The Black Squirrel Brigade

by Lamasioux

Act 2 - Approach

Quiet through the night,

Luna can fight,

Rising with the sun,

Celestia guides us.

---

The rest of the early morning went by quickly as Gust went through two smokes. The sun was nearly about to come up and everypony in his squad was awake, among everyone else in the division as they got ready for the day.

As it was discussed last night before dinner, they had the new rations they saved for their assault served for breakfast.

It was better food than what they had the previous nights.

As they all ate quickly, Snow was reading a book, while Jackpot and Chaser were already gearing up with their kits. Everypony else was rushing to eat but also listening to what Shadow had to say about the assault, going over simple things.

Once everypony had finished eating and were readying their gear, the Staff Sergeant came in to gather everyponies attention.

He discussed in more detail what the plan was going to be, telling what tactics and what information there currently was about the town. It was more of a refresher from what was talked about last night, with only a few other things thrown in, mostly having to deal with the black stripes.

Once Watch finished discussing everything, he left the bunker. Once he was gone, everypony went back to finishing up their kits and having it on and ready before they gathered up at the entrance of the bunker.

They didn’t leave much behind. There were some bags and belongings to other ponies in the bunker still, but they belonged to a squad that was out in the trenches during the night, so the two squads were able to share the bunker.

The other squad wasn’t going to be a part of the assault though, as they still needed someone to stay behind and hold it.

Of who was staying behind, it was a small force to directly patrol and defend the trenches, some who were going to be a part of a quick response force in the event something happened in the city, or the changelings started to advance in another direction. There was also the logistical section, who were in charge of maintenance of the trenches and bunkers, along with all the other backline buildings. There was also the main medical team that was ready for any injured pony that was to be pulled out of the city in case of injury. There was then of course the artillery, which had coverage of the whole city plus from their location, so they had no reason to move, though the companies that were going into the city were bringing mortars.

Currently though, it was only the 1st and 2nd company that were going to be leaving first, so they were already in the trenches near the main passing point, where they waited for the tanks to roll through before joining them. Once they passed, that was when the operation began, when they walked into enemy controlled territory.

All the ponies in the second squad were also in the trench waiting. They all had their combat gear loaded up, along with day bags loaded with supplies. The plan for them was to drop off the bags at their hold point, and another platoon was going to be in charge up carrying in everyponies stuff afterwards. Until the drop off point, they would have to carry their bags personally. The only lucky ones were the tank crews, who stored their stuff on the outside of the tank and the drivers of trucks, but the reality was, what anypony actually carried was all issued equipment. Stuff none of them had any attachments to. Anything of value they did carry, was carried in pockets, like photos or a piece of jewelry.

In the second squad, Jackpot, Moonshadow, and Shadow all carried SMG’s, while Hazelblossom carried the squad’s MG. Everypony else just had bolt actions. The staff sergeant wasn’t with them, as Shadow was the one in charge when Watch wasn’t around, which was how it was going to be for the assault.

The two black stripes assigned to the section the 2nd squad was with, were a part of the command unit that would be behind everypony else during the assault. They, nor the command unit, were a part of any direct, purposeful attacks that were going to happen, though they’d be doing security in the back, along with close quarter clearing when they needed to occupy a building.

As they waited, the chitchat began among them. Some of them had their normal conversations, but for a lot, due to the length of time it had been since they had gone on an assault themselves, discussed the operation. They talked about strategies, scenarios, while others again did their fifth check for gear.

Blaze and Gust had already lit up cigarettes and were smoking away as they also did their final checks.

“Hey, Jacky, you got an extra grenade?” Gust asked.

Jackpot was shuffling cards with their magic as they waited but put them away at the question. “No,” After answering, Jackpot turned towards the 1st squad, who was to their right and asked the same question to them.

One of the members from the 1st squad tossed Jackpot a grenade, who in turn, floated the grenade over to Gust.

Gust took the grenade and stashed it in his uniform, but after stashing it, Hazelblossom tapped Gust's shoulder for his attention, who also in turn hooved over a grenade.

Hazelblossom had asked somepony to their right and had also received one to give to Gust.

Gust took the second grenade and stashed it.

And just as he finished stashing the grenade, a pony who had been looking down the road towards their side, yelled out. “They’re here!”

