The Last and the Brave (IC, see OOC thread first)

[Crysuko]

Many of the beleagured militia defending the town were happy to have reinforcements, even if foreign ones, arriving. A supply line had been set between the MOB area and the town, so troops and supplies could be pushed.

The first order was for the engineers to help bolster and set up new defenses, then heavy gun emplacements and bunkers.

"it's a terrible thing, comrade. to see a place that may have been a good living space reduced due to such a brutal, twisted enemy" lamented one soldier to another
"I know" sighed his friend in return "while we have recieved word that other nations are operating to breach the barrier, what if we cannot?" He asked grimly "will this all be for naught".

His friend paused for a moment "when we encounter it, the science division will do their damndest to get as much information from it was possible. and they have never failed us, it's just another challenge to overcome" He shouldered his weapon "just you wait and see"

[Ranoria]

In his conference with the War Council, Villus was able to secure the arrival of drone tanks, flamethrowers, and a larger amount of napalm along with a few dozen 50 cal sized rail guns.
Until that arrived though, planes began pouring flaming napalm onto the barrier in hopes that it would sink through.
Infantry manning the new defenses began chatting.
"Damn, this sounds like the shit my daughter watches on cartoons."
His friend laughs. "My god, we're going to get PTSD attacks sitting with our kids watching damn My Little Pony!"

[Montesardo-East Adanzi]

-DELETED-

[Ranoria]

Written with approval of Equestria and Karai

3rd Montesardi Engineering Batallion
50 km away from the barrier near Kharv
Kharv Rural Plains

With the dirt rumbling behind the tracks of numerous dark camouflaged personnel carriers, some ponies stuck their heads out, observing one of the tan coloured heavy tanks hauling the Lubyakan artillery piece that was lent to them. Above them flew two helicopters, still giving the impression that the Montesardi remained in the 1980s. Regardless if the equipment in question was outdated or not, the ponies, gryphons, zebras and of human origins who formed part of the force seemed properly equipped.

So closely followed Deputy General Alistar in a helicopter right above the scene, with the troops ordered to halt. The vehicles stopped, the soldiers they protected got out quickly and swiftly in a blurry array. Soldiers quickly ran to set up the artillery piece with one of the helicopters dropping the giant opal boulder into the ground. Several unicorn ponies assisted into placing the boulder near the artillery piece awaiting orders.

Alistar looked into his binoculars, writing down his observations on a small electronic pad to his side. The report was to be sent immediately to the Office and the Arcane Science division so they may make purposeful analysis regarding the thing. He bit his lip a bit, scratching the back of his well kempt mane as he continued typing away at the pad. He turned to a unicorn mare that accompanied him to his side in the helicopter, offering her his cap to hold. “May the heavens… I’ve never seen something so… big… Truely, that opal rock will see it’s match no doubt.”

The mare nodded, her magical blue aura holding the cap in place. “Indeed Sir, I’d be surprised we’ll even manage to make an impact on it…”

“Nonsense! It’ll fall down soon enough, and I think we’re the key to its downfall. See, we basically have the megaspell equivalent of a bypass spell!” Alistar said with a cheer, still making annotations to the tablet. “If hit with the precise elevation… sufficient fire crystals to maintain the resulting blast and… hmm, a little help of a magical spark and that should be enough to fire the damned thing to Taturas!”

The unicorn mare tilted her head in confusion to the explanation given to her. It seemed too far-fetched to be fully credible. “And just how that counter the magic emitted from the barrier?” She questioned the general.

“Ahh, but it is of basic magic, Sergeant. In theory, a bypass spell uses the energy emitted from the castor; in this case, the opal boulder, and uses it to intercept and counter the effect of the original castor.” Alistar said with a nod. “I’m hoping that our bolder there helps us get the spell past level five energy levels, hopefully crippling the source of it, if not making it explode!”

“And this will work, my General?”

Alistar laughed. “Indeed, to some sort of effect… We’ll just have to wait and see…”

Meanwhile on the ground, unicorns using their telekinesis started assembling the Lubyakan artillery battery while the others placed the opal boulder near it. They continued assembling the steel parts of it, while another group made major modifications to its design, giving it a ferocious, if not a terrifying appearance to those who saw it. The soldiers took their time in finishing the modifications done to it. It seemed nearly ready to be fired, excluding the fact that the opal material still needed to be mounted. Between ten unicorn ponies, the opal boulder was locked in position, glowing in a black haze as it sat in place. Some roars of armoured vehicles soon passed nearby their own, their allegiance unknown to the Montesardi, but some waved them a farewell.

Alistar’s helicopter arrived just in time to see the attack ordered. He trotted, his tail swishing about carelessly as he approached it. With a smile, he levitated his cap back on and nodded in approval to the assembled troops. “Attention!” He ordered them all, to which they all stood firmly, saluting him almost immediately. He motioned his hoof to order them to stand down, which they did almost harmoniously. “Very well, gentlemen, glad to see everything is in order… However, the time to act is now. I need three ponies to send a spark towards the opal rock and another one to be at ready to fire when I say.” Four ponies nodded quickly and scrambled into positions. Alistar nodded approvingly, extracting his sword from his side and leaving it pointing at the pinkish glow of the barrier. “At ready!” Three shots from the horns of the unicorns shot into the opal, making it glow red, as if it were engulfed in fire. Alistar noted this, throwing his sword immediately down. “Fire!” He shouted at the top of his lungs as the last pony pulled harshly down on a lever.

The guns barked as one, the propellant charge sending an arc of iridescent lightning through the sky, as the heavy artillery guns dug into the soil behind them. The bolts arced together, linking back to the opal, and merging into one great beam that slammed into the barrier. A bright light streamed back from where the beam and barrier met.To the ponies manning the battery, it was as if some cosmic entity had turned the contrast on the world to maximum. Energy dripped from the stream as it dug deep into the glowing pink dome, and bolts arced away from the impact point. The barrier groaned as the beam continued, and a crack like a calving iceberg shot through the air. The barrier shuddered once more, iridescent lighting rippling up its length, clashing and mixing with the bubblegum pink of the barrier. With a deep groan and ever so slowly, the barrier began to retreat upon itself.

The soldiers, stood back up after the wave it sent tumbling back after it impacted with the barrier. Alistar, however, remained standing firmly upwards, drawing his sword back into its corresponding holster. The Montesardi gazed at the blast with their eyes wide open, some so confused as to what exactly happened. It was obvious that the blast would have been heard far away as some of the vehicle swayed back and forth. Some ponies cheered while others remained shocked with the blast, their eyes blinking.

Yet, the light began to fade. The linking streams of energy flickered and died, and the beam itself soon narrowed and weakened, until it blinked out of existence, leaving only a thin stream of smoke emanating from the gun barrels behind. In the distance, the barrier groaned like a wounded beast. The barrier itself had been driven back several hundred meters, and it seemed as though there was a deep scar in it now...but it was still there.

The cheers were soon met with wails of defeat, the ponies and soldiers staring at the job they did. Many hung their heads as they saw the barrier remain intact, some throwing themselves at the ground. Alistar, however, didn’t see this as defeat, just as another step of his mission. And the mission he had was not done yet…

MiG 1.44/MFIs are being deployed to help your efforts along with Apache Helicopters. If you can open the scar again we'll give them hell.

[Allanea]

To Her Divine Highness Luna, Mistress of the Night, Princess of Equestria and Princess Regnant of the Principality of Princess Luna, Greetings.

Dear Cousin,

I am happy to receive your message. As you know, the Free Kingdom Armed Forces have already dispatched a naval contingent, as well as five tank divisions (currently designated as the 1st and 2nd Karai Tank Corps) to deal with the problem of this 'Equestria' as its 'Equestrian barrier'. Our current scheme is to bombard the Barrier with anti-magic munitions. Once it comes down, it will expose 'Equestria' to fire from our naval and aviation assets, which will hopefully enable us to directly engage 'Equestrian' assets down to the entire depth of the Front (including 'Canterlot' itself) with precision-guided munitions.

