E.S.O.D.

by LCpl Azure Blaze

Part 1: Operation: Desert Blitz

"Let's go! Let's go! This is the first operation we've had in months! It would piss them off if we were late!" said Tailwind. He was a light blue pegasi dressed in digital camo running to the briefing room. "We're coming! It's not like they are gunna court martial us for being late." Said Azure Blaze getting off the helicopter. He was a pegasi of a darker shade of blue also dressed in the same uniform that Tailwind had on. They had just arrived at a military base in the San Palomino Desert along with the rest of their squad. "Come on get the lead out Nightwing!" said Eagle Eye who was running right behind Azure Blaze and Tailwind. He was a Yellow earth pony also in the same uniform as Azure Blaze and Tailwind. "I'm coming. I'm coming. No need to get your tail in a twist." said Nightwing, a black pegasi in uniform as well and following the rest of his squad. The base was located on the east side of the desert alongside the sea. It was filled with the noises of military ponies at work on their war machines. Some were just sitting around socializing and some were repairing hum-v's and black hawk's that had recently been damaged from previous operations. There was a pleasant wind coming from the sea and the sun was setting on the horizon.

Tailwind was the first to reach the briefing room followed by Azure Blaze, Eagle Eye, and then Night wing. When they got there the general leading the briefing was leaning up against the wall looking at his watch. "You're half an hour late! Where have you been? We almost began to think that you chopper was hit or something." he said.

"Sorry sir." said Azure Blaze "but we were a tad bit late to the chopper at our previous base."

"Yeah you better be." said the general "Now go sit down we a gotta hell of a mission for you." The squad went and sat down in the metal chairs that had been set up in front of a big TV while the general set up the briefing. When he turned on the TV there was a picture of a red pony with a messy mane and a scar across his right eye with the name "Shazid Capon."

"This is Shazid Capon." said the general “he is one of the leaders of a terrorist organization called 'The New Equestrian Order' also known as N.E.O. We have been hunting this guy for years, and guess what, we found him." The TV’s screen changed and was now showing video footage of Shazid on the balcony of a house in the middle of a small city. "Our UAV captured this footage while flying over some unnamed city south-east of here." The TV screen changed again to a map of the entire desert area with a dot on it about twenty-five to thirty miles from the military base. "This is where this city is located. It is highly populated and has a decently sized militia of terrorist working for N.E.O that means don't shoot unless shot at. So here's the battle plan." The TV changed yet again to another screen showing a map of the entire city. "Ok this is the important part so listen up." the general said. "Before you guys come in your own black hawk, five black hawks, each with their own squad of marines, will be tasked with securing a safe perimeter at the north end of the city. The marines will repel out of their choppers onto the ground. After they secure a safe perimeter you will be given the green light to go ahead and repel from your own helicopter onto the ground where you will meet up with the marines already on the ground. Once on the ground you will follow the instructions of the black hawk pilots in the A.O to the target building which we believe is housing the target H.V.T. Once you have secured the building and the H.V.T you will defend the building from any remaining militia until one of our black hawks in the sky comes down to get you guys out of there. Once you are in the chopper it will continue circling the building. Now since our marines so willingly volunteered to sacrifice their safety for yours you will cover them and the other black hawks until they all get back into their choppers. Then the choppers will bring you back here and it will be called mission accomplished." The general shut the TV off. "Now are there any questions?" Azure Blaze raised his hoof. "Sargent Blaze." said the general.

"How many men total are involved with this mission?" asked Azure Blaze.

"There will be a total head count of twenty marines, six pilots, and four E.S.O.D forces a.k.a you guys. Each black hawk will have one pilot and two gunners covering you for a grand total of forty men. Make sure you get them all back safe."

"We'll try sir." said Azure Blaze.

"Don't try, you WILL get them back safe." said the general "Any other questions?" The squad sat in their chairs silently. "Good. Mission is called Operation: Desert Blitz and will begin at 2200 hours tonight. That gives you about three hours to get settled in here. Good luck and this time don't be late to the chopper."

"We won't sir." said Azure Blaze.

"Dismissed!" Yelled the general. The Squad got up and started leaving to head back to the chopper to unload their gear.

"This is going to be our lamest mission yet." said Nightwing. "That militia is no chance for the massive force they put together. There isn't any risk."

