War Machine
"Eagle One, this is Eagle Six. Visual contact on enemy, 9 o'clock, two and a half clicks away, airborne."
"Roger that, classify the target."
While an armored convoy was going through the ruined outskirts of Canterlot, the commander of a T-72 tank, that was going first in the collumn, got himself out from the machine, and looked through the binoculars. Far in the grey distance, he saw a few moving dots, that were reflecting the light brightly, probably because of armor. These dots were moving fast, and were maneuvering rapidly. So, as the commander saw everything, he held on to the laringophone again.
"Target -- five pegasi, probably recon. Approximately 9-8 o'clock, approaching fast."
"Roger that, Eagle Six. Eagle Three, Eagle Five -- get ready, multiple targets, course 8-9-200, weak radar signature. Everyone else -- ready your guns."
The tank commander moved the machine gun turret, and aimed the approaching group of ponies. As he did so, two "Tunguska" anti-aircraft vehicles, that were gout behind the tank in the collumn, moved their own cannons and rockets towards the approaching enemy. And, in a few seconds, the first rocket shot out from its barrel with a loud screech. After flying for a couple of seconds towards the approaching pegasi, it exploded loudly. However, through the smoke, without even slowing down, were still coming five pegasi. And, as the second rocket didn't harm them either, the commander of leading tank picked up the binoculars for the second time. And through them, he saw something that he's never seen on this war: not a pegasi, yet not a unicorn pony, but a combination of both. Heavily armored with golden plates and helmets, these creatures were still charging, while the realisation hit him.
"Eagle One, this is Eagle Six! Having visual on enemy forces, suface-to-air rockets failed. These are the Royal Guards!" the man literally shouted through the comms system.
"This is Eagle One! Collumn -- halt! Infantry -- out of vehicles! Eagle Six, provide cover, Eagles Three and Five, clean up the air!"
"You heard that! Max, cover our trucks with armor, Eugene, aim these bastards!" -- the tank commander literally shouted through the intercom, as the tank slowly moved itself to cover the collumn. In a few seconds, anti-aircraft vehicles began to shoot with their own guns, trying to knock out the Royal Guards. As a couple of them were hit and fell down somewhere in front, other three ponies kept advancing. Pretty soon, machine guns of the tank started banging, too -- one, that's been mounted in the main turret, and another, that's been operated by the commander, who got his torso out from the hatch. Bullets and shells were literally tearing the air apart, trying to get rid of three Royal Guards, but they weren't an easy target. Most of shells and bullets missed them, and the ones, that hit them, literally did only a little harm, if they hit these ponies into their armor plates.
"They are deflecting bullets! I'll try to aim into uncovered parts!" -- Eugene, the tank's gunner, shouted through the intercom, as one of the guards rammed the armored truck, that's been standing between the anti-aircraft vehicles. With a loud booming sound, the truck literally exploded, and the flaming engine of it literally tore apart the cabin because of impact. The second Guard hit one of "Tunguska"'s, but slighly missed and just tore apart its tracks. And, as the tank commander saw, that the third pony was approaching HIS machine...
"MAX, HIT IT! MOVE!" the man shouted, while shooting towards the enemy with his heavy machine gun. The tank's engine roared, and just before the pony could hit them, the machine shot forward from its position. The Guard hit the ground hard, leaving a large trench behind himself. Thinking fast, the commander contacted the gunner:
"Eugene, load hi-explosive and aim that bastard, while he's recovering! Max, hit it a couple meters backwards!"
"Roger that!" replied the gunner, aiming the cannon towards the place, where the Guard landed. As the tank moved towards the trench, the commander got inside the battle compartment, and looked through the cameras towards the enemy. The Guard was standing weakly, however, slowly tried to approach the machine.
"FIRE!" shouted the commander. In a second, a loud "BOOM" hit the surroundings, sending a ton of dust in the air. As the dust slighly got down, he saw through the cameras, that the Guard's body became literally a well-cooked forcemeat, laying in a large crater from the explosion. And only his armor plates and helmet remained more-or-less in one piece. As the commander got out from the hatch, he suddenly realised, that he wasn't hearing any gunshots from the AA-vehicles. As the man looked towards them, he saw that they weren't firing at all. So, he reached the laringophone and talked.