Right on que with that announcement, the soft rumble of engines was heard. As the rumbling became louder, the whirling pitch of the engine changing as it upped speed and decreased speed screamed.

As everypony began hearing the tanks, they all started fidgeting with their guns.

“Second Squad! We’ll follow behind the second Breezy on our approach. One meter distance max, preferably three. Keep close, not but not bunched!” Shadow yelled out as they also got ready.

All of the other sergeants and commanders began going over their final instructions to the ponies they were in charge of, making sure they did everything correctly.

At this point, the engines of the tanks vibrated the ground, and the sounds of the tracks clacked away as the first tank began to pass the crossing.

Momentarily, the front tank stopped as it adjusted its heading, digging into the ground as the weight shifted around and then began going forward again.

The ponies in the second squad could see the tank from their view within the trench. None of them were looking over the top of the trench towards the enemies direction, but other ponies were.

As the first tank left view from their position, the second one finally came into view. It was the same model as the first, a Muletilda medium tank, but it soon passed from view of the second squad.

As the second one continued down the passing, a few of the squads around the second squad began going over the trench top and began pushing down with the first two tanks. They kept their distance from them while they walked along the side of the road that eventually connected to the trench crossing and finally into the tree line that was further up.

“We’re up! Let’s get ready!” Shadow shouted out as they stood up and peered over the top of the trench. Everypony else in the second squad quickly followed suit and joined her, readying themselves on the enemy’s trench side.

Hazelblossom had thrown their MG on the top of the trench top, that way when she hopped up, she wasn’t lugging the MG with her and could just pick it up once up top.

Chaser and Snow both did the same thing as they waited, while the unicorns simply floated their guns about while they waited.

Finally, the third tank began to pass, which wasn’t a Muletilda like the first two tanks, but the Breezy. It was a smaller tank, a light tank of older design. It wasn’t modern like the Muletildas, so it was going to be acting as support and or a backup for the mediums, or whatever the situation called for.

As the first Breezy finally passed, some of the other squads also joined in with it, hopping out of the trench and going along with it.

Finally, the second Breezy started crossing the trenches and as it did, Gust noticed that the commander was sticking out of the hatch as it rolled along.

Once it passed them and continued for a few more feet, Shadow yelled out, “Alright second, let’s get to it! Up and go, up and go!”

With her announcement, and the announcements from a few other commanders, the second squad, along with some others, hopped out of the trench.

Gust flapped his wings while holding onto his rifle and gave himself a boost as he pushed himself up over the top of the trench. After running a few feet, he slowed his pace as he began matching the pace Shadow was going at, who in turn was matching speed with the other squads, who all kept up with the Breezy.

The tanks weren’t going full speed during the approach, that way the infantry could keep up. The distance from the trenches to the hold points and the town itself wasn’t as far as one might think.

The distances between all three advances was enough though that none of them were likely to see each other at their hold points. It was only once they began clearing the first section of the city that any of them might bump into one another.

Now that the 2nd squad was at a steady pace, Gust took the moment to check behind him, which was just in time to watch as the Muletilda tank that followed behind had also crossed the trenches. Just as the last tank crossed, the rest of the squads hopped out of their trenches and followed behind.

What was interesting about the last tank, was that it also had its commander poking their head out of the hatch as it rolled along. The commander kept their head low but looked around constantly at the infantry support it had surrounding it, along with the Breezy ahead. They wore a thick leather tanker’s cap.

The commander of the Breezy tank that Gust was following also wore one, as it was standard equipment for tankers. The interesting thing about this commander was it was a thestral.

As Gust changed his focus forward again, that way he didn’t lose his squad, he noticed the command element that was a part of the section he’d be in during the assault.

In the command section, were the two black stripes that also walked along with the rest of everypony else. Both were wearing their masks over their face and they carried less equipment than others, which was real apparent given they had SMG’s.

When focusing back at his walking, there wasn’t much to notice besides where he stepped and what direction he needed to go. There wasn’t a bug need for him to focus on security as they were deep within the formation. If any attack happened, the 2nd squad wouldn’t be the first target.

As the advance continued, the tanks eventually made the transition from the main road, onto a dirt path that led into the forest and towards the river. They were south of the bridge they had been going towards that would’ve given them a direct approach.