For the purposes of solving this particularl problem, I authorize you to utilize the following assets:

1. The 66th Imperial Guard Division, which is armed with the T-95 main battle tank and the BMP-3AL IFV, and is composed of Reichskamphenite soldiers mainly, lead by the flower of Reichskamphenite nobility.

2. The 21st Imperial Guard Dragoon Division, which is a mechanized infantry division utilizing a combination of the T-95 and BMP-3 (albeit obviously in somewhat different proportions), mainly composed of ethnic Psychotians (once again lead by Reichskamphenite noblemen, however).

3. The 179th AVF Regiment, organized as a Motorized Infantry regiment on wheeled WUAF IFVs. It will be an excellent solution to many problems you may encounter after your inevitable victory. It is of course composed of Allanean nationals. Given your knowledge of the AVF and its previous involvement in the Greater Prussian Civil Wars, I am sure you realize the many opportunities that the use of this organization provides.

Furthermore, I would like to gift you a set of saddlebags, produced by the Leyfield Workshops (you may have encountered their products under the label of "Leyfield Arms"). They are themselves produced from a carbon-fiber compound, enchanted by our wizards, and decorated with a subtle mithril clasp, though not excessive and permitting field use. In addition I wish to annouonce that the Leyfield Workshops are working currently on a series of magical items for use by the Prussian dignitaries, including yourself. As these are very powerful items, they will take a while to complete.

Finally, if you require my assistance or endorsement in terms of any kind of public relations effort related to defending the reputation of Harmonism in particular, and ponies in general, I am always happy to turn out if needed.

Sincerely yours,
Cassiopeia.

OOC:

This constitutes a written permission for the player behind Princess Luna to roleplay these three units and all characters within them, as if they were their own.

[Crysuko]

some time after the first wave of reinforcements had arrived, a disturbing transmission was recieved by the occupying Crysukon troops.

"Attention human occupiers and any recinforcements, come to the ponification camps or..or we will propel the gas directly at the town you are occupying!" it said, before falling silent. Every soldier who heard it turned pale. "GAS!" yelled one of them "THEY'RE GONNA USE GAS!"

At once, sealed combat suits, gas masks and other hazard equipment was distributed, but part way through the panic, a rolling cloud was spotted coming towards the town like a chemical spill. "from the northwest!" called someone "Evacuate that area!". An evacuation order for that entire sector went through, many escaping a horrible fate in the nick of time. Eventually, much of the northen half was covered, though because of the friendly forewarning, all Crysukons were accounted for. But all the townspeople.

Several Hours later, once the fog had lifted...
Still wearing hazard suits and gas masks, a brave group of soldiers were sent in to where the fog had formed, and after only a brief search, several ponies were found.
A few members of a search party approached a converted one...
"who are you? do you remember your name?" asked one of the troops nervously
"who I was doesn't matter" came the saccherine reply "I'm a pony now. Superior! able to take on all the world!" They said, leaping up "join me, won't you? there's room for everyo-"
*BANG*

[Alduinium]

Written collaboratively with Princess Luna

The moment Alduin had received the letter and read it thoroughly, he had immediately teleported himself onto the disclosed location. Soon enough, a massive blue orb of energy would appear in Coltchester, exactly at the coordinates given. “You called for me, Vulon Kulaas?” He simply said, as he begun to take in wherever he had teleported in.

The destination was a courtyard in a smallish castle, six sided, with high towers and sloped roofs surmounting them, coloured in the patterns of the elements of harmony. A crystal tree shone with moonlight in the centre of the courtyard, and most of the lights seemed to be fire or candlelight, it was dark in the Principality, the time difference rendering it night. A set of doors made of gilt brass set with windows opened, and Luna stepped out, lifting off on her wings to become airborne, drifting down to about eye level with the World Eater, she swirled up a cloud to perch on and smiled, “Thank you,” she said, settling, “for coming, especially at such short notice. Welcome once more.”

“You’re welcome, how could I possibly ignore a call for help from the daughter of the night?” The large blackened dragon spoke, his voice alone seemingly otherworldly in nature. “So, you wish to speak of the. . . conflict, in Karai, and remove both the barrier and your impostor? Well, the former is already being dealt with by the Lubyakans and the rest of the. . . ‘coalition’, so to speak, the latter, on the other hand, we have yet to discuss.” Alduin in truth was unsure what to think of the impostors, or for that matter, how they compared to their real counterparts. Certainly they were no more omniscient than the beings they pretend to be, though they were more than likely a large threat regardless, more than likely the reason Luna wanted to speak with him.

“That is so,” she said, “I expect that they may be able to do much to remove the barrier, but it cannot hurt to have our contributions in that matter, but, presuming success, at some point we will need to hold those involved to account, and we would think it best to have all the help we can to do so. You know as well as I do that while they may be able to control territory or end a regime, mortal soldiers are rarely able to actually contain an archmage, let alone two or more.”

“Well, my contribution has already been made in the form of 155mm artillery, but a personal touch couldn’t hurt.” He began once again. “Of course, mere joor rarely survive in confrontations with gods, and sending gods like ourselves to capture them, dead or alive, would be very good both for uplifting the people of Karai, as well as keeping the impostors away from the less sane members of this so called coalition.” His tone turned to one of disgust as he mentioned the coalition again.

“I can see why you might think that, obviously I would never speak against the sanity of the estimable members of the Karai Liberation Coalition whose crimes against humanity, equanity, sanity, and fashion sense have never been proven,” she said, with a knowingly sarcastic smile, horn glowing lightly, a pair of tables appeared, of radically different sizes, a cup of tea and biscuits appearing on the smaller one closer to her, “Would you care for any sort of refreshments?” she asked.

“Heh, I would not be so negative if half of them were at least competent.” He said, the draconic equivalent of a frown on his face. “By the Nine, every army belonging to this so called ‘Anti-Ponyist Union’ has done little of actual use in this conflict, that damnable Ranorians wanted to use an iron wall to break through the barrier, an Oblivion forsaken wall to try and smash through the barrier!. . . Mead please.” He ended his small rant on the seeming uselessness of his ‘allies’. “At least the Lubyakans and the Kriegsherr have proven to be quite competent, those Karaians aren’t half bad themselves.”

“I think they’re thinking of ancient Sidhe. Clearly I should mime being allergic to iron,” she said, yelping and flinching from a spoon playfully, “around them, in order that they pursue this line of to its logical conclusion,” she said, as she summoned a bowl of Imerian mead the size of a small family car onto the other table. “But yes,” she waved a hoof over the pond before the tree, an image of the distant Montesardi attack on the barrier, “It seems that an attack is presently underway,” she said, watching as it was driven back, “there is some success it seems,” she said, as the barrier was driven back a little way.

Alduin had to suppress a small chuckle, or the Alduinic equivalent as he saw Luna’s spoonplay, instead drinking a small amount of mead from the rather large bowl, somewhat reminiscent, though much smaller, than the ones he was used to. “Yes, I received the reports earlier today, quite surprising that the smallest military has already had the most success out of all of us.” He said, another quick drink shortly afterwards. “So, when do we begin our own ‘offensive’, into Equestria?”

“I think we need to learn more about the situation, it seems,” she paused looking at the Montesardi offensive, “that our friends from oil-country are having the most luck, so far, perhaps we should pay them a visit?” she asked, “If you’re definitely interested, I’m surprised, I must say,” she said, “very few people would be willing to immediately put themselves out there like this.”

“Very few Dovah would refuse an opportunity to join in combat, especially not with and against other beings worthy of respect, and especially not in an environment which has deprived us of such combat.” He, somewhat boastfully told the Moon Princess, drinking more of the mead. “Now then, let us speak with our Montesardi allies, certainly they’ve already contributed far more than the rest of us combined.”

