> Warfare is Magic > by Kingsly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Introductions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is war? What is the point? The sacrifice of thousands of lives, just to have the next generation fall behind them. To some it’s an act of heroism, to give your life fighting for a cause you believe in. To others, it is suicide. And can there truly be peace, after all of the bloodshed, all of the loss? I once knew a pony, who knew that answer. Or at least, he was the closest to find it... Trippy Hooves gazed out the paned window of the secure fortress he had called home for the last month. Mortar shells rang out, and dragons roared overhead as the battle folded out beneath him. The Solar empire, marching ceaselessly towards him, and the New Lunar Republic, clad in black, falling like dominoes beneath their onslaught. He sighed, almost fearful. “Princess, the order has been given to retreat to a defensive position.” Trippy to turned to see the messenger delivering the news turn away. Princess Luna glanced at him back. “Trippy, I have trusted you as one of my finest generals for the longest time, from nearly the beginning of this war. What do you think?” She asked curiously, trying to mask the fear in her voice. Trippy shook his head gravely, “I... I don’t think theres any chance. We need to evacuate now.” Luna nodded gravely at his statement. The double doors to the command center burst open as the black clad soldier ran in, swinging his saddlebag off his back and tossing it aside. “Allright, Whose flank do I have to kiss around here to get an explanation!? Really!? What the FUCK are you people doing up here that is so much more important than winning this war!? We were supposed to have our reinforcements 3 hours ago!” The soldier demanded. “Calm down Kingsly, we have some problems.” Trippy addressed this new comer with little care. “As Trippy said, problems have come up. Reinforcements were supposed to arrive from the Manehatten outpost, but had been held up with their own attack. It’s just us.” Luna said gravely. Kingsly slammed down the heavy helmet he had been carrying down on the floor. He sighed as he pushed his black hair out of his eyes, the gray stripe now out of his vision. “All Right,” He pointed at a mare sitting at one of the many computers lining the walls, “Set the base into full evacuation. All data to removable data cards and get all high level personnel out of here.” “You can’t do that! There’s still a chance to win thi-” “No Trippy, He’s right. There’s no use in letting them have our data and lives. It’s just a recon base. The only reason we're here is the chance for information, and that chance has passed. We already intercepted important plans from the Solar Empire, no need returning them with our dead bodys.” Luna said sadly. “Good, now if we can-” Kingsly was suddenly cut off as a large portion of the wall suddenly imploded inwards toward them, raining glass and concrete as several pony’s were thrown off their hooves, into the air. Kingsly’s ears rang, and his head ached, as he pushed a dismembered corpse of a unicorn off of himself. He coughed slightly as he sat up. Several ponies were yelling out directions, muffled by the explosion still ringing in his ears. He shook his head as Trippy’s voice began to come in. “... Have breached the wall! They’ve got freakin tanks backing them up! Our defenses are down! All troops evacuate now!” Trippy hollered into a handheld radio, his wings stuck up in anger. Kingsly shuffled across the floor, pinning his back to the side of the gaping hole now in the wall overlooking the losing fight. Trippys orders were still being hopelessly being sent out, as Kingsly examined anyways out. “We need immediate evac by any Republic troops with precious cargo at-” The battlefield spread out before him, nothing else matters. He counted 15 high power tanks, 6 of which, had breached the inner walls, their final line of security, their machine gunners ripping through their last infantrymen. Dragons soared through the sky, engulfing any escaping pegasi in crimson flames. He looked up in sudden thought, and an idea formed. “Hay! Doesn't his place have one of those new high tech helicopters?” Kingsly asked suddenly. Trippy turned away from his radio with a confused look on his face. “You mean the DH-96 we got last week? Yeah, but I don't see what that has to do-” “Use it to fly out of here! It’s got that ultimate cloaking ability, or what not built in doesn't it? Invisible to thermal and x-ray and crap like that? Load up the princess and the other ponies and get out of here!” Kingsly exclaimed. Trippy’s face lit up and looked up to the now exposed roof of the building. “You are a genius sometimes.” He waved a few officials over, when sudden gunfire rang out. Luna pushed his exposed head down, narrowly avoiding a hail of small arms fire. A pegasus right behind him caught the bullets like a magnet, his body shook as the bullets traveled through him and hit the computers behind him. Kingsly sidled along the wall and grabbed his discarded saddle bag. Reaching inside and pulling out the small box inside. “Well, we can't go out this way, and they're making their way here. Any other bright