> Badass Story About these Marines who get sent to Equestria [Temporary Name] > by NotWhoYouThink123321 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "You've been Reassigned!" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Part 1~ “You’ve been Reassigned” I watched as the North Korean flag was lowered, an American flag taking its place over the city of Pyongyang. I wiped the blood and sweat from my forehead and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Kim Jong Il was currently being arrested by the U.N. and a group of Marines, effectively ending the war. I looked over the city. Smoke rose from distant buildings, jets screamed as they flew overhead, and Kim Il-Sung square was filled with burning tanks and armored vehicles. The 12 year war against the country was finally over. We were going home, and I would finally be able to meet my daughter, Kendall, who was born while I was deployed. As we stepped aboard our unit’s Osprey and we elevated into the sky, we looked forward to a brighter future for the world. 3 hours later, the Osprey touched the deck of the USS Obama. We immediately started heading towards the mess hall to grab a bite to eat. As we ate, Col. Richard Gibson walked up to me to notify me of a change in my return. “Ewing, you’ve been reassigned. Come to my office in 10 minutes and I’ll get you briefed.” With that simple sentence, he left for his office. After I ate, I navigated my way to the Colonel’s office, getting lost a few times on the way. When I reached his office, I knocked on the door just as a lower ranking sailor opened the door with some papers and hastily ran down the hallway. I stepped in to be greeted by Col. Gibson. “Alex!” He greeted me casually, “You’re late.” “The Obama’s a labyrinth, sir.!” I responded formally. “Ah, that she is. Have a seat.” I did as I was told. “Now, I know this doesn’t sound fair, what with your baby girl being born a few months ago and all, but, this order comes straight from the top. You’re being reassigned to a remote base along the Colville River in Alaska. You won’t be home until May.” There was a hint of sympathy in his voice. “7 months?! What will I be doing there?” I asked, hoping I could find a way to see through any bullshit and argue my way out. “All it says here is a ‘special research task using highly classified technology.’ This message doesn’t include anything about a choice of going, so I’m afraid it is mandatory as well.” “When do I leave?” “Tomorrow morning. A long range transport will be ready to launch from the flight deck at 0700. You’re dismissed.” I stood up, saluted him, and left. I was furious. I was told that I could return home after Pyongyang fell. Why, I wondered, were they using a SOG operator for a research task? It made no sense, but then again, almost everything my guys and I were tasked to do made no sense either. But who knows why, at this point. Our superiors always seemed to have their heads up their asses, but there was no changing it. As we always say, "FUBAR, but deal with it." * * * My alarm went off. 0630. I slid out of bed and threw on my clothes, grabbed my rifle and other gear, and headed topside. When I opened the door to the flight deck, the sun had not yet risen and the stars still shone brightly in the sky. There was a C-17 Globemaster waiting for me at the end of the runway. I stepped on the ramp to be greeted by 3 others, 1 of them SOG and the other 2, scientists. At least I knew I wasn’t going to be the one researching anything. We strapped into the seats that lined the body of the plane. We began talking about what we were expecting in the arctic circle, and why 2 Marine SOG operators needed to accompany them. The transport plane began rumbling as its engines increased power, and we could all feel the sling that boosted planes of this size down the runway to get a better take off. We jolted back towards the ramp as we shot down the runway and went airborne. A few minutes after initial takeoff, the pilots let us do whatever we wanted in the cabin. I found that I was joining a Staff Sergeant named Edward Miles to escort the two scientists, Dr. Jerry Mikes and Dr. William Kenley as they did their research. Most of the time in the plane was spent sleeping or conversing about one anothers’ families. The plane ride was about 12 hours to the U.S. border around Alaska, and then another hour to the base. When the ramp opened, we were greeted by a man in a parka with a Jeep and a sub zero blizzard. “Welcome to Kenfield Air Force Base!” The man said, “It’s the most secluded, secretive, and freezing of all Air Force bases. Hop in my Jeep, I’ll give you a ride to the HQ.” The car was heated to at least 100 degrees fahrenheit, which was great, compared to the -5 degrees it was outside. The man continued, “We normally only use this base for top secret operations, because as you can see, its doesn’t have the greatest weather.” We pulled into a large hanger. We all got out and were directed to a doorway that lead to a few bunk rooms. Our bunk room’s door had a label that read “I.D. Study Group.” Once we were settled, it was time to be briefed. We stepped into the briefing room where we sat down at a conference table. After a few minutes of waiting, a man walked in with a laptop and shut off the lights. He plugged the laptop into a projector and began. “I’m glad you all made it here safely. Your task in anything but normal. Last year, a research group discovered a way, using a tesla-nuclear reactor, to transport humans to an alternate dimension. We sent people before, but we never heard anything back from them, and we assumed they were unable to return using the device we gave them to do so. We are sending you, with a new device that was tested and is functional, to not only retrieve the team, but also to study other aspects. You will be leaving in 3 hours from now. In that time, do what you need to do to prepare. Call your families, if you want. You can get food back in the hanger. Meet back here in exactly 3 hours to leave." We prepared. Not only as escorts to the scientists, but also as a search and rescue squad for the other expedition. Ed, the other SOG guy and I got some new rifles, I got a Heckler & Koch HK416 and Ed got an M200 Intervention for any long range shots he may need to make. We had our choice of side arms, both of us went with the Colt M1911 .45, a classic. The two scientists got personal defense weapons, each armed with