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Does the Equestria Girls universe exist in the Gentlemanverse?
Holy shit, it only took me up until these last few chapters to realize that the Marines are basically the same ones from Battle: LA, or named after them at the very least.
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It does not, and yet... at least one Equestria Girls Universe is aware of this one. You’d have to read my M-rated Harmonic Resonance story to understand why, but there will be a fleeing reference or appearance of that universe here, eventually. That, of course, begs the question of what became of Sunset Shimmer in this universe, but you’ll forgive me if I sidestep that question for now. Because I don’t currently have an answer.
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Are they? I didn’t know! No, really, I didn’t. I’ve never seen that movie, and the characters of this story weren’t originally mine, so I wouldn’t have known. But as that movie came out just before the original version of this story was written, it makes perfect sense.
Now I'm real curious with the Tribune's intentions.
Plus, I'm expecting him to get quite the 'talk' from Gilda for leaving them there for the moment.
Gad daayum I'm loving how you're writing Gilda
Oh no, the marines are going to get themselves killed with a name like that.
I have not read the original story, but I will make a prediction of why these seemingly insane orders are given.
The biggest strength of the United States military is air power. The largest air force in the world is the US Air Force, the second largest is the US Navy, and the fourth largest is the US Army. The US Marines also have their own strike capability. When US ground forces get into trouble, air assets are a go-to as a ground force multiplier and if US command knows this (as is indicated in the story above), they would do everything in their power to get those air assets into a position to assist.
There are three big obstacles though. First is the lack of a forward operating base for traditional CAS missions makes the use of lighter attack aircraft more difficult, limiting the option for high-accuracy close in support. Second is the lack of communication - there are no satellites to coordinate with command and the Marines seem to not have a long-range HF adio to compensate, leaving no way to communicate with operational command to time and place strikes. And third, and most important, is they have no idea where their Marines are. There are of course, other considerations, but these are the most critical.
So where does this leave the Air Force? The best plan is to use heavier strike assets like B1, B2 or B52 to deliver heavy ordinance in large scale air-strikes against the Cloven out in the open. These aircraft are the most likely to have the range to take off from US airbases, travel through the Equestrian portal, drop their bomb loads in the Griffon kingdom, and make it back through the portal without an on-planet refuel.
The nature of these strikes also makes communication less of an issue compared to close-in strikes. In Vietnam, a B-52 Arc Light strike could carry a payload of 108 500lb bombs or similar. This is not something that can be used within close range of friendly troops due to how devastating such a strike is over a large area. Once a location is established, such strikes can be pre-planned and go in without needing the men on the ground to identify targets. They just need the location.
Location is what the strange actions of the Ravens has provided. They are ordered to stay in a fixed position, and mark it with a highly visible flare. Not helpful to a high-altitude bomber, but it would be visible to the Griffons at the nearby settlement that are in contact with the command chain. This could then be used to develop a strike based on maps, and aircrews briefed on the ground or in the air as to their target. Since friendly forces are ordered to hold in place, there is much less risk of dropping the bombs on their heads.
At least, that is what I would try to do. The heavy bombers fly way to high and fast for a Griffon, Pegasus or Dragon to catch reasonably, and their destructive power is enormous. One 500lb bomb is serious - 1,000 of them from a flight of ten aircraft is enough to reduce the forest around our intrepid company of Griffons and humans to matchsticks and ground Cloven.
Just my thoughts though.
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Good. That’s what I wanted.
Oh, there’s nothing more she wants than to give him a piece of her mind right now. But she’s a soldier, and she’ll obey orders. Then again, she doesn’t have any other options right now, since she has no way to get her grounded soldiers and civilians the remaining twelve leagues to Aricia. She doesn’t understand her orders, and neither does anybody else. But surely Tribune Cipio wouldn’t have done this without good reason...?
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Thank you!