[Equestria and Karai]

The City of Kharv was bustling with infantry, situated all across the city. Grenade launchers, HMG's, mortars, and other such weapons were placed in buildings, along with their accompanying infantry squads. A small armored brigade stood in front of the town, now firing at the massive horde of newfoals that approached. The horde, as with all that came before it, was endless and seemingly undisturbed by the idea of marching into the gunfire that now flew around them, ripping several of their members to shreds. It was this lack of regard for self-preservation that made them easy targets. It also made them a terrifying force of seemingly endless horror, unwilling to stop fighting so long as they convert another human into a pony just like themselves.

It was as they reached the outskirts that their potions, as well as the terrible gas behind them, began to affect the Karaians. Their fighting vehicles, those not NBC protected, had already begun to fall back, their crewmembers putting on gasmasks to avoid a horrid fate. Most of the Karaian forces already stationed at the buildings had their own gasmasks, continuing to fire at the hordes below them, careful to dodge any flasks thrown at them. Those unfortunate enough to be hit were quickly killed mercifully, a single bullet to the head ending their soon to come misery. The Newfoals continued to march onwards, throwing potions at whatever forces stood in their way. Little did anyone know that they were little more than a precursor to the actual enemy that would soon follow shortly afterwards. The use of magical artillery had made the barrier cry a bizarre cry, seemingly stuttering backwards slightly as a result. It had not destroyed the barrier, but it certainly had caused some damage. It was clear that Equestria would have to resort to drastic measures soon enough if they wanted their barrier intact.

[Allanea]

ARTILLERY IS THE GOD OF WAR.

DEITIES ARE A FORM OF MAGIC.

THEREFORE, ARTILLERY IS MAGIC.
~~Ranisath nos Feanor

Behind the Allanean lines, hundreds of men pulled on gas masks and NBC protection suits, alerted by their radios to the new weapon used by the invaders. Those already on board armored vehicles and tanks did not require even this warning, as all Allanean IFVs were, of course, utterly NBC proof. In their ready positions, self-propelled cannon and MLRS launchers already began elevating their launch tubes and their barrels into position. UAVs and observation blimps, hovering over the Allanean camp, give notice of the location of the advancing newfoal horder.

But they were not the only ones to do that. Hundreds of BMP-3 vehicles - the standard IFV in Allanean use - began to elevate their main gun barrels as well. The BMP-3’s main gun was itself a tool for indirect fire. These particular guns have been made, in fact, not in Allanea, but in Lubyak, rolled and forged in the forges of Erotan Heavy Engineering, ten centimeters from one side of the barrel to another, capable of launching a shell at a distance of over six kilometers away. It is now time for them to shine.

“First battery! FIRE!”

The howitzers - Coalition-SV dual-barreled howitzers - rock on their tracks as they begin to fire. The work of the gunners is simple - point to a location on the map, and the gun reorients itself, tap a confirmation menu on the screen, and the gun begins to fire. Behind them, in the gun’s mechanism, a new shell is automatically fed into the barrel, and again - BLAM! - another shot! And another!

Soon, it is not possible for anyone in the camp to even hear themselves talking. The numbers are merciless - between then five divisions have two thousand vehicles capable of giving indirect fire with a caliber of 100 millimeters or higher - hundred of IFVs, dozens of self-propelled guns, almost twenty heavy MLRS per division. And all of these are firing, and firing, and firing. It will take about five minutes for the vehicles to run out of their onboard ammunition, and require reloads - but in that time, they produce a truly obscene how. Grey, sweet-testing smoke hovers over the camp, the smoke of hundreds and hundreds of cannon continually giving flame.

Out in front, where newfoals are, the shells are raining down. Shells of every time. Thousands of HE-F shells, peppering the field with shrapnel, even the tiniest 100mm shell engineered to fill 600 square meters with deadly metal. Howitzer rounds detonating overhead, peppering the field with flaming white phosphorous. Mortar rounds coming in without a single sound, not even whistling as they fall in among the newfoals.

Then, the MLRS rockets come, detonating far in the sky overhead. For a mopment, the sky is darkened with hundreds of explosions - and then the submunitions begin to rain, over a hundred on board each of the heavy rockets, dozens of thousands in total, sowing the field with death. And still it is not over.

Arcing across the sky, the rockets come - sixteen tactical ballistic missiles, screaming in from back at the rear camps at Marinska, they detonate overhead, the first stage of each rocket shot away as they scream down - and then more explosions, still overhead. Each of the rockets carries submunitions, each is designed to cloak a single square-kilometer grid square in fire and death


And as this artillery fires and fires and fires, the Allanean tanks begin to leave their camp. Not all of them are even leaving - only two divisions’ worth of tanks, one headed to the left side of the newfoals,’s rush, and one to the right. Their engines are roaring, their tracks are devouring mile after mile of land. They are in a hurry.

[Equestria and Karai]

Co-authored by Lubyak
RES Light in the Darkness
South of Karai
Approaching Lubyakan 14th Carrier Action Group

---

It was time to strike. The enemy was bringing in far more forces than the Goddesses had ever anticipated, and it was clear that the snake’s head had to be cut off before it could begin to poison the beauty of Equestria.

Inside the carrier Light in the Darkness stood what looked like thousands of pegasi, all inside the massive carrier which carried both them and slightly more conventional weapons of war. In each of their hands stood a SMG of sorts, some carrying an LMG as well. All in all, the Equestrians had a very outdated look to them, dressed in uniforms more befitting WWII paratroopers than a modern fighting force.

“Ladies and Gentlecolts, today marks the first military action of this fine Air Force against those insufferable human scum, and today marks the first action of this lovely division,” The 1st Airborne’s commander began to shout at them, his voice heard throughout the large ‘hangar’. “In less than thirty minutes, we will get out of this hanger, we will fly onto the enemy ships, and we will break their sailors and ships until they’re all lying at the bottom of this Goddess-forsaken forest, and I don’t care if they’re the sons of Discord, or the greatest goddamn fighting force in the multiverse, they will drown in a pool of their own blood, and get a belly full of lead before we’re done here, am I right Airborne?”

“Sir yes sir!”

“I said, am i right airborne!”

“SIR YES SIR!”

“Damn right I am, T-minus ten seconds to launch!”

It was in these ten seconds that the pegasi all stayed silent, at most asking for the Goddess’s blessing as their carrier’s hangar slowly began to open, massive side doors. When they ended, all hell was more than likely about to break loose.

LNS Andraste
South of Karai
Approaching the Equestrian Barrier

---

“Launch! Launch! For the love of God just launch!” the tower control screamed in his ear. A quick glance over at the launch officer confirmed that he was good to go, and Ensign Kara Briggs pushed the throttle of her Ro-15 up, just as the Andraste catapulted her jet forward. G-forces pushed her against her seat, and she felt the always present ‘fall’ when the plane’s wheels left the carrier’s deck. Soon enough though, the thrust from her engines overpowered the mere force of gravity and the fighter roared skyward.

The Equestrian airship dominated the sky, surrounded by smaller vessels. The Navy had grown complacent with the calm waters and appearance that the newfoals were the only foes the enemy had to offer. When radar spotted this...monster leaving the barrier, it had been a panic. The flight decks and hangars were full of strike craft preparing for easy bombing runs against ground targets, not engagement against large airborne ones. Only a few fighters were even ready to launch, and those few were soon alongside her, rising into the sky to meet their new foe, while the Andraste itself turned to run. She could already see the puffs of white smoke from the Direwolf and Gryphon as the two escort cruisers began to lob their heavy anti-air missiles at the enemy. Whether they would have any effect was another story entirely.

“Hound Dog Flight, this is Hound Dog Actual, report in, over,” a call crackled over Kara’s radio. Even now, her flight leader managed to be calm and collected, even as their six fighters raced alone towards the Equestrian airfleet.