an M9 Beretta 9mm pistol. After we were armed up and ready to go, we made personal preparations. We grabbed some food or a short nap, and called our families. I called my wife and daughter. My daughter was only 5 months old, she had not yet learned to speak, but could still make sounds that any 5 month year old could. I was careful not to tell my wife too much about what I was about to do, as I always was before going on a special op. When she learned that I would not be home until May of the next year, she was just as mad as I was. She knew very well that I was only supposed to be deployed for so long, and nothing could extend that. I just had to tell her that “...my guys need me out there, and I’m not prepared to let them down.” I never told her that we had no way of knowing whether they were even alive or not, but I think she understood, nevertheless. SSgt. Ed Miles, Dr. Jerry Mikes, Dr. William Kenley, and I regrouped in the briefing hall. The same officer came in with packets, each specifically written for each one of us. Each packet told us what we could and could not do, as well as what we were supposed to do and what we weren't supposed to do. “Gentlemen, if you will follow me.” the officer said as he turned his back to us and walked out of the room and further down the hall. He opened a door revealing a hole with a ladder going down. We climbed down the ladder into a room about 30 cubic feet large. In the center of the room was a circular object that rose about 5 inches off the ground. “Please stand on this pad and relax. Ewing, take this. it’s your way back. There are instructions on the inside.” He handed me a large briefcase, about 24 inches at the base, 14 inches on the sides, and 4 inches thick. I nodded as grabbed the handle. I had other equipment to carry, so I handed it off to one of the scientists who was glad to carry it so I could shoulder my rifle. “This may hurt just a pinch, but we know it works, so don’t get too worried. Good luck gentlemen.” He said with a salute. Ed and I saluted back, just as the lever was pulled. It cranked loudly on the metal backboard. Along all the walls, tesla generators began to power up. A red light began to flash along with a siren. After the 5th tone of the siren, there was a bright flash, and we were gone. > "FLASHBANG!" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Part 2~ “FLASHBANG!” My ears were ringing. I could see nothing. The ringing was broken by a low pitched sound, like a bass drop in a Skrillex song, followed by more ringing. The bright white I was constantly seeing faded, and I could see again. We were lying in a field as if we had just fallen from the sky. I stood up, and, although i was extremely dizzy, I managed shouldered my rifle. When everyone else’s dizziness wore off, we walked to a nearby tree to shield us from the sun and figure out what to do first. We all pulled out our packets and began to read. The introduction was friendly: “If you are reading this, then you have successfully traveled to another dimension!” Once we were done with the first page, we all did what it specifically asked us to do. Ed’s first objective was to find a vantage point and take note of distances and landmarks in the surrounding area. The scientists’ jobs were to take note of everything they could. My first objective was to set up a safe perimeter around the area based on Ed’s observations. As I began looking around, Ed yelled down to me from the tree. “There’s an orchard of some sort about 1.5 klicks west of here. I think I see a flag about a klick beyond that.” “My instructions say to head towards any civilization once the scientists are done collecting any data, so lets head over there in, say 5 mikes.” “Check. On your go.” We used what we had learned in SOG training to ensure that everything we did, we did exactly as intended. After the scientists finished gathering their data, we moved off. I took point, Ed watched our backs, and the two scientists stayed in between. We had no idea what kind of weapons training they’d had, so we ensured that they kept their guns with safety on, concealed in their holsters. After about 20 minutes, we reached the town. We were still about 150 yards away, however, so we could tell no great details. As we began walking into the town, we noticed that the indigenous population were of a horse-like species. We were dumbfounded by this, thus letting our guard down. Huge mistake. Just as we began to lower our weapons in confusion, we were surrounded by them. About 9 of them surrounded us, armed with spears and swords (which seemed to hover in front of them), and protected by gold armor, similar to Spartan armor. One of them stepped forward. “Drop your weapons! Your kind is a threat to our way of living! If you do not go back to the place from which you came, we will be forced to engage you!” We hesitated. We had no idea who these were, if they were important or not, or what our RoE’s were. We stood there, looking at each other. I know for sure that they were ready to attack, but I can’t say that we were ready to defend. Suddenly, we all heard a cracking noise just as one of their skulls was split, blood splattering into the air. FLASHBANG! I heard from a distance. Ed and I were trained against these, so we quickly covered our eyes with the inside of our elbows. After the bang, we saw 2 other humans running in, taking down the guards as quick as a flash. One of them yelled at us to get back and pointed at an open doorway. Ed and I grabbed the scientists, who, along with the guards, didn’t cover their eyes, and were therefore temporarily blinded by the flashbang. When we were in the building, we heard the shooting stop, and the other humans came running back in the room, slamming the door shut behind them. “You guys good?” One asked us. “Yeah. Thanks for that.” Ed replied. “No problem,” the other began to speak, “The Royal Guard can be a Royal pain in the ass. These ‘ponies,’ as they call themselves, think that humans are here to ruin their way of life. They never even gave us reasoning, they just started killing us. We started out with 6 guys, now its just us 3. I’m Martin, this is John,” The other soldier wove as he took a large gulp from a water bottle, “and the sniper who took out at least 4 of the guards in Mark.” We introduced ourselves. These 3 humans we encountered were, what was left of, the first expedition. They told us that the building we were in was