talking about myself, telling her about the wonderful alien ponies that had saved me, and about the danger that now threatened them. I knew I should have asked her, should have said something, but it was like a dam had burst, and I couldn't stop talking until I had gotten everything out.
I don't know how long we were there, as there were no clocks in this room and I still hadn't figured out how to make the implants in my head show such a feature, but it must have been at least a few hours. Finally, I drooped, having expended myself completely and utterly. “And… that’s why I can’t stay…” I said as I gently ran my hand through her hair. “I know it sounds crazy, but… they need me. Even if all I can do is stop a single shot with my body, I still have to go. They gave me my voice back, they gave me one last chance to see you again. I can’t repay them by turning my back on them, not now…”
“You don’t have to go alone,” Valerie said as she gently traced circles on my chest.
I looked down into her wonderful grey eyes, and I could see tears welling up in the corners of those beautiful orbs. “What choice do I have? NATO’s just going to spend it’s time arguing, and I rather doubt the U.S. is going to move without them.”
“I meant me, dingus,” she said, lightly punching me in the arm. I winced in pain, my inhibitors having been set to a lower level despite my injuries, as the higher levels could mess up my brain if left on for too long (that had been a terrifying text to see running across the bottom of my vision, believe me). Valerie was exceptionally observant, though, always had been. It was why she had done so well in college, and why she was a forensic scientist. Because of this, she picked up on my expression immediately, pulled away from me, and gave me a stern look. “Alex… what’s wrong with your arm?”
“It’s nothing,” I replied, trying to shy away from her ever so slightly. She wasn’t buying it, and immediately started pulling at my jacket, fully intent on getting it off of me. “Look, I was banged up a little… It’s nothing, I swear!”
She completely ignored me, and other than getting physical, I really had no way to stop her. Before long, the black jacket I was wearing had been removed, and the red stain on my shirt from where I had bled through my bandages could be clearly seen. “Alex… You’re hurt! You were thinking of going back to a warzone like this?”
“Of course,” I said, not backing down despite the shame in my heart. “My nanites have been working overtime, so the gunshot isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. The other arm is basically-”
“You were shot?”
“Yes, remember this face?” I reminded her, using a finger from my other hand to gesture towards my ugly mug. “Well, when I first got here, the portal opened up in the Smithsonian. The guard there really didn’t take too kindly to my sudden appearance, or my face, despite the happy mask I was wearing to hide it. He was pretty fast on the draw, which is a good thing, all things considered, but he only managed to wing me."
This didn’t seem to make her any happier, judging by the look on her face. "And you were just going to run off with this and get yourself killed, then?"
"I was already dead when they found me," I answered her, my voice completely level as I stared into those beautiful, grey, accusing eyes. "Believe me, seeing you one last time is, by far, more than I could ever wish for… but I owe them more than just my life. I owe them my ability to speak, my sanity, but most importantly, I owe them for my return home, however brief."
Valerie turned away, anger in her eyes. It was clear that she wasn’t happy, and honestly, I knew her pain. It would have been so easy just to say ‘screw them’ and stay here, with her. To hide away, and pretend that the krin wouldn’t come, that the last year had been nothing more than a nightmare.
I couldn’t do that, though. Not only because I wouldn’t be able to face myself in the mirror if I did that, but because I wouldn’t be able to look her in the eye again, either. If I turned tail and ran like a coward, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
She had been the only thing keeping me from hurling myself from that cliff while I had been alone. I rather doubted that I could keep myself from such a fate if I ever saw disappointment in those lovely grey eyes of hers.
“...I have to go.” I said, before I gently untangled myself from her, picked up my coat, and turned towards the door. I took a few steps forward, my mind made up, but stopped when I felt her arms gently encircle me.
"Alex…" she whispered, her voice filled with tears.
"I can't stay… there's too much at stake, and if I ran like a coward…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish what was on my mind.
"But why do you have to do this alone?" she asked, her voice sounding strained and tired. "Please, at least take me with you. Let me see these people who did so much for my fiance."
Her words stopped me in my tracks. It had been an offhand comment during my speech in front of the United Nations, but I had been quite serious when I had said I was thinking of asking her to marry me. I had even picked a ring out, and was planning the perfect proposal.
She had apparently taken me as completely serious, too. There was only one problem with that, and it was a really big one. "Valerie…" I said, before I turned and gently enfolded her in my arms. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that…"
"...I know there's a 'but' in there somewhere."