ideas?” Trippy asked, looking at Kingsly. Kingsly held up the newly assembled sniper rifle proudly. He smirked at the face Trippy gave him. “When I say go, get up there, and go.” Kingsly said simply. “Oh no, you are coming with us.” The double door behind them suddenly rattled with the force of several ponies trying to burst in. “There’s no time to argue! We need to leave!” Luna begged. “Good point. Go!” Kingsly leapt out of the gaping hole, and landed on a lower roof, rolling as he landed. Raising his rifle, he let off several rounds towards the tanks below. Aiming carefully, taking out the gunners on the nearest tanks. He held his breath and lined up his sights on the next unicorn. The heavy rifle bullet slicing through the air, carving through the unicorn gunners skull,shrapnel from the hollow point splattering the nearby infantry men with their chunks of their fallen comrades skull and brains. Trippy lifted up the final pony to the rooftop, as the bullet fire was finally diverted away from them. The helicopter was filled with the final survivors, and Trippy crouched on the roof, avoiding the silently spinning blades. “Come on! Were leaving! You can make it.” Trippy hollered urgently. Kingsly shook his head, “My story ends here my friend! Now go make yours!” He shouted gleefully. One of the computer workers dragged the struggling Trippy to the chopper, lifting off the ground. The gaping hole, began to pour out Empire troops, as they fought off the gun fire from Kingsly, still hiding the chopper from their attention. Rising above the base, and shielding itself from view the Helicopter quickly traveled away. Trippy stared back out, watching the dark figure of Kingsly fighting off the soldiers now invading the roof top. His last view of his friend, was of him falling, riddled with bullets, towards the ground... > Covering your tracks > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Death, a common occurrence on the battlefield, but you don’t just get used to it, you never can. It... Clings you like a small filly, but leaves you with a sort of dread that can’t be undone. Can one truly be so heartless, to find joy and comfort in the pain and suffering of others? Or is this false comfort, the one thing that keeps you sane enough to live another day? Trippy sat in the helicopter, letting the constant swaying comfort him. His mind traveled back to the events he had just witnessed. There forces so easily ripped apart. All of the death... He shuddered quietly in his seat. The ride had been silent, apart from the heavy breathing, and the constant beating of the propeller blades above them. The sudden crackle of the radio broke the silence. “This is control tower 3 of outpost MH-01, please radio in conformation of friendliness before landing or we will shoot you down.” The voice said with authority and a slight hostility. Trippy quickly grabbed a headset hanging from above his head. “Chopper DH-96 calling in. We have VIP number 1 aborde and others aboard. Requesting immediate landing at the nearest landing pad with medical assistance. “Roger that.” The radio crackled to silence with its last statement. Trippy leaned back in his chair, pulling the headset off. He sighed loudly. It was going to be a hell of a day. . . . Trippy finished writing the report he had on the attack, and quickly sealed it up in the envelope that lay waiting on the simple glass desk. Trippy sat back in his revolving chair, and simply glared at the ceiling. He was in his private quarters at the Manehatten outpost. The New Lunar Republic had seized nearly a year ago, and had been a major asset in this war in more ways than he could think. But now... Kingsly. He was dead. He had tooken the data cards from the computers with him. He had stuck them into his saddlebag, but had tooken that with him. His eyes flashed wide at this fact. He jumped from his chair and flew out his door, and dashed down the hallway. He turned several corners before finnaly stopping in front of the last ornate door. ‘COMMAND CENTER’ was written in large letters. He punched in his code and ran in while the doors slid open. “Princess! I have news that I forgot to mention! The data cards-” He was cut off by the sudden glaring by many ponies surrounding the large holographic image of their last base. “They had surrounded these 3 sides, and had taken out our recon teams first, then disabled our anti-air weapons with well placed mortar launches, which only leads to one fact. They knew we were here! Somepony had given them information on the inside, the only question is, who!?” An important looking unicorn asked this question with a grand gesture, as if actually asking his listeners. “Trippy, you made speak.” Luna broke this silences to address the new comer. “Thank you. I had just remembered that before we left the attacking base, one of the terminal workers had ejected the data cards containing the classified information that we had been decoding!” He said with enthusiasm. “This is excellent news! Do you have the cards with you!?” She demanded. “Um... No. That would be the problem. You see, I think they were with Kingsly. Right before he died.” He said simply. Luna sighed, then nodded gravely. “You were right commander. Please