compromised, and that we had to leave. We got out through the back and followed Martin to a new building. “We move from building to building. It keeps the guards confused for now, but soon, they’ll be on to us.” Another pony walked through the door in the back of the new building. “You guys need to keep it down. The guards are going to find you in no time if you kill an entire patrol every other day.” She said. The pony’s name was Rainbow Dash. She agreed to help Martin, John, and Mark when everything started going south for them. It turned out that, 2 months before, there was a large explosion in another city, and it was blamed on humans. It killed 35 ponies, and completely decimated 4 buildings. The day after that explosion, the guards showed up at the human’s doorstep and killed the first one to open the door. 2 more were in the room, and they were killed, too. Martin & John were in the next room relaxing, but they heard screams, so were able to fend off the guards. Mark came to their rescue with a single M67. it was the day after that incident that Rainbow Dash, a friend of them, decided to stick with them and be their eye in the sky, literally and figuratively. She reported anything that could mean harm to the humans and kept watch whenever she could. When she couldn’t, Mark is a Navy SEAL sniper, highly trained, and could stay awake for 2 days straight with one cup of coffee. Rainbow Dash became an imperative ally for the remaining humans. We stayed in this building for the night, but in the morning, there was a knock on the door. Luckily, Rainbow Dash had come in early to help with anything we needed help with. She opened the door to find 3 royal guards asking about the incident. They asked if they could search the building. Rainbow let them in, but not before tapping a beat on the wall that told the others about the guards. John, Ed, Martin, and I were sitting in the next room, each with a cup of coffee in our hands. Hearing the tapping, John and Martin sat up. “SHIT.” They both said simultaneously. We all grabbed our guns, flipped the couch we were lounging on and took cover behind it. I knew guns would be too loud, giving us away to the guards that were sure to be roaming the streets after yesterday’s incident, so I told everyone of my plan. I pulled out my 8 inch SOG knife and hid next to the entranceway. Martin did the same on the opposite side of the entrance. The first guard entered. Martin reached around its neck with his elbow, pulling the pony guard to the side before jamming his blade into the guard’s throat. The other guard came to investigate, and before it could see anything, I spun around the corner and used my arm to force his head towards the floor, revealing a weak spot between his helmet and backplate, where I planted by knife, severing his spinal cord. We dragged the bodies around the corner and hid them under blankets. Martin spoke into a radio “Bravo hideout is compromised. We gotta get the hell out of here.” I could hear a response: “Got it. I’m coming down. I got the HVI’s.” It was Mark, upstairs with the scientists. John kicked open the back door. We went into the alley behind the house, clearing every corner before moving up. When we reached a major street, we were able to get a good look at everything. “How’s it look Romeo Delta?” Martin spoke into his radio. He then passed me and Ed similar radios. They were the ones the other humans were carrying when they were killed. “We got one for each of you. HVI’s will have to go without.” We installed the radios to our packs just in time to hear the response from ‘Romeo Delta.’ “Not good. At least 25 guards on the street. I don’t know how you will get by.” She said. “Pop smoke!” John yelled to Mark, who took out a smoke grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the street. “Flash out!” John threw another flashbang so as to stun other guards who might be able to see us as we went into and out of the smoke. “GO, GO, GO!” We filed out of the alley and sprinted into the smoke. Guards were yelling left and right to go to the smoke. But once again, John was prepared. He dropped remote detonation charges across the path we had just run. When we were all safe in the alley across the street, he detonated them. “PUNCHING!” He yelled to us as he hit the top of the clacker with his wrist. The street illuminated in large balls of fire excreting from the charges’ locations. We ran through the alleys, following Martin’s every step. “Guard, nearing the end of your alley!” Someone said over the radio. A guard knew our plan, so he ran to the end to meet us with a spear. The guard burst from around the corner, spear hurling towards Martin. He held up his M4 and locked the spear in the carry handle on top and spun his rifle, tossing it to the ground, effectively breaking the guard’s magical grip on the spear. With his right hand, he unsheathed a knife he kept under his arm and swung it at full force towards the guards throat. Seeing this, the guard reacted quite quickly, grabbing the knife with a magical aura, and broke Martin’s grip on it. Just as the guard thrust the blade at Martin at full force, I drew my 1911 and shot. The first bullet, miraculously, struck and broke the knife, doing only minor harm to Martin’s flesh. The second pierced the guard’s eye, sending a crimson mist in all directions. Martin stood up, dusted off his vest, nodded to me in thanks, and shouldered his weapon. We ran straight out of the alley and headed towards a forest. We kept running until we were a good 70 feet into the forest. It was dense and dark inside, perfect for hiding from the guards. This is where we settled down for the time being. Mark and Ed took up positions in trees so they could watch the entrance of the forest, which was barely visible. The rest of us rested. “The ponies shun this ‘Everfree Forest.’ They say shit about it being haunted or something. Makes it the perfect place to hide out until things calm down.” John said, sounding very confident. “We could probably stay in here for days. Birds fly above. Easy targets, really. There is a stream that flows not far from here, and it’s a perfect water source.” Martin added. I looked over at the scientists. “You guys still got that brief case?” “Shit. It’s upstairs in the last place we stayed at.” Jerry said. “Fuck. Think we can retrieve it?” I asked John and Martin. “Not us, hell no. Rainbow might be able to. Wait until dark. We’ll lend her a pair of NVG's. She can slip in, grab it, and fly that shit over here.” John proposed, “What’s in there, anyway?” “Our way home.” After I said that, Martin sat up, excited. “And it works?” He asked. “They said they tested it, so I assumed it works.” I added. “Lets get that briefcase.” John was excited, now, too. He was rubbing his hands together as if devising some evil plot. He got on the radio, “Hear that Rainbow? You gotta get that briefcase, tonight.” * * * > The Glint > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Part 3~ The Glint For a long while, we rested in the forest. It was only 1030 when we arrived in the forest, so we had all day to wait until night fall. We spent the day setting up a base; digging foxholes, setting up positions in the trees for concealment, and the like. The scientists studied everything. As we dug, climbed, and gathered materials, they ran around the area frantically with notepads and cameras. The day was spent in fear that a guard had seen us enter the forest and went to alert others. Every now and then, Ed or Mark would radio us and let us know of any nearby guards. When that happened, we would stop what we were doing and hit the deck, careful to make no noise so as not to alert them. When the guards passed, we would be notified. When at long last my watched beeped 2130 hours, we gave Rainbow Dash NVGs and a small camera that would allow us to guide her to the briefcase. She stealthily slipped into the building in which we left the briefcase, and guided by our voices, she managed to retrieve it and return to our temporary FOB in the Everfree Forest. We were preparing to open the briefcase and set up the return device, when we stumbled into a problem. The device needed solar power to jumpstart the tesla generator. We had to wait until daylight, so we could move out from underneath the forest’s opaque canopy. Only then could we deploy it, charge it up, and return home. We had already run into far too many problems, and we had only been there for 2 days. Martin and John made it apparent, with their endless mental library of their stories in this world, the longer we stayed here, the worse things would get. But for now, we had to focus on the problems as they were presented, so we got some sleep before dawn. At exactly 0700 hours, we woke up and packed our FOB. Rainbow flew above the canopy so as to guide us to where the guards were scarce enough that we could pick them off without attracting too much attention. We moved south along the edge of the forest, still concealed by the canopy. Mark took up a position in a large tree to cover us across an open field to a small patch of trees at the edge of the town. Confidently, Mark loaded his L115A3 as he sat on a branch. With the barrel of his rifle, he moved aside some smaller branches to get a better view of the field. “Go.” He said quickly, notifying us that the field was clear of guards. We dashed across the field and took shelter in the small grove. The grass around the trees was overgrown, so we were easily hidden. Moments later, Mark joined us. “You’re clear. All the guards are on the main streets of Ponyville. There’s a cottage to your right. I would recommend going in there. You will stand less of a chance of being discovered.” Rainbow was watching our every move. We slowly emerged from the tall grasses around the small grove to head towards the cottage. Martin and I were up front, followed by John, the scientists, then Mark, and finally, Ed watching our backs. When we were mere yards from the doorway into the cottage, a glint in a distant tree caught his eye. “SNIPER!” * * * -4 hours earlier- The guards blew open the door to the house where two others had recently been killed. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, and it bathed the room in light. The guards searched the house, looking to kill any humans, should they find them. As they marched upstairs, swords and spears ready, the spotted something peculiar. It was a human weapon. An M40, loaded and ready to fire. “Take that weapon! We can use their own weapons against them.” ordered one guard while some others complied. They set up a position in a tree overlooking where the humans had last been seen. Two guards sat in the tree watching every bit of movement. The guard who held the rifle did so in a peculiar manner, barrel resting on his raised left foreleg, right foreleg stabilizing the the butt. His cheek rested on his right foreleg, looking through the scope. He had seen how the humans held and fired their weapons. Because it was not possible to fit a hoof in the trigger guard, he was ready to pull the trigger with a magical grip. They waited for hours, watching the area. At last, the second guard pointed his hoof to their left, where he saw something emerging from grass about 1,000 yards away. The pony with the rifle grinned deviously as he rotated his body to face the humans. He noticed one of the humans was carrying a briefcase. He figured that was another weapon like the one that killed the 35 in Fillydelphia 2 months before. He figured that if he could stop them from detonating their device, he could save even more lives. As he lined the crosshairs up with the carrier, taking into account distance and wind speed as any sniper would, he did leave out one major detail: Glare. The sun was reflecting off the lense of his scope directly at the humans. He saw one of the humans shove another towards the entrance of the cottage just after he shot. To his delight, the carrier of the briefcase dropped. He pulled the trigger to fire again. *Click...