The War Begins: 18 - Love and Loyalty
As evening falls and Father remains infirm, I find myself contemplative, though the topics that occupy my thoughts are anything but idle ones.
Indeed, ‘tis questions of life and death that hold my attention now; wondering again what should happen if Father should suddenly take a turn for the worse. ‘Tis certain we already discussed arrangements should he not survive—he wishes his primaries to be interred with Mother’s, to little surprise, whilst following his state funeral, his ashes are to be scattered to the winds at sunrise from the decks of the EAS Loyalty itself.
The latter is tradition for Royal Navy dead; an extension of the ages-old belief amongst pegasi that the rising sun leads the way to the Summerlands for fallen warriors. ‘Tis why pegasi funeral services are held at dawn to this day, and I note ‘tis a tradition that has, over time, been adopted by the other pony tribes as well.
‘Twas a tradition I never gave much thought to before I entered the military, nor did I ever truly consider the question of what happened after death as a foal or filly, believing myself invincible and immune to dying as befits all the ignorance and arrogance of youth. ‘Twas only when I was exposed to death in my first combat actions that I truly understood how fragile and fleeting life was, and ‘twas only then did I begin to contemplate the age-old questions of mortality.
Every race of this world, it seems, has its own beliefs regarding the afterlife. The gryphons have the warrior haven of Valhalla whilst the ponies have the peaceful paradise of the Summerlands; the thestrals speak of an eternally warm and starry moonlit night whilst the hippogryphs return their spirits to ‘The Eternal Sea’. And mine?
Mine were shaped by the events of this second morn of war—by an event I have never told anypony else about before now.
—Firefly
Outpost Epsilon
Storm Cloud Vault
Pony/Gryphon Border
September 2nd, 1139 AC
0538 hours
‘Twas five hours after the battle beneath the superstorm and but five minutes before dawn when we heard the noises outside the cavern; ones that announced the return of the gryphons and their intent to finish off our stubborn resistance once and for all.
This time, there was nothing we could do to stop them. Given their numbers and Magi, we had but minutes left to live once they breached the vault, and thus ‘twas with both pride and sorrow as I took flight and looked out over my assembled battalion for the final time.
“Soldiers of the Corps! ‘Tis time. Our end is nigh, and I have no more orders to give save these—fight hard and fight well! Make sure the gryphons will never forget this night... or the name of Outpost Epsilon!”
A final cheer went up from my doomed troops as we heard the booms of magus lightning, and dust began to fall from the ceiling from their impacts against the roof of the cavern—they clearly were indeed trying to cave it in on us, I thought. But even with diamond dog support, ‘twas unlikely at best they could get the whole ceiling to collapse at once.
The entire battalion then came to attention and gave me their most crisp and rigid salutes; even the maintenance crew offered their respects with their best impressions of one.
“‘Tis been an honor to serve with you, Commander,” Fell Flight spoke for all of them, struggling to keep the catch from her voice.
“The honor was mine, Master Sergeant,” I told her, just as rigidly returning the salute as the cavern shook again. “See you in the Summerlands.” The salutes were then dropped as my soldiers scattered themselves throughout the cavern in preparation for one final fight, this one to the death.
As my remaining command staff rushed to their respective platoons—Fell Flight taking over 3rd platoon after Snow Squall’s death and Flight Sergeant Starling being wounded—the soldiers of my battered battalion took formations spaced well apart, eschewing concentration lest the wrong portion of the ceiling cave in and take us all out at once. Even with their numbers evened out after some hasty reorganization, my four platoons could now only muster around thirty troops each, even augmented by a few scratch soldiers borrowed from the storm teams.
Adrenaline surged through me as the booms of magus lightning intensified and the cavern began to quake. Lacking a spare set of wingblades that fit him, Sky Sentry grabbed a discarded Talon scimitar in his muzzle whilst Blindside did the same with a rough-hewn Diamond Dog weapon that was half-blade and half-club, her inflamed wounds preventing her from effectively flying or wielding wingblades. Gavian drew his own sword and held it at the ready facing the vault doors whilst the remaining healers stepped up, longbows leveled to cover the entrance from multiple angles.
But it became quickly apparent the Imperials were attempting to break in through multiple points as cracks began appearing in the ceiling from repeated lightning hits on the cavern roof, and we sensed movement under the floor as the dogs tried to break in yet again. Worse, we had to retreat from the metal vault doors as they began glowing and smoking from the middle edges in, Magus Knight fire attempting to both melt them and drive back any defenders.
“Hold fast!” I ordered our ground forces; three longbow-armed unicorn healers and six axe-wielding earth ponies together with myself, Gavian, Swift Strike, Blindside, and an injured but barely-mobile Spear Sergeant Steelheart, planting myself in their midst on the ground thirty yards away from the doors, feeling the radiant heat intensifying.
“Release volley on my order only!” I directed. Methinks I wasn’t actually too familiar with crossbow and longbow tactics other than what I’d observed of the healer teams practicing, but methinks I’d also seen enough of how the gryphons did it to get an idea of how best to use them. I thought that if Swift Strike and I attacked hard on the heels of a volley whilst the gryphons were maneuvering to dodge, then we could rush in and at least take out the first decade or so of enemy soldiers between us.
In any event, it did not seem likely we would have long to wait as the doors weakened and warped, but then abruptly… the noises stopped and an eerie silence descended on the cavern for the better part of a minute.
Methinks I was anything but reassured by that. “Mother? Wh-what’s happening?” Gavian asked, looking around nervously.
“I don’t know...” I admitted, a sudden sense of dread creeping over me as I glanced over at Swift Strike. “Are they not coming in?”
He didn’t answer right away, his brow furrowed and eyes narrowed as he considered the situation. Then abruptly, his eyes went wide. “Get back!” he shouted at us in rare panic, grabbing and all but flinging Gavian away from the door. “They’re going to—”
A deafening series of explosions from all sides cut him off before he could finish as the walls, floors, ceiling, and doors all seemed to simultaneously implode from multiple points; the latter blasting inward and showering us with spall. A hastily erected unicorn shield blocked most of it, but some hit my face and chest, the former burning my cheek badly and forcing me to discard my helmet before the molten matter that hit it could cook my head beneath, and the latter making me likewise want to tear off my breastplate, which was searing my body with unbearable heat.