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Maybe. Or maybe she’ll just make them thirsty. external-preview.redd.it/MHXuPjoB7hIt9B6txZNOOzjiSyGNGNGAGrl1ObPE43Q.jpg?auto=webp&s=cc4ca8cfebc10214c01a0f7a5b6285a98be1b1fa
Or maybe she’ll give them a hankering to listen to REM.
Or maybe they’ll want to get stoned with her?
https://marijuana-us.com/product/orange-crush/
Bloody fine chapter, surprising many twists and turns.
Next time will be filled with bullet and Crossbow holes. Are the Bowcasters burning trough targets like a laser would or are they explosive?
I really fucking hope there is a bloody good reason to risk them all. My best guess? Buy time to reinforce there own Fortress City and / or distract from a attack force on the way to the factory.
Damn fine hissyfit duel. That cider sure has its up and downsides.
Guess we get a situation like on Stalingrad where quality trys to hold of quantities with ammunition alone?
Great... We end up like that:
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I’m all ears!
True, but though they can project power around the world, can they do so through the portal, which presumably would be very difficult to fly something through even if the ponies allowed it? It was never said how big it was, but to this point, all we’ve seen is people pass through it, not vehicles, let alone something as big as a B-52.
All true. But you’re also forgetting that there is no support structure in place for staging aircraft (or any other major military hardware) in Equestria. They have no airfields, fuel, or repair yards. No logistics train, either.
That presumes--again--that they can actually pass through the portal. I’m going to tell you right now that they currently can’t.
Ah, the beloved B-52. A direct descendant of the venerable B-17 and B-29 of WWII fame. The last of the great level slab-wing bombers, and by far the most useful as it’s likely to still be flying after a century of service.
Perhaps, but that’s still problematic because Gilda is dispersing her forces somewhat. The Ravens and dragons are heading into the woods to try to ambush Cloven columns and whittle them down. So if you level the woods and hills, you’d be hitting them.
You’re not wrong, but you’re coming up against one impenetrable barrier right now: the war is only a day old and word of what’s happening hasn’t really gotten across the portal yet. They might know something’s wrong but that’s about it right now. Even Equestria remains at least somewhat in the dark.
And they are good ones you’ve clearly thought through. They’re not valid right now for the reasons stated, but could be later, as a lot of readers are clamoring for a large-scale human intervention in the conflict.
I’ve resisted it to this point for two reasons: first, I don’t think DEL was planning that, and second, I have to keep the story at least somewhat grounded in reality, as I see no way you could stage armor or even air wings across the portal without a support infrastructure and logistics train that simply doesn’t exist. They’d have to be stood up from scratch, and even with full cooperation from Equestria and others, the odds are the war would be over by the time it was ready.
Now, this is not to say that some smaller scale intervention would not be possible more quickly with select equipment and units. But you’d still need a organizational expert on this side of the portal to put all that together quickly and efficiently, and they’d have to be politically powerful enough to be able to issue orders to everyone involved to coordinate all the pieces and movement methods needed...
In other words, yes, you’re going to see some of this later.
As for the issue at wing, WTF is Tribune Cipio doing? I know the answer but I’m keeping that secret for now. There were a couple minor clues in the chapter, however. Here are a few questions to ask yourself, though I’ll spoiler them for those who don’t want any hints:
Is Tribune Cipio an idiot? No. So why does he want the Cloven to see them? And why were the promised mages withdrawn? And here’s something else to consider: why are all the dragons that came to the defense female? I promise that it ain’t because I wanted to use them in Eros later.
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Exactly what I was going for, thanks.
Sorry to be coy, but I’ll refrain from answering as you’ll find out next chapter.
And sorry to be a broken record, but you’ll again have to wait for next chapter to find out what’s going on.
Indeed. But can we call it a catfight when one of the girls was a dragon?
That only works for a while, while you’re waiting to launch a surprise attack to envelop them from both flanks.
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I don’t think readers would forgive me if I let them all die!
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Firesight's Gilda is amazing. Considering the mature themes he's playing with, that is no small feat.
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Great effortpost! American CAS is best CAS.
