Frontlines

by MlpHero

Chapter 5: Liberation

August 23rd
Cpl. Spearhead
Helios Resistance Base

Corporal Spearhead
13th Equestrian Battalion
Helios Resistance Base

It’s been two months since we took out that train. We’re in Aviation, a city with less support for the New Regime, which we learned is called the Eiserne Krone. Using the intel captured from the wreckage, we’re planning to liberate Aviation. Sign me up.

Spearhead stood in the corner of the room with Boltaction and Flash. The three listened to the conversation between the officers.

Rocky looked at the group of officers, “using the documents we got from the wreckage, Gilda and I will use them to impersonate Griffon Officers and blow the gates to the garrison.”

The yells of other Resistance Griffons caught their attention. “This way gentlecolts,” Gilda said leading them to another metal door. She opened the door, where all the NEA and Resistance soldiers could see the lit up Garrison. “The Garrison is run by a griffon Officer named Polizeiführer IronClaw. When he couldn’t find my, he came for my mother, then my friends, and finally my father. Tonight, all we’ve lost, all we’ve fought for, will mean something. Tonight, we take back our city.”

Rocky pointed to the building being lit up with lights, “the Garrison. Our contact there will provide us with explosives to blow the gates, that’ll be your signal to approach.”

Gilda looked at the NEA soldiers, “we’re counting on you.”

Shining nodded, “alright, come on.”

The soldiers followed. Boltaction looked at Spearhead, “griffons won’t give up that easily.”

“If we can survive Sarge and the beaches AND the tank, I’m pretty sure we can survive this.”

Thorax walked past the two, “I fought alongside him at Yakyakistan,” he slowly paused, then started speaking again, “we should all be so brave…” He walked away.

Gilda walked past the two friends, “it won’t be long now meine kameraden. But first, we enter the wolves den. See you there.” She walked off, leaving Spearhead and Boltaction. They exchanged looks. Tonight, they take back Aviation.

---

Sfc. Gilda
Griffon Garrison
0930 Hours

The ride to the Garrison was stressful, especially with the motor vehicle, which had just been invented not to long ago and they still needed to get used to driving. Gabby had her talons gripped in the wheel like she would a gun. “One more checkpoint,” she said. A group of griffons were harassing a couple.

“Hades’ thugs,” Rocky murmured watching the the two married griffons

The griffon waved his talon. “We’re going, we’re going,” Gabby said.

Gilda looked down, “soon this nightmare will be over,” she said looking at her knife, which when concealed, looked like an ordinary pen.

Rocky looked at her, “if you’re stopped, your cover story must be iron-clad. Let’s go over it again. You are Eris Schneider, a military attaché. You were sent by Galtron from Foreign Intelligence, to ensure IronClaws safe return to Griffonstone, take some time to go over the dossier.” She opened the small book Rocky gave her, which had all of the information she needed. She noticed a small picture of the Contact. Rocky spoke again, “this is our one chance, recruiting our inside griffon came at a terrible price. Hopefully, he’s obtained the explosives we’ll need to blow the gates.”

“You worry too much, Major.”

“That’s my job.”

Gabby looked at her, “I’ll meet you in front of the Garrison when the operation was complete.”

They nodded and got out of the vehicle, then Gabby drove off. Rocky walked over to Gilda, “who sent you?”

“Galtron.”

“Good,” he gave her a briefcase, “whatever happens, you must maintain possession of the briefcase at all time.”

“I’ve come this far, I’ll be d*mn sure I’m gonna finish it.”

Rocky nodded and walked towards the entrance. Gilda opened up the dossier to read again.

Name: Eris Schneider
Purpose: Travel Documents For
Polizeiführer IronClaw
Commanding Officer: Galtron
Residence: Griffonstone

(You May return here for reference)

She closed the dossier and walked towards Rocky. He was already being questioned by the griffon guards. He was finally let him through then the griffon looked at Gilda.

“You there, show me your papers,” he said in Griffish dialect, which just translated right through Gildas’ ears.

“Here you are,” she replied giving the guard her dossier.

He read through it, then looked back at her, “I’ve not seen you before, what it your purpose for this visit?”