"Shut up Night." said Azure Blaze "The less risk the better. Besides this isn't our last mission or something there's going to be more."

"Still I say E.S.O.D shouldn't have to do this boring capture job, they have too many men on the ground for it to have a higher risk and E.S.O.D was made to take risks." said Nightwing.

"They have been looking for Shazid for a really long time I don't think they want the risk of letting him slip through their hooves again." said Azure Blaze. "I also have a feeling that the militia is much larger than you think."

"No militia is too large for us." said Nightwing.

"Don't get too overconfident now night." said Tailwind. "We may be the best but that doesn’t mean we can't mess up here and there." The squad finally got back to the helicopter they arrived in and they started to unload all of their gear. Each bag of luggage was marked with their name and each of them picked up their own bag.

"It's been so long I almost forgot how heavy this gear is." said Eagle Eye. "Let's hurry up and get this stuff over to where we are staying so we can get some food I'm starved after that chopper ride." The squad hurried off to find a nice area in one of the buildings at the base to lay their stuff down and hurried off to the mess hall to get something to eat.

The mess hall was crowded with marines eating their rations all of the tables were being used, forcing some to just sit on the floor or eat standing up just outside. The line to get the food was also overpopulated.

"What do you say we cut a bit?" asked Nightwing "I bet when these marines see who we are they will treat us like kings."

"Best not start anything now Night. We may be good but the marines also deserve a little respect as well." said Azure Blaze. "Remember they've been through hell at their boot camp too."

"Fine have it your way." said Nightwing. So they stood there in line talking and keeping each other company while they waited to receive their rations. It took an hour and a half just to get up to receive their food. After they had finished getting their food they decided to go back to their gear and get set up for the mission that was now only an hour and a half away. They each started to put on their helmets, plate carriers, and knee pads.

"So these N.E.O guys." said Tailwind putting his helmet on. "They've been getting more and more popular lately."

"Yeah they've been all over the media lately." said Azure Blaze attaching his knee pads. "They are really trying to take over Equestria. Something tells me this isn't going to be the last time we see them."

"They are a pretty organized group." said Eagle Eye. "We know they are planning something, something big, but we don't have any idea of what they are planning. One thing is certain. If we get this guy we will learn a bit more about their plans for Equestria."

"I'm going to head on over to the armory and pick up my weapon." said Azure Blaze. "Come on over when you guys are done worrying about N.E.O being an actual threat and finished getting your gear on."

"Hey we aren’t worrying." said Nightwing. "E.S.O.D forces never worry we are simply just recognizing them as a force to be careful about."

"Whatever you say Night." said Azure Blaze and off he went heading toward the armory.

When Azure Blaze reached the armory area he saw 20 other marines making adjustments to their guns and assumed that they were going to be the marines accompanying him on his mission. He also saw tables loaded with weapons and began going down the line looking for a weapon. There was a very wide verity of guns and he soon came up to his weapon of choice, a M4. He picked up the M4 and then proceeded to move down the line to receive his ammo. When he came up on the ammo table he saw that it was organized left to right into sections of bullets corresponding to certain guns. He picked up two grenades, two flash bangs, and thirty-one clips of M4 ammo putting them all into different pouches in his plate carrier. He then came down to the table that had the attachments. He attached an ACOG sight, a flashlight, and a fore grip to the barrel shroud of his M4. He reached out to grab a pair of night vision goggles but was stopped by a marine saying "You won't need that. The city is well lit by street lights. That and they make you look like a dumb-ass." Azure Blaze put the goggles back on the table.

"How do you know the city has street lights?" asked Azure Blaze.

"Well," said the marine. “Unlike you I have been in this city before, everybody has. We have been fighting N.E.O forces here for quite some time now and I bet Shazid Capon is only here to drop off more reinforcements for his already massive militia. That is why it is so important to capture him today, so that the N.E.O forces in this area will be crippled." The marine reached out his hoof. "By the way, name's corporal Blackword." He was an earth pony of a deep shade of purple.

Azure Blaze reached out and shook the marine’s hoof. "Sargent Azure Blaze of the E.S.O.D." Immediately Blackword got up on all fours and saluted Azure Blaze.

"Sorry for disrespecting your judgment sir!" he said. "It won't happen again."