But there was no time as the first wave of armored gryphons burst in from all points, rage and bloodlust in their eyes. Their lead forces wielded not one but two crossbows, firing one explosive bolt from them and then another. And behind them were nearly a score of grey-dyed figures wielding twin scimitars who took advantage of the chaos to strike my stunned soldiers down with terrifying speed and sword skill, accounting for a dozen ponies in mere seconds.
In a rarity for the gryphons, there was no declaration of attack; no offer of honor this time. For the losses we had inflicted and the tactics we had used, ‘twas certain they wanted us dead, and as violently as possible.
“Ravens!” the call went up as Swift Strike launched himself at the nearest group of them charging in hard on the wingbeats of the Knights. But they were well-briefed on what they’d be facing and immediately singled him out, a team of seven coming through the breached vault doors on the heels of another Knight decade who disrupted our planned volley with their own, firing explosive bolts into our midst, their blows taking down the half-strength unicorn shields with alarming ease and leaving us defenseless. The Ravens followed up with tossed gems I was just able to recognize and blow aside with a gust of wind from my wings, else they might have taken the lot of us out at once.
“Return fire!” I called out to our surviving forces over the cries of pain behind me, trying to block out the searing agony against my chest fur of my slowly cooling armor. Staggered, they obeyed as best they could as two longbow arrows, three axes and two crossbow bolts lashed out in retaliation, but only one found its mark as the Ravens dodged easily and Knight armor deflected it. Our last-ditch plan ruined, there was little for it but to join my Black Lance friend in battle and hope we could buy some time for our ground forces to ready another volley.
But for as well as things had gone the previous day, ‘twould seem our luck was exhausted, or perchance the gryphons had planned too well. This time, they had brought in Ravens to set crystal charges so they could hit us from all sides at once; this time, they were storming the cavern from no less than six different entry points in every direction, leaving us unable to cover or defend any one area. In hindsight, the initial lightning strikes we heard were not designed to gain entry or collapse the roof; they were simply meant to dig out holes in which the Ravens could place their charges, which they could then detonate all at once.
Whoever planned it, it worked brilliantly as we were completely overwhelmed; the shock of their initial assault costing us thirty soldiers almost immediately before we could recover our senses.
Methinks you may blame or credit Centurion Tempest Umbra, the ranking Raven in the area, Captain, as he relieved Legate Galea and took over the planning and overall command of the attack under circumstances I will describe in a future chapter. But suffice it to say for now, Prelate Gaius was most displeased with the legion leadership for their conduct of the Epsilon attacks.
—Layan Kaval
Of that, I have no doubt, Ambassador. Methinks I, too, would have been livid given the circumstances and such egregious errors in judgment. But whatever the shortcomings of their earlier efforts, the 16th Talon Legion made up for them here.
And before I forget, thank you very much for coming to visit my father, Ambassador. Your presence and that of Marquess Ampok was appreciated, as was the efforts you went through to help arrange gryphon assistance for my father’s operation.
—Firefly
Barely thirty seconds had elapsed since the initial entry, and yet already, I was down nearly three dozen soldiers. At that rate, we had but two minutes left before they wiped us out, and worse, fresh sky gryphon soldiers were still surging in until their forces in the cavern outnumbered ours nearly three to one.
‘Twould not have availed them if we were rested and fighting Talons, but against elite Knights and deadly Ravens following a full day of continuous alerts and combat on little rest, we were taking worse than we got. My soldiers were half a wingbeat slow, their wits and reaction times sluggish, and it cost them facing such skilled enemies as the sky gryphon Wind Knights and elite assassins we were facing.
But fight we did, knowing there was no quarter here; we would, as the song we had sung earlier that night said, keep them stalled until the last pony fell.
And one gryphon. To my surprise and consternation, instead of staying behind, Gavian joined me and Swift Strike against the seven-strong Raven team we were facing, charging in right behind me. Methinks I was unaware he was there until he blocked a Raven blade aimed at my head, going back to back with me in the air.
“Gavian!” I shouted at him, motherly instincts still asserting themselves even though I knew full well they would spare him no more than us, and perchance even less. “Get back!”
“No, Mother!” he shouted back. “I swore to fall with you! And I will!” he proclaimed as he attracted the attention of no less than two of the grey-dyed warriors, who were giving me and Swift Strike all we could deal with and more.
‘Tis worth noting that I had in fact fought Ravens once before, slaying three in their attempt on Gavian’s life back in January. But then, they’d broken into my stateroom blind and Swift Strike had been able to wound two almost immediately, holding their attention long enough for me to escape my own opponent and strike them down. In fact, the one unwounded Raven I’d fought could probably have beaten me given a bit more time; even with all my training and all my Guardspony strength and speed, I’d only barely been able to block her blows.
The action having revealed a weakness in my combat abilities, I’d immediately started intensive close-quarters blade combat training with Swift Strike afterwards. Under his tutelage, I was far better at it now, even if I still couldn’t beat him one-on-one, but this Raven team was well-chosen and trained for their task as ‘twas all I could do to hold them off and stay in the air.
Three took on the Sky Sergeant whilst two attacked me, leaving me once again only barely holding my own against such superb skill. Any more would have slain me, and methinks ‘tis likely I would already be dead had it not been for Gavian fearlessly engaging the remaining two at once, whirling and spinning his blade with incredible speed. The Ravens seemed amused, then surprised by his agility and ability to parry their strikes, doubly so when he scored a hit on one, penetrating his leather armor and leaving a bloody line on his chest!
Whilst her comrade clutched at his wound and staggered back, the unwounded Raven eagless he was also fighting shouted something at him in Aeric, to which Gavian shouted back in the same tongue before engaging her again.
She said I was unworthy of my Raven blade, mother. To which I told her to try and take it!
—Gavian
Well-spoken indeed, my son. And very well-fought for you to survive them unscathed!