* “Shit,” He thought. He had forgotten that, to chamber a new cartridge, the humans had a hand motion involving the stick that extruded from the right side of the rifle. He and the other pony frantically tried to figure out how the action worked so they could get more shots off. But just as they lifted the bolt and pulled it pack to eject the spent shell, there was a crackling noise. * * * -Second of the guard’s shot- “SHIT!” I yelled as I saw Jerry fall to the ground. “GRAB THE BRIEFCASE! WE GOTTA GET THE FUCK INSIDE!” I wasted no time, diving through the window to the immediate left of the door, followed by the others. As Ed jumped through, he got caught on the broken glass, falling face first and dropping his M200. I dragged him deeper and hid him from the window. The glass had gotten caught on his pants, so when his torso fell to the ground, the glass was pushed up further into his thigh. Martin pulled out a first aid kit and started treating Ed’s wound. “The tree, 1000 yards east!” He told me. I nodded and grabbed his rifle. I went to the back of the room and looked through the window until I lined myself up perfectly with a lone tree, about a thousand yards away. I closed the bolt, ensuring a cartridge was chambered. I looked down the advanced M200 optic and zoomed in on the tree. I could make out two figures fidgeting with a rifle. I let out a breath and shot. The .408 CheyTac bullet leapt from the barrel, sailing through the air and impacted one of the ponies just as I saw the glint of the scope. I quickly pulled the bolt back and pushed it forward, chambering a new round just has I heard the cracking noise. I could tell the shooter was worried, because the shot he had just fired hit the wall on the outside of the cottage, barely pushing through to the interior. My chance had arrived. I looked back into the scope and zeroed in on the target. I saw him fidgeting with the rifle again. No doubt he was having trouble with the action after his assistant had just been killed. I let out my breath again as I fired. The bullet tore through the wind. The guard never even heard the shot. Hearing this ruckus, a pony who was just upstairs began walking down the stairs to investigate. Rainbow had just entered, as well, to check to see if we were alright. Seeing the pony who stood on the stairs, she tackled the other pony and dragged her to a room upstairs. After a minute or so, she returned and told us the situation. The other pony who was standing on the stairs was a friend of Rainbow’s, and went by the name of Fluttershy. She told Rainbow that, when she saw the humans, she was about to run off to tell the guards. She was just informed, however, that she would have been killed, had she gone off. “I’m going to try to convince her to let you guys stay here for the time being.” Rainbow flew back upstairs. Safely hidden in the cottage, we decided to come up with a new game plan. “We need to get that rifle, along with any other weapons we may have left back in the old building. If the guards get their hooves on those, we’re fucked.” I proposed. “That we are. Do you think they’re smart enough to find out what direction you killed them from?” Martin asked. “Yeah, the shooter didn't fall from the tree like the spotter did. You could still clearly see what direction he was hit from” I responded. “Then tonight, lets have Rainbow retrieve the rifle and mess with the bodies. In the mean time, lets bring Jerry’s body in and cover up the blood that’s all over the place out there. Mark, get upstairs and watch out for any other guards.” Complying with John’s order, Mark went upstairs and went into a different room than Rainbow and Fluttershy were in. He found a window through which he could see every position that could see us in front of the cottage. We went out, carried Jerry’s body in, and cleaned up all the blood as best we could. When we were done, you couldn’t even tell someone had been killed there. The sun began to set, and we missed our chance to set up the return device. Rainbow Dash had succeeded in convincing Fluttershy to allow us refuge in her cottage, so she headed out to retrieve the M40 from the bodies and to move them around, do as to conceal the shooting direction. When she returned with the rifle, we dug in for the night. * * * * * * > "November Kilo" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Part 4~ Kim I was awoken with a jolt early in the morning, prior to the sun's ascension. I normally would have figured the noise I had heard to be nothing more than a nocturnal animal searching in the night for food, but something was different. I crept towards the window nearest me and peered out into the night. The full moon gleamed in the sky and illuminated the land with a piercing cyan glow. A dark figure caught my attention in the corner of my eye, so much so that I quickly and clumsily turned to see it. In doing so, the combat knife that rested in its sheath at my side slipped enough to fall out with the momentum of my body. As it collided with the floor, the dark figure turned. I froze but for a moment, then slowly slid away from the windowsill, hoping that whatever or whoever it was had not seen me. I stepped with extreme care down the creaky staircase. Before entering the room below, I poked my head out and scanned the room. When I found it was clear, I carefully slid open the window to the left of the door and crept out. I crouched in the shadow of the cottage, listening. Waiting. A brisk winter breeze came from the opposite direction and brushed the grass. I watched the grass as it fluttered carelessly with the wind. After around a minute of waiting, I heard a whisper. "Idong Sigan!" My eyes widened as a void seemed to collapse around me, leaving me in utter shock at what I had heard. Shit. How the hell did the North Koreans get here? I thought to myself. I knew I couldn't let them get away. Who knows what they would do to this place or the ponies living in it. I had to act fast and stealthily or I would be compromised. Going to wake the others would take too long, so I was on my own. With a sudden gust of wind, the Koreans began to move. I saw my opportunity, too. I crawled to the corner of the cottage and readied to my attack. I looked out into the meadow to see that they were no longer concealed by the tall grass that surrounded the small grove of trees in front of the cottage. 