"No, no it's fine at ease." said Azure Blaze "You obviously have more experience in this area than I do so what you say is probably true. Is there anything else I should need to know about this area?"

"Well," said Blackword. "Since the city is located in the middle of the desert sand tends to fly everywhere so it's probably best if you wrap a shemagh around your neck so when the sand starts flying you won't get all that sand in your nose or mouth. That's not a nice feeling. Also the N.E.O forces in this area are pretty good shot so you might want to watch your back out there."

"Thanks for the information." said Azure Blaze "In turn for your help I will ensure you get back here safely."

"Thank you sir." said Blackword and he went back to work on whatever he was doing before he spoke out to Azure Blaze.

After a while the rest of Azure Blaze's squad arrived and began equipping themselves for the mission. Nightwing's weapon of choice was a M249 with a fore grip, ACOG sight, and a bipod. Tailwind chose to take a SCAR-H with a flashlight, ACOG sight, and a laser sight. Eagle Eye chose to take along a M40 with a thermal scope. They all were about to take night vision goggles but Azure Blaze told them what information he had gathered and they decided not to bring them along.

By the time they were all geared up it was dark at the base and there was only 15 minutes left until the mission started. The squad was sitting at a table in one of the buildings playing a card game when another marine came over to visit them. "Hello sirs." he said. "My name is privet Jetstream I will be your black hawk pilot this evening. It will be warming up in about ten minutes if you want to get in early. It will be the one on the far side of the airfield if you’re coming from this building."

"Thank you for your services privet." said Azure Blaze and they went back to playing their game.

"It will be a great honor to be carrying Equestria's best in my chopper." said Jetstream as he turned to go back to work on his chopper.

The squad continued playing until they only had five minutes left until the mission started. Azure Blaze checked his watch. "It's almost time." He said "Lets head on out to the chopper, it should be warming up now."

"Good idea." said Tailwind "We don't want to be late to it this time. It would really piss them off."

As they were walking to the chopper they each put on their headset and turned them on to hear the sound of men preparing for war. They were performing ready checks and the sound of six black hawks starting up filled the air. The waves on the sea had died down and it was now high tide and the stars all shone bright along with a full moon. When they reached their chopper they found Jetstream in the pilot seat.

"Nice and early." He said. "I like that in a soldier."

"Yeah well we didn't want to be late this time." said Tailwind.

"This is chopper 1-1." said Jetstream over the radio. "I have a full headcount of four E.S.O.D forces on my vehicle and I am on standby for liftoff."

"Chopper 1-1 this is control tower we read you loud and clear." said a voice on the radio. "Standby for green light to signal your takeoff."

"Roger that." Jetstream said over the radio.

"So," said Nightwing. "Who gets the honor of being chopper gunners of the day?"

"Tailwind." said Azure Blaze. "You and Night will be the chopper gunners. When we get there though you two are coming on the ground with me. Eagle Eye your job is to snipe from the chopper. Call out where the enemy is over the radio."

"Will do sir." said Eagle Eye.

"Alright let's get in and out of this city clean no mistakes." said Azure Blaze.

"All units we are go for operation: Desert Blitz." said a voice over the radio. "I repeat Desert Blitz is a go, the green light has been given."

"Alright here we go!" Shouted Jetstream over the sound of the propellers. The chopper lifted off the ground and started to gain altitude. Soon the chopper was flying off across the dark dessert in the direction of the target city.

"What is our ETA?" asked Azure Blaze.

Jetstream pointed to a dim shimmer of light on the horizon. "You see that light?" he said. "That's the city. I'd say at the rate of travel we are at now it won't take us no more than ten minutes."

"Well boys,” said Nightwing. "First mission in three months. I don't know about you guys but I’m pretty hyped up. What do ya say we make this one count eh?"

"Yeah I'm pretty excited too." said Tailwind. "Let’s do such a good job they let us interrogate the bastard when we get back."

"Hey watch you language boys." said Azure Blaze who decided to sit on the edge of the chopper so that his hind legs dangled in the breeze. "It's bad luck."

The chopper continued in a straight line toward the dim light on the horizon and not before long the dim light became a giant city. Blackword was right it was very well light and some civilians roamed the streets carrying on their own businesses’. There were also many militia running to their posts in the city.

"This is it boys were here." said Jetstream. "You might want to man those mini guns now."