Whilst we engaged the Ravens, the dozen or so Knights that formed the vanguard simply stormed around our flanks to hit our grounded forces. They met stiff resistance from Sky Sentry and the two remaining Celestial Guardsponies, even drained and injured though they were; I caught a glimpse of Still Way fighting not with his depleted aura but with two of the light blades unicorns favored for being easily levitated and whirled about, whilst Steelheart still had his crossbow and surprised one Wind Knight by leaping up to catch him and slamming him hard to the ground.
Further away, my platoons were being steadily ground down, fighting in isolated enclaves, Fell Flight’s and Osprey’s battling with their backs to the cavern wall. Others were trapped in the middle of the cavern, exposed and under assault from all sides, being reduced within a shrinking perimeter by the Ravens and their Wind Knight allies.
This begged the question of why only sky gryphons were participating in the attack, but my answer was received quickly as a fresh century of earth gryphon soldiers marched in through the broken vault doors in phalanx formations, spears and shields wielded, Knights in front and Talons behind. Worse, two more Magus Knights accompanied them, and, at the shouted orders of their leader, the Ravens broke contact having only lost two of their number, both wounded and not dead; their team having successfully pinned their most dangerous adversaries—me and Swift Strike—in place and prevented us from aiding our forces.
Methinks I didn’t realize what was happening but fortunately, Swift Strike did. “Scatter!” he called out in panic before taking evasive action, but confused, perchance due to physical or mental fatigue or perchance being dazed by the explosive gem that detonated in their wake, methinks I was half a second slow in recognizing the threat, only catching on when the end of a mage’s staff crackled with electricity, shortly before it was pointed directly at me.
The male gryphon mage had me in his sights with his spell already being cast; I had no chance to dodge. ‘Tis certain all I could do was steel myself and attempt a deflection of a full-strength magus bolt—something I’d never been able to do with the equally strong ones fired from our storm clouds.
Methinks I almost succeeded. There was a blinding flash and ear-ringing boom at the electrical impact that blasted through my hurriedly raised guard, knocking me out of the air and sending me plummeting twenty feet to the ground, my ears ringing and body numb. I hit the cavern floor hard and bounced once before settling to a stop, the passage of my body carving a short furrow in the ground.
“Mother!” I dimly heard Gavian’s voice call out and had some sense of him standing over me, reared up with his sword wielded to defend me. My lightning affinity had saved my life, but the bolt had still done its damage, even aside from my singed and smoking fur. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. It was all I could do to simply breathe, barely noting the taste of blood on my lips as I let out a labored cough. And my gaze was locked forward, leaving me looking out the gaping opening the destroyed vault doors had left behind, staring directly into the first rays of the rising sun… and somehow, thinking how beautiful it was compared to the carnage around me.
Odd things go through your mind at times like that, and in truth, ‘tis difficult to describe how I felt at that moment. Sorrow at the loss of my battalion and our impending defeat. Regret at having been taken out so easily and having not been able to slay even one additional adversary in our final fight. Chagrin that ‘twas now Gavian who was protecting me instead of me protecting him.
And to what is now my great shame… relief that ‘twould soon all be over.
As I realized I was helpless and my life flashed before my eyes, I reflected that I had done my duty. Indeed, I had done all I could. The gryphon losses we had inflicted were grievous and we had held up their advance for an entire day. We had done all honor required for Princess and Province, and ‘twas then, as I remembered the old pegasus belief that the rising sun led the way to the Summerlands for fallen warriors, that I awaited death and those first rays of light that washed over me to take me to that mythical realm.
At that moment, methinks I embraced death. Neigh, I welcomed it as I dimly heard the sounds of battle around me and saw the Ravens closing in again; heard a few mingled pony and gryphon screams while both Gavian and Blindside fought to defend me. “Mother!” a tearful Gavian pleaded as he fought. “Get up!”
And then, I lost sight of everything except the rising sun.
I must take a moment to pause and gather myself before I continue. I said earlier after previous revelations that ‘twas my turn to reveal something I’d kept secret for all these years. Something I still have trouble talking about to this day. ‘Twas an experience that would touch and shape me not just this night, but throughout the war going forward.
An experience that told me that there was something beyond the grave, and the stories of the Summerlands were not just idle ones.
—Firefly
Many are the tales of near-death experiences I have heard over the years, most from soldiers but some not.
Odd things happen when we get close to death, as mayhap the barriers between life and death weaken in these moments. Some say your life flashes before your eyes, and you see a great tunnel of light; a stairway to the Summerlands—or whatever your race’s version is of it—that beckons you forward, inviting you to join that light.
Such it was for me as I took the sun itself as that stairwell and found myself mentally reaching towards it… only to find my way suddenly blocked and myself somehow back in basic training again, crawling through the mud in an attempt to overcome an insurmountable obstacle. I was screamed at quite loudly as well, though at first I couldn’t make out the words.
Methinks I certainly knew who the source was, though! For who else would be shouting at me in such a setting but my trainer and mentor, Sergeant Major Windshear, standing over me like I was faltering back on the obstacle course in basic again!
“Get up, recruit!” he yelled at me, standing over me even as I lay unmoving on that cavern floor. “I didn’t spend six months training you for you to fall so easily, and on the very first day of war! Now pull your sorry flank together!” he ordered imperiously, causing me to automatically try to obey, my muscles only sluggishly starting to respond.
“S-Sergeant Major…?” I might have said the words out loud or just in the vision; methinks I’m not sure to this day which it was as I tried and failed to raise my head. “I can’t rise… we can’t win…” I protested silently as I heard and saw the battle around me as if through a tunnel, everything moving and sounding unnaturally distant and slow.
“Can’t win?” He repeated derisively. “You are a soldier of Equestria, recruit! The finest warrior I have ever trained! You’re not done yet! And neither is your force! Now show the determination you did in basic! Show that you won’t give up! Do you hear me, recruit? Stand and fight!” he ordered me again, somehow acting and speaking as if he was there at Epsilon instead of in the basic training workout I found myself in.