One by one her fellow squad mates reported in, until it was her turn. “Hound Dog 5, Carrot Cake, in the green, Actual,” she said. “Orders, sir?”

“Keep tight boys and girls,” it echoed back at her. “Set your missiles for shaped charge rather than shrapnel,” he ordered. “Big things only fall harder.”

“Sir, I...uh...I’ve got a visual on something,” Hound Dog 3 interrupted. “One of the uh...airships, the carrier looking one is...uh...oh, shit.”

Kara didn’t need an explanation. She saw well enough what was pouring out of the airship’s hangar bay: pegasi, hundreds of them. All diving towards the carrier, and them.

“Hound Dog Actual to Andrew Actual, you’ve got guests incoming!” she called out, as she rolled her fighter hard to avoid the first pegasus that swooped past her. She heard a sharp ping and quickly glanced to her side, where there was the unmistakable sign of a light bullet impact on the canopy glass.

“Let them worry about themselves, Carrot!” Actual called out. “All Hound Dog aircraft, switch to shrapnel charges and go loud! Thin ‘em out and let the big guns deal with the ships.”

Kara didn’t have to be told twice. Her computer systems almost rebelled at the sheer number of targets available, but a few tweaks had it looking for clusters rather than individuals. Years of training to fight the Herdite pegasi swarms had made air to pegasus combat a bit of a Lubyakan specialty.

“Fox one!” she cried out, as a missile lept from the underwing racks into the swirling herd of pegasi diving down. “Guns, guns, guns!” she added a moment later, as she pulled down hard on her trigger, sending a steady stream of 30 mm cannon fire into the same horde. Somewhere to her right, a flash of light and cloud of acrid smoke, quickly followed by a parachute drifting down marked where one of the Hound Dogs had gone down. Streaks of white crossed with flashes of cannon fire as the fight raged on, and pegasus bodies fell alongside the burning hulks of fLubyakan fighters.

---

The Pegasi were no strangers to fighting fighters, even if these fighters were far more high performance than those seen by any other nation they’ve encountered. They fired SMG bursts at them, often a few dozen trying to latch on and kill their pilots to render them useless. Of course, the fighters were not the target, the target was the naval forces of Karai and her allies. The ungodly horde of Pegasi attempted to dodge any incoming fire, spreading out to avoid the excessive casualties caused by airburst explosions.

The Karaian ship, a dozen smaller Osa’s and a single Slava, fired their AShM’s as the carrier as their point defense guns spewed hot lead onto the incoming hordes. The 1st Naval Fleet tagged alongside the larger Lubyakan fleet, hoping to have been of service. Now it seemed they were up against a new form of horde, a thinking horde.

“They’re going for the carriers!” Kara said, as she yanked hard on the stick, pulling her fighter into a tight spin. The pegasus who had tried to grab onto her tail structure couldn’t hold on through the g-forces, and spiraled off--hopefully with a broken wing.

Half of her squad was down, their planes ripped to shreds by small arms fire, or torn apart by pegasi landing on them. This attack was no newfoal raid. They were different. In the distance, the airship armada they had launched from was still moving forward, positioning itself while the pegasi swarm ground down their defences.

A pegasi drifted towards her, and Kara pulled the trigger. A red cloud joined the others as it flew right into the path of her cannon shells. “Balls...Andrew Actual, this is Hound Dog 5, I’m out of shells. Winchester, Winchester!” she called out over the radio.

“Confirm, Winchester Hound Dog 5,” her traffic controller called back. “Orders are to high tail it too--”

Far below, Kara could see a bloom of orange fire roar up from the carrier’s flight deck. From this high up, she could hardly make out details beyond the swerving wakes of the ships, the streaks of missile and CIWS fire, and the clouds of flak thrown up as the cruisers and destroyers turned to their guns to help them.

“Come in Andrew Actual, I did not receive,” she called out, her voice trembling. “Andrew Actual, this is Hound Dog 5, repeat, over.”
“We’re alive down here Hound Dog,” the traffic boss came back, before falling into a coughing fit. “We’e got pegasi on our decks. They managed to blow the ones ready to launch. Fall back to 2nd Carrier Action Group and reform.”

“Roger, Andrew Actual,” Kara replied, shifting her position, and opening up on the throttle. A pegasus would alway be able to outturn a fighter, but a fighter could nearly always outrun one in level flight. “We’ll be back.”

The Pegasi continued their offensive, wanting to either capture as many enemy vessels as possible. On the Karaian side, already two of their twelve Osas’ have fallen prey to their foe, one scuttled before it could be turned against its former masters. The other was not so lucky, its crew killed and the ship secured by the Equestrians within minutes. Its two AK-230 guns now swiveled themselves towards the nearest Lubyakan ship and commenced firing, hoping to riddle the entire hull full of 30mm shells and cause as much damage as possible. It’s last remaining AShM, a Termit, was then fired at the Karaian Slava class cruiser. With its point defences occupied with the pegasi, and its missile racks long empty, there was nothing the crew of the ship could do but watch as their own missile roared into the side of their hull, and blew the ship apart.

All the while the pegasi begun to play hell with their enemies, Equestria’s true fighters came into play soon enough. They were strange, pusher propeller designs, clearly looking 50 years out of date. However, their looks belied their real performance, eerily similar to that of a multirole. Their armament matched that of a multirole as well, multiple missiles for air to air and air to ground combat visible below their wings. Along with four 20mm guns, it was clear that these were some terrifyingly well armed fighters, as demonstrated when a single squadron fired their Air-to-Ground missiles at one of the Lubyakan cruisers defiantly spraying flak and cannon fire into the new enemy, a violent explosion vaporizing most of the hull, leaving only two shattered husks of what was once a proud escort cruisert. What seemed like a simple enough mission for the Lubyakan naval forces was now quickly turning into a nightmare.

[Lubyak]

Written with approval from Equestria and Karai
138th Rotanan Siege Regiment
Near Kharv, Karai
Operation Petard

---

The front was still nearly thirty kilometers away, but Justicar Tatyana Romanova’s vision was still dominated by the seemingly endless height and breadth of the Barrier. A brilliant pink wall of light, it glistened and sparkled in the sun, stretching up into the heavens and as far as she could see in either direction to her left and right. For the past three years, it had advanced steadily in from the sea. No one had even seen what lay on the other side. All the Karians knew was that it had steadily advanced across their lands for three years, and nothing could stop it. They fought as hard as they could, but even the greatest victories were pyrrhic, as the barrier advanced, relentless as a glacier.

Today it stopped.

Here reverie was broken by the characteristic twin booms of a Lubyakan howitzer firing. The initial fire was followed by a cacophony of accompanying roars as the rest of its battery joined in the bombardment. Whether they were commencing the daily attempt at breaching the barrier through sheer weight of fire, or merely a desperate company of Riflemen in Karv calling in a strike against the newfoal swarm mattered not to her. She had more important concerns. It was obvious to everyone know that the barrier could not be broken by mere conventional firepower. Slowed, perhaps, maybe even pushed back--but not broken. Yet, breaking was exactly what she intended to do today.

“Careful,” she chided, glancing over at the beings hauling the boxes of ammunition out of the supply trucks and onto the ground beside their guns. As they finally lowered the crate to the ground with a resounding thud, and the truck drove off to deliver its cargo at the next battery, Tatyana hopped down from the top of the battery command vehicle and strode towards the guns. Even after all the years she had spent in Lubyakan service, the sight of the massive siege guns emplaced and aimed at targets tens of kilometers away never ceased to amaze her. Her skirt swayed slightly as a slight breeze kicked up, and her shoes stuck to the grass and mud that had once been a field of some kind. There was a house not far away that she knew some of the soldiers had sent up a barracks in, welcoming any respite from the rain and storms that lashed their batteries almost constantly.