"There is, but-"
"No 'buts'! Do you love me, or not?" she asked, her eyes blazing with an inner fire.
"More than you could ever know."
"Then what's the problem?"
I sighed a little, before I looked away. "How many children do you want?" I asked, my voice catching ever so slightly. "Because frankly, I'm pretty sure I can’t give you any."
The silence that followed this was deafening, and I could feel her eyes boring into me. I couldn't meet her gaze, though. I couldn't let her see how weak and small I felt. "Listen, Valerie, you deserve happiness. You deserve the world. You deserve a white picket fence, a devoted husband, and a swarm of loving munchkins to bring joy and chaos in equal measures. I'm a broken, penniless alien bioweapon who was used in countless war crimes. What's more, my former masters are probably still looking for me. You don't deserve that kind of baggage, that kind of emptiness, that kind of life. You are, by far, the greatest thing to ever happen to me, which is why I want you to go. Go find someone who makes you happy, someone who makes you laugh at bad movies, someone who will keep you warm at night, and someone who will listen to you when you need an ear… and just forget about me. It would make me smile to see you heal, and move on. Just promise me you'll tell my parents what happened to me. They deserve to know." I tried to leave, tried to untangle myself from her warm, loving embrace, and leave her to her normal life, but I couldn’t. She held on to me too tightly, her nails dug into my back, and I could feel her tears on my shirt. “Valerie, please, just-”
“Shut up,” she said softly into my chest. And so I did.
We just stood there as she softly cried into my chest, her arms around me, while I fought with myself over what to do. I knew that it would be a stupid idea to comfort her, that it would make letting go of me all the harder, but I couldn’t help myself. As if they had a mind of their own, my arms slowly reached up, and encircled her in a soft, but firm, hug. My mind screamed at me, telling me that this was absolutely the wrong move, but my heart ignored what my head was saying, and instead called out to her. It called to her with every fearful moment, every lonely night, begging, pleading with her to stay with me.
Finally, she pulled away and looked up at me, her hand brushing my cheek as she stared into my dead, soulless eyes. “Alex, I don’t want someone else. I want you.”
I tried to say something in response, tried to tell her that she wasn’t thinking clearly, that her emotions were getting the better of her. My heart, on the other hand, promptly told my brain to take the largest, sharpest, spikiest polearm and shove it where the sun didn’t shine.
Because of this inner war between my heart and my mind, I found myself utterly powerless as she stood up on her tippy-toes, took my face between both of her hands, and pulled me down so that she could press her wonderful ruby lips to mine.
An eternity passed, then another, as I tried desperately to process this impossibly amazing, yet incredibly simple gesture. Electricity seemed to travel from the point of contact and earth itself into my spinal column, and every sensor I had in my head seemed to be in overload, the krin wiring apparently ill prepared for such a human gesture. I don’t know how long I accidentally made this moment last, nor did I care. If I spent the literal rest of my life, stuck in this position, I would have absolutely nothing to complain about.
However, all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, this moment ended far sooner than I would have liked. With a slight blush to her cheeks, she gently pulled away, then smiled up at me with all the beauty of a rising star. “Now, why don’t you take me to meet these wonderful people who returned my fiance?” she asked again.
This time, I found it rather hard to argue with her.
* * *
"So, anything new?" Conners asked as he and his command team entered the lab.
Doctor Phillips looked up from the statue he had been examining, before letting out a sigh. "Well, it's a beautifully constructed statue from ancient greece. The museum said that it was taken to Britain during the Roman occupation, and-"
"Doctor, you know full well what I meant," Conners said, before giving the scientist the evil eye.
"I don't know, okay!" the scientist shouted, suddenly becoming very irate. "I've pointed every tool I have at my disposal at this thing, and everything I've got says it's nothing more than a normal statue!" Phillips then quickly moved towards a nearby table before scooping up a pencil and throwing it underhanded towards the statue's square base.
The pencil traveled in a predictable fashion, right up to the point where it encountered the surface of the stone. Instead of bouncing off like it should have, the pencil instead passed straight through, causing the surface of the rock to ripple as if it were water for a few seconds before becoming still.
"Eyup. That's magic, all right. Gonna have to ask the aliens on the other side how they did it," Conners said in an off-hand manner.