While the tanks had no problem advancing, the infantry didn’t. When the infantry began walking through the forest, they slowed down. They had suddenly had to start fighting their way through bushes and uneven terrain.

For the ponies that carried MG’s or extra equipment like radios and the such, they were affected even more, while those who carried lightly fared just fine.

Because of this, the tanks slowed down their pace, that way the infantry were able to keep up.

After some light struggling through the forest, everypony came to a stop, including the tanks.

“Take a knee!” Shadow announced to everypony nearby, while also motioning downwards with a hoof.

As everypony followed suit with getting low, they stayed quiet under the sound of the tanks.

Suddenly, a shout of commands came down from the front that spread across everypony.

“Security! Pull security!”

As that order came through, everypony began finding any hole or tree they could use for cover, while setting themselves into firing positions.

Blaze came running over to Gust after the order came in, and the two hunkered down in a small dip in the ground that had a tree growing out of it.

Blaze set his rifle against the tree while adjusting his helmet, before picking it back up and looking in a direction away from the tanks, out towards enemy territory, which happened to now be entirely around them.

Hazelblossom was nearby, with her MG setup on a bipod while she lay on the ground with it. Chaser was right next to her, supporting her as her assistant.

As everypony sat around for a few minutes, the sound of artillery rounds were heard being sent and delivered somewhere around the city, only to then be interrupted by the sound of a plane engine.

Gust, along with some others, looked up at the sky, but couldn’t see anything as it was still too dark.

As the sound of the planes got quieter before dying out under the tank’s engines, another command came in from the front.

“Alright! Everypony up! We’re moving to the next spot!”

With that, everypony got up and left the positions that they had been sitting at.

The current advance was having to cross a section of the river to the other side. It was a shallow area that allowed for infantry and tanks to cross over with ease, as well as any wheeled vehicle, not that there were any trucks for the attack.

After moving up to the river themselves, the same order came in where they all had to hold positions, so everypony sat down again.

Currently, from their vantage point, Gust could see the river and across it, where the front of their advance was sitting. They currently held a defensive point as the ponies following the second tank crossed the river, while the first Breezy tank’s section covered the bank of their side of the river.

It was a slow ordeal as everypony crossed. The forces on both sides of the river looked up and down it, as well as looking towards the other side where they might have a better view of the opposing banks.

At this point, the sun had only had a sliver poking out from the horizon, that Gust could thankfully see from within the forest. It was nice to see, but also bad as once the sunlight was out, the Changelings were more likely to spot them as they readied for their assault.

Just as the spot Gust sat on began to get boring, the orders came in for the advance to move up. At this point, Gust and everypony with the second Breezy, now sat on the river’s bank, with the first Breezy group, who all were about ready to start crossing.

Once they were all in position, the first Breezy group started to cross the river while the second Breezy group overwatched them.

Where Gust was now, he had full view of the river, upstream and downstream.

From his point, he could see the bridge they had avoided crossing upstream. It was intact, but that was for the black stripes to push across, but it also had a high chance of having Changeling’s covering it.

As the first Breezy group got to the other side of the river, it was time for Gust and his group to now get into position to also cross.

As the orders came in to do so, they got to the position everypony else crossed and readied to walk through the river.

Finally, their turn to cross began, so the second Breezy ramped up its engine and dipped into the water and began crossing.

Because Gust was a pegasus, he, along with the rest of the pegasus had decided to glide over the surface of the water to the other side, that way they could spare themselves from getting wet.

After they got to the other side and set up security as they waited for everypony else, the sound of more planes was heard above.

Again though, it was still too dark to see where they were, so once their engines died away, they focused back on the crossing.

While everypony began arriving on the other side of the river, Blaze and Rain stopped by with Gust once they crossed and sat with him for a second while the rest of everypony else made it.

“You’re fuckin’ lucky, you know that?” Blaze said by nudging Gust in the wings.

Gust looked at Blaze and noticed his soaked legs and clothing, and then noticed how much worse it was than Rain’s. “Was it bad?” Gust then asked as he began noticing the shivers that came from both of them.

“Fucking freezing,” Rain said. He had put his rifle down for a moment and was trying to wring out parts of his clothing and shaking his legs to get what water he could off.

“Isn’t your full name Window Rain?” Gust asked as he took his attention off of the direction he faced for security.

“I clean windows, not freeze to death in rivers,” Rain responded back with an annoyed tone.