“Open it up,” a grizzled sergeant said in that rough Rotanan mountain accent, half smoked cigarette drooping out of his mouth as he went at one of the crates with a crowbar. A few moments later, the rest of the gunners had gone to work, prying off the top of the crate to get at the cargo within. The instant the top popped off, Tatyana strode over, and gazed down on the shell within.

From the surface, it looked just like a normal 203 mm artillery shell. The only difference was the paint that marked its tip. Gun crews trained with everything from basic red tipped high-explosive shells to the fluorescent orange tipped tactical nuclear shells, but none of the Rotanan veterans had ever seen one with the clashing yellow, black, and red scheme before. Most of them had stepped back, and several were muttering under their breath’s as the glanced between each other. Tatyana felt a chill run down her back as she removed her glove, and lay a hand on the shell.

It felt as though all heat left her body, and she wanted nothing more to scream. Whispers filled her mind, as she screwed her eyes closed. Her hand felt like a magnet, stuck to the casing of the shell. She tried to pull away as red and black storm clouds billowed in her mind, blood red lightning and booming cracks of thunder tearing away at her. It felt like an eternity before she ripped her hand away, and opened her eyes again to the bleak, drizzling war torn field outside Kharv. It might well have been heaven itself.

“You alright, Ma’am?” the gunnery sergeant asked, cigarette long gone as he stared at Tatyana. She was used to the stares, but...this was different. Normally they were the stares of a man eyeing up a woman who’d caught his fancy, but the sergeant’s eyes were different now. His face was pale as milk, and he and his crew seemed to be keeping a great distance away from her.

“I...I’m fine,” Tatyana said, waving them off as she struggled to catch her breath. “I’m fine, don’t worry....just...just load the guns,” she ordered, as she stumbled off, back towards the command vehicle, leaving the artillerymen behind. She stumbled back across the field, before collapsing against the side of the vehicle. Her breath came in ragged gasps, she struggled to focus.

So that’s what Stone Dogs is.... she thought to herself as she finally dragged herself back to full height. She glanced back at the artillery crew, carefully placing the strange shell in the loading rack of their gun, and packing in powder behind it. They were nervous, trying to keep as much distance between themselves and whatever it was that nestled in their breech now. If it has this much effect on me....and normal humans... she thought to herself. That certain explains what happened on the Bardiche then...

With trembling hands, she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small thin wooden box. For a moment, she stared at it, eyes locked on the Judiciary symbol and Lubyakan falcon emblazoned on its cover. She hardly even paid attention as she lay her thumb on a scanner, and unlocked the box. Glancing behind her again, keeping an eye out for any approaching figures, she opened the box and removed its contents: a single black suede opera glove, studded with shards of glistening red stones along its whole length, and dominated by an intricate pattern on the back of its hand.

“Never thought I’d have to use this,” she whispered quietly as she folded up her normal glove and stuffed it into her pocket. Gritting her teeth, she slid her left arm into the opera glove, wincing as its stones scraped and cut at her skin, drawing blood. She shuddered again as her fingers reached the tip, and clenched her fist against the pain. The warm wet feeling of blood trickled down her arm, and the shards of stone still scraped at her skin. Yet, it was worth it. If merely touching the Stone Dogs shell had done this to her...she would need all the help she could get. All around her, the Allanean and Lubyakan guns fired, pouring shells into the new foal herd, while high above jets roared as the Air Troops rushed to the aid of their naval colleagues. The barrier needed to come down.

[Kreigsherr]

Cowrote with Alduinium and Montesardo-East Adanzi

23rd Fallschirmjäger Brigade, Kharv

"It sounds like the Lubyakan forces have already engaged the enemy." Siegfried shouted over his helmets comm as truck he was sitting in rolled into Kharv. The distinct sound of large caliber guns could be heard even through the armor plating on the vehicle.

" Gentlemen, lock and load." ordered the fireteam's Unteroffizier. The actions on several rifles clicking was heard as the passenger of the truck began working the controls on the minigun turret that sat on top of the truck, it's multiple barrels spinning ominously.

"Contact!" came a shout over the radio as the advance elements of the brigade pushed forward.

"Multiple hostiles attacking, fire at will." came the order from the Leftenant. The distinct thump thump sound from the autokannon of one of the Panzer IIs could be heard ahead as it unleashed 40mms of hot death on anything in its path. Even over the cacophony of the big guns Siegfried could have sworn he heard the screams of the dying.

"DISMOUNT." was screamed into his ear as the truck braked suddenly. Fumbling with the door handle for a moment he rolled out of the vehicle and raised his carbine. Two squad members moved out in front of him with their rifles raised and they swiftly ran towards the firefight while the truck moved behind them at a slower pace.

The sound of helicopters could soon be heard, their guns violently shooting, presumably towards the newfoals. They were Alduinic helicopters, in this case older Hinds still kept in service, though by no means entirely useless. Their 30mm cannons continued to fire, a clearly distinguishable noise soon accompanied by another, as 70mm rockets now flew through the skies. Their effect on the newfoal targets was more than likely quite vicious, though unseen by the Kriegsherr troops.

The squad took cover, unsure as to who the helicopters belonged to. A golden dragon symbol was prominently displayed on the tail of the helicopters.

"Whose are those?" Siegfried asked his Unteroffizier as it appeared they weren't under attack from the brutish looking helicopters.

"Recon indicates its from Alduinium, now move your ass, we need to get to the line and help hold it." growled the grizzled veteran.

Standing back out from the cover the five man squad raced down the street they were on towards the fighting.

Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard and the pink barrier they were headed towards flashed followed by a loud groan. Siegfried felt a force press against his chest. The squad stopped for a moment confused at what it could have possibly been before they turned and began to sprint towards the barrier.

The helicopters continued firing at the unseen enemy, more rockets blaring through the skies, seemingly striking their targets. “Targets still moving, repeat, targets still moving.” was their only radio transmissions that would have been recognizable to the average listener, the rest little more than codenames and military jargon unique to the Alduinic military.

"Give' em hell boys." yelled one of the squad members as the helis unleashed another salvo at the unseen enemy. Rounding a house corner Siegfried felt himself dragged down by his squadmate Hilde. Hitting the ground on his stomach, Siegfried leveled his rifle on his shoulder out of instinct looking for what could have surprised his teammate. Up ahead Siegfried witnessed a few ponies ahead. He leveled the sights on the closest one and his finger brushed the trigger when his Unteroffizier began screaming.

"HOLD FIRE, HOLD FIRE."

It was then that Siegfried realized the ponies were wearing uniforms with a symbol he hasn't been briefed emblazoned on it, the symbol being a crimson nine pointed star with a yellow border.

The pony held her firearm fixed at the human, her face full of fear and of surprise. She shivered a bit before her commanding officer ordered her to draw the weapon down. A brown earth pony mare wearing a blue beret bearing yet another nine pointed star, this time, with a phoenix over it starred cautiously at the humans wearing dark green uniforms, a rather elaborate rune pattern on them near by. “Steady now, we’re part of the Lubyakan Coaltion forces…” Captain Glasswork said. “Montesardi 12th Mechanised Engineering Company… Identify yourselves?” She ordered, her voice still cautious.

Unteroffizier Ricker stepped forward for the squad.

"We are the advance elements of the Karai Korps of the Wehrmacht of Kreigsherr, my soldiers and I are attached to the 23rd Fallschirmjäger Brigade and we are headed to the front line to assist with repelling the invasion of Kharv, what was the loud noise we heard a moment ago?"

“As are we.” Glasswork told him, her firearm still near her hooves. “And I have no idea in Taturus what the bloody heavens that was! Lest it was the general, crazy bastard should’ve been a scientist…” She said, curious as to what exactly happened.

"I see, we're here to assist in the city's defense as well. Command wants us to help reinforce the southern defenses of the city in any way possible." Ricker said before the loud blast of artillery hitting nearby by silenced him.

