Equestria: Fires of Liberation

by smoers06

Chapter 2: War for the North

City of Coronet, Human Mainland
Federation Command Center
February 3rd, 2015
0500 hours

“How bad is it?” General Davis asked, feeling a migraine coming on.
“Worse than we initially thought,” Coats answered. “The Gryphons have started a blitz across the entire northern Equestria border, meeting very little resistance. The only ones really putting up a fight are the surviving personnel from Kingston Air Base, some of our soldiers who were on leave, and a few militias, but nothing that can stop the advancing enemy. At this rate, Canterlot will be overrun inside a week.”
“What is the Equestrian response?”
“Non-existent so far, they’re just as surprised as we are, and none of their already small military was up north when the invasion began. They haven’t shared their full strategy with us yet, but we’re not sure why.”
‘I know why,’ Davis thought, cursing himself. ‘I accused Celestia of knowing about the chemical attacks before they happened. If the situation was reversed, I’d do the same.’
“What about our forces?” He asked.
“The chemical attacks hit us even harder than we thought. Less than a quarter of our original forces in Equestria are still active since the strikes. Of that, half of those who are combat ready cannot reach their gear due to contamination, so our response is weak at best.”
Davis had to tip his hat to the Griffon commanders at their strategy, as disdainful as it was. It was tactically genius on every scale. They managed to neutralize the main force of Equestria’s defenses, while simultaneously building mistrust between humanity and ponies.
“Has the alert level been raised on the homefront? We can’t afford to have any chemical attacks on our doorstep.”
“Homeland security is already on the job, and N.E.S.T teams have been deployed to every city to make certain nothing slipped past.” Coats responded.
“And our mainland forces?”
“Being rallied as we speak. As I understand, you and the rest of High Command will be planning the counter attack.”
That was the one flaw in the Gryphon battle plan. They had underestimated the raw power of the human military, believing that the main Federation forces were based in Equestria. In reality, the largest part was still on the human mainland and a couple small islands. Trouble was, the forces were spread around, and they would need time to regroup all of their forces, but once they did, they would unleash hell on the arrogant Gryphons who dared to challenge their military superiority.
Oh yes, revenge truly was a revenge best served cold.
And he would enjoy every minute of it.