Laughing a bit, Gust went back to looking in the direction he had chosen. “What’s with everypony complaining about what they’re best at?”

Blaze was also busy trying to get what water he could out, but he had given Gust a confused look.

Gust clarified for Blaze, “Snow was complaining about the cold last night, and now Rain’s here complaining about getting a little wet.”

“I clean windows in Fillydelphia. That has nothing to do with hating the freezing cold water,” Rain responded back with. “And Snow’s from Dodge City, that place is hot as Tartarus all year long. He’s not cut out for this weather either.”

Gust shrugged his wings off. “I’m just joking, just messing around with your names.”

“Says the pegasus who doesn’t fly above ten feet,” Chaser chimed in. He was listening in but was quiet until then. Since he was also a pegasus, he also had flown over the river with Gust.

“Hey, I don't want to get hit by some counter-pegasus sniper. They’re watching the skies constantly. They’ll get you,” Gust said in response back to Chaser.

Just as they finished bantering, the next orders came in for them to move inland from the bank so they could make room for the last group.

While a lot of the ponies were soaking wet, they were able to manage. They would have the time to dry out while they waited for the rest of the units to get into position for the assault on the city.

“It sucks,” Blaze said.

“What does?” Gust asked.

They had finally gotten to a position to overwatch the river while the last Muletilda and the infantry that followed it crossed the river.

“I stepped into a deep section in the river and nearly got fully soaked. It sucks. I’m freezing,” Blaze said.

“Why didn’t you just levitate yourself then?” Gust asked.

“I can’t do that yet, but it’d also be a waste of magic energy. Who knows what the city will be like.”

Gust then motioned down at the bank where they reached the other side of the river. The other Muletilda had finally crawled its way through the river and was rolling up the hill and into the trees.

As the last bit of infantry finally made it, they took to holding up security for a moment while everypony waited for the next orders to come in.

“Defending it was one thing, attacking it will be another, that’s for sure. Hopefully their stuka’s don’t start diving on us like before, given that we’re supposed to have that air support this time around,” Chaser chimed in. “You’ve been hearing the plane engines overhead, right?”

“I have. Are they Changeling ones?” Gust asked.

“We’re two years deep in the war and you still don’t know the difference?” Chaser asked.

“I can’t tell either, if it means anything,” Rain said.

“REALLY! It’s quite clear if you listen,” Chaser said.

Rain had to shake his head in response. “All I focus on are the stuka’s, I have no clue what the difference between 109’s and spitfires is.”

“What about you?” Chaser asked looking at Blaze.

“Shit, don’t ask me, even the tanks all sound the same to me.”

“That’s because they do,” Gust said.

“Holy- I can’t believe it. How have none of y’all learned the difference between any of them?”

Before Chaser could go off about the sounds of tank and plane engines any further, the next orders finally came in.

“Alright! Everypony up, we’re going to the hold point now!” There was a delay in the next shout from Shadow as she looked around for her squad. “Damnit, Chaser, Rain, you four, split up, don’t bunch together!”

“Looks like we’re ratted out, let's scatter boys,” Rain said as he quickly grabbed his stuff and split from the group.

As the other three did the same, they quickly got into a formation with the entire squad as they started moving with the entire force.

While they continued advancing towards the hold point, the main part of the city came into view. From the direction they approached, they would go directly into the city from the forest, unlike the other approaches.

As they finally got to the hold point, all of the tanks and infantry began stopping and security was set up by everypony as they found spots to sit.

Again, as before, Blaze came to Gust and joined him for the security, with a few of the other squad members joining together with who they normally did.

“I guess all we have to do is wait now.” Gust said once Blaze had settled down.

“Probably… Hey, are you going to ask for a smoke?” Blaze asked as he was getting one out.

Gust looked at the package and laughed, “Yeah, sure.”

Blaze laughed a bit before also getting a cigarette out for Gust.

After the two lit them up, they had been hitting their cigs for a while until Moonshadow moved up to their spot and joined them.

“Hey, you two, the fuck you think’s going on?”

“Hmm?” Gust gave in response to Moonshadow. He looked entirely confused at the question as he emptied his lungs of smoke.

“You’d reckon the Changelings would’ve had some form of defense against us moving in?” Moonshadow asked.