Choose an answer

Continue Reading
Reassignment

Move to ==***==
Travel Documents

“I was reassigned here from Griffonstone,” Gilda said.

“That’s odd, it says here you have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw.”

Rocky looked over, “move this along, Sergeant, I’m in a hurry.”

“Of course sir,” he handed the dossier back to Gilda, “go right ahead Fräulein Eris.”

She nodded and walked towards Rocky, who threw away a cigarette he was smoking. She walked towards the door, still a bit rough after what just happened. Next time she wouldn’t be so lucky.

---

“I have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw,” she replied.

“I was not notified of this, but your papers seem to be intact,” he handed the dossier back to her, “go right ahead Fräulein Eris.”

She nodded and walked towards Rocky, who threw away a cigarette he was smoking. The two walked to the door and Rocky smoked, “now remember, your contacts name is Flynch, he’s brown in color and is wearing a grey Officers uniform. Tell me the pass phrase.”

“Valentine.”

“Good luck,” and with that, Rocky opened the door to the Garrison. The building was lit up by lanterns and candles. It hadn’t impressed Gilda, as she’d seen many Garrisons that looked like this. She looked at Rocky, who was chatting with a couple of griffons at the reception desk.

“Hello,” he said, “I just arrived from Griffonstone, do you know any good hotels?”

Gilda walked away before they gave an answer. She walked to the stairs, but the guard stopped her, “this stairway is for officers only, you can try the back stairway.”

She nodded and left, not wanting to draw attention to herself. She walked towards the back stairs. Along the way, she got a lot of suspicious looks from the other griffons. When she reached the back stairs, she saw guard standing there. “Halt,” he said, “if you need to use these stairs, I’ll need to see your papers.”

She handed the dossier to him, “here you are.”

The guard opened the dossier, “you must be a new transfer. Who are you here to see?”

Continue reading
Polizeiführer IronClaw

Move to ==***==
Polizeiführer Griffax

“I have Travel Documents for Polizeiführer IronClaw.”

“Ah, Herr IronClaw must’ve ordered the main stairs off,” he stepped aside.

---

“I’m here to see Polizeiführer Griffax.”

He looked at the dossier, “it says here that you are here to see Polizeiführer IronClaw!” he slammed the dossier on the floor and pointed his MP-40 at her, “come with me, and we’ll sort this out!”

---

(If you chose opinion 1)

She walked past the griffon and walked up the stairs. When she reached the top, she was met with a ton griffons. Anyone of them could’ve been Flynch. She walked through the hallway. She decided to ask a guard. She walked up to the guard. “Excuse me,” she said.

“How can I be of assistance, Fräulein?”

“I need help locating an officer named Flynch.”

“Okay, but I’ll need to see your papers.” She gave the dossier to the griffon,”where are you from, Fräulein?”

Continue reading
Griffonstone

Move to ==***==
Griffondy

“I came from Griffonstone,”

He nodded, “you’re all set,” he closed the dossier and gave it back to her, “he’s in the offices down the hall, should be one with a Hades flag over it.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, Fräulein Eris.”

---

“I came from Griffondy,” she replied.

He pointed his MP-40 at her, “it said you came from Griffonstone! Come with me, we’ll sort this out with the Duty Officer!”

---

(If you chose option 1)

She walked down the hall. She found the room the guard was talking about. She walked in to see if she could find Flynch. She walked past many complaining griffons who were at their respective desks. “Looks like another day here, I swear I haven’t seen my bed in a month,” one of them said.

Gilda looked around until she found a brown griffon in a grey uniform. “Excuse me, are you Officer Flynch?”

“Yes, what do you need?”

“Have you seen works of Valentine?”

He nodded, “yes, the Autumn Song is my favorite.”

“It is a favorite of mine too,” Gilda replied.

“This way Fräulein Eris,” Flynch said moving towards the exit. Gilda followed. The two moved into an old room that probably hadn’t been used in a while. Flynch closed the door then looked at Gilda, “we must be brief!” he whispered.

“Are you ready to make the exchange?”

“No, you’re early, and I’m late for a meeting. Use your cover to get into IronClaws office on the third floor, from there you can avoid the three checkpoints by cutting across the north wing.”