City of Canterlot, Equestria
February 3rd, 2015
0700 hours

Celestia had ruled Equestria for over two thousand years. During that time, she had mastered the way to keep a royal calm, even in the worst of situations, giving reassurance in even the darkest of times. But now, she was barely holding herself together, not feeling this worried since the Nightmare Rebellion. Luna quickly realized this, and took over the duties of a ruler until Celestia had some time to gather her thoughts. Although Luna was obviously disturbed, she had managed to keep her composure, acting as a competent temporary ruler. Since taking command, she had made an incredible speech to rally the people, issued a joint declaration of war alongside President Rousey, and had visited the old military command center under the castle. Now that she’d had the time to ponder the situation, Celestia felt much calmer. The situation was still beyond disastrous, but she knew that she had to remain strong in the eyes of her people.
“Tia?” Luna’s voice came from behind her. “How are you feeling?” Celestia put on her serine royal face.
“Better,” She said. “It it time?” Luna nodded.
“It is.” Celestia took a deep breath,
“Lead the way then.” The two princesses started down the halls of the secured castle.
“What is the situation in the north?” She asked. Luna gave her a concerned look.
“Are you sure you want to hear that now?” Celestia nodded.
“Yes, I’ve been wanting to know all day.” Her sister sighed.
“It’s a crisis. None of our forces are in the North, and what forces we do have are nowhere near ready for war. They’re more of a danger to themselves than they are to the enemy. We’re starting up recruitment drives and beginning wartime rationing, but it will be a while before we are fully mobilized. As much as I don’t like it, we’ll have to rely on the Federation forces until we get everything fully ready.” Luna looked to the floor. “Unfortunately, the humans are in almost as bad of shape as we are. Most of their forces are in disarray after the chemical strikes, their trying to rally a response unit from what they have left, but the entire Alliance Military is in chaos right now.”
“I’m sure somewhere Discord is laughing at us…” Celestia said, taking in what she had heard. Luna nudged her sister reassuringly,
“We’ve gotten through a lot of bad times, we’ll get through this.” The Solar Princess nodded, then stopped outside of two large doors. The guards bowed,
“They’re waiting for your highness.” One of them said.
“Good luck.” Luna said. Celestia put on her grand serene royal face, then proceeded through the doors. Outside was a massive crowd of ponies, some were holding cameras. Celestia even saw a few humans in the crowd, most likely news reports or merchants who wanted some answers. She stepped up to a podium, facing all those gathered.
“On this day, February third, Two-thousand and thirteen, our great nation of Equestria was suddenly and brutally attacked without warning by the Naval, Air, and Land forces of the Gryphon Kingdom.” She kept her voice calm, but spoke with enough volume to be heard. “As we speak, they are invading our northern territory, pushing to take our great kingdom for themselves. We now have confirmed that they were the ones behind the merciless attacks on our human allies within our borders, showing no restraint in this war. They believe that we will roll over and surrender without a fight, that we will be pushovers in this war, but already, we are proving them wrong. As this is being broadcasted through all of both Equestria and the Human Mainland, know that we are already engaging the invaders. Members of the Federation Military and Pony militias are fighting for Equestria, making the Gryphons pay for every inch of ground. We will fight, and we will win, but war needs ponies to fight it. We have lived for over a thousand years in peace and harmony, and we will have it again, but we must fight for that right. I must ask for you, my loyal subjects, to help fight this war. We will need your help to drive the invaders from our land. It will not be easy by any means, but it is important to remember that we are not alone. Our human allies are standing strong beside us, determined to help us as we helped them. They were struck even before we were, and they are as angry as we are. This will be the first test of our Alliance, and we will prove how we are stronger together than we are apart.”
“Stand Fast. Stand Strong. Stand Together.”
~~
“What do you mean we’re not allowed back on base?!” Cole shouted, not bothering to hide the anger in his voice. “If you haven’t noticed, there’s a war going on! We need to get into the sky ASAP!” The Military Police officer didn’t even blink.
“I’m sorry sir,” The woman’s voice remained neutral. “But the contamination level on the base is still at lethal levels, no one is allowed on base right now except for cleanup crews until it’s declared safe.”
“And how long is that going to take?” Dare asked, just as frustrated as her squadron leader. “They’re going to need us up north!” The MP shrugged,
“It’s hard to say,” She said. “It could be a few days, or more than a week.”
“MORE THAN A WEEK?!” All ten Rouges shouted.
“But they need our help NOW!”
“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!”
“I’m sorry sir, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” The MP saluted, then exited Sugar Cube Corner, which had become a gathering point for Rouge squadron since the Chemical strike.
“So now what?” Justin asked.
“We’ve got no other choice, we just have to wait until the chems have been cleared out.”
“I don’t like it…” Blaze mumbled.
“You got a better idea? I’m all ears.” Cole turned to Rainbow Dash, who’s eyes were glued to the television screen. She had been watching the speeches of both Princesses Luna and Celestia, listening to them over and over again. “You know it’s not going to get better, no matter how many times you watch.” For the first time in an hour, Dash tore her gaze from the TV.
“She says that she needs us ponies to help, a lot of us.” Her voice was distant, missing it’s general cockiness and arrogance. Cole knew what she was thinking, and he immediately shook his head,
“Don’t even think about it Dash.” He said.
“Why? You heard what she said.”
“I heard she needed SOME ponies, not EVERY pony.”
“But I can help!”
“Dash, listen to me,” Cole said. “War is not something to take with a grain of sand, there will be death and madness, and I don’t want you, any of you to be a part of that. Understand?”
“But you guys will be going to war!” Dash protested.
“Because that’s our job, not yours. Plenty of humans and ponies will be going to war, you don’t have to. Do not do something stupid that you’ll regret later, alright?” Dash remained silent, “Dash!”
“Ok ok…” She relented.
“Besides,” Dare said. “I’m sure our forces are holding off the invasion as we speak.”
~~

The Ponies rushed around the small town, many trying to gather belongings. Others were crying out names, yelling to hurry. But most were running away as fast as their legs could take them. A noise came from the north, and as the ponies looked, they realized they hadn’t been fast enough.
The skies began to darken, as the invaders arrived.
A group of Militia ponies tried to slow them down, but it was in vain, as a group of gryphons dive-bombed towards them, machine guns blazing. More and more Gryphons began to land, rounding up ponies and breaking into any buildings that they thought might hold anything of value. They looted every store, taking money and everything else they could get their talons on. Now armored vehicles were moving through the streets, striking fear into the hearts of the ponies, as their armored skin looked invincible. But the worst of all were the bombers, flying high above, raining death upon any living thing that dared challenge the might of the Gryphon Kingdom.
As the fires raged, the smoke rising, it seemed that all hope was being burned away along with all resistance.