"This is Eagle Six, anyone can hear me?" he spoke. And, after a few seconds of waiting, he recieved an answer.
"This is Eagle Three. Eagle One is a goner, Eagle Five has his radio and tracks broken, they've joined the infantry back in the cover. Trucks are alright, as much as I can tell," someone from the "Tunguska" responded. "However, we don't have any info on the group commander. He sent his proxy with infantry, but I guess that he's a goner along with his truck."
"Do we have any radio connection with infantry?" the man said and exhaled loudly, as he closed his eyes for a bit. The last thing he needed right now was the death of the group commander AND his proxy. As he opened his eyes and looked up in the sky, he saw that it was covered with thick, grey clouds, which didn't mean anything good for them. Clouds were allies for ponies -- they could walk there, they could hide in there, and airplanes didn't have much place for maneuvering if the weather was not good enough. Then, he heard a sound in his helmet.
"Eagle Two to all Eagles -- we and Eagle One are moving back to the vehicles. We've managed to chat with the headquarters, they said that we should leave the damaged AA. Now lieutenant Ryazanov is in charge, as long as we jump back into trucks, we'll leave the radio to him."
"Roger that, Eagle Two. Eagle Six, moving back to the head of the collumn," the tank commander responded, and switched to the intercom. "Max, move back to the head of the collumn."
"Aye, man," responded Max, and the tank set off. And, as the commander held onto the machine gun turret, he looked over the surroundings, and saw how an infantry was moving back to their trucks.
"Could be worse," he thought to himself, and fished out a pack of cigarettes from one of his pouches. As he lit it and smoked, he looked over the sight again. Not too far in the distance, was lying a city of Canterlot. And, the final charge towards an enemy capital was imminent.
"I am colonel Budanov. So, you are the commander, who shot a hi-ex into a single pony?"
"Yes, comrade colonel. Sergeant Sidorenko, reporting for duty," the tank commander reported, "I know, it may seem radical and reckless, knowing that we could hit friendly, but these Guard's armor literally deflects small shells and bullets. They've managed to destroy an armored truck without any weaponry, just by hitting it. That's why captain Schlyahtunow's been replaced by his proxy, lieutenant Ryazanov."
"I know, no need to apologise. We've already encountered a couple of squads of those, before we could set a proper front operatonal base," colonel made a gesture, showing the FOB and its surroundings. The base itself has been set in the city, but it was pretty far from the Royal Castle. "Just wanted to know your methods. And, give you and your crew a special assignment."
"What kind of assignment?" Sidorenko's muscles tensed, in realisation that something extreme would happen pretty soon.
"Force recon. In two hours, an airborne batallion of colonel Maximchuk will charge towards the castle from its northern side. I need you to charge through the city and check, what forces these ponies have, and meet with him. We've been storming the streets with artillery and aviation, but I'm not sure, if we smoked them all out. Roll out in an hour."
"Yes, comrade colonel," the sergeant saluted without much enthusiasm, and walked towards his refuelling tank. As he looked around the FOB, he saw that despite being a mess, it was an organised mess -- tanks were standing in lines, refuelling and recharging, helicopters and AA guns were patrolling the area around, and lots of infantry EVERYWHERE. And just a year ago, that probably was a peaceful, clean street...
"Max, Eugene, get down here!" Sidorenko shouted, as he got to his tank. As his crew finished refuelling the machine, both men jumped down on the ground.
"What's the matter, boss?" Max asked, being confused.
"We're rolling out in an hour. Special assignment. Force recon," the commander exhaled loudly. "I know that you execute orders, not talk about them, but I think that's a big bullshit."
"Why? Everything's that bad?" Eugene grinned. "Don't worry, man. I think we'll screw these bastards."
"Yeah... We have to charge towards an airborne batallion of colonel Maximchuk through the entire city. And I'll be honest, I don't like it."
"Nobody does, boss. Still, someone has to do the job. Here, we've brought you your ration," Max passed a pack of food towards the sergeant.