And that was when the fireteam saw them, a horde of the zombie like Newfoals. The ominous hum of the truck turret behind them could heard as tracer rounds lead into the oncoming horde. All five soldiers snapped their rifles up and began shooting into the Newfoals. A Panzer II rolled along side the truck and poured fire into the mindless zombies as well as the 23rd rolled into the fight under the awesome salve of the Allanean attack







Kriegsmarine Main Fleet, Karai Southern Coast

One hundred miles away from the coast the bulk of the Kriegsmarine began to slow with the exception of the Landing Assault Ships that surged forward towards the coastline at full power, the landing ships carrying the three Panzer divisions that would make up the bulk of the Wehrmacht's Karai Korps.

“Sir we have radio chatter coming from the Lubyakans, it apears they’re under attack from a large air force of pegasi who are being supported by some sort of airships.” reported the radar operator aboard the Prince Karl.

Generaladmiral Anja looked over curiously at the sailor a sight confused look on her face.

“I wasn’t aware that the Equestrians had that capabilty” said Anja as she looked at the screen. What she saw concerned her greatly though.

“I want every damn plane in the fleet in the air five minutes ago, contact the Lubyakans and tell them we’ll help as much as we can, and tell the gunnery crew to prepare their rounds, we firing ahead of schedule.” ordered the flag officer.

The Kaiser carriers became a buzz of activity as the Blutfalcon strike fighters began launching in a steady stream, as soon as an air squad was formed they poured fule into their afterburners and tore through the sky towards the beleaguered Lubyak fleet under assault.

The advance fleet of two Deutschland class cruisers and the twelve Zerstörer 2001D destroyers also surged forth to full power and cut through the ocean as they headed towards the fight on the high seas.

Meanwhile underneath the deck of the Prince Karl and the two Gneisenau battleships gunnery crews worked liked madmen as they prepared the guns for firing. each of the three dual gun turrets were loaded with a shell that had dark runes inscribed into their surface, each round having a powerful energy absorption spell woven into the 400mm round that was soon to be launched.

The eighteen main cannons of the battleships turned slowly and aimed towards the barrier.

“Cannons ready for fire on your order ma’am.” reported the XO of the ship

Anja leaned over the drone feed data that had eyes on the barrier where the rounds where aimed.

“Feuer” she ordered, a second later each gun belched fire from its end as the rounds were slung at hypersonic speeds from their rails and over the horizon towards the barrier.

[Lubyak]

LNS Cambreth
South of Karai

---

Field Marshal Alicia zu Seckendorf stared intently at the holomap in front of her, fingers crossed and lips pursed as an aide read off the reports streaming in from both land and sea. Karai was covered in unit markers now, be they the ad hoc labels for the newfoal horde pouring into Kharv, or the formations of Montesardi, Allanean, Lubyakan, Kriegs, Alduinic, and so many other scattered throughout eastern Karai. Information was pouring into the command centre of the Cambreth to be analysed and displayed for her to review.

“The 14th Carrier Action Group has been effectively mission killed,” the aide read out, reading from his electronic pad. “The Andraste has been heavily damaged, and its flight deck is inoperable. Direwolf has been lost, and the remaining vessels are falling back to our position to regroup around the 2nd Carrier Action Group,” he continued. “The Karaian cruiser Nadeje has also been lost, and it appears that the Equestrians have captured at least one missile boat.”

“The 42nd Rifle division is being heavily pressed, but is holding the line. The Montesardi and Allanean bombardments of the barrier seem to be having an effect,” a second aide added. “Justicar Romanov reports that she has begun her preparations for Operation Petard.”

“Some good news at least,” Seckendorf mumbled under her breath. “This war is not faring well.”

“It does seem as though we underestimated the Equestrians,” Rear Admiral Cavendish of the amphibious assault group spoke up. “I doubt we will be able to carry out our original plan at this rate.”

“No,” Seckendorff said, nodding. “We will not. We’ll land the rest of the 10th Shock Army and send them through the southern passes. Your Dragoons will be our quick reaction force.”

“Of course,” Cavendish said, nodding. “But how will we keep our sea lanes secure?”

“Our allies are already on the task,” Seckendorff explained as she adjusted the screen to focus on the Kriegsherr fleet. “Their aircraft and vessels are racing to the combat zone. At range, we have the advantage.”

She sighed as she glanced down at the map. A message from the Air Troops flashed back. “Though, apparently we will have to make do without any aid from our shore based aircraft,” Seckendor said, shaking her head. “Dear Justicar Romanova has seconded the whole Air Fleet for her Operation Petard.”

“Damned Justicar....” Cavendish agreed. “What the hell does she need the whole Air Fleet for?”

“Apparently to bring down the barrier,” Seckendorf answered. “If she can bring it down, she might well win this war.”

“Though,” Cavendish cautioned. “If the Equestrians waiting on the other side are like the ones we’re facing here....”

Seckendorf froze as she narrowed her eyes. Surely, a state that launched coordinated aerial raids against an isolated unit would have more on land than an endless tide of unarmed light infantry. Something would be waiting for them on the other side of the barrier, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to face it.

“This war is far from over,” she muttered, as she returned to the map.

---

The 14th Carrier Action Group had lost its war due to surprise, but lost it had. Now, the remainders of the Action Group were steaming back towards their allies, vessels smoking and ablaze, while the aerial battle continued around them. The Equestrian airfleet followed, shadowing the ruined battle group, while the fleet struggled to keep the pegasi off their decks. It was a losing battle for them. Most of the ships had already emptied their stocks of anti-air missiles in a desperate attempt to drive off the pegasi around them, and even the point defence guns were running low on ammunition. Clouds of flak still surrounded the fleet, but it was hardly thick enough to save it.

Fortunately, the 14th was not alone. What had doomed the Andraste was that it hadn’t even been able to launch its own planes in defence. Such concerns did not bother the Eris, whose own aircraft took to the sky in their tens. Fighters formed up before arcing toward the retreating elements of the 14th Carrier Action Group, while strike craft raced towards the aerial warships of the Equestrian fleet. The Lubyakan Navy had always known that they would face aerial warships, and such engagements were a well known part of the doctrine.

Even as the aircraft were forming up for their rescue attempt, the escort ships of the 2nd Carrier Action Group were prepared their own response. Most of the ships were only able to reply with anti-air missiles, but three ships at least had a different response planned. The first two were the Governor Nuskov class destroyers that formed the anti-surface escort squadron of the 2nd Carrier Action Group. Between them, they carried eight PKUS-24 Longsword anti-ship missiles. A simple change in programming, and the sixteen missiles, each boasting a two hundred and fifty kilogram warhead roared out of their launch tubes, and quickly accelerated to well over Mach 2, striking straight towards the Equestrian air fleet.

The last vessel was the Cambreth itself. While the destroyers each carried eight Longsword missiles, the Cambreth was a battleship, and carried nearly two hundred. While the flare of the missiles launched by the destroyers was a momentary flash of lightning, the continuous roar of missile after missile salvoed by the battleship was a forest fire: an endless light show, marked by pillars of smoke as the missiles left their silos, and arced towards the Equestrian fleet.

They had won the first battle. Now, it was the Lubyakan Navy’s turn to respond.

[Alduinium]

The Alduinic Navy, having previously kept itself away from the Lubyakan and Karaian forces, now found itself diverting a small flotilla of ships, along with a few planes launched from their carriers, all to defend the vital naval forces. The ANV Katariah, the first of the fairly recent Katariah class destroyers now in service, approached cautiously, the rest of the flotilla, older Jarl class frigates, following closely behind. Rear Admiral Harlia knew full well what responsibilities she was tasked with. "Keep some distance between us and the Lubyakans, begin firing AShM's at that carrier." She ordered her crew, following her orders as the flotilla's missiles now flung themselves towards the carrier.Above them, they saw the Alduinic fighters, all the modern BK-32 Naval Multiroles. They were tasked with helping eliminate the Equestrian aerial fighters, allegedly of a superior make to their own, despite the propeller design and ancient looks

Should the swarms approach, the fleet would not go down quietly. it's CIWS would illuminate the skies, hoping to kill as many pegasi as possible before they could effectively assault the ships. From there, the crews would fight till the death, hopefully at least long enough to allow for the scuttling of the ships. They could not fall into enemy hands, Harlia thought to herself, knowing full well what was at risk should such an event occur.