“What’re you going on about?” Blaze asked.

“You’d think that after the river, we’d have run into some form of resistance, but nothing. We didn’t even hear anything coming from the other sections.”

Blaze motioned around them at everything. “Well, given we basically got here in the dark, that’s probably why.”

“I’m just asking because it’s weird.”

“Well, maybe they needed those panzers that left for Hedgewards for attacking, and now they’re just waiting for us to come into the city before they open up on us,” Gust said in response.

“I already asked Snow and Jackpot. Jackpot didn’t have anything either, but Snow brought up a good point.”

Gust and Blaze looked at Moonshadow in anticipation. The look in their eyes told Moon to continue.

“He said it’s probably because of the black stripes. Probably. He’s weary about their reason for being here now given that we haven’t been attacked.”

Gust stared at Moonshadow after she said that, pondering it for a moment.

“I can’t see how they’d have anything to do with it,” Gust finally said.

“Why are they here then?” Moonshadow asked.

“Don’t ask me, I have no clue.”

“Didn’t you run into a few already though? Is there anything about them that makes you question stuff?”

Gust then had to think again about it. “Uggh, I don’t know. They didn’t have trench etiquette, so I doubt they’ve been on the front lines since they became the standard,” Gust then looked at Blaze for his input.

“Don’t look at me, I would have less of a clue than you. You’re the one that almost got into a fight with one.”

Gust looked back at Moonshadow, who in turn spoke up. “This is coming from me, but we should be wary of the two, or any that’re in our section, and further, the entirety of their main force. Nopony but them is a part of that apparently.”

“They’re probably just some criminals who were drafted into a division,” Blaze said.

Both Moonshadow and Gust looked at Blaze with concerned looks.

“What? I’m just suggesting that. Why do you think they don’t want us speaking to them?”

“Why would they put criminals in charge of POW’s then? Who would think that’s a good idea?” Gust asked.

“I was just suggesting it! We don’t know who they are. They won’t speak to us! I’m just throwing theories out there.”

Moonshadow cleared her throat to get their attention. “Just, listen. Be a bit wary of them, will you? I’m going to go ask the others about them,” With that, Moonshadow got up and left Gust and Blaze behind as she went to the others in the squad to pester them.

“They’re right over there,” Blaze said as he motioned in a direction. He had pointed at the command group, where the two black striped ponies were. They weren’t doing much right now besides helping pull security.

Gust looked over at them and eyed them from the distance they were at. “I mean, I don’t know, maybe I can see them being criminals. They were quite rude when they stood up to me and Snow.”

“It’s just a theory, so we should probably focus on the attack instead, yeah?”

Thinking about it for a moment more, Gust caved in and agreed. “Yeah, we can just ask question about it later anyways.”

After that, the two went back to finishing their cigs as they waited for things to start.

While everypony in the first advance was in position, the second advance was about to be in position themselves.

They had left soon after the first, but went in the opposite direction, going north towards a different crossing in the river where it was also shallow.

Their advance was a bit different though, as instead of having a nice forest going directly into the city, they had to go across open fields and scattered houses before they entered the city proper.

The third advance, the black stripes, were taking the direct approach, so they were crossing the main bridge and attacking the city head on. They didn’t have to walk long before they were in position at their hold point for the attack.

Finally, once the sun was fully above the horizon and shining across everything, and everypony for the assault was in position, the order came across the radio.

Word spread fast across the infantry and the tanks ramped up their engines and started to roll towards the city. All of the infantry started following them.

“Second squad! Push with our Breezy until we’re at the buildings! We’re going far right!” Shadow yelled out as the rest of the squads also began issuing orders among themselves.

Gust and Blaze stood up and quickly followed with their squad. They all went right as directed, and followed the Breezy until they left the forest and immediately walked into the city.

The battle for Chicoltgo began.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

12057869
Here maybe this will help.

It's one of a Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

[Lamasioux]

12059479
I remember seeing the commercials for that show on tv as a kid. I think i only ever watched the egg episode where the mole guy can't hold the egg

[Lamasioux]

I'm currently sitting at 8.2k words for the next chapter. I think by the time i'm done writing it, it's going to be about 11-14k or so words potentially. I don't know, i'm bad with estimates. I could be way off

So lucky me who has to edit/proof read the entire thing once I finish writing 🙃