So, now we have wookie Griffons? Seems legit.
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I happen to agree with you, but I do wonder if depending on how big the portal is and just what they can bring through it if dozens of smaller vehicles with fuel and ammo support trucks would be sent instead? The size of just 1 bomber is huge, not to mention where will it take off and land? Resupply? Unless the ponies can make the portal static high up in the air... that would change things a lot... Apache gunships are much smaller, can land and takeoff just about anywhere, and the resupply trucks are smaller than the choppers. Maybe they will use the psychological warfare chopper with Flight of the Valkyries blaring while pounding with ordinance... Hackneyed, I know but not without precedence!
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Nothing like A-10s bringing in the pain 20mm Coke cans at a time!
It would be hilarious if the Devil Dogs came into Equestria and changed into D-Dogs... but im liking this method as well.
I'm glad Gilda got a badass make over in the mentality department... wonder what a Human/Gryphon hybrid would look like
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You're a little too optimistic to have all that ready in just 24 hours. Word needs to reach Washington. There's need to congressional approval to go full scale war, but even with the president giving the order to have the three branches go into overtime to send supplies, vehicles and men needed to build a proper base capable of supporting a B52, it's insanity at minimum. They can't fit planes in the portal, it'll have to brought in pieces and reassembled IF that is even an option. The base will take weeks to get a runway long enough built with construction materials, builders and defense and support crews assigned. Not to much in a hot zone, it would not just a small army available, you need a lot of security and the capacity to support that army for that region because airports are huge targets. There is so much that goes in background that's needed to bring and keep that firepower in working condition. I can't remember exactly, but today for every soldier on the field, there's 5 support staff behind him.
There's a saying that goes around, 'Amateurs talk strategy, Professionals talk Logistics.'
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Oh, and that's even if the Equestian government would allow that after they were so hard on set to not allow any of humanity's weapons or means of war through
Mean to have them be the divergent, while the rest of the griffon forces go after the cloven breeding facility.
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The heavy strategic bombers don't use local airbases typically. The first B-2 strikes on Iraq in 2003 took off from Missouri, flew to Iraq, dropped their payloads, and then flew back to Missouri. There are of course in-air refueling bases along the rout to sustain such a long flight, but there is no reason for the US to actually base its limited and very expensive strategic air arm so close to potential enemies. And these bombers are often on standby all the time, ready to respond to an attack on a US base anywhere around the world within 24 to 48 hours. In the cold war they could be in the air in less than fifteen minutes to drop nukes on the Soviet Union before their bases got nuked themselves.
If the portal is large enough (which it is not as the author mentioned, but if it was), all that is required is that the range from the portal to the target is within the range of the bombers internal fuel supply for them to complete the mission. Take off from their base, fly to the portal, fuel up in the air, fly through, drop the bombs, fly back through the portal, refuel again, and return home. No problem for the aircrews or aircraft. Heck since they don't expect a swarm of MiGs or SAMs the tankers could probably fly with them and refuel on the other end of the portal.
Political will is another matter. But probably someone at the Pentagon would suggest this immediately if a small group of Marines were up against such long odds.
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I highly doubt, no extremely doubt that it's an airborne portal. No way they're going to risk having a massive bomber fly so low at a high speed and hope that pilots can fly thru with ease without any prior testing, a plane carrying a massive ordinance that if it fails and crashes on whichever ponies is unlucky enough to be under it they will just cease to exist. It is an extremely reckless idea to even attempt that. Lord have mercy on the people who allowed that to happen. That's also if the portal isn't surrounded by terminals on both sides.
So not just no, but HELL NO!
Also what do you mean SAMs on tankers?
Shit's about to get real dangerous, yo
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like I said, the marines are going to get themselves killed. I don't think dragons like having their names turned into a joke.
Escape to Arica part NO.
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As legit as the US Marines fighting alongside mythical creatures and magical mountain goats, yep.
media4.giphy.com/media/3o8doOlGO3pjQa5h28/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47rjvsf6f2suf4mb9n618kvi8l8epzbflzsdgk5zh9&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g
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Appreciate it greatly, mon ami.