City of Canterlot, Equestria
Alliance Command Center
29 hours after invasion began
February 4th, 2015

Luna continued to stare at the map, as if trying to will the red line to fall back towards the Gryphon country. Even now, it was moving forward, ever so slightly. Red blocks covered the line, representing known Gryphon battalions. On the other side, small green triangles dotted the side of the map that wasn’t draped in red, representing areas where Pony militias were believed to be. Occasionally, blue squares could be seen between the militias, showing where groups of human military members were rallied.
Luna was trying to help organize the militias, but the Gryphon strengths were still largely unknown, and none of those who were volunteers had any military experience, so they couldn’t give the information that Luna and the other military commanders were looking for. The human soldiers were able to provide more needed intelligence, but their forces were too few, and many were being overrun faster than they could gather the info.
“Your highness?” Luna was suddenly aware of a human standing beside her. As she looked away from the map, she recognized him as Colonel Garrett, the commanding officer of all remaining Federation forces within Equestia.
“What is it Colonel?” She asked. Luna wasn’t intentionally trying to sound rude, but she had gotten no sleep for two straight days now.
“I’ve just received some news that I think you’ll want to hear.”
“I doubt that,” Luna said, deadpanned. “I actually don’t think I can take any more bad news.” Garrett beamed,
“Well, it’s fortunate that this is good news then.” Luna immediately perked up,
“What?” The human waived her towards a computer console.
“Our surviving forces out of Orlando Naval Base have been rallied, and have managed to reach their gear. At this moment, they’re combat ready.”
“What’s the unit?”
“Third Marine Force Reconnaissance, they’re heading toward the fighting up north as we speak.” The Princess looked skeptical,
“One unit to face an entire invasion?” Garrett chuckled,
“I assure you your highness, they’re supremely qualified.” The human pressed a button, sending a transmission out. Immediately, a response arrived.
“We read you command. This is Captain Miller, acting commander of Warlock battalion.”
“Glad to have you in our corner Captain,” Garrett responded. “What’s your ETA to the combat zone?”
“About four hours, we’ve just departed from the base. Do you have any particular destination in mind for us sir?”
“I do, I’ll send you the mission details as soon as we finish compiling them.”
“Captain Miller, this is Princess Luna,” Her voice was even, but had a hint of worry. “Please help my subjects however you can.”
“Don’t worry your highness,” The Marine’s voice was reassuring. “We’ll do everything possible to make sure all your ponies get out alive. Warlock out.”
~~
Northern Equestria
33 hours since invasion
Lieutenant Riley Davis
3rd Marine Force Recon
February 4th, 2013