“Okay, meet you there.” Flynch opened the door and Gilda walked out. She headed down the hall, then left for the third set of stairs. She walked up the stairs and walked over to IronClaws office. She walked over to the front desk.

“hello Fräulein Eris, how can I help you?” the receptionist asked in her griffish language.

“I have documents for Herr IronClaw. Can I see him?”

“No, he is currently…” she paused for a bit, “... in a meeting, if you’ll wait in his office, he’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Gilda said. She walked over to the door. She opened it and walked in. She looked around the room. The fireplace warmed the room almost like a blanket. It remained Gilda of her home. She walked over to the windows. She reached for the window handle.

“What are you doing at my window?” a dark, gritty voice said. She turned around to see a white griffon with red eyes staring at her. He didn’t need to have the uniform, or have all his medals, it was no secret that this was IronClaw.

Gilda froze, staring at him like how a deer would stare at an oncoming train. “Sorry Herr Kommandant, I just wanted some air.” IronClaw walked towards her. She slowly calmed down, although it wasn’t easy with IronClaw being the killer of her family. “I am Fräulein Eris. I come from Griffonstone with your travel documents.”

“Fräulein Eris,” he said walking towards his table. He reached for a bottle of wine. “You studied abroad. It was Saddle Arabia, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. If you’re ready, I can show you your documents now.”

He walked over to her, holding two wine glasses. “We will get to that.” He handed her one of the wine glasses.

“Thank you.”

He gave a smile, “don’t thank me yet, Fräulein Eris.” His tone sounded weird, but Gilda ignored him. “Now if you’ll indulge me, perhaps we can converse in Equestrian cause as you know, practice makes perfect,” he said switching from Griffish to Equestrian.

She nodded.

“Please, have a seat,” he said switching back to Griffish. Then back to Equestrian, “have a seat.”

The two griffons walked over to the very expensive and overly decorated desk. Gilda found her seat while IronClaw sat on his desk. “So, Herr Wingspan sent you to arrange for my departure, I am flattered.”

Continue Reading
Galtron

Move to ===***===
Wingspan

“It was Herr Kommandant Galtron.”

IronClaw gave an almost spine chilling laugh, “very good, one can not be too careful these days.”

---

“Yes, Herr Wingspan wanted you back in Griffonstone.”

IronClaw looked at her, “did he now? And I thought it was Herr Galtron who sent you.”

Gilda felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. He’d probably found out now. This isn’t going to end well...

“Oh well,” he said in a strangely cheerful tune, “the only constant is change and all we can do is adapt.”

Thank the Griffon King. She was safe.

---

“You look so serious,” he said eyeing her down like a hawk. “Let us drink.” He raised the glass up, “to my return to the Kings Land.” He leaned in, “the ponies deserve each other.

Then they both drank from the glass. “But mein gosh!” IronClaw said setting the glass aside. He got off his deck and walked towards the fire place. “I will miss the cuisine.”

He brandished a fire poker and walked towards his fireplace. “Take the ortolan; that tiny, delicate songbird.” He started stirring around the fireplace. “It’s eyes poked out so it can gorge, then it’s drowned in cognac.” He raised the fire poker from the pit. “It’s ingenious.” He moved away from the fireplace. “I’m not sure what I will miss more. Savoring the sweet flesh. Or watching it thrash to death.” His tone was dark and gritty. He slipped the fire poker back into the basket. “However there is one thing I am certain of.” He looked back at Gilda. “Watching your family and friends drown under my talon gave me the greatest pleasure of all. Gilda!” He grabbed her and threw her down to the ground. The glasses fell to the ground and shattered. IronClaw choked Gilda. She looked around for any form of weapon. One of the wine glasses that broke was right next to her. She reached out her talon. She grabbed the wine glass and stabbed IronClaw in the side. He rolled off of her. She pinned him down and stabbed him once.

“This is for my friends and comrades!”

Then again.

“This is for my parents!”

Then one more time in his neck.

“And this is for me!” She leaned in, then whispered “For Griffon and Glory.” She wiped his blood on his uniform and picked up the briefcase. She walked over to the window and opened it. She climbed through the window. She walked to the other building. A couple griffons were playing pool. She waited for a while, then they left. She crawled through the window. She walked through the hallway and into the War Room. There, Flynch was waiting. She walked over to him. She started speaking back in Griffish. “Your reports came in from Griffonstone.”