3 North Korean soldiers crawled out into the moonlight with little more than grass and weeds on their backs for makeshift ghillie suits. The gust ceased, and with it, the Koreans. Before they could continue, I leapt out of my cover and dove on the lattermost soldier, driving my knife into his back. Before the others could react, I pulled the suppressed .22 from the dead soldier's holster on his hip and fired 2 bullets into the point-man's back, and one more in the back of the middle's knee, restraining him from walking. Before he could turn around to fire at me, I jumped on top of him, crushing his back with my knee and covering his nose and mouth with the inside of my elbow until he fell unconscious. I removed any weapons from his person, tied a cloth around his mouth so as to gag him, tied another strip of cloth around his wrists, and dragged him into the cottage. I threw him onto a chair and tied him back. The others came down in time to see me pulling up a chair in front of him as he began to come to. I sat down and shined my knife. I decided to start with something rather discouraging. "dangsin-ui guggaga jeonjaeng-eul hangboghaessda. deo isang ssaum amu soyong-i eobs-seubnida." He stopped struggling against the bindings and his face dropped, as I told him of how his country had surrendered the war. I continued to tell him of how their beloved leader, Kim Jong Un had been arrested. He flashed a sinister grin. "No. You arrested a double." He protested, "He is here in Equestria, safe from the dictatorship of America. You cannot stop him now." although his accent suggested otherwise, he spoke English as if he were born in the States. He turned and uttered something Korean into his shoulder, "naneun tahyeobhago issseubnida" then looked at me and grinned again. A small red light on his shoulder turned on with a high pitched noise that increased in frequency. It was a bomb. I grabbed the back of the chair and swung it around, getting enough momentum to throw him into a distant corner of the room. I tackled the other Americans to the ground just as the bomb detonated. It was a somewhat small explosive device, thank God, so it did moderate damage to the corner of the cottage, but aside from a relatively large splinter or two, we were unharmed. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Everyone in Ponyville heard the explosion, no doubt, so it was best that we haul ass out of there, lest we become discovered. We gathered our gear, retreated to the forest, and were gone without a trace in 5 minutes. We spent the next 3 days or so processing all that had just gone down. We discovered the presence of the North Korean army here, attempted to interrogate one, with moderate success learning that Kim Jong Un could possibly be here. Could the soldier really have been trusted? We had no idea if it was a lie that would eventually lead to our demise, or if it was the truth. If the latter was true, we would have no was of knowing, and we would surely come to our demise trying to figure that out. We considered leaving Equestria and leaving the ponies at the hands of the North Koreans, but what if they were to try to return to Earth? At times like these, although there is sufficient evidence as to why not to trust Washington with this kind of decision, it would be best to get help from them, anyway. We were a small patrol of 5 operators and a scientist, and we were powerless without additional forces to back us up. After much discussion, it was decided that the scientist and two operators would go back to Earth and inform Washington. The scientist would stay on Earth because of safety reasons, but if the Kim Jong Un we arrested back in Pyongyang was really a double, we would either need to get the real one, or prevent him from returning to Earth, both of which options would require more than 5 operators to do. * * * We kickstarted the device, charged it up, and sent Ed (Medevac the wounded), Will (Evac the civilians from danger zone), and John (to be our messenger) back to Earth. We knew Ed wouldn't be able to return due to his wound, but he and John could both still inform Washington of the situation at hand. Meanwhile, for me, Martin, and Mark, it was finally time for a little R&R… sort of. We hadn't anything to do until we heard back from Earth. Rainbow Dash had returned to Ponyville to lie low, as some ponies knew that she was at the cottage at the time of the incident. Fluttershy (we later learned) was being interrogated by the guards as to what happened. At the time of our interrogation, Rainbow had kept her upstairs so as to give her an even more blurry image of who we were, so now she can't explain why there were two dead humans on her back lawn, or why her house was a total fucking wreck with blood on all the walls and a large scorch mark in the corner. But there was nothing we could have done to help her without the danger of getting killed. We camped out in the trees of the Everfree forest for another 2 days. We had no idea of what was going on outside the forest, and we still weren't supposed to hear back from John for another 3 days. On that second day, we realized that we might be able to accomplish something if we didn't sit on our asses and carve sticks all day. Martin and I decided that it was in out best interests to explore the forest a little and see what we could find. Mark stayed back and watched over camp (or so we thought, for when we returned, he had a sack of coconuts that he refused to explain), while Martin and I went deeper into the forest. We hiked for at least 2 hours when we came upon a dirt path with tracks in the soil. Not just horseshoe prints, which were the only thing we expected to find, but long rows of deeply depressed soil, as if a 5 ton elephant dragged his hind legs along the path in a mechanical fashion. In case it isn't clear enough, not only were we dealing with royal guards and North Korean infantry armed to the teeth with lightweight automatic rifles, we were also dealing with North Korean heavy artillery. "Shit. Why would they even consider that they would need tanks here?" Martin asked rhetorically. We followed the tracks about 7 kilometers down the path, thinking we were headed deeper into the forest. We were all too wrong. We saw some buildings coming up, and thats when it hit us that we were back at Ponyville. "Well shit." I said, "And here I was thinking it was taking us to a base of some sort. Wait a second… There were no tracks here earlier today. They arrived recently." I reached for my back, only to find that my radio was off. I turned it back on and talked to Mark. "Where the fuck were you 4 hours ago?! I was trying to call you and tell you that there are fucking tanks haulin' ass into town. I haven't seen them in a while; if I went into the open, I would have been shot to shit by the 15 infantry guys they got there!" He was breathing heavily. I explained to him that we had our radios off, and we started to follow the tracks about an hour before. Suddenly, there was a loud Pop! We looked towards the town to find a large plume of smoke rising. We could hear screaming, followed by gunshots, followed by more screaming. Smoke rose from the buildings now in multiple places, and the screaming continued. The ponies ran everywhere, even towards us. They ran for the forest, hoping it would grant them refuge