If anything, this caused Phillips to become even more upset. "Conners, I cannot condone you or your men walking through that thing. We don't even know if it's safe, or what the long-term effects of… 'magic' on the human body are. For all we know, you'll grow another head in three years, or suddenly explode, or-"
"Or we could get superpowers. That could be pretty sweet," Conners said, his voice still completely level. "Though, to be honest, a second head could be pretty rad."
"You could eat two ice creams at the same time!" Lieutenant Blacks suddenly piped up, causing the other members of the team to nod in agreement.
"That would certainly make watching the kids easier," another muttered, his demeanor just as nonchalant.
Doctor Phillips eyed them all in disbelief. "How can you all be so flippant about this!? You're about to step through an unknown anomaly, on the word of a monster, all to help some alien horse people that might not even exist! This is clearly a trap, and you all are just going to… waltz right into it?"
Conners let out a sigh, before fondly letting his hand rest on the barrel of his FN SCAR-L. "Well, if it is a trap, we'll be packing a few surprises of our own. After all, it would be pretty rude of us to not spring such a trap, especially after they went through all that trouble to set it."
"Colonel, your weapons will mean very little if this is a trap," Doctor Phillips said, clearly not enjoying the colonel's sass.
"And if it isn’t a trap, and we don’t act, we will lose a valuable ally, and perhaps our entire world. Losing me and my team seems a small price to pay for those kinds of stakes."
Conners knew the doctor wanted to keep arguing the point, he could see it in the doctor’s eyes, but he also could see that the doctor knew it was pointless to argue, since the decision was ultimately out of his hands.
After a few seconds of this impromptu staredown, Doctor Phillips finally relented, throwing his hands up into the air in defeat. "Fine! Go then! Get yourselves killed! I don’t even know why I bother to talk to you meatheads!"
Conners just smiled in satisfaction. He was now forty-seven to ten in the staredown game, only having lost to his mother, the undisputed champ. "That’s always fun… But sadly, we can’t leave just yet, not until we have our translator."
"Where is the little horror meme, anyway, colonel?" Lieutenant Blacks asked as he scratched underneath his chin. "I half expected him to be waiting outside the room."
"He'll be here. I just gave him something to distract him for a while, though I am a bit surprised that we still managed to beat him. However, if my intuition is anything to go by, he should be showing up right… about… now!” Conners said, before pointing towards the entrance that he and his team had just entered through. Much to the colonel’s chagrin, the door remained closed, completely killing the anticipation that he had raised in his men.
"Your timing's off, Colonel," Blacks said in a disapproving tone. "I've come to expect so much more from-"
As luck would have it, that was precisely the moment that the guest of honor chose to show his face. He wasn't wearing his mask, which allowed all present to see his horrifying mug, as well as his flabbergasted expression as he caught sight of everything, and everyone, who was crammed into the relatively small laboratory. "What… what's all…?"
"So close…” Conners muttered as he snapped his fingers in mock fury. He then brightened up considerably as he quickly closed in on the alien bioweapon. “Alex! Just the man I was hoping to see! We're ready whenever you are, so if you'd like to lead the way, we can get this shindig on the road!"
Alex was understandably confused, though the lady next to him was significantly less so. Instead, Valerie had a smug smile on her lips, as if she had expected this to happen, despite the fact that Conners hadn’t even hinted to her about anything of the sort. “Thank you, Colonel. You don’t know how much this means to us.”
Alex, on the other hand, didn’t seem to want to let it pass, though. His eyes kept darting towards the colonel, to his men, to the relatively small amount of munitions and supplies that had already been moved into the room, and to the various Army soldiers that were inspecting and preparing everything for transport, before finally coming back to the colonel again. “But… but… NATO… you said… and we… no help… but… what?”
"NATO still said no. They're not coming, at least, not right now," Conners confirmed, while sadly shaking his head. His smile never left him, though, and only got wider as he reached up and tapped the side of his nose. "We don't answer to NATO."
"But… your general said you didn't have the manpower to fight this war…" Alex muttered, his voice barely heard as tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.
"And we don't. It'll be difficult getting some of the bigger guns through the portal, too. By all accounts, the odds are stacked against us… but then, when has that ever stopped the United States before?" Conners said as he threw an arm over Alex's shoulder. "What, did you really think we'd let you run back and take all of that fun for yourself? My boys were insulted when they heard you were going to be that selfish."
"Your boys…?"