initiate protocol 6 by my order.” She said speaking to a pony by a computer terminal. The holographic image in the center of the room they had been surrounding now switched to a live aerial view of the base. A sudden explosion rocked the camera, filling the screen with the sudden destruction of thousands of Solar Empire troopers. The floor beneath them shook with the shock wave of the explosion. Trippy gasped in horror at what they had done. They had lost their last lead on stopping the Solar Empire. . . . Kingsly shuffled through the thick sands of the desert, occasionally looking back to see the recon base slowly shrinking in the distance. He coughed, grimacing at the waves of pain that this sent through his body. He lifted his hoof away from his body, the one thing that was keeping pressure on the bleeding. His armor had blocked some of the bullets, but not all of them. He sighed, and glanced back at his saddle bag, bulging with the data cards, carrying their important information. He grinned happily, there was still a chance. A sudden noise from afar shook his attention. Almost like... A loud click. He turned slowly to look for anything dangerous near him, as rumors of giant scorpions had proved to be more than true on recent scouting trips. The sudden explosion from the base made him jump. Then the force of the explosion finally hit him, sending him flying backwards, hitting the ground with a sudden crack. The last thing he saw was the sands of the dessert mixing with the crimson sky. > The metaphorical cage > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Death’s going to crash your party someday, so why not make it the best until that day comes?” ~Kingsly~ . . . Kingsly stared at the same crack in the ground he had been for the last few hours. He had lost track of the seconds he had been counting in his head. The chains dangling him from the ceiling digging into his hooves. He had watched the blood from his body seep into the crack. He didn't know what happened. He just woke up here. He knew it was prison, he could feel it. The cold, dark feeling that prison gave you was evidence enough. If he listened closely, he could hear the constant gunshots in the distance, the howls of dragons, and the screams of artillery. War. He sighed. As if there was anything else to do. The thin metal door to the shack that was his prison burst open. Two soldiers in thick white armor entered first, their guns trained on Kingsly. They were followed by a highly decorated officer, A Solar Empire commander at least. “At ease gentlemen, we don’t want our guest to feel nervous.” He said in a thick tone. Kingsly remained silent, staring into the newcomers eyes. “So you are with the NLR? You have us to thank, that we managed to find you before the dessert took you. Now as repayment, maybe you know a few things, Captain Shadows?” “The name’s Kingsly. The least you could do was get my name right before an interrogation. That’s common courtesy, something you probably wouldn't know about.” Kingsly said with a smug grin on his face. “Oh? Is that so?” He turned to one of the soldiers, handing him his overcoat. “You two may leave, and close the door, we don’t want any of this chap’s precious screams.” He said with a devilish grin. . . . The sounds of pain, and vicious fighting sounded easily through the thin tin roof of the interrogation room, aptly named the Can o pain. Private ‘Sev’ Menear stood next to another nameless soldier, guarding the door from noone. The sound of a brutal kick echoed through his plated helmet. “Man, I almost feel bad for that guy in there.” He said solemnly. “Don’t. He’s nothing but a bump in the rode that needs to be dealt with.” The other guard said angrily. “I mean, I know we haven't had a NLR prisoner in that long, but I think he might really kill him. We don’t want that, do we?” “Apparently there orders from Princess Celestia herself. He’s more dangerous than we think. That’s why they called in The Raven to deal with him.” “The Raven? Isn’t she that really scary interrogation expert?” The sudden squeal of tires pierced the night air as a humvee roared up the dirt road. It’s tires ground up the rock’s in the dirt. The back door was thrown open, as a dark hooded pony stepped out. “Where is the little rat for me to toy with?” . . . The commander swung another brutal punch into Kingsly’s gut. “Why won’t you speak!?” He hollered, punching again and again in rage. He aimed one last punch for his face, but his hoof was yanked back at the last moment. “You’re not going to get anything if he’s dead.” The pegasus spoke quietly. She waved to the door, signaling for him to go. She set her bag on the small table, tossing aside the ripped apart body armor of the NLR. “Rainbow Raven. It’s been awhile.” Kingsly said, coughing blood. “Hello Kingsly. Let’s not get familiarities get in the way of business shall we?” She asked, holding a serrated sickle to prove her point. She waltzed over, hovering the blade just short of his neck. She slid it across, letting the point make a long scratch across his throat. “So... What is it that you know?” She asked kindly. “If I knew anything, i’d probably tell you.” He said with a grin. “Wrong answer.” She said with grimace. She aimed the