It was deathly quiet in the helicopter, only the sounds of the propellers came to Riley’s ears. Every Marine knew what was coming. It was what they had trained and drilled for, they were among the best humanity had to offer, with the best equipment the military could manufacture.
It still wasn’t much comfort.
It was the first time since the Unification War that soldiers of humanity would be called to action, and they would be the first responders to face the invasion.
There was a fear of death of course, but the hardened soldiers knew there was much more at stake than their lives. They felt more pressure with the knowledge that they would have to stop the invasion anyway they could.
But the deathly calm was plain on every face, as they were ready to do their duty.
Riley sat in an almost meditative state, his eyes closed and his hands going over his rifle.
“This is command to Delta Three, come in Delta Three.” He slowly opened his eyes, bringing his finger to his ear.
“This is Delta Three, I read you loud and clear.”
“Copy all Delta, I’m Colonel Garrett, callsign ‘Overlord’. You’re now under my command.”
“Well then,” Riley said. “Maybe you can tell me what our orders are.”
“It’s pretty straightforward today Lieutenant. The Gryphons are advancing toward a small town called Morningwood, leaving a large number of Militia ponies and Air Force Personnel scattered around the entire area. If we can get them all out of there, they’ll be major source of support for later operations. Warlock Battalion’s objective as a whole will be to hold off the Gryphon forces until the resistance members can be evacuated. Your battalion in particular will be stationed in the city, helping civvies get out. Once you arrive, dig in, the Gryphons won’t be very long, so make sure your men are ready.”
“I don’t mean to sound negative sir, but without any air support, it won’t be much of a battle.”
“Don’t worry about that Three; we’ve got a squadron of F-4’s en-route to your location.” Riley felt his jaw drop,
“F-4’s?!” He demanded. “Are you kidding me?!”
The F-4 Phantom had been outdated for thirty years now, its speed and weaponry were pathetic compared to the vastly superior F-16 Fighting Falcon, the standard fighter for the Federation Military. He was actually surprised that there were any still in service.
“You don’t have a choice in the matter,” Overlord shot back. “It’s the Phantoms or nothing, take your pick.”
‘I suppose beggars can’t be choosers,’ Riley thought.
“Understood sir, Delta Three out.” He deactivated the radio, then turned towards the cockpit. “What’s our ETA?”
“We’re about two mikes out from Morningwood sir!” The pilot shouted back. Riley nodded, then stood up to face the other soldiers in the helicopter.
“Listen up Marines!” He barked. “Here’s the situation. We’re on a secret mission to go get the coffee and donuts. Problem is, the Gryphons drank all the coffee and ate all the donuts, so now we’ve got to go kick their asses!” several hoots and hollers followed that statement. “Once we hit dirt, I want blocking positions set up on street corners and other defensible positions. Keep an eye out for any ponies, we’re here to help keep them safe. Oorah?”
“OORAH!”
“Lock and load!”
The two dozen marines unbuckled themselves from the crash webbing, then piled up towards the end of the Chinook. The helicopter began it’s decent.
“Green light in three…. Two… One…”
They felt the landing gear impact with the ground, as the rear door lowered.
“GO GO GO!” Riley shouted. A sea of desert-colored humans streamed from the helicopter, moving to follow the orders they had had been given.
It was chaos outside, as three more helicopters; two Black Hawks and another Chinook were landing and deploying the rest of the Delta Company Marines. Ponies were scrambling around them, obviously trying to get out of the city as fast as they could. His soldiers were now grabbing whatever was large enough for them to take cover behind, stacking them on street corners to set up blocking positions. Normally, they would be using barbed wire, but that would have no effect on the Gryphons who could just use their wings to hop over them.
“Hey! Hey human!” Riley looked over to see two rugged looking stallions galloping towards him. “Are you in charge here?” One of them asked. Riley nodded,
“Lieutenant Davis, Federation Marines.”
“I’m Storm Chaser,” The Earth Pony said. He motioned to the unicorn next to him, “This is Dusk Shine.”
“We’re militia volunteers.” Dusk said. “It took some time, but we managed to set a machine gun position down the street using what we salvaged from your base. We can’t use it ourselves since our human liaisons never showed up, but maybe you guys could put it too good use.”
“Thanks, now help get these ponies out of town, we’ll take it from here.” The Ponies did as instructed, moving to help direct the flow of civilians out of the small city. Riley continued down the street that they had indicated, a team of his Marines behind him. As promised, a makeshift pillbox was set up, using a 50. Caliber Machine gun that looked like it had been taken off of a Humvee.
“Ramirez!” He shouted. “Mount that machine gun!” The Marine obliged moving into position in the pillbox. Riley’s radio came alive,
“Overlord to all Warlock units, enemy forces are twenty miles out from Morningwood, stand by to engage.”
“Overlord, we’re sitting ducks out here, where’s our air support?” The Lieutenant of Bravo Company demanded.
"Their almost on location, just bunker down and ready your men.”
“You heard the man!” Riley shouted. “Get your rears in cover and your rifles loaded!” Following his own order, he crouched behind a metal ammunition crate, his rifle steadily aimed toward the horizon. His heart pounded in his chest, the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he saw the gryphons start to appear in the distance.
There were hundreds of them, far outnumbering the humans, and they still kept popping up, staying in one giant mass.
And that was their mistake.
“Steady boys….” He said, his voice drowned out by the blood roaring in his ears. The seconds passed like hours, as the flying gryphons got closer and closer. Then he knew it was time,
“WEAPONS FREE!”
The humans opened fire, bullets flying all in front of them towards their targets. Ramirez was squeezing the trigger on the 50. Cal, spraying the heavy rounds through the air. Riley pulled the trigger again, and again, and again, feeling the recoil from the weapon on his shoulder. He couldn’t be certain if he was hitting anything, but it really didn’t matter. The enemy soldiers were dropping out of the sky like flies, flying strait into the bullets. They quickly realized this, trying to perform evasive maneuvers, which were only mildly successful against the Marine riflemen. Riley pulled the trigger again, being answered with a click. Almost mechanically, he pressed the button on his rifle, dropping the magazine from his weapon. As it hit a the ground, he replaced it with a second magazine. As he chambered a round, he heard the unmistakable sound of jets approaching. He turned around, his back to cover, just in time to see a squadron of ten F-4’s flying overhead. He could barely make out a Ribbon insignia on the tail of the lead fighter.