"Roger that." said Azure Blaze. "Nightwing, Tailwind get on the guns."

"This is chopper 1-1 we have arrived at target city and are awaiting orders." said Jetstream over the radio.

"Roger that chopper 1-1 you are cleared to engage any hostile force. Remember do not fire unless you've confirmed that your target is hostile."

"Alright boys! Hear that?" said Jetstream. "Spin those weapons up and shoot anything that has a gun. Remember to keep the rooftops clear of RPGs. If I go down I won't be giving you a ride home."

"Don't worry!" said Nightwing starting to spin up his gun. "I have never let a black hawk get hit before and you’re not going to be my first."

"RPG! Incoming!" yelled Azure Blaze as a rocket was launched by a nearby building roof.

Jetstream shifted the chopper vigorously around to dodge the missile. The missile barely missed the chopper going right in between Azure Blaze's legs which were still dangling out of the chopper. Azure Blaze came right back up into the chopper saying "Shit that was close!"

"What did I just say!?" yelled Jetstream. "Shoot the damn RPGs!"

"On it!" yelled Nightwing mowing down the man who shot the RPG at the chopper. The man almost instantly laid down dead as soon as he fired the weapon and there was a lake of blood trailing from his head.

"This is chopper 1-2." a voice said over the radio. "My marines are on the ground go ahead and drop the next batch."

"Roger that 1-2 this is chopper 1-3 coming around for insertion." said another voice. Suddenly the sound of bullets that were being fired on the ground increased. Choppers were dominating the city with their massive fire power; nothing could be heard but the buzz of their mini guns. Nightwing and Tailwind were unloading on the forces below and Azure Blaze and Eagle Eye were also firing out of the chopper at the hostiles on the ground. Not much later they could hear the last chopper over the radio saying. "This is chopper 1-6 my marines have boots on ground and there is a full headcount." The chopper pulled away from the circle of marines securing a safe perimeter on the ground for the E.S.O.D forces that were to come later.

About two minutes past until corporal Blackword came on the radio saying "Sargent Blaze this is Blackword. Remember me? I was right huh? This city is very well lit tonight. Anyways we have this area pretty locked down so why don't you guys come on down here and enjoy the scenery."

"This is Sargent Blaze." said Azure Blaze over the radio. "We read you loud and clear and will be coming down momentarily." Azure Blaze turned to talk to Jetstream. "Take us down it's time for us to get our game on."

"Roger that." said Jetstream. The chopper then maneuvered its way over the marines on the ground and let out the ropes. "This is your stop. Now go!" said Jetstream. Nightwing and Tailwind got out of the gunners seat and slid down the ropes onto the ground. Before Azure Blaze went down he turned and said to Jetstream and Eagle Eye, "Make sure you keep us safe."

"Will do." said Eagle Eye. "Now go!"

Azure Blaze slid down the ropes onto the ground. There he met up with the rest of his squad and Blackword. All of the marines were keeping a careful watch on the road and shooting at armed militia here and there.

"Welcome to the city Blaze." said Blackword.

"Let's go boys." said Nightwing. "The sooner we get this guy the sooner we can go back."

"Jetstream this is Blaze." said Azure Blaze over the radio. "We are all ready and waiting go ahead and send instructions on getting to the target building."

"Arighty let's see." said Jetstream. "Ok you see that ally way to the east? You’re gunna want to take that over to the next street, once you are over there you want to travel south down the road. The building will be the one at the end of that street surrounded by a cement wall."

"Alright let's go!" said Nightwing as he started to run down the alley way.

"Nightwing hold up!" said Eagle Eye over the radio. When Nightwing got to the end of the ally way a terrorist came out from around the corner with his gun pointed at Nightwing. Nightwing had no chance to get his own gun up. The terrorist was shouting words really loud in another language. Suddenly the side of the terrorist's head burst out in blood and the terrorist fell to the ground dead. Nightwing was stunned; he had never been that close to death before.

Eagle Eye came on over the radio. "You can thank me later man but from now on stick with the fucking squad and don't run off so often."

Azure Blaze ran up to Nightwing and saw that he was just standing there. "What happened?" asked Azure Blaze. "Never mind let's go hurry up." The marines and the E.S.O.D forces continued down the street. The only force against them was the building at the end of the street shooting back at them. They got stuck about halfway behind some abandoned cars and debris with bullets flying past their heads. "Jetstream this is Azure Blaze come in." said Azure Blaze over the radio.