from the North Koreans. Martin and I got off the path and hid in the trees. Our radios screeched on. It was Mark, telling us to get back to our encampment. Martin and I ran back as fast as humanly possible with 30 pounds of combat gear through the dense jungle-like forest. When we arrived, Mark was loading all our spare magazines with bullets. He tossed us cleaning kits and told us to clean fast. Rainbow had already arrived, too, and she carried with her information about what happened. She told us the whole story as we cleaned our rifles. "Everyone was gathering at the town hall to hear the mayor speak, when whoever those guys are rode in there on a few of those things and started demanding things. Nopony had any idea that they were even saying; we’ve never even heard their language before! They thought we were ignoring them, so they fired a warning shot that actually killed three unicorns and a pegasus, and then when everypony was running and screaming, they started shooting at us! Even the guards were taken by surprise, so most of them were killed too!" She began freaking out beyond measure, so Martin took a mild sedative (Originally brought for the scientists to capture house-cat-sized creatures) and injected her. She dropped in a deep sleep. Even with all the intel in the world, 3 operatives cannot take on an entire platoon of 15 foot soldiers and 'a few' tanks. We needed back up, but to get it, we would have to wait. * * * * * * > Actionable Intel > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Part 5~ Actionable Intel In the stillness of the night, we were all torn from our peaceful slumber by a harsh screaming noise that sounded like a 747 coming in to land directly over head. This noise was then interrupted by an ear piercing explosion in the distance. Our small encampment began to flash as many smaller pops could be heard. We ran to the edge of the forest to see what the Koreans were doing this time. We peered out around leaves and tree branches, only to find the intense luminosity of a bright orange inferno throughout Ponyville. An AC-130U soared overhead, its GAU-12 Equaliser ablaze, firing armageddon flames down upon the town. Every five or so seconds, we could hear deafening pop of the gunship’s 105 MM howitzer followed by the screeching once again, and ending with a large plume of smoke and fire rising from the town below. We gazed unto the scene with terror as we watched the small population being massacred. We had seen enough, so we went back to the camp, and by the light of the darkest night, we packed up and ventured deeper into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow had been cold out throughout the fiery blitz, and she would continue to be for another 3 hours, thanks to the intensity of the tranquiliser. We carried her, our gear, and John’s gear at least 30 kilometres deeper into the forest. It was 9 in the morning when we had arrived at a small stream where we decided we would make up camp, and although she had been awake for hours, Rainbow was still a bit dazed and could not speak straight, so we continued to carry her to our destination. We set up the device to allow John to return when he was ready, and covered it with a ghillie tarp that Mark had in his bag to hide its reflective metallic surface from the sun. We camped about 15 metres from the river, so we were protected by the overgrowth of the trees. For the remainder of that day, we rested from our long hike. We told Rainbow of what had happened to the town, and how we barely expected anyone to come out alive. When she heard this, she flew off immediately in the direction of Ponyville. Assuming she could handle herself, Martin, Mark and I proceeded to spend time preparing a new plan, should anything else go awry. We had decided that staying out of the fight would be best, and letting the North Koreans and the Equestrians have at each other. Besides, what could three operatives, alone, with little weapons, stuck without backup in the middle of a forest do anyway? Evidently, it was that question that ultimately turned things around for us. We feared that if John didn’t arrive with support soon, we wouldn’t be able to go home. We decided that it would be in our best interests to see what this war had in store, and act upon it accordingly. This is where all of Mark’s ghillie-gear came in. We would wait by the side of the trail that Martin and I had scouted earlier and ambush any North Koreans that passed by with the hope of gathering intel. * * * * * As the sun set, Martin and I could see lights ahead on the trail. As the lights grew increasingly closer, we counted the number of soldiers. It was a patrol of 5 North Koreans, armed with AN-94’s and 40 millimetre grenade launchers. I listened to them talk. I had learned Korean while I was stationed in Seoul prior to the War, and I had become practically fluent. They spoke of the attack on Ponyville, and how they believed what they did was necessary because of a threat that was nestled in the town. They began cracking jokes, and as they passed us, they slowly ceased their laughing. They were as unsuspecting as ever. Martin tossed a flashbang into their midst. “CRACK!” The flashbang went off, stunning three of them. The other two started yelling and looking around them. They had to wait for their night vision goggles to power up so they could see us. Martin and I came up behind the two un-stunned soldiers before they could react to us being there. Martin planted his knife in the soldier’s neck, and my blade entered the other’s heart. The two we killed were shouting, so the others started shooting in our direction. The near-dead soldiers acted as shields to protect us from their bullets. As the other soldiers regained their vision, they charged us with bayonets. Martin was quick to push aside the attacker’s extending weapon and end him with a quick strike between the eyes. The other two came after me. I dodged the first’s bayonet, only to find myself face-to-face with the other. Martin saw the impending danger I was in, so he threw his knife into that soldier’s torso, splitting two ribs apart and forcing the guard to fall over in excruciating pain. The other came behind me with a finishing move- or so he thought. I turned just enough to see him with my peripheral vision, and, in one motion, spun quickly to the left plowing my 20 centimetre blade into his back, severing his spinal cord just as his bayonet grounded itself in the back of his ally’s neck, as that soldier was bent over trying to free Martin’s knife from his ribs. We quickly evicted the area, leaving the four bodies lying in the mud with a note pinned to the first victim’s back. The note read “따뜻한 크리스마스 소식! 