He then reached down to yank me to my hooves—something ‘tis certain he never did in basic!— and incredibly, I felt reinvigorated at his touch, fresh energy surging through me, mobilizing my muscles again as he spoke his final words. “For if you give up here, so close to victory? Then methinks you really are no better than a castle maid!” he repeated one of his favorite insults towards me, one that ‘twas always guaranteed to get a rise out of me during the first weeks of training.
Such it was here as I felt a white-hot anger take hold of me and my teeth clench as I swore I’d prove him wrong yet again. I knew not what he meant by ‘victory’, but it mattered not as adrenaline surged through me. With fresh power and determination somehow imparted to me by the Sergeant Major himself, I forced myself to rise; to fight, still looking into the rising sun…
Which was suddenly blotted out by a large shape moving overhead, taking position outside the cavern entrance.
Such was my first near-death experience, and ‘tis one that still haunts me to this day.
I did not know the Sergeant Major was dead at that point, of course, but once I learned he had fallen heroically many hours before in the raid on Fort Spur, my memories of the event took on new meaning. Was that truly him? Had he reached out to me from the Summerlands itself to save me? To pull me back to my hooves when I felt at my lowest point and ready to give in; ready to die right then and there?
I know not the answer to this day, only what I still sense in my heart—that the vision I saw ‘twas no mere hallucination; that Windshear himself was with me in that moment, kicking my flank ‘into gear’ as Naval Engineers say, one final time.
—Firefly
A touching story, Captain. One that I, too, would like to believe was real and that our fallen comrades yet wait for us to join them following a well-lived life.
Before I continue the tale, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies that it took so long for the battle group to get to Epsilon; that I chose to delay our arrival to allow their final attack to be launched first.
To this day, there are times I still wonder if we could have safely gotten there sooner as Tailwind wished and saved more of the battalion, but I keep coming back to the same reasoning I had then—that to attempt to do so would have made success less likely, not more, if we arrived before daybreak and revealed ourselves before the attack was launched.
In any event, I must return to Stalliongrad soon, but I did wish to see Admiral Tailwind one last time with him a bit more lucid. ‘Tis hard to see him so weak and ill, but true to form, he remains endlessly upbeat and determined to persevere, just as he always was. He tells me he wishes to contribute to this battle tale himself, and believes he will be able to do so given another day.
—Commodore Shady
Gryphon Territory
EAS Loyalty
2 miles north-northeast of Outpost Epsilon
September 2nd, 1139 AC
0542 hours
Over twelve hours after departure from Stalliongrad, we were finally closing on our objective. And for it, methinks the final five minutes of our approach to Epsilon were the most harrowing of our collective lives.
In truth, despite the calm airs I was projecting, my insides churned. Methinks I was amazed we’d made it that far without being detected, but as we dropped out of the clouds to likely reveal ourselves on our descent towards the outpost, I found myself praying that they wouldn’t look this way for just a bit longer.
Then again, with the sun at our backs and some fog still in the air, they would have to be looking for us to see us. And it quickly became apparent that they were not.
For why would they be looking for Equestrian airships approaching from the gryphon side of the border out of the rising sun?
As we descended and closed the final few miles at flank speed, myself and my security entourage tethered to the forward observation deck to anchor ourselves against the hurricane gale we experienced at such a pace, we saw that all their forces were now concentrated around the cavern; they were using an entire millennium of soldiers to try to root them out, with block formations on the ceiling and ground outside waiting to enter along with several centuries of circling airborne troops. Methinks it seemed a grotesque amount of overkill for trying to take out a two-hundred strong unit, but after the losses they had suffered, ‘twas clear they were not playing games any longer.
Unfortunately for them, in making themselves static, their ground forces had also left themselves easy prey to our cannons and magical ballistae. Even as oft-poorly as our gunners had performed in all the drills we’d had on the way over, they could hardly miss such stationary targets as we got within range, and for the first time, I saw a few gryphon heads turn towards us both in the air and on the ground, some puzzled and some alarmed. A few talons were shortly pointed our way, which caused even more heads to turn.
We stood revealed, but for the gryphons, ‘twas already too late. We had them in our sights, and as we closed within one mile, I gave my first orders of the battle, shouting commands in to my communication crystals.
“Loyalty! Come to full stop! Loyalty gunners! Target the ground formations with our magical ballistae and follow up with conventional cannon fire against the skylights! Duty and Vigil! Scatter their airborne soldiers and begin orbiting the redoubt! Keep their forces at bay and off the Loyalty!” I commanded, waiting for acknowledgements to come back and the guns to open up, which they did with a thunderous roar to surprisingly good effect.
‘Twas the first time I’d seen our magical ballistae unleashed in a full volley; each gun launching glowing violet balls of pure magical force trailing sparks which hit and erupted with devastating concussive effect, leaving entire ground formations pulverized beneath the Loyalty’s barrage. The follow-up volleys by the conventional cannons on the lower decks were little more than an afterthought as, the surface targets destroyed, they shortly cleared the skylights the gryphons had been using to force entry into the cavern, clearing the way for our forces.
‘Twas a spectacular—to say nothing of very destructive—display, and methinks ‘twas one that made my heart swell with pride to finally see the full wartime potential of my beloved ship—to say nothing of the Royal Navy itself!—unleashed. In fairness, the Duty and the Vigil had less success, with fewer guns and lacking magical ballistae and targeting airborne forces as they were, but their percussion fire still got a few lucky shots in and succeeded in driving back the mostly-Talon formations, who all but recoiled from the unexpected bombardment, several dozen of their members falling dead or maimed from the sky from the cannonballs that burst amongst them.
We had the initial advantage, and ‘twas time to make the most of it; we had what I estimated at most to be five minutes before the gryphons reorganized themselves to face the new threat and retaliated—we needed to get the Epsilon battalion aboard in that time! And to that end…
“All squadrons! Launch! 1st and 4th groups, defend the Loyalty! 2nd and 3rd groups, go in through the cavern ceiling! Clear the space and make contact with the Corps troops!” I called out next to reinforce my earlier instructions—this had been planned, of course, but it still never hurt to reiterate orders—and was rewarded by over a hundred dark-uniformed shapes shooting out the Loyalty’s belly hatches, half taking station around the ship and the other half streaming towards the cavern in passable formations.