“Oh, didn't you hear? My entire brigade signed up for this mission. In fact, the entire U.S. is basically chomping at the bit after your little speech in front of the United Nations," Conners said as he gently led Alex towards the portal. Valerie stayed close behind, her smirk only growing with every step they took towards the stone statue. "Let me tell you, we've honestly got more volunteers for this than we know what to do with. They're all gunning to go, but we don't want to scare the locals. So, if you'd be so kind as to introduce us, we can convince the horses on the other side to get us a staging area. After that’s done, we can finally get some of this gear through, establish a basecamp, and start kicking some alien ass."
Alex kept looking around, his eyes wide as he tried to take in everything, before his face finally broke out into an ear-to-ear grin as tears freely streamed down his face. "Thank you, Sam. I… I really don't know what to say…"
"Best not to say anything at all, and just get moving…" Conners said, before giving the former human a shove towards the portal.
Alex clearly wasn’t expecting the sudden push, and quickly disappeared as he pitched face-first through the liquid-like stone surface. Conners gave Valerie a quick look, but one glance was all he needed to know that she was coming, too. "You're not staying long. Just a quick thank you, understand? We'll have enough to deal with without having to worry about another civvy."
"I'll be quick, in and out," she promised.
"You better, or I'm going to have you thrown back through," he said, right before she disappeared.
Conners then turned to his men, his eyes filled with mischief. “Alright, boys. I want you all on your best behavior, understood? And Blacks, no poker with the natives.”
This got a smattering of cheers from the colonel’s team, but Lieutenant Blacks seemed a bit put out by the colonel’s order. “Come on, colonel, why you gotta be a buzzkill like that?”
“Because he’s tired of having to cover for your sorry ass,” another one gufawed, before chuffing the other officer upside the head.
“You’re damn right. Move out!” Conners shouted, right before stepping through the apparently solid stone, and onto another world entirely.
A world that, while completely unprepared for the sudden invasion of humanity, desperately needed it.
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'MERICA!!! Heck yeah!
Even though these are all American soldiers, in my head, I'm imagining that they all look like the Japanese characters from the anime Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Thanks for another awesome upload!
It may be a bit expected, but I would just like to say:
‘Murica!
In the words of one Mr Crowshaw, they're going to "come down with a sudden case of ME~"
Oh yeah, it's all coming together.
You know that one Krin private that kidnapped Valerie's friend is going to suffer from a serious PTSD episode when he hears those guns going off.
Oh ho ho I can't wait for what's next! NATO can shout and Preen at each other all they like. America is on the way!
Seriously I can't wait to see what happens next. I feel like there is going to be so much interaction with the humans and equines. Will be really cool to see and I can't wait!
As far as the weapon his carrying is concerned, it's a fight against aliens. Whatever the hell he wants.
9814698
Good point. If there's anything non-standard that he wanted, I'm sure he got it.
Oh, once pictures come back, everyone will want to join the cause!
Can't recall precisely, but it was Valerie herself who got the little magic going, right? She's going to light up on the other side...
Keep going! ;)
9814698
I have to agree this an extinction level event; there not human thus not covered under the the geneva convention. Quite frankly the wepons that would be going through that portal would be horrfying to behold.The best of cold war paranoia would be in affect and wespons we cant preduce any more of due to human rights an a shit load of red tape would be takin out of storage.Not to mention the use of experimental/classfied technologhy along with with wmd's. Im not sure how real or deatlied the author wants to gets with this but lookinh up illegal wepons of war weapons if mass destruction and futre weapons should help him in his research
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Especially when Valerie sparks up. That's gonna be a surprise for the horses, and may keep her on that side of the portal too, if she's useful.
If you really want to get technical, even the USA cannot just send troops to a foreign land without approval from Congress. That said, the USMC, by order of the President, can invade another country for up to three days without congressional approval.Of course, Equestria is requesting aid, so it's not an invasion. However, Congress still has to approve the use of government assets for foreign aid.Edit: This is mostly hearsay BS. A correction post is below.
Have Alex quickly teach Luna the trope "Merica! Fuck yeah!" That'd be so funny, heavily armed soldiers coming through the portal and forming up, only to be greeted to instant approval of one and a confused reception party.
Or even better, have it be instinctual, because funny magic.
Yeah, no playing poker with the natives. They might take the clothes from your back
9815089
They have magic that can read the card reflections from your eyeballs!! BEWARE!!