감사합니다, 미국” or “Warm Christmas tidings! Sincerely, The United States.” Martin felt it was unnecessary, but I thought it added just the right touch. We returned to our new camp by the river with a backpack full of what might be actionable intel. We acquired an enemy radio, so we could tap in and listen to their comms without their knowledge. We had maps, a GPS, and images. Mark was somewhat impressed. The maps and images came from a briefing folder, something that one should not be carrying on a patrol. That soldier’s negligence gave a phantom enemy an upper hand. Phantom. We liked that word. It perfectly described how we were operating. Get in, stop the enemies, and leave. All before anyone could comprehend what was happening. Back on Earth, when we gathered intel, it was usually analysts who looked it over and gathered the information, but here, it was just us. We sat around for days reading over the documents and making sure we had all the information right. It took even longer than it should have, but all the writing was it Korean. We wrote all the information that we thought was valuable. The rest, we checked over to ensure that it was not important, discarded it in our campfire. Some of the pieces of intel were USB drives, and we could not access what was on them until we had a computer. That was to become our next objective. Luckily, thanks to the maps we acquired, we found that there were multiple enemy camps within 10 kilometres of our encampment. The maps indicated the size of the camps and the patrol routes around them. It was as if they wanted their enemies to learn about their patrol routes. As we prepared to depart for the smallest enemy camp, Rainbow returned, blood sprinkled on her mane and coat. She limped towards us and passed out, groaning as she fell. Mark and I dropped our gear and ran toward her. There was a large, bloody gash in her front left leg. Mark tossed a first aid kit to me, and I began treating the wound, disinfecting it and wrapping the it in gauze. Although she was cold out in the dirt, she twitched whenever I tightened the wrapping. As I tied up the gauze, I wondered what the hell she was doing to get so badly wounded. There was a lot of blood on her hooves, blood that was most likely not hers. She now lay in a pool of her own blood, however, as she had another wound on her right side, which she had fallen on. We wrapped that up too, and finally left her leaning against a nearby tree, ghillie wrap concealing her brightly coloured mane. I left my water bottle within reach, and we set out. It was just before sundown that we neared the North Korean camp. We crept up behind a 2 man patrol and slit their throats. After hiding their bodies in the bushes, we moved on to the camp. It was, indeed, a small camp. Three tents, only 4 guards sitting around a fire. Martin and I set up a tactic. He would attract their attention, and I would be on the other side of the camp and take them out. When we were in position, he snapped a fairly large twig, and two of the guards rose, bayonets pointed forward, and left to investigate. Martin silenced the two of them while I came up behind the others and did away with them. We began looking around the camp, when we heard a yell. “Geojismal!” ("Lies!"). Our attentions turned to the largest tent in the camp. We silently moved towards the entrance and drew our combat knives. I looked through a crack in the door flaps, only to see a North Korean officer running the point of a karambit down the cheek of a navy blue pony bound to a chair. The officer flicked his knife, creating a small cut. She glared at him through bright-teal eyes. “You cannot kill me.” She said, with an immense amount of anger in her voice. The officer laughed for a moment before returning to a stern face. “Why don’t you try me?” He responded slowly. He had a very thick accent, and he could, clearly, barely speak English. The dark blue pony’s horn began to glow. Seeing this, the officer grasped her throat and attempted to thrust the karambit blade into her torso. Before he could, however, Martin and I burst through the door flaps and threw our knives at the Koreans. Mine (of course) struck the officer in the neck, taking him to the floor. But the hilt of Martin’s knife hit the other guard in the shoulder. He shouldered his gun to fire, but before he could, I charged him, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him onto the barrel of my 1911. I fired two shots into his gut, and he dropped. Martin and I retrieved our knives and cut the pony free. We told her to stick close to us, as we were just going to take a minute to look around and gather more intel. She could not go on alone; not in the condition she was in. She had cuts all around her body, her wings especially wounded. That was what came as a surprise to me. I had never seen a pony with wings and a horn. Martin had only seen one, their leader, Princess Celestia, and that was before the humans were “a threat to their way of living.” When we began working our way back to the camp, she introduced herself. Princess Luna, the sister of Celestia. Luckily for us, unlike sister, she could tell the difference between us and the North Koreans, so she did not immediately try to kill us. She explained that she knew that there were the humans who recklessly killed the civilian ponies, and that there were also the humans that only killed the ones who tried to kill them. She told how she knew we were the latter. When we arrived back at our camp by the river, we found that Rainbow Dash had awoken after she passed out from blood loss. She now slept peacefully by a different tree. Since Mark had stayed back to guard the camp, he helped her and kept her alive. He stopped the bleeding, replaced the bandages, and cleaned the wounds every half hour. He helped her clean off the blood by the river, and he even cleared out the blood-soaked dirt. When we arrived, he lay by the river’s edge staring at the stars. We introduced him to Luna, and he helped us dress and treat her wounds. Although small, there were many. We decided that we would rest until daylight before planning out the days ahead. And yes, we did get the computer.