"Thanks, Max. Hell, this is going to be a long day," Sidorenko said, and sat on armor of his machine to eat.
"Eagle Six, rolling out. Heading the course 1-5-8."
"This is Owl-main, roger that. Good luck."
As the tank rolled out from the FOB, it stopped for a second. As the commander glanced over the grey sight through his binoculars and put on his goggles, he used the intercom.
"Alright, Max, move smoothly. Don't be a slowpoke, though," Sidorenko said, and held onto the machine gun turret. As the tank began to move again, he fished out a map from one of the pockets, and checked the route. After making some marks on it, commander hid the map back in the pocket and looked over the surroundings.
The sight was depressing. Grey clouds were covering the sky high above, as some airplanes and helicopters were passing by. Far away in the distance, the commander could hear gunshots and explosions, while right in front of him was an ampty and ruined street. Some houses were destroyed by artillery strikes, leaving pieces of marble, wood and stone lying around. Some houses made through it, but still had their windows broken by blastwaves. And the road, once shiny, became dusty and damaged by constant bombardments.
"Hey, commander," Eugene said through the intercom, "I see something. Twelve o'clock, in the building."
As Sidorenko got back into the tank and closed the hatch, he engaged the infra-red sight. Five hundred meters away, stood a building, that looked like a school or a library. All around the place were lying burned books, writing tools and other trash. And in the sight, the commander saw a movement.
"Aim it, but don't shoot yet. Hold on the target," he said, and got out to hold onto the machine gun. As he aimed it towards the building, the tank started to crawl towards it, aiming its gun on it. Through the sights, Sidorenko saw, how ponies of all sorts were moving inside, and as the tank got close enough, he saw through the windows, that they were... Civillians. Just scared-to-their-knees civillians, with their own foals, that were packed inside the building so tightly, that they couldn't even back off from the scary sight of the tank, that was approaching the building.
"Eagle Six to Owl-main, a big group of civillians inside the building in quadrant 45-LG, they're hiding in a big building, that looks like a library. Do you copy?" the commander said into the laringophone, trying to connect with the FOB via the radio.
"Owl-main to Eagle Six, roger that. Continue your route."
As the tank passed the building, Sidorenko could see hundreds of scared eyes. They were watching, as the metal beast was slowly passing by, roaring and thundering loudly with its engine and tracks. Most of them were scared and amazed at the same time -- no machine of their world could compete with the tank's armor, with its guns and with its power. However, as Sidorenko was ready to order to hit the pedal, he saw a little blue pegasus foal with a yellow mane flying out from one of the buildings, followed by his mother's scream. However, noone dared to go after him, as he landed on the tank's armor, right in front of the commander's machine gun turret. Sidorenko was confused, and took off his goggles. He looked into the foal's deep blue eyes, and saw that there was only a pure interest.
"Why are you doing this?" suddenly, the foal asked. That question left the commander in stupor for a couple of seconds, before he regained his bearings.
"Get off the tank," he responded harshly, "We've transmitted the coordinates of your shelter, airstrikes and artillery won't hit you. Stay in there and you will be safe."
"There is no safe place, and you know that. Your metal dragons spit fire and drop explosives everywhere. And your buzzers have destroyed my house with their fireworks," little colt said, "And I don't understand, why are you fighting with Royal Guards. Were they mean to you? We can talk to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and sort things out."
"We are the war machine, not the negotiaton team. Get off my tank and go to your parents," the commander gestured to the library building, "Probably they are worried about you."
"They are. Still, I don't understand, why do you have to explode everything," a foal took airborne for a couple of seconds, and landed onto the machine gun turett, right in front of the commander. "You really should talk to the Princesses. Surely they will understand."
"Ha! They won't. Or else why they would attack our world at the first place?" the tank driver Max got out of his own hatch, and grinned towards the little colt.
"I dunno. Probably, a big mistake," the foal shrugged, "If you're not sure about their will, we can go with you. So our guards won't try to harm you."
And, after saying that, the little colt made a gesture towards the library building. And, a few minutes after that, slowly, but surely, ponies started to come out of there. All different -- pegasi, unicors, earth ponies. All had different looks. And all of them were confused as much as the tank commander.