"This is Jetstream. What's the problem?" Jetstream responded.

"We are taking some heavy small arms fire from the target building." said Azure Blaze. "Do you think some of your friends can help take out some of those guys on the roof so we can move up?"

"Will do." said Jetstream. "Keep an eye on the sky and wait for the fireworks."

Azure Blaze looked up and saw two black hawks flying above them toward the building with mini guns buzzing as they unloaded on the building. The militia on the roof was distracted from the ground forces and began firing on the black hawks, but they were no match for their heavy guns. Before long the bullets coming from the building stopped and they were able to move up again.

"Now’s our chance!" yelled Blackword. "Everybody push up and breach the target building!" The ground forces ran up to the building and waited outside the front door. Azure Blaze took out a flash bang, armed it, and threw it through the window while saying, "Fire in the hole!" After the flash bang went off he bucked the door in. There were six militia standing rubbing their eyes from the blast and they military rushed in and killed them with their knives plunging into their opponent’s throats. The blood from the massacre went everywhere.

"Alright everypony." said Azure Blaze. "I want a clean sweep of the building. I want two men on the door; nobody gets in nobody gets out. Tailwind you take half the rest and check upstairs. Me and Nightwing will take the remainder and search the ground floor.

"Roger that." said Tailwind and off he went with four marines upstairs.

Azure Blaze and Nightwing continued to break down the doors of the lower floor searching each room for signs of Shazid Capon, but there was no sign of him. Once they were done with the ground floor they all met up together again.

"Did you guys find anything?" asked Nightwing.

"No, nothing." said Azure Blaze. Just then Blackword came on the radio saying. "Blaze, get up here we have a bit of a situation. Quickly they all ran up the stairs and came to the room where Blackword was. They found Shazid Capon but he had taken Tailwind as a hostage with a pistol against his head and the marines that went with him had their weapons on the floor.

"Drop your weapons or I kill the colt." said Shazid. The rest of the ground forces had to heed his warning and they all set their weapons on the floor. "Now," said Shazid. "I am going to walk out of here alive! Not followed! I will be taking him with me and nopony gets hurt." Shazid started to walk out of the room. All of the marines kept staring at him. Shazid began walking down the stairs. The marines had come out of the room to watch him go down the stairs. Shazid pressed his gun even more against the head of Tailwind. "I said not followed!" he yelled and he continued out the front door. The marines that were guarding the front door backed down. Once he was out the door a gun shot went off and both Tailwind and Shazid fell on the ground. Shazid was screaming his lungs out. The marines went back into the room, grabbed their weapons, and ran out to see what had happened. Shazid's hoof that was holding the pistol had been blown off and Tailwind was perfectly fine. Jetstream flew by in his chopper and over the radio Eagle Eye said, "What would you guys do without me?"

Everypony started to cheer at the chopper and Azure Blaze said "Alright let’s get this bastard back to base and see what he was hiding out here." They all made their way to the roof and Jetstream came down with his chopper. They loaded Shazid, who had been bound and gagged, into the chopper. One by one each of the other choppers came down and picked up each of the marines and headed back home.

"Eagle Eye." said Nightwing "Thanks for the help out there; I would be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Don't mention it." said Eagle Eye. "I'm here for you man."

"Really Eagle Eye." said Tailwind. "You saved our asses I owe you one."

"Command this is Azure Blaze, we have successfully captured target H.V.T and are RTB." Azure Blaze said over the radio. "We took no casualties."

"This is command, well done troops mission accomplished. Now get back here, we have a long night of interrogating ahead of us."

"Roger that." said Azure Blaze leaning back in his seat, taking off his helmet and taking a deep breath in and out. "Let's go home boys."

Author's Note:

Don't ask me how they shoot the guns if they only have hooves. Use your imagination there are plenty fan art pictures portraying them holding things they can't.

Comments

[xXRaindropBronyXx]

Love it! Hope to see more ASAP!

[Tejas Lone Star]

Minor gripe: not barrel shroud, hand guard. Or, seeing as they hold in their hooves, "Hoof guard".

[kalash93]

AUCH, so much butchery. So much wrong! Booze! Booze! I need booze! Begin riff at earliest possible opportunity.