“Thank you, I’ll tend to them as soon as possible.”

Gilda gave a slight bow and swapped the cases around. A few guards came in. “Seize that spy! one of them yelled.

“What is this about?” Flynch asked.

The guard walked over to him and pushed past him, causing a scene. The guard reached for the suitcase. “There’s a pack of explosives missing from the Munitions Storage. You where the last one seen there!”

“This is absurd!”

He searched through the case, “nothing,” he said.

The other griffon grabbed Flynch. “No matter! Everyone show us your papers!”

Gilda quickly left. She walked down the halls. She walked towards the meeting point. She turned a corner and was greeted by both Rocky and another guard.

“Halt! Let me see your papers.”

“Here you are.”

“I’ll also need to check your case.”

“I’m late for a meeting.”

He threw down the dossier and grabbed his MP-40 “Fräulein! Your case— argh!”

Rocky grabbed him and stabbed him in the chest. He dragged the body into the closet. Gilda followed him in. “You never disappoint.”

He looked at her, “we’ve been compromised, the whole damn place is on alert.”

“They’ve captured our contact.”

“I’ll get him, you need to plant the explosives,” he looked at her, “you do have them, right?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, you’ll need to blow the south and north gates.” He opened the window.

“Alright.” She stepped outside. Rocky handed he a Po8 and a suppressor. “Have to stay quiet,” she said screwing the suppressor on. She glided down from the balcony and landed behind a truck. She looked over the truck. A few griffons were walking towards her. She picked up a rock a threw it. It hit the ground and the griffon’s split up. One was heading towards her. She pulled out her pistol and shot at him. He fell down dead. She dragged his body and hid it near some oil bins. She moved to one of the others. She grabbed him and snapped his neck. She walked over to the southern gate. She looked around. No griffons were guarding it. She moved to the gate and placed the charge. “Just one more.”

She turned around and walked towards the northern gate. While walking, she noticed four griffons walking towards her. She moved around them and crawled under a truck. She then moved towards a griffon with his back turned. She aimed the gun towards him. Next thing she knew, the griffons blood was everywhere. She walked over the dead corpse. There it was, the north gate. She moved closer. No guards. Perfect. She moved to the gate, walking past the large truck.

“Hey!”

She quickly whipped around and pulled her gun, which resulted in a hail of gunfire. She quickly dove behind the truck and fired back. She looked around for anything. Then another sound came.

“Argh!”

Silence. Then someone said, “Gilda get the charge!” Flynch!

She quickly go up and put the final charge on. “Now it’s up to you and your team, Spearhead.”

---

Corporal Spearhead
13th Equestrian Battalion
Streets of Aviation

Darkness wasn’t worrisome for the NEA soldiers, it was the fact that Gilda and the others were taking a long time. There was barely enough space to hide, especially behind cars. Spearhead looked at his pocket watch. “They’re late,” he whispered looking at Sergeant Halberd. “We gotta move now!”

“No, hold you fire until they blow the gates!”

Around five seconds went by, then…

Boom!

“Alright! Let’em have it!” Halberd yelled.

Spearhead and his comrades piped up from behind the cars and fired. A group of griffons dropped to the ground. “Push forward!” Spearhead yelled.

Silverstream and her squad moved from out of several stores along with resistance griffons. She ran towards Spearhead and Halberd. “Listen up!” she started, “we need to connect with Shining at—,” she was cut off by a bullet flying past her head, “woah!” she looked back at them, “connect with them down the block. Then we attack the garrison!”

Halberd nodded. Spearhead looked over the hood of the car. He grabbed his rifle and vaulted over the car and ran towards Boltaction and Flash. “Bolt, I need you to cover me with your rifle, then you use your shotgun in the store. Flash, you’re with me. Hooah?”

“Hooah!” the two soldiers repeated.

“Alright, Flash let’s move, Bolt, meet us at the store!” Boltaction nodded and took aim with his rifle. Spearhead and Flash ran towards the store front. Flash took out a couple of griffons with his carbine. Spearhead shot at two griffons with his rifle, but missed one of them.