blade lower, driving it deep into his side. He yelped slightly, as the blade remained in the flesh while she retrieved another blade. Holding up a brutal drill like blade she gave him a wink. His eyes opened with fear. . . . “She’s been in their awhile. You think she’s getting anything?” Sev asked curiously. “If I give any bucks you’ll be the first pony to know.” The other guard replied. Sev nodded, ignoring his comment. The commander quickly stalked up the path to the shed. “Look alive gentlemen! We’ve got an entire NLR battalion headed our way! Sev, follow me.” He said throwing open the shed door. Rainbow raven aimed a butcher knife just over Kingsly’s shoulder as they walked in. “I apologize doctor, but were about to be under attack, and i would like to keep your safety a priority.” He said sadly. She lowered the knife and turned. “No, that’s fine. I’ll just pack my stuff and be gone. And he was right, he really doesn't know anything. I just like to play with my prey before letting them die.” She said with a brutal grin. went to her pack and threw some of the tools in the bag, then went to Kingsly, ripping out her tools without any care. Kingsly mumbled something, causing her to lean in closer. He mumbled a few words that nopony else could hear. She nodded, then turned to leave. “Good evening gentlemen.” She said with a bow. “Allright Sev, you stay with the prisoner and i'll go get the formations in line. No matter what, keep him right there.” He said with anger. He slammed the door behind him, making the thin building rattle. Sev directed his attention to Kingsly, training his gun on him. Kingsly was quiet for a few moments before suddenly shuckling. “You know, I almost feel bad. This camp has to have... What? Maybe 500 soldiers max at hand. The NLR is coming, their bringing thousands. And you wanna know why?” Kingsly asked. Sev lowered his weapon, puzzled. “Why?” He asked concerned. “All New Lunar Republic scouting armor comes built in with gps locators. every hour or so they go off. They know exactly where that armor is. They know i'm dead, but they think you at least have my corpse. And they don't let their technology go to waste either. And it just came to me. It’s the full moon isn’t it?” Kingsly asked again. “It is, where are you going with this?” Sev asked confused. “There’s no better moral boost, then having your very flag waving to the entire world. The NLR fights for the a better Equestria, an Equestria free from the chains of suppression, and a tyrant leader in control of everything. What do you fight for, Private Sev?” Kingsly asked. “I... I don’t really know. For a brighter future.” He said with confidence. “Is that so. Look around you. What future is there in a leader who refuses to believe there's a problem, even while her land crumbles around her? Who blindly sends her troops to their deaths, without a cause to fight? That doesn't sound like somepony i’d like to lead me.” Kingsly said with a nod. He cringed as his side ached with his speech. Sev sighed before speaking. “I know what you mean. I didn't sign up for this. I was shipped out because of my age. ‘Any colt who has passed at least grade school must join’. I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with children waiting for hour deaths. At first, I thought I might be a hero, leading our land to victory against some, plague that tried taking over. But really? Were both ponies. We both think, we both breath, we both bleed. Who really wins in war? Both sides die, so can you win? I wish I was never born into this war.” Sev said, taking off his helmet, causing his blue mane to fall out. “It’s not too late to have an ideal to fight for. I've got an idea.” . . . Sev tugged at the color of Kingsly’s old NLR armor, he now wore. Mortar shells exploded in the distance, causing the ground to shake. The sounds of war echoed loudly through the shack. “Give it half an hour, there will be some troops to get you. Just explain to them what happened, and ask for Trippy Hooves, tell him everything you know, give him the data ships, and tell him I sent you. Let me see.” He dug around, suddenly stopping and pulling off his dogtags. “Give these to him, he’ll know it’s me. “ “But won’t you need these?” Sev asked. “Dead mares tell no tales.” Kingsly replied with a grin, swinging the scabbard of his blade onto his back, beneath his saddle bag. His side and legs now covered in bandages from his ‘chat’ with Rainbow Raven. He saluted the waving Sev, and dashed out into the war filled night. bullets rang out around him, as he ducked past moving tanks and sliding jeeps. He ducked under some barrels, while a group of soldiers ran out past him. He moved towards the large gate, behind the fighting. Pegasi flew past, trials of sound following them, dropping explosives down. A fuel depot just a few feet away exploded brilliantly in a wave of crimson flames. He ran past the flames, and past the chain link fence that marked the boundaries of the camp. He kept running, until he was clear of all of the sound of battle. He turned and saw the camp in flames, under siege and clearly losing. He gave a quick salute. Then turned, and kept running towards the rising moon, shining over the battle like a beacon in the night.