“Aye-aye, ma’am! Air wing engaging! 2nd and 3rd groups going in!” Lieutenant Commander Phantom Flight acknowledged, leading the cavern assault personally. On her heels, six of our twelve available ten-pony squadrons took position outside the ship while the other half charged into the cavern through the skylights the gryphons had blasted in the ceiling, now cleared of enemy soldiers by our guns. ‘Twas clear they’d used those freshly-made holes to surprise the Corps troops within, and in a rather ironic turn, we would now be using the same holes they’d made to surprise them!
Methinks I marvel at your ability to command the battle and juggle the many disparate elements of your battle group at once, Commodore, from the movements of your air wing to calling out targets for your gunners all the while maneuvering your ships to maximum effect. For all my wartime experience, naval tactics continue to be the one area I lack sufficient knowledge of, and ‘twas quite an education you gave, both to us and the gryphons!
In the end, all I can say is… well done. And thank you.
—Firefly
Outpost Epsilon
Storm Cloud Vault
Pony/Gryphon Border
September 2nd, 1139 AC
0544 hours
Methinks that at first, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing was real, or just some lightning-caused hallucination or dream that preceded my own death; a forlorn hope of rescue my dying consciousness was trying to somehow will into reality.
I barely had time to register the presence of the large airborne shadow outside before a thunderous barrage of fire, consisting of both physical and magical projectiles, erupted from its flank and belly, hitting outside targets and seemingly concentrating on the entry points the gryphons had used to blast their way in. The bombardment caused sudden consternation from the gryphons around us, who looked around in bewilderment no less than us.
What…? I remembered thinking, struggling to focus on the strangely familiar shape before me.
As it got larger and more of the sun was blocked out, a thrumming sound from its rear-facing propellers becoming prominent, my eyes refocused and the shadow impossibly resolved into the silhouette... of what looked like a Royal Navy Airship!
I barely had time to register that unlikely fact before a series of new figures surged into the cavern through the ceiling skylights, dozens of dark-dressed pegasi clad in what I eventually recognized as rarely-seen Naval Pegasus combat uniforms fanning out to engage the gryphons, who were caught completely off guard and not looking up.
Remarkably, they were armed with not just wingblades, but crossbows, as I saw a score of gryphons fall to them, several Knights charging the new arrivals only to have a squad-sized volley loosed in their collective faces; a mixture of armor-piercing and explosive bolts either killing them outright or knocking them to the ground, leaving them easy prey for wingblades.
The mages stationed at the front doors turned and raised their shields, trying to bring down the behemoth before them with lightning spells, but they took the full brunt of a magical volley that slew them quickly, smashing through their shields like stones thrown through a window, and with the loss of their Magus, the Ravens and Knights immediately fled the gaping opening that now left them vulnerable, making for the holes on the floor and far sides of the cavern.
The gryphon defenses split, my beleaguered forces launched an immediate counterattack, catching the Knights between us and the reinforcing naval soldiers as the latter’s leader spotted me and dove for me, skidding to a halt before me.
“Master Sergeant Firefly!” she shouted, saluting me hard even though she bore a clear officer rank above her bloodied wingblades. “I am Lieutenant Commander Phantom Flight of the EAS Loyalty! We’re your relief and your rescue, ma’am!” She announced, and without any further preamble, she passed me one of the dark blue communications gems the Navy favored.
“The Loyalty?” I blinked, finally able to place the familiar shape, its name emblazoned on its side as its cannons continued to roar and spit both magical and more conventional fire. “F-father?” I called into the gem, scarcely able to believe what was happening, and a look around showed my remaining forces—Blindside, Gavian, Sky Sentry and even Swift Strike—all likewise looking outside and gaping at the incredibly unlikely sight of the airship hovering before us. “Father?”
“Greetings, Commander Firefly,” A response came quickly, not from father but from an all-business female voice speaking in clipped tones. “Your father is here, but cannot converse right now. I am Captain Shady of the Loyalty, acting commander of Royal Navy Battle Group Four! We have but mere minutes before the gryphons shake off their shock and counterattack! ‘Tis unlikely that we can resist a determined effort, so we need to evacuate your battalion now, Master Sergeant!”
“Evacuate...?” Methinks I was having much trouble getting my head back into the game, still feeling the effects of the lightning bolt and the hallucination—or was it?—of the Sergeant Major that I was. The implications of it chilled me, and still does to this day. “Right. We have many wounded, Captain, and non-pegasi among us! Short of carrying them all on our backs, we have not the means to get them to your ship!”
“No need, Commander. We are already dispatching our lifeboats for the purpose,” she promised me, followed by a pause I could only assume meant she was giving another order—a thought that ‘twould seem to be confirmed as several of the Loyalty’s small transport dirigibles detached from the upper decks and began their descent towards the cavern. “But they are vulnerable in flight and we are still heavily outnumbered! Load them up quickly, and I will order our air wing to defend them! Any Corps soldiers you can spare for the effort would be welcome as well!”
“Understood,” I acknowledged as I finally felt the power of flight return to my wings. “Oh! And Captain? Advise your forces that there will be one friendly gryphon among us! He is dressed in blue-painted Talon armor and is not to be harmed!”
“We are aware of your son, Commander,” Shady said after another short pause and what I guessed were another set of orders shouted into a second communication crystal. “I have passed that information along to our pilots and air wing to expect him! Now load up!” Another cannon volley punctuated her statement as the Loyalty’s guns turned on the airborne gryphons, which were already starting to reorganize and probe their defenses.
“Aye-aye, ma’am!” I answered as if I was Navy as well. The rank equivalents and chain of command were somewhat nebulous between the Corps and Navy, but as battle group commander, she was most certainly a superior officer. Her orders given, I turned to the remnants of my garrison and spoke into my blue gem. “Alright, wounded and healers go into the first lifeboats! Earth ponies onto the next! Everypony who is able, fly interference with the Naval troops! ‘Tis certain the gryphons won’t let us just fly away after all this, so we need to cover our retreat!” I told them all.