"I... I'll contact the headquarters," Sidorenko managed to say, and swithched the radio. "Eagle Six to Owl-main. A group of civillians says, that they can aid in reaching the castle without gunfire. This seems very strange, awaiting commands. Over."
“Copy that, Eagle Six. Wait for further instructions.”
Seconds were passing slowly, almost like glued. Tank commander, as well as other crewmen felt himself nervous. As he looked around, he saw that ponies were gathering around the tank, looking with their curious big eyes. But then, the radio in his helmet spoke again.
“Sidorenko, this is colonel Budanov. Explain the situation!” a voice in the helmet roared.
“Comrade colonel, we’ve stumbled upon a group of civillians. They say that they can help us reach the castle without firing, as Royal Guards won’t attack them. They say, that we can talk this war out, if we reach the Princesses,” Sidorenko replied. And, after a minute of silence, he recieved a response.
“If you are sure that they can help, they can join you. However, be alert -- this can be a trap. I’ll contact the group of colonel Maximchuk, you’ll meet his men at the capture point. Contact us, if you stumble upon ANYTHING!”
“Copy that, comrade colonel, en route,” Sidorenko replied, and hung up the radio. Then, he looked around the tank and shouted, “Listen up, people! We’re going to meet our men at capture point Roman, northern side of the castle! Who’s with us -- get airborne or on armor! We’re rolling out!”
And, slowly at first, but more and more curiosly as seconds passed by, ponies started to get onto the tank’s armor, and pegasi began to take airborne, flying around the machine. Pretty soon the tank’s body was covered with ponies. As Sidorenko gave them a satisfied look, he ordered a driver to hit the pedal through the intercom.
"Hit it, Max. Let's see where it will take us, but be alert," the commander said, while pulling a pack of "Belomorkanal" cigarettes. As the tank began to move, he also fished out a lighter, and smoked. As the machine was moving through the abandoned streets, the man could feel a lot of unseen eyes, that were were observing him. So, just in case, he held on the handles of his machine gun turett.
"They are watching you," a little foal said, while flying near the commander, "But if they will try to attack you, this will mean that they are attacking us. In that case, kill them."
Sidorenko nearly dropped a cigarette from his mouth, as he heard a voice of a little foal. He's seen a lot -- blood, mud, death. But a little foal, who told him to kill his own supposed protectors definetely wasn't in that list.
"Are you sure? You can always leave, if you want," the commander responded, while scanning the streets and the skies. He didn't see any targets, as well as allied forces. Even helicopters and airplanes were making noises somewhere far behind, probably at outskirts of Canterlot.
"Absolutely. I don't want to live in a society of warmongers. You are not a warmonger. I can see it."
"You sound too adult for your age..."
As the tank moved towards the castle, Sidorenko eventually noticed a movement somewhere at the front. As he ordered a driver to stop, he took out his binoculars and checked out the situation.
"Owl-main, this is Eagle Six. I have visual of enemy forces, they've formed a barrier at the main gate, probably there's more around the street, but somehow they don't attack. Probably, these civillians really protect us."
"Copy that, Eagle Six. Enter the garden, pretty soon airborne troops will take over capture point Roman, meet them there. Over," a voice in the commander's helmet said. And, as Sidorenko sighed, he ordered the driver to move slowly towards the gate, and the gunner to be on guard. As the machine slowly crawled towards the entrance to the Royal Garden, ponies around the tank and on it's armor became a bit nervous. However, noone flew or ran away. Pretty soon, Sidorenko could see a formation of the garden's protectors -- at least eight Royal Guards, all covered with gold armor plates and helmets. They stood together, forming a barrier. And, as the tank reached them, they even didn't move for an inch, but also didn't attack.
"We want to talk with the princesses! We have civillians, that want to escort us. If you won't let us pass peacefully, we will open fire!" the commander shouted towards the formation of Guards in front of him. But they didn't even react in any way. They stood in two lines, one behind another. As Sidorenko scanned the surroundings, he saw that they couldn't get past guards without use of force -- both eastern and western sides of the garden were hidden behind walls, and the commander didn't want to risk his crew. Who knew, what traps could be behind that concrete?