“Warlock Battalion, this is Mobius One. We’ll keep you covered from the sky.”
Riley continued to watch the planes as they moved to engage the Gryphons.
‘I hope you’re a good pilot Flyboy,’ He thought. ‘Or else this is going to be a very short battle.’
He forced himself to concentrate, turning back around to gun down any Gryphon unfortunate enough to be caught in his sights.
This was the pattern that followed for nearly twenty minutes. Whoever this Mobius One was, he was pretty damn good. It hadn’t been long before a whoop from one of his squadron-mates had confirmed that he had reached ace status, and the jets were still continuing to swat any remaining Gryphons from the sky. Realizing that taking to the air would be suicide, the Gryphon commanders tried to go in the old fashion way, marching their forces on the ground toward the well dug in Marines. They fell in droves, by bullets and explosives death came to them.
And still they kept coming.
It wouldn’t be too much longer before Mobius squadron would have to leave to refit, leaving the Marines at the mercy of the Gryphon air forces. They would have to wrap this up fast.
“Overlord, how much longer until the evacuation is complete?”
“We’ve almost got all of the militia out, just hang on a little longer Delta Three.”
‘Easy for you to say,’ He thought.
He popped out of cover, firing off three quick rounds at the invaders. He was forced to duck back under cover quickly as they returned fire.
“They’re pushing hard!” Riley yelled, trying to be heard over the gunfire. “Keep up the pressure!”
“Delta Three, you’ve-” The radio trasmittion was drowned out by a nearby explosion.
“Say again Delta One, I didn’t copy!”
“I said you’ve got an armored division headed straight towards you!” Miller responded. “We’ve spotted at least three armored transports approaching from your left flank!”
“Got it, we’ll deal with them!” He turned toward two nearby Marines.
“Jackson! Allen! Grab the Javelins and follow me!”
“We’ll hold them here sir!” Ramirez shouted. “COVERING FIRE!”
The remaining Marines immediately laid down a shower of bullets, forcing the gryphons to dive for cover as Riley and his team moved away from the firefight.
The three moved through the deserted streets, their exhausted minds functioning only on sheer stubbornness. Jackson was on point, ready to move down a street corner.
“Watch your six Devildog.” Allen warned, bringing up the rear of the trio. They stacked up on a corner of a building, ready for trouble. Jackson carefully peeked around the corner, then immediately jumped back, sending all three marines crashing to the ground. The edges of the wall blew apart, sending rubble crashing to the ground.
“Damn they moved fast.” Jackson cursed.
“I don’t think we’re going to be getting around these guys sir.”
“Oh yes we are,” Riley said. “Overlord, we need an air-strike at coordinates Whiskey, Tango, Omega, Charlie.”
“This is Mobius Eight, coordinates received, coming in hot.” The F-4 came streaking in from the other end of the street. “Bombs away.” The single large object fell from the plane, detonating right in the center of the enemy group. “All those Gryphons are toast, you’re good to go Delta Three.”
“Thanks for the assist Eight!” Riley called. The three Marines continued on, passing by the blast zone.
“Overlord, we’re almost bingo on ammo, we’ll need to bug out soon.”
“Copy that Mobius One, all militia elements have been successfully evacuated. All Warlock callsigns, begin to pull out.”
“Got it,” Riley said. “Third platoon, pull back to the LZ. Second Platoon, move into position to help first platoon once they begin to pull back.”
“Hmm… this strangely reminds me of barbecue.” Allen said, sniffing the air.
“Federation Fried Gryphon?” Jackson chuckled. “Maybe when the war’s over, we’ll open a restaurant.”
“Can it,” Riley said. “Stay focused on the mission, we’ve got to keep an eye out for those armored transports.”
“You mean those over there?” Jackson asked, pointing to a old dirt road where a vehicle bearing the markings of the Gryphon kingdoms.
“Alright, let’s fry these suckers then meet up with the rest of the company.” The pair took the rocket launchers off their backs, setting up to fire.
“Hold up,” Allen said. “More are coming over the hill.”
“You’re right,” Riley observed. “I count four, looks like they wanted to smash our flank.”
“Well, let’s turn the tables and smash them!” Allen said with a smile. “Lock on…. FIRE!”
The two Javelin missiles launched, falling downward before the rockets fired, sending them high in the sky, before they came crashing down right on top of the helpless Transport, destroying it in a shower of flames and shrapnel. The other two drove off the road, trying to find out what had happened two their two comrades. Before they could return fire, the humans had launched their last two rockets two finish off the armored column. Jackson stood up, exhaling slowly.
“That… was satisfying.” He said. Riley was about to make a retort, when his radio blasted in his ear.