Its possible to get SAMs and Artillery through the portal, you may only be able to get the 105mm jeep guns through intact and not the bigger 155mm but you can get the bigger guns if you do it vietminh style. In the Battle for Dien bien phu (Holy- I got that right almost on first try) the Vietminh disassembled and carried the pieces through the jungle then reassembled them to fire directly on the fortress. Compared to this? You just take it off its stabilizers put the barrel and breach block through, then the stabilizers, and now you only need to carry the literal tons of ammo to flatten any force that lands out side the city. Depending on how desperate the defenders are, getting some kiloton level SAMs on the other side would be prudent to destroy the invading drop ships as much as possible.
Fallout will be present but honestly, compared to death by vivisection I'd prefer some mild radiation poisoning.
*insert mandatory Cavalry Charge here*
Correction(s):
Well
a grate chapter and to see the reaction of every person the first time they see a pony is going to be soooooo goooooddddd.
I've been reading and supporting this for so long ever so close and I just so impatient I know that you're only human but dang it I wish I had a time machine to go forward to when the stories finished!
I have one big point I want to bring up. Just because he's a colonel doesn't mean he has command of a combat unit. Many high ranking officers serve in specialized functions (e.g. overseeing something), and the impression I've gotten here is that Conners is one of them. The CO of a brigade would typically be occupied with his troops (shockingly, managing thousands of soldiers takes some doing) and thus not be pulled for this kind of work.
This is very much a special operations mission so a unit like the 75th Ranger Regiment would fit, but past that I'm not really sure how the details would shake out. This would definitely be managed by SOCOM and the initial team would almost certainly include personnel from across the special operations force structure depending on the intelligence going in and deployed force size. At a minimum I'd expect some PJs assigned for medical support, but past that my memory of the details are too fuzzy to say for sure. The Rangers definitely make sense if it's a larger force, possibly reinforced with SEALs or Delta Force, since the Rangers operate as a larger unit capable of more traditional military missions, but if they want to keep the team small and light you're looking elsewhere. Also, you should consider the CIA because their ultra-shadowy Special Activities Center could also be involved, although you probably won't be able to find much hard information on them for obvious reasons.
9814830
I heard an account of a Navy CO getting an old M79 Grenade Launcher on a frigate because he thought it was cool in spite of the fact that there's no sane reason to bring that to sea, so yes, he can definitely bring whatever he wants for his personal weapon. Granted as a CO he should never put himself in a position where he needs a weapon so just a pistol makes more sense, but again, he's the boss so he can do what he wants.
9814928
No way. With a handful of exceptions like hollow point rounds which are widely used elsewhere, getting a hold of those weapons would be essentially impossible because they've been scrapped and would have to be rebuilt. Also, the reason most of those weapons went away without a fuss is because they aren't actually that useful.
Case in point, one of the big lessons learned in WW1 was that as nasty as chemical weapons are, they are actually less effective than conventional explosives. That's why they were never used in WW2 and have never been used since by any major power. You occasionally see them in hellholes like the middle east, but I think that has more to do with assholes wanting nasty toys than anything else because anyone rational would tell them to use conventional explosives, especially cluster bombs.
9814986
That is incorrect. The president has the power to bypass congress to order short-term deployments (up to a few months if memory serves) in his/her capacity as commander in chief. This makes sense considering the fundamental role of the president as envisioned by the founding fathers was primarily to serve as the country's rapid reaction commander in an emergency when there wasn't enough time to convene congress and let them reach a decision, especially since the members may have had to ride a horse hundreds of miles to meet if they were at home and the smaller size of congress at the time meant each individual member was much more important.
That said, it's not clear where orders are coming from or if they're acting independently. It is clear that the troops were asked to volunteer (and unanimously did so) which wouldn't be the case if actual orders came down, and there's also no indication the president is involved at all. It's entirely possible they used an administrative loophole to send everyone on "vacation" with special permission to bring their kit, putting this in the same legal grey area Russia has been using with Ukraine. Note that this doesn't mean any of this is true since it's possible the president or congress has ordered them into action, just that it looks like there could be some independent initiative at work here.
9815446
Agreed, although I'd lean towards mortars over tubes for portability. That and Javelins. I'd bring every Javelin I could get my hands on even if it meant I couldn't bring anything else heavier than a SAW. The precision will let those missiles do more than any mortar or artillery option, and they also give you a real way to shoot down armored aircraft which would be immune to any SAM in service (the nuclear SAMs are all long gone).