"They are just standing... Max, move slowly towards them." And while the driver slowly moved the tank towards the entrance, Eugene aimed the cannon towards the Guards. And, as he did so, the first lane of them had their wings spread widely.
"I don't like this, boss! Looks like they want to take off!" the gunner said through the intercom.
The first line of Guards shot into the air, gaining altitude. But none of ponies, who surrounded the tank, backed off. More than thet, they increased their grip on each other. Their eyes were scanning the air, and they watched, how Royal Guards were charging towards the machine. Sidorenko could see, how the air was compressing before their heads, meaning that they've gained enough speed to hit the tank. So, the commander shouted through the intercom:
"Max, hit the pedal! We're charging forward!"
The tank roared like a thunderstorm, and shot towards the gate. Sidorenko pulled the cable of his machine gun turett, and loaded the barrel of his "Utes". As the cartridge was loaded with a loud "click", Sidorenko aimed the machine gun towards the approaching Guards. However, he didn't have a chance to shoot -- as the Guards dropped from the skies, and hit the ground, the blastwave shook the tank, and Sidorenko lost his balance. As he tried to wipe the dust from his eyes, he heard someone's scream:
"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!"
As Sidorenko finally wiped the dust from his eyes, and put on his goggles, he saw that the street behind the tank became a wreck. Craters from Guard's impacts, cracks, and... Bodies of civilians. As the man looked around, he saw that most of them still held onto armor, but there was one little pegasus, who was shouting towards him, and who was lying on the tank's turret, being supported by a couple of ponies.
"Everyone, off my tank! This shit is getting messy!" Sidorenko shouted, and all ponies began to jump from the machine. Despite its high speed, most of ponies landed safely, being supported by the magic of unicorns and the wings of pegasi. As the commander saw, that everyone was off the armor, he held back on to the machine gun, and aimed it towards one of the ascending guards.
"Owl-main, this is Eagle Six! We're under attack, eight Royal Guards. They've attacked the civillians and the tank, so we'll fight back! Deliver the intel to the airborne!" Sidorenko shouted into the laringophone, and opened fire with his machine gun. "Max, Eugene -- hit it!"
Right after Sidorenko's MG bursts, the tank's cannon boomed. As the blastwave hit the surroundings, the air became filled with dust. Right after the gunner's shot, the tank changed its course, and released the smoke from its mortars. And, in a couple of seconds, the street became filled with smoke, covering the tank from the Guards.
"Alright, we have a couple of seconds," Eugene commented, scanning the surroundings with his thermal sight, "What are we going to do?"
"There's no use in waiting for reinforcements, so we'll have to get past the rest of the guards. Civillians now have some time to fall back under the smoke..." Sidorenko brainstormed the situation, thinking how they could rule out the situation, when the realisation hit him. "We'll attack straightforward. We hit them with all we've got. Eugene -- you'll use the cannon and the machine gun, Max -- you'll smash them with your tracks. Meanwhile, I'll draw off the attantion of the ones in the air. Got it?"
"Yes, comrade sergeant!" other two of the tank's crew said through the intercom.
"CHARGE!"
With a loud roar of its diesel engine, the T-72 shot out of the smoke, towards the gate to the Garden. In a few seconds, the PKT machine gun banged, along with the cannon. Meanwhile, Sidorenko started shooting in the Guards, who were patrolling the airspace.
"Now this is some off-road engagement!" the driver shouted, while trying to avoid the Guards, who were hitting the groung around the tank in attempts to damage it. However, Sidorenko's distraction worked well -- as he aimed the unprotected parts of the Guard's bodies, they had to cover their heads and faces, and as a result, they had a little chance to hit successfully.
"Don't get yourself distracted! I'll hold off the air units, but I don't have an unlimited ammo!" Sidorenko shouted through the intercom, and a couple seconds after it, the second HE shell banged from the cannon, being sent towards the Guard's formation in front of the gate to the Garden. At that moment, the tank was just a hundred meters away from the gate, so as it's boomed, it send a lot of dust skyward.
"The heat signature of the target weakens, cap," Eugene said via the intercom, "Looks like they've decided to lay low."