Agreed, at least historically. But how much of that could actually be projected across the portal in enough time to matter remains to be seen. There’s one possibility that was pointed out to me yesterday, but I’ve got to develop how it would work more first.
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Good analysis. You can bet I’ll be running whatever I come up with on this front past you before it gets put on paper. Oh, and thanks for the youtube link you sent me yesterday. It certainly suggests one potentially quite usable avenue of approach for this.
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I think you mean diversion? Regardless, no spoilers on this—you’ll have to wait until the coming battle’s end to see.
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It already is! Get ready for a wild ride...
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Agreed, but sadly, deploying A-10s across the portal would be a little difficult to justify.
Cool! But what if the devil dogs met the diamond dogs...?
Thanks! I take that as a compliment. Before, she just had the attitude, but now she can fully back it up, even if she’s getting at least some assist from the cider. A human/gryphon hybrid? They’re presumably not normally compatible, but with enough cider...?
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Ah. Sorry, I didn’t quite realize what you meant at first. Yeah, they’d best watch themselves, but I think even the bravest of them will know to not make fun of the dragons, especially after they see them in action.
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Pretty much! Or so it seems...
How I expect things to go if pushed back to the caves. Hopefully without outright kills on the Marines side:
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How'd you know I was thinking of the Chaotic Zapp Apple Cider.... its basically Discord McGuffin... hmm maybe a more Anthropomorphic Gryphon...?
As for the A-10s... I know AH-64s are not that hard to move... but depending on the size of the portal, it's possible...
And im sure that the D-Dogs will EVENTUALLY show up somewhere... maybe...
Gilda is Shepard and a Dragoness is Grunt meeting another Dragon in the future perhaps? 👍
Looking forward to the next chapter
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Both the physical and political logistics preclude air power, but not to fret, there's another source of incoming from out over the horizon: artillery. Aricia is only about 10 leagues or 14 miles away from their defensive position. USMC uses the M777 which has a range of 13-14 miles with its base payloads, and up to 25 miles with the M982 Excalibur munition. Barring that, they could also potentially dig some M198s out of mothballs, which can do 14 miles all day long and 28 with the M549 rocket-assisted projectile. Neither is exactly small, subtle, or lightweight, the M777 is the lighter of the two at a paltry 4.65 tons dry, but a towed howitzer of that size could be conceivably transported surreptitiously via humvee in a fairly large storage gem.
My suspicion is that Cipio intends to do as his Roman counterpart did and fight via two main techniques: deprive the marching enemy of their food and supplies mostly acquired via pillage in the invaded countryside, and crush their combat forces between the hammer and the anvil. I would suspect the fortified position Gilda and the marines have been pushed into is to act as bait, drawing off a large enough contingent of Cloven that the forces pushing out from Aricia can destroy the factory and cut off their ability to regroup and recover. Then turn from there to attack the Cloven from behind and crush them between two opposing forces.
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Marco: "Um... I think you're forgetting something, boss. Remember those crystals me and my friends used to bring our guns here? Well, I've got this one large red crystal left over. Can't really remember what the guy said how to activate it, but he was making a really big deal about the letters 'Alpha' and 'Omega'...."
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...
Since this is an old abandoned changeling hive--one that was not closed off per known changeling procedures--does this mean this is where they will find Bob chained up at?
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Who's bob?
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Heh! You'll find out!
But no, seriously, with all the banter that goes on between the readers and the author, these conversations tend to (d)evolve into little speculations/subplots/stories of their own. "Bob" grew out of a post I made back in Chapter 25, responding to something Firesight had replied to Black-Soul regarding the Cloven and Changelings. You can find my comment here:
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From what I can find in searching back, Firesight had initially mentioned a possible connection here:
11081499 back in Chapter 15, so the idea of "Bob" had started percolating in my head from way back then--as a changeling that does stuff so monumentally stupid--well, you know that type of character in so many shows/movies!