“Cover me!” Flash yelled.

“I gotcha covered!” He raised up and shot at more griffons as the charged him. Ping! Flash finished loading his magazine in. “Cover me now!” Flash nodded. Spearhead loaded the ammo clip into his rifle and chambered the round. A sniper shot came from Boltaction. Spearhead and Flash moved up. He called for Boltaction to come on.

Boltaction looked over his cover at the sound of Spearhead’s voice. He took a breath and ran. Spearhead and Flash covered him as he ran towards the store front. He dived into his comrades.

Spearhead helped Boltaction up. Flash had his back on the wall, gun ready to fire. “Buck it down Corporal,” he said.

Spearhead nodded. He and Boltaction moved towards the door. Ember jumped beside them. “Ember,” Spearhead said.

“Let me do it,” she said slinging her BAR over her shoulder and pulling out her flamethrower. Boltaction nodded and got back.

Ember kicked the door down and burned the place to hell. All that could be heard was the screaming griffons and the sound of the flamethrower shooting off. She shut the weapon off and unslung her BAR. Spearhead took point with his rifle. A couple griffons appeared from behind the counter and started firing.

“ töte diese Hurensöhne!” one of them yelled. Spearhead took a grenade from his vest and threw over to their assailants. “Scheiße! Scheiße!”

Boom!

“Come on, let's move!” Ember yelled. The group moved out of store and onto the streets. Spearhead dove behind another car. He raised his rifle and fired. Boltaction took aim and fired from behind. Thorax dove beside Spearhead. He raised his Mosin-Nagant and fired.

“Corporal, I need you to move up, I’ll cover you!” Thorax yelled firing his rifle. Spearhead looked up and spotted Pharynx. He quickly ran towards him. He dove beside Pharynx.

“Lieutenant!” Spearhead yelled landing near Pharynx, “where’s Captain Armor at?!”

“He’s up there!” Pharynx replied firing his crossbow. Spearhead looked up to see Shining and his troops moving down the streets. “Pass me your pistol.”

Spearhead nodded and gave it to him. Pharynx got and shot the revolver at a couple of griffons. “Here,” he said giving Spearhead the now empty gun. He raised up and fired with his crossbow. “Now let’s move up!”

“Hooah!”

Pharynx looked back a couple of changelings, “Чего же ты ждешь? Давай!” he yelled at them.

“Да, сэр, лейтенант, сэр!” they repeated. They moved up towards Shining and his squad.

Spearhead jumped over a couple of sandbags and landed near Shining. “Captain!”

“Great to see you Corporal!”

“Same to you sir!” he looked over the sandbags, “what’s the plan?”

“We’re meeting up with a yak and and a crystal guard division, 99th Armored Yak Battalion and the 7th Diamond Infantry Division.”

“Alright.” He took time to reload his revolver. He raised up and fired his rifle. Ping! He slipped a new clip into the rifle and chambered a round. “Every creature, move across the bridge!” He and Shining moved towards the bridge. Shining and Spearhead ducked behind a small wall as MG fire cut down a few soldiers. Spearhead looked over the wall. The garrison was close, but the MG was holed up on one of the floors. It had a giant hole blown in the wall. He threw a grenade at the MG, but it missed. “Damn it!”

The soldiers stayed down. A couple soldiers took potshots at the griffons, with some of them falling by the MG. “We can’t advance until the MG’s down!” Shining said.

“We can’t hit it right sir,” a changeling said, “we gotta flank it!”

“Are you crazy?!” a hippogriff said, “we can’t step out there!”

The soldiers laid there, waiting for someone to come up with a plan, then…

“Zabij je!”

“What was that?!” Spearhead asked.

“Our backup,” Shining replied.

A hail of MG fire has launched. “Zurück! Zurück!” Then the MG fire stopped.

“NEA soldiers alright?”

They looked over the wall to see a couple of yak soldiers standing there. “Yeah, we’re alright,” Shining said.

One of the yaks stepped up. “My name Captain Groundbreaker,” he said. He looked over to another yak, a female by the looks, “this Master Sergeant Yona.”