"Keep hitting! You know, how their armor works!"
As the commander kept shooting to keep the airborne Guards away, suddenly he felt how the tank bumped into something. As he quickly looked around, he saw how the tank crawled over the laying Guards. That was a stunning picture for him -- before that, he'd never seen how the tank could even crawl over someone, breaking bones and ripping flesh... And, the result was not very pleasant -- when the tank was just passing over the Guards, Sidorenko heard a loud scream of agony. When the machine passed the formation, he saw three bodies, laying around without their heads, probably being hit by the blastwave of the HE shell, and the one, that had his face literally ripped off his skull.
"GAH, HELP ME! A-A-A-A-A-A-AH! PAIN!" he screamed, pefore passing out. But, no mater how much of an impressin the last words of the Guard made, Sidorenko couldn't let himself be merciful, as many lives depended on his decisions. So, he paused the gunfire for a second, repositioned the turret so the machine gun would face the poor bastard, and hit the trigger. In a next second, the stallion's head has been blown into pieces.
"That was terrifying... Still, we have to push to the point Roman," Sidorenko stated, while shooting from the machine gun, "Airborne troops should be nearby in fifteen minites."
"Roger that, moving to capture point Roman," the driver responded. As the commander tried to scan the sky, he'd noticed, that it'd been covered by huge trees. As the tan's crew entered the Royal Garden, he saw that one of the Guards hovered for a while above the ground. Not missing the opportunity, the man aimed the machine gun in his face. After pulling the trigger, it banged, and soon the Guard was down.
"Eagle Six to Owl-main, we're in the Royal Garden, moving to point Roman. We have three guards airborne, all others are down. Civillians have retreated, most likely," the commander said, while looking out for other Guards.
"Copy that, Eagle Six. Airborne troops will be there in three minutes," the man on the other side of the radio channel responded. Sidorenko heavily exhaled, and while he still had a chance, checked the map.
"Max, move down this road for the half of a click, and standby near the fountain, there should be one."
"Roger that, boss."
As the tank moved through the garden, Sidorenko saw, how the war affected the appearance of the place. Craters from HE bombs, cracks on marble, dead trees and the dirt instead of the grass -- that was quite a depressing sight. Still, he couldn't let himself be distracted -- the rest of Guards seemed to back off the tank, which could mean, that they would try to ambush the vehicle. And the commander didn't like the idea of it.
"Eugene, keep your eyes peeled. Do you see anyone in the castle's windows?" the man said through the intercom.
"Negative. Also no heat signatures," the gunner responded after checking everything.
"Fuck, this is not good..." Sidorenko said, as the tank rolled out from the mess the garden became, and reached what looked like a big balcony made of marble. As the commander pulled himself up from the hatch, he could see the view, that this "balcony" provided. Massive forests, railways, even Ponyville... Well, at least what's left of it.
"Owl-main, this is Eagle Six, we've reached the capture point Roman," the commander said to the radio.
"Roger that. Airborne team is nearby. After meeting with them, cover them and go inside the building in your tank."
"Roger that, Owl-main..." Sidorenko replied without much enthusiasm. As he scanned the sky, he saw three choppers coming their way -- two Mi-8's and one Mi-24. However, he's also noticed how a very familiar figure in gold was approaching them. As he turned the machine gun turret around, he heard an explosion -- on of the Mi-8's has been hit and exploded from the impact. Sidorenko could see the people, falling out from the wrecks that once were a helicopter. And, he started shooting, trying to cover the last two choppers. As his gunfire dragged the attention of the Guard, one of gunmen on board of the Mi-24 managed to hit him with the PKP machine gun. As the Guard was grounded, the choppers hovered above the tank, and pretty soon, troops began to come out of them, using tactical ropes. As everyone has landed nearby the tank, Sidorenko shouted:
"Who is colonel Maximchuk?"
"That's me! And you must be the tank crew, who's supporting us?" a tall and buff soldier from the group responded. As he recieved a nod from the tank commander, he laughed. "Ha-ha! Good to see you. Unfortunately, you've seen what happened to the third chopper. You'll cover us with your armor, and enter the building first. The 24 will patrol the area, while we're clearing the place. No questions?"