But you never know with these things... They just might actually find Bob chained up and left for dead somewhere deep down in the abandoned hive. If so, then their best strategy would be to chuck Bob at the Cloven attacking them, and the Cloven will scatter away to the four winds in abject horror, leaving the entire region clean of any Cloven! Then they'll find themselves suddenly at war with the Changelings for freeing Bob!
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Doesn't explain what Bob exactly is.
Sorry.
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My comment was that Bob is a changeling who was so unbelievably stupid, that he disgusted both Chrysalis and (their implied cousins,) the Cloven. Thus, Marco's question in that chapter as to "why" the Cloven was suddenly attacking after all this time from their last war. So much so that Chrysalis suggested to Marco & Company that mentioning "Bob" to the Cloven might help them survive long enough to escape, although with the warning that doing such might be just as risky to the humans and griffons, too.
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As someone much wiser than us all had said:
"Sometimes, you're the hook. Sometimes, you're the bait. Either way, you're getting swallowed. "
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Thanks
Kind of surprised that no one has commented on the RWBY connection yet. I kept going over the rest of the dragon names trying to see if I could make out the test of the team, but the closest I got was maybe finding Team RNJR. Or am I trying to hard to find something?
@Firesight
Humans and the ponies really need to start working on the portal problem ( read few comments quick )
1.) Multiple Portal, they made one so making more then one of same is reasonable.
2.) Enlarge Portal, if you made a small one already, you can make a big one too
3.) Storage Crystals, now how big is one crystal just out of curiosity, their storage capacity def insane and I presume should fit in the hand or able to hold it with two hands, the standard variety. Now a Human sized hunk of crystal should be able to carry some crazy load, so vehicles should be possible no?
What really needed is a mobile task force with significant strike capabilities, get through an enlarged portal at sea an aircraft carrier group with a few nuclear subs and the cloven will have a VERY bad day. Supplies are critical and logistics can be a head ache, but storage crystals to the rescue, ammo crates, fuel, food, portable tactical nukes, you name it.
Satellites, yes that's def another issue, depending how space and orbital mechanics handled in this reality of the ponies though I see solutions already, basic rocket launch, unicorn teleportation, ect ect.
Also, the next chapter will be some insane battle madness, YES PLEASE
Human & Griffons vs. Cloven would be like:
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I'm laughing at this epic brain cell killer, and just laughing harder as the last ones disintegrated by the final moment of this video
The first part def getting in the right direction
THIS WILL HAPPEN IF WE DON'T GET THE DANG FLEET IN YESTERDAY AUTHOR, and worst, the MOFO in charge of the Cloven def not sexy as Kerrigan
Reinforcements please
How little time did Gilda spend in Equestria if she doesn't recognize chocolate?
I mean, she's not entirely wrong. The fossil record definitely shows how we out-competed other hominids.
No Star Wars fans among the Marines present, I see. I suppose the question is how long it'll be until a griffon and a human team up on a beat-up freighter to help save the galaxy.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say the scythe is not also a sniper rifle.
Gilda may not have made many friends with her actions this chapter—well, not among the leaders of the various contingents, anyway—but she's done as much as she can to maximize how many people under her command will live to see tomorrow. Now it's a matter of seeing who does. Let's just hope the elements less accustomed to working with humans don't blunder into too many lines of fire...
well dam things are about to get really messy.
i can see the body's being stacked like cord wood.
If only the humans had some vehicles with them if not an M1A1 Abrams then perhaps at least a Humvee or two.
Hey, folks. With sincerest apologies, I’ve been remiss in answering a slew of comments on C&C! Better take care of that now before the next chapter comes out in a couple days...
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That could very well happen if they’re forced to stay there long enough!
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I’m not really familiar with Mass Effect characters or races, sorry. So the reference is lost on me.
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The Cloven were bad enough, but the EMU? They’ll either overrun you to take your crayons, or worse, try to sell you auto insurance.