Hearing no immediate acknowledgment, I turned to see the remains of my battalion. Methinks they were every bit as dazed and disbelieving at the unlikely turn of events as I was, perchance uncertain that our rescue ‘twas really happening. “Move!” I shouted into my blue gem again as the first lifeboat alit just outside the ruins of the vault doors, and the Airedale beckoned us forth, a detachment of additional longbow-wielding naval unicorns providing it a modicum of defense.
With my final exhortation, exhausted, battered and bleeding though they all were, my remaining forces rousted themselves for action one final time. Fell Flight did not wait for further instructions before beginning to bark out orders, using our eighty or so remaining effectives plus some of the naval troops to form a defensive ring around the vault entrance. The gryphons were dead or had fled out the holes they entered, but ‘twas certain they would soon return. “Gavian, I’m staying here until everypony is out. You go on the second lifeboat as well!” I instructed him as an aside.
“No, Mother!” he said vehemently. “I will not leave your side! I will not leave this place until you do!”
“I’m not going either!” Sky Sentry said, holding a bloodied gryphon blade in his mouth. “This time, I won’t leave anypony behind! Everypony gets out! Even you, Master Sergeant!” he declared as our remaining two healers began levitating wounded onto the lifeboat, assisted by the unicorns there. Others were put on backs and carried there at Stormrunner’s direction, who I noticed had a broken-off spear still lodged in his side where it had penetrated his flank armor, blood from the wound dripping off his left foreleg.
“Master Sergeant? Are you—?”
“I’m fine,” he said in clipped tones as he directed his platoon, reduced now to barely a single squad, to the effort. His force had suffered the worst of all between the storm and the latest battle, but judging by the dead Knights around the area he had come from, he had acquitted himself well yet again. “I can still fly and fight!”
I had no time to answer before there was a fresh explosion, this time from the ground below fifty yards away and off to one side of the cavern. The floor somehow both caved in and blew up as the Dogs gained access with Raven help, and an entire century of Ravens and Fortis Knights burst out, visibly enraged that we were threatening to slip their trap. And at their forefront, charging in with battered armor and a massive axe...
Stormrunner spotted him before I did, and his features contorted in a snarl I’d never seen on his face before. “Centurion Nael!” he shouted, his wound and our evacuation abruptly forgotten as he marched forth to face him, wings flared in anger and murder in his eyes.
“For the honor of Equestria and Celestia herself, I challenge you to single combat! Face me as you promised, so that I may end your life now!”
To this day, methinks I do not know if he was more brave or foalish to make that challenge, considering the outcome. But ‘tis a story I will leave for him to tell. The last word in this chapter I will leave to Commodore Shady, who has elected to stay an additional night before returning to her stateroom on the Loyalty.
—Firefly
Thank you for indulging me yet again, Captain. ‘Twas indeed my intention to leave before nightfall, but I find I simply cannot depart yet whilst the Admiral is not out of danger. ‘Twas he who gave me my start in the Navy, which turned out to be the only job I ever held and was good at. ‘Tis certain I thus owe it to him to remain here, offering what company and comfort I can.
—Commodore Shady
Pony/Gryphon Border
EAS Loyalty
Over storm cloud vault entrance
September 2nd, 1139 AC
0545 hours
“Ma’am? We’ve got trouble!” The commander of the Duty, Lieutenant Commander Sterling Silver, called to me. She was normally the first officer of the old escort, but Commander Bowline had been on leave in Fillydelphia when the news of the invasion came in. “Fresh Gryphon cohort approaching from the south!”
I turned to where she indicated and frowned, sighting the large formation of Talons winging in and trying to climb high to get clear of our guns. They clearly intended to dive on what they likely assumed were our most vulnerable points—the dirigible balloons that held us aloft.
“I see them,” I acknowledged, then switched crystals, smiling thinly—they didn’t know how our ships worked or what their defenses were, and if we played our cards right, ‘twould be their undoing. “Commander Tailwind, they’ll be going for our ballonettes. I believe you know what to do?”
“’Twould be my greatest pleasure, ma’am!” he replied, and satisfied, I then issued new orders as I turned my attention back to the ground below, where the first loaded lifeboat was taking off.
“All ships! Gryphon counterattack imminent! Cohort inbound from the south! Take defensive posture and prepare to repel boarders!”
“There is only one kind of failure I cannot tolerate: the failure to risk failure.” —Richard Marcinko
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I love this story and how it’s progressing. Looking forward to the next one!
I am glad to see this chapter has finally arrived. The airships clearly did not come a moment to soon. I can't exactly remember what was so special about centurion Nael that Stormrunner is so enraged by him. I'm wondering what is going to happen with the attack on the airships but I guess we aren't meant to know yet at this point. I have also been wondering for a time how this war will end for the Diamond Dogs and I suspect that in the end they will come off worst in this war.
If you fall you fall together
!!!
Wait...what
?
I don't like this...
.
OH SHIT, SWIFT STRIKE FIGURED IT OUT
!!!
IT WAS A TRAP
!!! GET OUT OF THERE !!!NOW
They're gonna rip them to shreds
!!!
Thinks are getting bleaker by the minute
!!!
If mother and son fight together, then they fall together...that's how Gavian's doing this
.
FIREFLY
!!!
No...NO...no no no no no no NOOO
!!!
Get up Firefly please
!!!
FIREFLY
!!!
Get up Firefly, GET UP!!! You cant' go out like this
!!!
Dont you dare talk like that Firefly, you can and you WILL WIN
!!!
Fight Firefly, FIGHT
!!! FOR EQUESTRIA
!!!
YES
!!!
Reinforcements have arrived
!!!
Use their own technique against them...methinks I like it
!!!
They're retreating
?
Or else Firefly will send a shower of lighting upon you
!!!
Retreat everypony, the battle is over...for now
.
Gavian...
.
Sky...
.
Until you're last breath...
.
Uh-oh, NOT GOOD
!!!
OOOOOH, SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN
!!!
Looks like I have competition in the comments! Love Supersonic etcetera's enthusiasm!