"No questions, comrade Colonel. Max, enter the building!" Sidorenko shouted, and got inside the tank, closing a hatch behind himself. As he did so, he started to monitor the situation through the cameras. The tank slowly approached the wide entrance, that was blocked by tall doors, made of multicolored glass. And, after a few seconds, the tank's engine revved up, and the machine broke through the obstackle. The sound of breaking glass filled everything, and could be heard even inside the tank. As Sidorenko checked through the cameras, as all the glass got down, the airborne infantry moved after the tank, hiding behind its armor.
"This is Eagle Six, we've met the airborne troops, proceeding inside the castle," the commander reported via the radio, and got out from his hatch to grab onto the machine gun turret. As he did so, he'd noticed that in front of him, approximately two hundred meters away, there was a barricade. Sand bags, rocks, pieces of concrete -- and behind al that stuff, were sitting ponies in golden armor.
"Enemy at our twelve, multiple targets, armed with spears, shields and swords," Eugene reported after checking up on the enemy, "Should we hit them with the HE?"
"Listen up, spray over them with your machine gun. Let's see how they will respond -- they look smaller, than the regular Royal Guards," Sidorenko replied and started to shoot from his own turret. As two machine guns began to spray the blockpost, ponies behind it began to retreat. As Sidorenko saw, how they'd ran behind one of the doors down the corridor, he's contacted the Colonel Maximchuk.
"Eagle Six to Parrot-main, enemy forces are retreating farther in the castle, where we should proceed?"
"Parrot-main to Eagle Six -- go after them! Parrot-main to all Parrots -- secure the entrance, where the tank is going, it will clear the blockpost!" colonel Maximchuk commanded via the radio. As he did so, the tank moved towards the blockpost, and rammed it, sending all that trash skyward and clearing the path for the infantry. As it did so, it's stopped in front of a big door, where the ponies had escaped.
"Parrot-main, this is Eagle Six! We will ram through the doors, and clear the way for you!" Sidorenko shouted into the radio, preparing himself for a rough ride.
"Roger that, Eagle Six. Give them hell, boys!" -- Maximchuk replied back. That was the thing that the commander was waiting for -- in a few seconds, the tank speeded up and rammed the first set of doors. With a loud booming sound, they flew apart and landed on the marble floor with a loud thud. After that, without letting off the gas pedal, Max stated to ram the barricades that ponies made in an attempt to protect themselves from the metal beast. The machine guns were roaring loudly -- Eugene and Sidorenko weren't letting the triggers. Ponies were trying to hit the commander with their magic blasts, the Royal Guards were trying to become airborne, however, the fire from the NSVT was so rapid, that their bodies were literally being torn apart. After passing another hall, the tank slammed into another set of doors, and behind it, the crew was met with a heavy magic fire. However, it couldn't stop the machine. The tank was thundering through the castle halls, leaving piles of bodies behind itself. Until it has reached the last door, which looked way thicker than the previous ones.
"Eugene, hit it with the HE! Max, ram it after the shell hits!" Sidorenko shouted. And a few seconds later, the cannon boomed across the hall, knocking out the massive doors. With a loud roar, the tank moved into the entrance.
Sidorenko looked around the place, and understood, that it was the throne room. On the farther end of it, stood two thrones, and in front of them were ponies. There were eight of them -- five more-or-less regular and three alicorns. Without further hesitation, he held onto his laringophone again.
"Hit them, Max," he said, while scanning the place for the Royal Guards, "we have the objective."
The gun boomed again, sending tons of dust into the air with its blastwave. However, three alicorns managed to create a forcefield, that didn't let the shell to harm the ponies. The commander furrowed his brows.
"Cap, target is still on our twelve!" Eugene shouted, reporting about the situation.
"I can see that! Max, hit the pedal and drive us closer!"