“Delta Three, do you copy?”
“I hear you Ramirez, what’s wrong?”
“The Gryphons are pushing again, but there’s a lot more of them this time. I don’t think we’ll be able to hold out for much longer!”
“Alright, pull out of there Ramirez! We’ll meet you at the pickup zone!” He turned to his team. “We’re Oscar Mike, let’s get moving!” Allen nodded, moving ahead of them.
“Right, I’ll take poi-”
A sharp crack echoed through the street, as Allen fell to the ground.
“SNIPER!” Riley shouted, diving for cover alongside Jackson in a bombed-out building.
“Where is he?” Jackson yelled.
“I can’t tell!” He replied, flinching as a round impacted with the front of his cover. He heard a groan, and saw Allen slowly moving on the ground. “STAY DOWN PRIVATE ALLEN!” He screamed. If the sniper noticed that one of his targets was still moving, he might try to finish the job.
“I think I see him!” Jackson yelled, then immediately brought his head down as two more bullets hit where his brain had been just a half a second before. “Oh ya, I saw him.”
“Where?”
“Second story balcony on the building at your eleven O’clock!” Riley poked his head out of cover for a second, just long enough to see where Jackson was telling him. As expected, a Gryphon was sitting on the balcony, a long rifle in his talons. It didn’t provide very good cover, but it did give him a wide range for overwatch.
“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Riley said. “Pop off a shot to get his attention, then I’ll lay down some covering fire while you get Allen.” The Marine nodded.
“Three….two…one…. Now!” Jackson lifted his rifle over the blown out wall, blind-firing a single shot. The sniper returned fire with two shots of his own. Riley seized the advantage, diving out of cover with his rifle on full auto. The M4’s bullets showered the sniper, sending him falling off the balcony.
“Nice shot sir.” Jackson said. Riley looked over to see him pulling his fellow marine behind cover. He sprinted to his soldier’s side, looking at how bad the damage was.
“Dammit…” He muttered. The sniper’s bullet had tagged Allen in his mid section, right above where his kidneys were. Riley couldn’t see the full extent of the damage, but the marine was losing a lot of blood, and already, Allen’s eyes began to look distance.
“Hey hey, stay with me soldier!” Riley said, snapping his fingers in front of Allen’s eyes. Jackson was already applying pressure to the wound, his face calm, but the fear for his friend was evident in his eyes.
“We’re not going to be able to move him to the RV in this condition sir.” He said.
“I know Sergeant.” Riley replied, activating his radio. “This is Delta Three to all callsigns, we have wounded and are unable to make it to the pickup zone. We need immediate evacuation at location.” After a few heartbeats of silence, the radio buzzed.
“This is Yellow Jacket, we hear you loud and clear Delta Three,” Came the response. “We’re on our way now, ETA, Thirty seconds, standby.” He breathed out a sigh of relief.
“This is Overlord, belay that order Yellow Jacket.” Riley’s breath caught in his lungs. “We’re tracking two enemy mobile AA toward Delta Three’s position, you’ll be swatted right out of the sky.”
“Overlord, the Gryphons are advancing fast, we need to get those men out of there!” Miller protested.
Riley could now see the AA vehicles, coming down the same dirt road as the transport vehicles.
“I’m not going to send a chopper on a suicide mission to save three men,” Overlord shot back. “Delta Three, do you have any more Javelin missiles left?”
“Negative, we used them on the rest of the armored Division.”
“Overlord, this is Yellow Jacket. Enemy Forces are going to be on top of them in less than two minutes, we’re going in to get our marines out, danger or no danger.”
“Negative Yellow Jacket, you are not authorized to-”
Overlord’s words were drowned out as a Jet came careening over the hill at high speeds. The AA vehicles noticed this, and tried to bring their guns around to bare, but the Ribbon Fighter was already within range.
“Mobius One, bombs away.” The last two unguided bombs released from the F4, landing on both of the vehicles with laser precision. “You’re clear Yellow Jacket.” Riley jumped up, letting out a whoop while throwing his fist in the air.
“Alright Mobius One!” He shouted triumphantly. A Black Hawk helicopter landed nearby within a few seconds.
“This is Yellow Jacket, get your asses on board Delta Three.”
The two able-bodied Marines each grabbed their wounded comrade by the shoulders, and quickly moved to their evacuation craft.
“We’re all in!” Riley shouted. “Go go go!”
“Roger that, we’re out of here!” The helicopter quickly lifted off, leaving the town at the mercy of the Gryphons.
‘I sure hope all the ponies were able to get out of there.’ He thought.
Beside him, Allen let out a small groan.
“Ugh… Hey Jackson…”
“Ya man?”
“I…Thought of a new recipe for our restaurant… It involved Napalm and that Mobius guy…”
~~
Northern Equestria
Four days since invasion
February 7th, 2015
1100 hours