---

As the naval battle begun, the Alduinic artillery blissfully began its own campaign of devastation. Seated nicely behind the bulk of the fighting force, several thousand artillery and mortar pieces prepared to fire at one of two targets. Half of the regiments involved were firing at the Newfoal hordes, intent on obliterating whatever the Allanean's hadn't. The other was focused on assisting the breakage of the barrier, hopefully at least delaying if not destroying the barrier. It was with this said that a violent shaking of a thousand guns soon followed, the noise clearly heard even from the edge of Karai. These shells begun to hopefully land on their targets, chaos and destruction following soon after. It was not as impressive as the Allanean strike, though still rather impressive nonetheless.

[Crysuko]

Aircraft carrier Danuun
Several fighter wings were being sent out to scout the extent of the barrier, in an attempt to guage it's size and perhaps it's composition. An AWACS with advanced sensor equipment was also part of it. Operation Delay Line, as it was labeled would be the Crysukon research, scouting ad breaching attempts of the expanding barrier.

"Mercury 1 to AWACS, we have sighted the barrier, over. transmitting co-ordinates"
"roger that, Mercury 1, directing sensor sweeps to that location. over"

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" exclaimed another pilot "look at the size of it!"
"copy that" replied another "from what outside intel tells us, it's pretty damn solid. I'm willing to bet nothing short of a nuke could punch through it"
The 2 pilots pulled their planes next to each other "well, that's our job." said the first "we escort the sensor vehicles, and the science guys will do what they can to delay or better yet, break it"

several other sensor laden ships and aircraft probed the barrier, looking for anything that may give a clue as to what could weaken it. The finest scientific minds in the nation had been drafted into this, so it would only be a matter of time...

[Caribica]

Puerto Mercante district, Caribica City, Caribica
"...And so we bid farewell to the 15,000 soldiers and seamen who have chosen to fight the equestrian menace with our hearts open, and though all of them will not return to our shores unharmed, we must let them know either way they will return home as heroes!" President Gomez said finishing her speech as the crowd of civilians and servicemen cheered. Soldiers marched onto troop transports in colorful rows to the tune of the cheering crowd and the national anthem and set out on their journey.

OOC: I'd post more but I'm getting tired.

[Kreigsherr]

Co-wrote with Lubyak

LNS Laran
14th Carrier Action Group
South of Karai

---

Ensign Kara Briggs adjusted her flight helmet as she winged her way skyward alongside the strike force sent in to rescue the remains of her proper mothership. Hours had passed since she’d roughly stuffed it over her head that morning, and--now that the excitement of battle had died down--she had time to realise just how much it itched. She shook her head, desperately trying to satisfy the feeling that failed miserably. Groaning in frustration, she rolled her head back, finally getting some relief, and took a deep breath. Her fighter roared as she increased its throttle, and urged it slightly higher in the air. The sky was clearing from the haze that had predominated earlier, and small white clouds floated high overhead illuminated by sunlight streaming through them.

A quick glance down at her instrument panel showed nothing abnormal, and she took a moment to gaze out at the veritable armada surrounding her, desperate for something to distract her. The surviving aircraft from the Andraste had fled to the second Lubyakan carrier in the area, and--now--had regrouped. Unlike her last ship the Laran had the time to launch its aircraft and let them climb to altitude. This fight would not be like the last. Her Ro-15 was one of dozens, alongside TuF-3s and their TuF-31 strike variants. Each plane was laden as heavily as it could with missiles. The fighters carried both cannister missiles for pegasi as well as conventional warheads for fighters. The TuF-31s were laden with heavier fare, meant for the Equestrian airships themselves. Behind them, an Ar-3 orbited, its powerful radar reaching out towards the Equestrian air fleet lurking over the horizon.

“All Laran pilots, listen up, this is Backfoot,” a call crackled over the radio. “We’ve got friendlies coming in alongside us on this one. The Kreigs fighters will be coming in on your side. We will co-ordinate, over.”

“Equestrian contacts, four-five clicks,” another pilot called out. “Everyone get ready for engagement.”

“Keep an eye on those fighter,” Kara called in, even as she flipped the switches on her console, checking as the lights for her missiles went live. “They’re maneuverable, fast bastards and pack a punch.”

“Roger that Hound Dog,” Backfoot called in. “Crosslinked IFFs with the Kriegs. They should pop up as friendlies on your sensors now. Good hunting.”

---

Fregattenkapitän Wolfram felt himself pushed back into his seat as his jet’s afterburners kicked in and his fighter surged through the air. A knot slowly began forming in his stomach at the daunting task that seemed to lay ahead. The most recent reports indicated the ad-hoc ally of Lubyak had been caught by surprise by the sudden arrival of an Equestrian air fleet. None the less, having to fight a more nimble winged foe was experience Wolfram neither cared for nor relished.

“Red Iron this is Overwatch One, you have contacts at eleven oçlock and descending to two zero thousand and sixty clicks ahead, now transmitting IFF data to the Lubyakans, make sure you don’t shoot any friendlies, you are weapons hot.” came the smooth female voice from Overwatch One, the Kreigs’ AWACS plane that had been launched shortly after the fighters had been scrambled.

“Red Iron One this is Blue Fox One, I have friendly fighters on my screen and am moving to assist, good hunting.” came the voice of the flight nearest to Wolfram. The cold feeling of sweat began to accumulate down the back of the flight leader’s suit. His training officer had told him in the academy fear was a good thing sometimes, it kept men sharp and alert, so long as it didn’t make them freeze when the time came for them to act.

“Red Iron Flight this is Red Iron One switching over to weapons hot, good luck and good hunting to you all.” Wolfram said over the radio as he tried to will his fighter to go faster to help get rid of the anxiety that had come over him. The Fregattenkapitän was strapped into the naval variant of the Me 432 Blutfalke, a capable fighter that had seen extensive use against the worst horrors that Lichmoor could dredge up and use against the Kreigsherr. Each jet had been laden down with a varied loadout as the Kriegsmarine fighters had little clue as to what to expect.

Below them, a curtain of white screamed past, each tipped by a fire lit spear. The Lubyakan missile strike raced on ahead of the fighters, swinging up at the last moment, and rushed towards the belly of the Equestrian air fleet, slowly appearing in the distance.

“Blue Fox One, missile away”
“Blue Fox Three missile away”

“Red Iron Four I have contact with enemy planes, tally-ho.”

Wolfram tried to focus at the seemingly endless stream of voices that came over the radio in his helmet. Tracer fire arcing past his canopy made him snap his head to the right to see where the shots were fired from as he yanked on the control stick and sent his jet into a barrel roll dive trying to get away from the unseen foe.

“Enemy contact.” Wolfram shouted into his radio as he pushed his jet as fast as it could go as he pulled out of his dive.

“I can’t see them, where the hell are they.” came another voice of the radio as the chaos of dogfighting descended onto the Kreig fighters. Pulling back up, Wolfram pointed his fighter towards where his radar said the Equestrian Carriers were. It seemed like an eternity as he waited for it, the sound that would tell him to strike, the sound that told him he could make a difference. Wolfram heard the steady beep indicating his targeting system had locked and he flipped the switch to fire his AA missile. The scream of the munition could be heard as it arced out away from Wolfram’s fighter and screamed like a banshee towards the Equestrian’s air fleet

High above, Kara grunted as she pulled back hard on her yoke sending the nose of the Ro-15 skyward, and out of the path of the Equestrian fighter diving on her, guns blazing. Tracers whipped past her screen as she rolled over, and her nose swung up behind it. At that range, it took less than a moment for her short ranged missiles to lock on, and one more to thumb off a missile. It raced forward and slammed into the propeller, tearing the flimsy looking thing apart. She nudged her nose down, swinging beneath the wreckage.