She gave a small nod. Boltaction walked up to Spearhead. “This is our backup?” Spearhead nodded. “I wouldn’t want to mess with them, just look at the guns on their backs!”

Spearhead looked at the yaks. Then he noticed the large HMG’s (heavy machine gun) on their backs. “Kinda guns are those?” he asked.

Groundbreaker looked at him with a smile, “this ZB-53.”

Shining looked at him, “MG37.”

Spearhead nodded, then looked back a the yaks, “don’t you guys use small arms weapons, like rifles?”

Yona pulled a small (at least compared to her) bolt-action rifle called the vz.27 Rifle. It looked like any other rifle. Some yaks actually carried Lee-Enfields, probably lent to them by the Crystal Empire. Then Groundbreaker pulled out a pistol and SMG. The pistol was called the ČZ vz.27 and the SMG was called the ZK383.

Shining looked at them. “Alright, I think it’s time to move. We gotta link up with the crystal ponies at the gate.”

“Okay, we lead the way.”

Boltaction looked at Yona, shaking with excitement. Yona looked at him. “Pony want to ride?” He nodded. Yona leaned over and Boltaction climbed on. “Pony use machine gun.”

“Okay!” He chambered a round in the gun.

Groundbreaker looked at his troops, “Vojáci, prorazte!”

“Ano pane!” And with that, the yaks started walking towards the garrison. Boltaction and the other yaks, with the help of a contraption they were wearing, fired their MG’s. The griffons retreated to the garrison as fast as they could. They got closer and closer until they’d reached the gates.

The soldiers stepped up to the crystal pony soldiers. Shining spoke up, “Shining Armor, who’s in charge?”

A crystal stepped up, “Captain Emerald here sir.”

“Emerald, I need you and your soldiers to follow me and my squad into garrison and clear it out.”

“Yes sir!” He turned his soldiers, “what are you waiting for? Grab your weapons and move!” They all nodded and picked up there weapons. The group charged into the garrison. Boltaction raised Yona’s MG. When they walked into the courtyard, all they saw was Gilda, Flynch, Rocky, and Gabby fighting against the enemy.

“Let’s light’em up!” Boltaction yelled firing Yona’s MG. The soldiers ran and took cover with the four griffons. They raised guns and fired. Spearhead ran up to Rocky.

“What do we after this?!” Spearhead asked.

“We gotta flush out the building! Come on!”

“Alright! Push forward! Come on!” Spearhead and the others charged into battle. They reached the entrance door. Boltaction switched his rifle out for his shotgun. Rocky kicked open the door. Boltaction fired the shotgun at a poor griffon who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The griffon flew back into a table. The NEA soldiers moved in, picking off the blinded griffons. A resistance griffon ran over to Spearhead, carrying a box of bottles.

“Here!” she said.

“What are these?”

“Molotov’s!”

A smirk grew on his face. “Alright, I’ll put’em to good use!” He took the box and ran. He took cover behind a table and lit one of the molotov’s. He threw it towards a group of griffons. An unseen fire extinguisher exploded, sending the griffons every which way. They moved up to an office. Spearhead took the entire box and lit them all. Boltaction opened the door and Spearhead threw the whole box in, then Boltaction closed the door. They held it shut for twenty seconds, then opened it. The place was burnt to hell, no one survived that.

“We won,” Shining said, “we f*cking won.”

---

Outside, the griffons of Aviation where celebrating their victory. Burning Eiserne Krone flags, firing guns in the air. Spearhead watched as the resistance and soldiers celebrated a victory that would go down in history. He smiled. He then noticed a certain royal carriage landing on the ground. The four princesses stepped out, probably to celebrate as well. He didn’t question it. He just smiled. He grabbed his journal.

Liberating Aviation is something I’ll never forget. After all we’ve been through, I’m glad to see a well deserved victory being well spent. With our new yak allies, we’re gonna push all the way to Griffonstone in no time.

—Cpl. Spearhead

Author's Note:

Translations:

Чего же ты ждешь? Давай!= What are you waiting for? Come on!

Да, сэр, лейтенант, сэр!= Yes sir lieutenant sir!

Zabij je!= Kill them!

Zurück!= Back!

Vojáci, prorazte!= Soldiers, break through!

Ano pane!= Yes sir!