I was reading Fallout Equestria all of last week and pushed a little ahead before stopping in preparation to start production on my own FoE sidestory when I noticed an organized military assault in support of an avian species (Pegasi) involving Diamond Dogs (Hellhounds) in Chapter Forty-Three: The Kingdom of the Blind.
derpicdn.net/img/2015/11/30/1034163/large.png
We've been unintentionally referencing this for over a year! Still, nothing will ever top the unintentional reference in that raider camp chapter (which one was it?) in Before The Storm describing the ponies on meathooks. Ponies on meathooks in a raider camp! I mean what are the odds?
Edit: I truly believe that every man has at least one Fallout Equestria fight scene in them.
The only thing that could make this worse is if the gryphons were using auto-axes, steel cutting chainsaws in the Fallout universe.
At least it didn't knock her teeth out. I have come from the future to tell this joke. One day it will make sense. -- Future Aficionado
You know you're in deep shit when the enemy has sorted out how many shots they'll need to fire. If any of the ponies knew what was coming they'd have filled the entire cave with brown dynamite.
If I'd gotten an ass-whooping like the one they got I wouldn't be singing kumbayah either. I'm rooting for the ponies, always have been always will but part of me really does think they had this coming to 'em.
They aren't even having to coordinate where each other person is. The ponies are so screwed!
Rogues cheat!
I would go so far as to say you're getting rick-rolled!
Hahaha Andy Warski you fool! Hahaha! Sorry that was meta but I couldn't resist.
It is a fact that no matter how elite your force if the planning is a disaster your men will die. The U.S. invasion of Panama is a great example of this.
Surprised more unicorns don't do this at melee range. Most unicorns it's established in canon aren't particularly combatworthy with their spells on a good day however all possess levitation. Logic suggests that it takes less energy to take an inert weapon such as a blade and make it dangerous via magic than to take a raw beam of magic and fashion it into something dangerous, particularly when you consider the fact pony magic isn't harmful in its base state.
I'm still not quite sure why Kkat wrote bloodforged blades into an alicorn's arsonal. A weapon from someone's blood? Why?
Sweetie, just carry a shard of steel girder or something... or Luna's skull — oh wait, no. Don't do that. 
The difference between success and failure... about 10,000 volts.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/12/1/1597902.png
That's a perfect example of a tachypsychia event right there. Most are actually quite mundane.
Right in the feels. Makes me think of Emperor Valens who fell at Adrianople, surrounded by his own men literally piled into heaps as they got hacked to pieces by the Goths.
Richard Marcinko, the man you quote at the end of this chapter, used to say that when he found himself in extremis he would hear the voice of his Master Chief screaming at him. That's actually referenced in The Scent of Prey or all places.
How will Dizzy Twister ever recover? (sigh) Both art pieces of her in the maid costume are NSFW. Doom on me.
OOF!
Luna's up on the moon thinking "well-done sister!"
I just realized something, last chapter was a literal Turnabout Storm. I suppose one good turnabout deserves another!
Aiming guns on board of a ship of war ain't as easy as it looks nor the targeting systems of even a WW-2 era battleship's particularly exact.
The Gryphons are about to get Enclaved!
Bloody hell, where 'ave you been!? I feels like I've been waiting 200-years for you gals to show up!
What is this feeling? Is it what not being screwed is like?
Some great naval action in this chapter! Can't wait until we get the actual boarding!
heck yeah, surprise mother buckers.
Whoo! Great chapter. It felt so good to see the Loyalty finally fire on the enemy, and just in time.
I didn't know the Centurion was part Namekian
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Thanks! Next one is already underway.
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And yet, if they came sooner, they wouldn't have been able to make the rescue or get in that first strike.
The answer lies back in Part 11, but in a nutshell, he insulted Celestia in Stormrunner's presence, and Stormrunner, you may remember, is a Celestial Guardspony, meaning he's served as one of Celly's personal guard for years.
What happens with the DDs remains to be seen.
They're not the only race allied to the gryphons, however, as a couple more have yet to appear. And yes, you're not meant to know yet, but you'll get the answer in the next chapter.
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Apprciate the enthusiastic longpost response!
Let's get started answering it...
And they'd have it no other way!
Exactly what they're thinking!
And neither do they!
Suffice it to say, there's a change of tactics on the gryphon side, courtesy of a new commander who knows exactly how to tackle such redoubts.
He's been on the other side of this before, and thus, he knows exactly how the Lances--and he--would crack such a cave if he were on the other side of the door.
Unfortunately, there is no escape this time!
Unfortunately true. And after what I've been putting them through, I can't help but feel some sympathy for them.
At this rate, they have but minutes left! I'd pull out the five minutes joke from DBZ here, but it seems strangely inappropriate at this point. The gryphons have them dead to rights, and unless reinforcements reach them in the next minute...
It's the only thing his gryphon blood and love for his mother will allow him to do.
She's not invincible and never was. Don't ever call her a Mary Sue.
Not to worry--it wouldn't be much of a story if she fell here!
I consider it high compliment to my writing ability that you react this way! Sorry to put you through this, but it looks like I hit the bullseye here in the reaction it garnered!
And yet, at this point, she wouldn't react to tearful pleas so much as angry words and insults from Windshear!
As stated, she's ashamed afterwards of the thoughts she was entertaining and the fact that she very nearly did give up at that moment.
And with a little help from Windshear, she does!
Against all odds, they held out just long enough!
So will Firefly and the Corps troops inside! :rainbowdetermined:
They have to. There's no way they or the Navy can stay there and not get wiped out sooner or later. Their only chance of survival is to flee to friendly lines at this point, however far that may be.
No, that comes later in the story!
No, it ain't!
Gavian is what the gryphons should be... and one day will be.
I've put the poor pony through Tartarus itself. This is a way he can begin to heal himself.
“Master Sergeant? Are you—?”
“I’m fine,” he said in clipped tones as he directed his platoon, reduced now to barely a single squad, to the effort. His force had suffered the worst of all between the storm and the latest battle, but judging by the dead Knights around the area he had come from, he had acquitted himself well yet again. “I can still fly and fight!”
Until you're last breath...
.
And there will be a later battle based on this song.
Just hope he hasn't bitten off more than he can chew!