9816211 Thank you so much for the input! Again, I'm really not that well versed in actual military action/protocol and the such, I just wanted to tell an interesting story. Yes, Conners is mainly a paper-pusher, but he's still a Ranger, and an excellent field commander, and as such he'll probably get some combat time. Not a whole lot, but some, similar to how Colonel O'neil went out on missions in SG-1. As for the reinforcements, yeah, they'll be bringing SEALs and other parts of the U.S. military as the conflict drags on as reinforcements. The Army is there to establish a base, and to scope out the strength and tactics of the enemy. If any of this doesn't make sense, please tell me, I want to be as accurate as possible.
As for the legality of the thing, it hasn't been revealed yet, but the president has been basically swamped with the political firestorm all of this has whipped up, and has told his generals to take care of it at their discretion, but to keep him posted. The generals decided that, until the military action could be officially sanctioned, they'd ask for volunteers and send them on 'vacation'. The initial contact is going to be handled by Conners, and the vanguard is going to be his brigade. As time wears on, and the U.S. gets more info on the situation, they're going to send more and more soldiers, more specialized units, as well as try and figure out a way to cram some of their bigger weapons through the portal. This may or may not bite them in the butt as time wears on...
9815446
Out of the talking races involved, only humans hold up well to radiation, per canon of the story. Unless that changed.
9816211
They've had time to analyze Kirn armor. Given that, I assume whatever he takes (probably multiple arms) will be enough to punch through, right? They also know about their personnel cloaking capabilities, so they have to assume an engagement could happen anywhere and anytime. Any ideas for weapons? I'm not well versed in this stuff, but am interested.
Edit: Also, to chime in about sending troops without congressional approval, the technicalities have varied over time but more recently that's how America invaded Iraq, so you're right on that. Congress was supposed to ratify the action after a few months.
HAH! You and what army? The one you're bringing ain't big enough!
This is the girl with an aptitude for magic, and you're dropping her into the magical field of Equestria (which if I'm reading between the line right, also has the former magic of Earth bound up in its coils)!
She'll try to do something magical and wind up the human equivalent of an alicorn in short order.
At least... that's my prediction?
9816300
That is a thing to keep in mind, yes. Radiation is bad for your allies. But also bad for the Enemy...
We know the spacecraft have to be shielded against it, but a nuclear blast at close proximity might still be overwhelming. And Equestria's magical field has to do something to deflect radiation, because otherwise their planet would be sterilized by cosmic radiation. Space is radiologically hot!
TL/DR: Don't be me. Don't be an idiot. Site your sources.
9816211
You're right. I got some of my old knowledge mixed up, either from incorrect hearsay or just me being a general moron. I'm a good example as to why you should site your statements, and not just belt out utter nonsense.
As according to The War Powers Act of 1973 (also called the War Powers Resolution), Sec 2 (c):
Sec 3:
Sec 4 (a):
Which relates directly to Sec 5 (a), requiring a report to be submitted directly to the Speak of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate, and Sec 5 (b):
So, up to short term deployments, as you said. In this case, 60 days is the max, with 48 hours to report to Congress (according to the original publication).
Of course, I can't find a .gov link to this act, though(I found a scan of the original here. There appear to be some inconsistencies between the easier to read web version and the original.) There are a lot of references on the Internet, including in many Congressional records at govinfo.gov. There may be amendments to it at this point.Considering that the enemy in question has some serious disadvantages against basic ammunition, a fully kitted out force with suppl;ies could do a LOT of damage, and any deficiencies they have can be fixed by the ponies in short order
In the movie version of this story, Colonel Conners seems like he'd most likely be played by RDA.
9816242
Ok, that's really a more complicated subject than I can really hammer out here, but I was actually mostly talking about the initial team that went to the smashed up station in my earlier post.
For this operation, you are in the area where special operations forces fall flat. They're generally all about leveraging small, elite units to cause disproportionate effects by hitting key points/people and fading before a serious reaction can materialize, not large-scale operations like this. The Rangers are a hybrid force focused on capturing key points like airfields and holding them until reinforcements arrive so they are well suited to this initial phase of the operation, but this is really a conventional military operation at heart so you need troops trained for that. The portal limits you to light infantry (no vehicles or heavy equipment), so the followup unit you want is the XVIII Airborne Corps led by the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions since their job is to be ready to deploy tens of thousands of troops anywhere in the world in a matter of hours.
As for the authorization, I think the president would probably have been contacted about this to get orders if needed, although that depends on how "take care of it" was worded. If I were giving the orders, I would have explicitly cleared any necessary deployments anywhere in the world or offworld since there's obviously a good chance it will require action outside the borders of the US or active war zones and they know enough to manage the political side of things.