Riley’s eyes snapped open, his body and mind pressing exhaustion on him.
He had been helping to coordinate troop movements with militia and what little Equestrian military units had been scrambled. Mostly the missions had entailed scuttling or distracting the Gryphons long enough to allow civilians or other military elements to escape. Every battle was ended with a retreat, they were constantly falling back, losing more and more ground to the Gryphons. They had managed to slow their advance, but not stop it.
He hadn’t slept for three days, and now every time he blinked, sleep threatened to overtake him. But he couldn’t sleep, not right now.
He was in the center of a makeshift Command Post, sitting at a small desk with maps and intelligence reports covering it. Marines were all around him, cleaning their weapons, messing with equipment, or grabbing a few minutes of sleep while they could. Ponies were also in the mix, militia members or other volunteers with the war effort.
Moral was crushingly low, as the thought of constant defeat loomed on everyone, human and pony alike. Riley knew he had to do something, he was the company commander, and they were all looking to him for leadership and guidance. Should he make a speech? Would it even matter?
‘No,’ He thought. ‘But I know what will.’
He suddenly dropped his pen and looked up, looking at as many marines as he could.
“My mama can’t you see?” He sang, his voice loud enough to carry to all ears.
“MY MAMA CAN’T YOU SEE?” The Marines repeated involuntarily. They’re eyes widened, as they realized what they had just done, and they looked at their commanding officer.
“What this Corps has done for me!”
“WHAT THIS CORPS HAS DONE FOR ME!” It was a marching cadence, every Marine knew it by heart since it had been drilled into their skulls in basic training.
“Put me in a barber’s chair!”
“PUT ME IN A BARBER’S CHAIR!”
“Snip! Snap! And I had no hair!” Rile was on his feet now, moving through the camp, making eye contact with his soldiers.
“SNIP! SNAP! AND I HAD NO HAIR!”
“And if I die in a combat zone!”
“AND IF I DIE IN A COMBAT ZONE!”
“Box me up and ship me home!”
“BOX ME UP AND SHIP ME HOME!”
“Put me in a set of dress blues!”
“PUT ME IN A SET OF DRESS BLUES!” Ponies were now listening, trying to figure out what their human allies were doing.
“Comb my hair and shine my shoes!”
“COMB MY HAIR AND SHINE MY SHOES!”
“Pin my medals upon my chest!”
“PIN MY MEDALS UPON MY CHEST!”
“Tell my mother I did my best!”
“TELL MY MOTHER I DID MY BEST!”
“My Momma, don’t you cry!”
“MY MOMMA, DON’T YOU CRY!” Riley now moved back to his desk, facing all the soldiers.
“Marine Corps motto is do or die!”
“MARINE CORPS MOTTO IS DO OR DIE!”
Many were now nodding at him, understanding what he was getting at. Within a few seconds, everyone was back to work, a noticeable increase in energy than just a few moments before.
“Excuse me sir.” Riley looked over to see one of his marines standing with a Pegasus next to him. She was different than the other ponies, her outfit and appearance showing someone who had seen a lot, even before the war. Her grayscale mane was partially covered by a hat that looked like it belonged on a safari. Her eyes looked to almost be a pinkish color.
“Yes Corporal?”
“This mare says that she’s got vital tactical information. Says she’ll only talk to you.”
“That was quite the feat of leadership you just pulled off.” She said. “You gave them something familiar, not a long speech. It held meaning to them, even if it was just words. You just inspired more hope than you think, and it only took you a little over a minute.” Riley raised a brow,
“Well, I try. Who are you exactly?” The mare smiled, and took off her hat.
“Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Daring Do.” She said. The two marine looked at her for a moment, then started laughing uncontrollably. The Daring Do novels were very well known to humanity, and were quite popular. One reason was because it was very similar to a movie series made by the humans before they ever met the ponies.
“Right, YOU’RE Daring Do,” He snickered. “And I’m Indiana Jones, let’s go treasure hunting sometime!” He waved dismissively. “Now please miss, we have legitimate military business to attend too.” The pony’s eyes narrowed, then she took out a piece of paper from her saddlebags, putting it on the table.
“Then I guess you won’t be wanting this then?” She asked. Riley’s eyes widened in shock,
“What the…”
“It’s a map of Gryphon troop movements, with the locations of local enemy command posts, along with estimated troop strengths. I did my best to make them as close as possible, but I’m just one pony.”
“How in the name of Celestia did you get this information?” Riley demanded. Daring smiled,
“You believe me now? I’m Daring Do!”
“You get me information like this, you can claim to be Princess Luna for all I care!” He handed the paper off to the Marine. “Get this to Captain Miller, see if he can’t somehow verify all this, it could be invaluable.” The Marine saluted, then rushed to carry out the order.
“Anything else I can do to help?” Riley looked at the mare,
“Stick around Miss Do, we might just have need of Somepony of your talents.” Daring’s smile grew wider,
“Of course Lieutenant, I’m ready to do or die.”