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Me too! Longposts are my favorite things! They're the kind of comments you can come back to and read again and again.
It seems like I have an absolute talent for referencing FoE even without having ever read it!
I've only ever made one deliberate reference to it, and you may recall that was in TLaTU, where Maya suggested she might want to drop a railcar on an obnoxious Trixie's head!
Well, we just learned that you certainly do!
But I'll leave that to Future Aficionado to explain as well. 
A little too advanced here. But that's not to say I can't reference other things, like those FoE airship diagrams you've been sending me?
Ooo... can you tell me the lottery numbers, too?
Swift Strike did just before it happened, only because he's been on the other side of that door before, getting ready to breach.
I admit that as I've gone along, I've actually started to feel a bit sorry for what I've put the gryphons through. I put some of that here into their reaction, methinks, in trying to make clear that this time, they had the perfect plan and tactics to finish off Epsilon except for something they couldn't possibly expect or predict.
The Ravens are running this op. Can you tell?
Hey, all's fair in love and room clearing tactics!
It'd be insult to injury if the gryphons played that song while storming the cavern!
Good God, that was cringeworthy. Gun or no, if he did that against the Ravens, he'd've ended up disarmed and out cold if they were in a good mood, or with a knife in his chest or his throat slashed if they weren't. Do the Ravens still exist in the modern day Phoenixverse and Gentlemanverse? They do indeed. And the gryphons just *might* have a presence on earth in the Phoenixverse, as well as the ponies...
The most I remember about that operation is the first use of the F-117 stealth fighter and that US Marines fought what Noreiga called his "Dignity Battalions." US troops inevitably called them "Dingbats".
Not in the show, no, but in my verses, unicorns can wield a very wide range of spellcasting to various ends. You can expect that Royal Guard unicorns would know plenty of military-useful spells, though they don't teach elemental spells like the gryphons do. Pony spellcasting at this stage tends to be more defensive or indirect for the most part, relying on shields or curses to various effects.
Please don't!
Or better yet...
I'm trying to think if I've ever experienced such a thing and am drawing a blank.
Loyal to the end.
I'm glad to know this section got this reaction, though. It tells me I hit the bullseye of what I was aiming for with it.
Well, which is a warrior like Firefly--or him--going to react to more? A tearful plea? Or their trainer and mentor screaming at them?
In fairness, it's very hard to blame them here. How the hell would you expect or think you have to prepare for something like this?
But she still can't help but grouse at how weak the modern Naval moonshine is!
And just like Phoenix, I'm the Turnabout Terror!
Fun fact--when they recommissioned the four WW2-era battleships in the early 80s, they looked into replacing the old analog aiming systems with digital ones for the big guns. But they left old systems in place when they discovered they were still the equal or better of any digital system they could install. And those guns were fired in anger during the gulf war. Fun fact #2: they still have the ability to produce 16" rounds for the big guns of the battleships in case they ever decide to recommission them yet again.
Fresh FoE reference... check! And there may yet be a deliberate one in the next chapter based on what you told me about these ships...
Sounds like something DB would come up with!
We laugh, but that's actually a hell of a mental transition to make from assuming (and accepting) you're about to die to suddenly finding that you may yet live!
It's already underway! Here's hoping that, as always, I can do it justice...
Thanks for the longpost!!!
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The Royal Navy fires its guns in anger for the first time in half a century! It definitely won't be the last time, though...
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Felt good to write, too! Hope the wait was worth it! More to come in the next chapter.
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Just wait until he uses his Nael Gun!
Remove comma
Only mistake I found. Well done!
9572345
Shit that's good.
For some arcane reasons I got no notification of this chapter. I''l try to make up for it.
Shit! They have sturmtruppen!
"You die on MY command, not before!" -Lord Commissar Bernn
And I'll personally skin alive any gunner that stops firing! I want to see the guns glowing RED!
Griffons really love to make an entrance, don't they?
My main man Nael! How are you buddy? Maybe you didn't get the note, but we've just turned most of your friends and colleagues into red paste. With cannons. Lots of them. So you may want to crawl back into your hole together with what remains of your forces.
Stormrunner, this is NOT the moment for that! Haul your ass on the ship, NOW!
Boarding party. My favourite kind of party.
9579287
For some arcane reasons, I saw your comment and then completely forgot to reply to it. I'll try to make up for it by taking care of it now.
And worse, they can shoot straight, too!
Pretty much!
And then piss on them to cool the barrels! Seriously, that's what they'll do when machine guns overheat in a combat situation.
https://baldeaglepiss.com/about-us
They do enjoy spectacle, yes! As the next chapter will clearly show as well...
Well, they're sheltered from the big guns in the cavern, but not to worry--I have a very certain fate for Nael in mind!
It really ain't, but... well, see the next chapter.
I hope they have plenty of party games and favors ready! They wouldn't want to be poor hosts, after all...
....wait this was uploaded on April 14th? Fimfiction just showed me the update today with the next chapter. I just thought you uploaded two chapters in one day. The fuck?
As for the chapter....I'll be brief. It was awesome, the music was epic, and this is a great story. I'll have more specific thoughts for the next one lol
I'd like to think Princess Luna has a hoof in all the super natural and unexplained occurrences in the war that help the ponies.
11178817
My headcanon is that even as the Mare in the Moon, she can influence events to a very limited degree, and the dreams of ponies and gryphons alike to a slightly higher one. How much she’s aware of and how much she’s actively trying to help Equestria remain to be seen.
The end sentance is odd. Try and you might win. Don't and you have lost already...
Sooo... That was one badass last stand still going on.
Yet i wonder how mutch will be left once all is said and done to fight out a bloody retreval of Epsilon survivers.
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That’s basically what he’s saying, yes. Put another way, there is no reward without risk.
Thanks! That’s exactly what I was going for.
You’ll find out in the next chapter!
my heart ;-; dammit why does it gotta hit me in the feels so HARD
STORY SAD WHY
MAKE KATIE CRY
AM CANNOT FLY
TEAR IN BOTH EYE
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Because I’ll all about the feelz, for better and for worse.
If I make you feel, whether happiness or sorrow, then I’ve done my job as a writer.