9816300
I don't recall them having infantry armor which should make all standard small arms effective against them. That said, even if they did have armor it would be optimized to defeat the expected threats (plasma weapons if memory serves) and thus be suboptimal against bullets. Also, it's worth noting that their exoskeletons and possibly even their armor would actually be detrimental against ballistic weapons because it will be fragmented by the bullet hitting it and create more shrapnel to tear up their insides so I don't anticipate lethality problems.
9816450
Yeah, that's why I like to give Wikipedia a quick check as I'm writing these posts. It keeps me from saying stupid shit...mostly.
That said, we do have clarification that the Russian loophole is in effect here so none of that matters. The troops are technically on a very heavily armed vacation with no official orders so they can get the job done without waiting for politics to happen.
I am so looking forward to the official contact between humanity and ponies –I love reactions, and what is first contact but a reaction to a new alien lifeform?
9816211
A point of curiosity if you'll indulge me. Why the airborne units? Deploying that amount of personnel, in that small amount of time, requires aircraft. Which obviously won't fit thorough the portal. Instead of the 101 or 82, why not send a squadron of light cavalry whose actual job is scouting and assessing enemy terrain and capabilities? I know a vast majority of the intelligence on the bugs would come from the snakes, but if you are looking for a good unit to follow the torch party a cav recon unit would seem to be the better choice. Operating far from home in small units used to hit fast and hard then melt away is what scouts are for. As for training level and ability Cavalry Scouts actually are just a step under the Rangers / Special Forces. They aren't the ideal long term fighting force, but until the big guns get there the cav has everything needed. Including small artillery.
Oh boy! Looking forward to when these guys meet the ponies!
9816242
I saw this coming the moment he said:
I specifically used Ctrl+F to search for "Stargate" and "O'Neil" when I saw the reference, but I only found this comment.
)
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it yet.
(You have excellent taste, not only in Stargate SG-1, but also in episodes. Window of Opportunity is my favorite episode hands-down!
9818241
I see the issue, you're misunderstanding the tactical situation. The human forces are being deployed for direct combat with large numbers of enemy troops who have at least some supporting equipment while the changelings provide both intelligence and transportation (via a teleportation grid) on the far side of the portal. Between the limits of that teleportation and the portal itself, I'm working on the assumption that everything has to be man-portable.
That means the real question is what large unit will be most capable of heavy fighting without heavy equipment, and the answer to that is the airborne troops. They have the least heavy equipment of any formation, and they also train for the chaos of landings separating them from anything not strapped to them so fighting without it won't throw them off the way it would other units.
In contrast, cavalry and cavalry scout units are generally dependent on a variety of vehicles to enhance their mobility on the modern battlefield which they couldn't bring through the portal. That seriously hampers their ability to operate and makes them only marginally better than sending dedicated vehicle crew through without their vehicles. On the flipside, if they can bring their vehicles through, their M3 Bradleys are the same size as the M2 version used by mechanized infantry and not much smaller than the M1 Abrams MBT (by external dimensions, the Abrams' heavy armor more than doubles its weight) so the obvious solution is to throw Armored Brigade Combat Teams at the problem because heavy units are obviously best suited to crushing assaults.
9817924
Nice. I'm glad to see you remember our evolutionary advantages unlike most people on this site.
9820506
Fair enough. I was thinking of a light cav unit. They rely on hummers, it's the heavy cav that uses the bfv. You do have an excellent point.
9820518
Ah, that makes more sense, although I'm still not sure a hummer would get through.
9820625 Nope. It's sadly too wide. You could get a motorcycle through, but the opening's just ever too narrow for something like a hummer. And don't misunderstand, I was being facetious with the 'ever too narrow' comment. It's a full five feet too wide or so, so it wouldn't cut it any way you slice it. I mean, you could put the parts through, and conceivably reassemble it on the other side, but you wouldn't be able to do that in any sort of time that would allow you to use them en masse with the current situation.
If you want advisors on military try Overclock, JaketheArmyGuy or Totallynotabrony. Theres Tracer but hes not too active here.
9820649
Yeah, that's what I figured. It's man-portable or not at all. That means the heaviest weapon they can bring is Javelin, with mortars being a close second. The old 75mm Pack Howitzer would have been a great weapon here since it's a legitimate tube piece you can break down and bring through the portal, but that left service at the end of WWII so there's no way in hell it'll be available.