Comments

[smoers06]

To all you AC4 vets, feel free to make Mobius 1 "You"

[Silverstein]

1247531

Holy shit! As a Blaze fanboy, excuse me while I ejaculate for second...(grunts) ...okay I'm done!

Those emoticons I used for my grunt...

And now I must read this! It better be well-written or I'm gonna be pissed!

Silver out!

[smoers06]

1313933
Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't thought about that.
The UHF is definitely not just American, they are a batch of every nationality, I just haven't gotten around to how to pointout the accents without breaking the 4th wall any more than I have
As to the tech, I am guilty for using only those of the US,and I'll be sure to include more European weapons from now on

[Silverstein]

1315046

Euro, Russian, Asian and American tech all mish-moshed together would work just fine.

Anyways, this story is great and the military accuracy is surprisingly good.

You're doing good work here.

Silver out!

[Nopony of note]

Ok, so here's my deal.

This was one of the first stories I ever read here. I read it back when there was only one chapter (which was bucking brilliant by the way), but I didn't have an account, and couldn't favorite it. When I did make an account, I came looking for it, but couldn't find it. Now, here I am, five months later, and this pops up in a group I was browsing.
Naturally, My first reaction was to say "Thank you sweet baby Jesus" and give it an insta-fave and an upvote.
Then I see there are two more chapters than when I last saw it and I said, "MUST READ"
Then I read it, and was put into an awesome coma. You have got some great stuff here. I would offer to help you out with any military matters, being something of an Ace Combat player and military-minded person myself, but you seem to have it all under wraps, which is why I enjoy this story so much.

Keep up the kick-ass work.

[Fireheart 1945]

Love this story, more please

[EyGuyDude]

MOAR PLLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE

[Eternal Aviator]

If you want this to be a true Ace Combat 6 crossover, you had better include the Aigaion, Gyges, and Kottos aerial squad! I will dislike this if it does not.

[Subatomic Seal]

1306907 Uhhhhh...........

[Lt Rainbow Slash]

Warlock for da win.

He he. Napalm-equals-fun!

[skyminer252]

crossover of ac4, 5, & 6