As the tank started to move towards the group of ponies, Sidorenko saw that six of them started to glow. As soon as they became airborne, Max started to drive more agressively, shifting the tank's trajectory. Pretty soon, when the target was just a 50 meters away, the glowing group of ponies shot a rainbow ray of energy, that passed the tank just a few meters away. However, it's force was heating the air so much, that Sidorenko even had to dive into the battle compartment. And more than that, the group of ponies was still guiding the ray after the machine. Eugene tried to hit the group with the PKT machine gun, but it did literally nothing, as all bullets were deflected by the forcefield, that the other two alicorns were holding up.
"Max, Eugene, listen up! We'll drive through the forcefield and ram these motherfuckers!" Sidorenko shouted and closed the hatch after himself. The rest of the crew needed nothing more to understand the command. As Max lined up the tank, he floored the gas pedal. The tank was roaring like thunder, as well as the rainbow ray. In a flash, it reached the tank's armor, and began to heat up the insides of it. The crew was feeling the intense heat, however, everyone was pushing forward. And, when the tank reached the forcefield, it slammed against it, shattering it into a billion pieces. However, the rainbow ray was still baking the tank's insides.
"Fuck! Everyone, leave the machine! This is Eagle Six, we are in the throne room, requiring assistance!" Sidorenko shouted both to the radio and into the intercom. The mechanic leaved the machine first through the evacuation hatch in the floor of the control compartment. After him, not without effort, the gunner got out from the vehicle. While Eugene was getting out, Sidorenko collected the spare weaponry -- three F-1 grenades and spare magazines for his AKS-74U. After that, he left the machine right after his comrades -- he got to the control compartment first, and after that, got out under the tank through the floor hatch.
"What will we do now?" Eugene asked, bearing the intense heat, that the machine was accumulating even under its body.
"Distract them! I will shoot them with my rifle!" Sidorenko stated, and crawled closer to the front part of the machine. The rainbow ray was still hitting the tank. After recieving the command, both Eugene and Max crawled to the rear end of the machine. Sidorenko didn't look back, but when he heard a few gunshots, he understood, that it was the time. When the rainbow ray dissapeared, he sprang from below the tank, and opened rapid fire towards the group of ponies. Two alicorns didn't notice him in time, and created another forcefield too late to deflect all of the bullets. As both were hit, the fresh forcefield disappeared, and alicorns fell on the ground. After that, Sidorenko quickly aimed the six ponies, that were hovering above, and opened fire for another time. In a few seconds, all their bodies hit the floor with a loud thud. After that, the rest of the crew ran towards Sidorenko.
"Max, check the bodies! They can still be alive! I will contact the airborne troops!" the commander ordered, and ran towards the tank. As he tried to climb on its armor, he felt that it was still hot -- he burned his hand, and with a loud hiss, backed off.
"Guess that we'll have to wait for a little bit!" Eugene chuckled, "Still, that was some strange shit, if you ask me!"
"Sure thing it was! What's up with the bodies?"
"All of them are alive, cap," Max reported, "However, they won't harm us now. Applying bandages."
Sidorenko walked to the group of ponies, that were laying on the floor. He quickly recognised three Princesses -- Luna, Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. He sat on the floor, looking curiously on them. Their faces showed only the immense hatred, however, he chuckled on that.
"Well... How does it feel to attack your own civilians? I don't know. But you certainly do know," Sidorenko smirked, and fished out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket. As he lit it up and smoked, he looked at the Princesses again. "The Princess of the Sun, the Princess of the Moon and the Princess of Friendship. How ironically -- three creatures, that should protect any creature from evil, became warmongers..."
"You won't... Go away... With this..." Celestia said weakenly, and coughed.
"No. YOU won't," Eugene smirked, while Sidorenko got up. As he looked around, he saw that the airborne troops, that the machine had left behind in the rage of the fight, were catching up.
"You smell that? Gunfire, sis. Nothing else in the world smells like that. That strong, gunpowder-y smell... Once, we were storming a town... I thinke it was called Appleoosa, or something like that... We were firing at it for twelve hours, after you'd raided and killed evryone in one of our convoys. And, when we entered the city... We saw that nothing was left of it. No corpses of ponies, too. That smelled like... Victory," Sidorenko said to the Princesses and got up. As he saw through the broken window, the sky was grey and filled with smoke. "Once... This war will end."