Why do I have a strong feeling that Sam is Discord?
He wields the same thing every modern soldier carries, a Ballistic Combat Rifle. Giving weapons all the arbitrary names, mtar, scar, m#, au1g, etc, pulls me out of the immersion of whatever im reading. Use generic terms and maybe some descriptive text. "6-wheeled infantry transport with a turret on top." Generic and easy, most people will get an image of the LAV-300 MkII by Caddillac in their heads. Many of them would have had no idea what you were talking about if you just said LAV-blah blah blah. Let the readers imagination fill in the gaps for little details like that unless the make and model has a specific purpose for being used.
9816211
The reason i said 105 and the 155s is because in universe they don't know what type of armor or vehicles the Kirn have access to, nor the size of the force confronting them, if the Krin land outside the city and do a massed assault, the assault will be slaughtered by a proper barrage form 105s and 155s. Mortars may not cut it, regardless of which mortars are an organic part of a unit and are man portable, therefore I presume they were being brought along with the brigade anyways, its like assuming they aren't bringing their rifles with them, you don't just strip a basic part of their kit from the unit. In regards to the nuclear SAMs, I'm sure some warehouse does have a stockpile of ta couple of a couple "Just in case", the government just doesn't admit it for obvious reasons. Now if they can get them through in time is another question, one that also has a star that the US even has one or not because even if there is the possibility they do have them there is of course the chance that they don't.
The fact is current fighter craft compared to space age reentry vehicles are entirely different, an anti air missile fires small metal rods from the core of the missile that shreds aircraft, since most aircraft are relatively lightly armor, this means you don't need as big of a boom to guarantee a kill.
There's a reason why in X-COM you start with nuclear grade weaponry and go from there to take down the invader's aircraft.
God i just love that emotional feels. Sooo cathartic
9825675
That's part of why I went to Javelin. It'll kill armored targets far better than either of those guns. To put this in perspective, Wikipedia lists Javelin at 600-800 mm of penetration which will go through the thickest battleship armor I know of, the Yamato's 650 mm turret faces, and there's no question that plate could laugh off 155 mm shells. Javelin has massively more anti-armor capability than either gun, especially since Javelin is accurate enough to fly through windows and can either pop up to hit the top armor or go straight in if you have a shot at the sides/rear of the vehicle. Javelin's only drawback is the lack of a frag casing on older models for anti-infantry work, but the current F-model fixes that with the multipurpose warhead. Missiles are also expensive and relatively heavy, but under the circumstances cost is a non-issue and Javelin obviously weighs far less than the guns do.
The strength of tube artillery is pounding areas from a long way away and chewing up soft targets like infantry, but its weight is a serious limitation in this kind of situation. Mortars don't have as much range, but they'll do the area attack mission just fine so they are a much better option when you need to move everything by hand.
Incidentally, your own citation supports me here because most of what was transported was the 75 mm pack howitzer I mentioned previously and 120 mm mortars while there were no 155 mm guns at all.
As for nuclear SAMs, I'm sure they're gone because they make no sense in the modern world. They were used to compensate for the poor accuracy of early missiles and maybe to exploit tighter formations from the days of more limited communications, but in the modern world they offer no tactical advantage and a nuke weighs more than a modern SAM's warhead so you can't just slap it on there and call it a day. You are right that an alien ship is a different question and may well require a more powerful warhead, but the fact of the matter is that the military plans for fighting other countries, not aliens.
Not gonna lie, was kinda hoping Alex would end up with Luna. Though I will admit it was sorta nice not having Val reject him.
10009193 Sorry, not really into pony X human shipping. Not that there's anything wrong with it, the ponies pass the Harkness test after all, I'm just not really into shipping characters much at all. Romance plays a part in the human condition for sure, but that's really not the story I'm trying to tell here.
9816211
What was that about glancing at wikipedia? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemical_warfare#World_War_II
Yes, chemical weapons were used in WWII. It was only the Western Allies that didn't, though the British did have plans to use them against an 1940/1941 invasion of the isles.
Furthermore, there is some evidence that the Soviets used chemical weapons during their invasion of Afghanistan.
I am getting a lot of GATE vibes.
11313628 Is that a good? A bad? I can't tell, because I've never watched GATE.
11314441
It’s a good thing. Gate is an anime about the Japanese military venturing into a fantasy world and they actually act like a military. Good show. Would recommend.