Below her, the air battle raged on. Lubyakan and Krieg fighters darted amongst the horde of pegasi and Equestrian fighters. Streaks of white and darts of tracers stretched out from fighter to fighter, and some resulted in clouds of black smoke, fire, and shards of metal. The Lubyakan strike craft lumbered forward, doing their best to dart around the Equestrians. More than one fell, streaming smoke as they spiralled into the sea, but more than that found themselves in position, and Lubyakan missiles joined the swarm arcing into the Equestrian fleet.

[Ranoria]

Ranorian drone tanks drive through the barrier and we lose contact with them, but they were pre-programmed with their mission and equipped with more than enough weaponry to deal with the pony menace. Meanwhile the Ranorian defenses are complete and the artillery crews continue to fire, now with 5% of their ammunition magically enhanced by the magicians, allowing them to damage the barrier.
The hole torn in the barrier is small at first but soon large enough to allow a small amount of artillery and bullets from planes and helicopters to travel throughit, as men keep on firing at the edge of the hole, slowly expanding it.

[Crysuko]

Conference aboard the Aircraft carrier CSS Danuun

After several days of study, a gathering of the minds had been called to discuss the findings. Science officer Arrel Deren headed it.

"It is of no surprise to anyone that the barrier is expanding, but according to this chart, the magic it is composed of is alternating rapidly, preventing overloading by traditional means. But, team 2 proposes that a prolonged alternating electric current, modulated precisely on the sine wave could inundate it with an unfamiliar energy which could be used to overload it, or at the very least delay or put us on the path to finding out how to break through, even partially." He announced to the gathering of great minds.

"All we require is an absolute agreement, and the military will make the prepedations to carry this plan out". A vote was carried out, and it came back unanimous.

"It seems that that barrier is in for some electroshock therapy. Conference dismissed!"

[Princess Luna]

[Co-Written with MEA and Alduinium.]

Alduin had teleported himself rather closely to the barrier, the massive purple barrier now in front of him. Beneath him was simple grassland, seemingly left untouched by the devastation that most assuredly was now spreading across the continent. It was eerily calm and pleasant, almost peaceful were it not for the sounds of gunfire and artillery that could be heard in the background. He now begun to look for both the Montesardis’, as well as Luna, hopefully able to find them soon enough.

Luna bounced to a halt next to him, flapping her wings as she landed, a pair of guards alongside her, heavily camouflaged, compared to her, the Princess clad in night-blue armour that shone with a polished sheen, looking anachronistic and primitive, though the softly glowing script that spiralled across it gave it protection from modern ballistics that matched any body armour on the market, and protection from pathogens and other such menaces, while remaining visibly inspiring. It was reminiscent of the armour she had worn as Nightmare Moon, though augmented and improved, bayonet-like horn-blade visible, another long blade at her side, along with a small selection of needle-like weapons called kineblades. “Here we are,” she said, looking up at the pink barrier, squinting.

Alduin finally looked upon Luna, impressed somewhat by the armor Luna had brought. He himself had come with no such armor, his own hide quite sufficient against practically any small arms an infantryman could bring with him, and diseases were of little concern to him. “Good, now then, let us find the Montesardis’, assuming they don’t find us first anyways.” He quipped back to the princess, using his wings to begin ascending upwards to seek them out more quickly.

“We suspect,” Luna said, “that they may shoot us,” she said, “this may prove awkward.”

The Montesardi group was reorganising themselves from the attack they just launched at the barrier, most with their heads hanging in defeat. Alistar remained staring at the barrier, making quick annotations to what just occurred. While the attack itself managed to penetrate the barrier, it only make the thing go back several hundred metres. The report itself would make interesting news back to the Office, but he had still failed to bring it down. He sat in his helicopter in the meantime, meditating on the situation.

“Well Alduin,” Luna said, “You’re the tall one, anyone around?” she asked.

Alduin took a long look, his eyes sweeping through as his wings flapped. “Over there, Vulon Kulaas,” He spoke, pointing his tail towards them. “Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to them first? They’ll be less likely to shoot at you.” He joked.

“I think it’s you they’re less likely to shoot. They are here to fight a supposed Equestria after all...” Luna said, flapping her wings, taking to the air alongside him.

“Ah right, I forgot, these Montesardi may be ponies, but they are hunting princesses. . .” Alduin replied, now beginning to slowly start flying towards them, more of a glide than true flight. “Regardless, I’m certain we can both withstand a few rifle shots, artillery shells will be another matter unfortunately.”

“Well, we hear you’re good at shouting,” the Princess suggested mischievously, as they headed toward the Montesardi.

Some of the troops on the group peeked their heads up from their armoured vehicles, starting up at the approaching two pairs of wings that came to them. The ponies looked at each other and shrugged, but this caught the attention of the general, who leaped out of the helicopter to observe it. He looked at the mare who was at his side. “Sergeant? Can you radio in command for me? I’m certain no one would just casually be lying around here…” The mare nodded, to which, Alistar trotted towards the cavalcade of armoured vehicles that remained idle. He kept his eyes fixed, getting the attention of the soldiers nearby, not saying one word, simple just lifting his hoof to the air. “Be vigilant, we don’t know if they’re friend or foe…”

Luna landed and trotted across the ground, waving her wings slightly, using the infamous Royal Canterlot Voice. “We bid you greetings, and we have come far to be here, we are Princess Luna of the Nightspire, and this is Alduin World-Eater of Alduinium,” she boomed, “we come in peace and mean no harm, and are not associated with the invaders!”

“Greetings, Montesardi, I am Alduin, World-Eater,” He began in his own loud voice, one that could perhaps be heard miles across. “We wish to speak with you regarding the barrier!” He finally landed himself, dirt and dust kicking upwards as a result, the ground itself shaking for a second.

The Montesardi soldiers stared quickly at each other then at the alicorn and dragon in awe. Never had they seen an alicorn, nor a dragon, they seemed distant to what would normally be seen in the nation. One wouldn’t be surprised that several of them raised their automatic rifles to the two until the seemingly unsurprised Alistar ordered them to lower the arms. He step forward to the pony, seeming to look at the dragon with distrust. “What do you want with us?” His voice boomed as he directed the question to the winged pair.

“We wish-” he started, his voice unbearably loud, before he stopped himself “Sorry, we wish to speak to you, that’s all.” He said in a far less loud, more grandfatherly voice. It was clear that thousands of years ruling a nation had certainly done wonders for his speaking abilities, even if he was still rather awkward on some aspects.

“We are here to lend our aid to the investigation of the Barrier, and to see what aid we might lend in the battles to come,” Luna called in strident tones, picking up where Alduin left off.

“And how we be of assistance madame?” Alistar said formally in his deeply noted Nevarroan dialect, glancing a bit towards the dragon momentarily. The Montesardi kept staring at the pair with distrust, but seeing they weren’t a threat, went back to packing the artillery piece while making slight adjustments to the battered vehicles. Others went on to fool around meanwhile.

“We would like to hear from your experts how you created the success you have had so far,” she said, with a small smile.

Alistar’s ears perked, his face turning blank at the mention of “success”. “A success? Nonsense, we failed at our objective, we only managed to weaken the thing momentarily and pushed it back, nothing more.” Alistar commented, taking off his tan cap from his head to stroke his white mane. “We could’ve done better, but the Supreme Commander refused to send the big guns here, we did what we could…”

“Well, it’s certainly been more useful than the rest of the coalition’s ‘efforts’, perhaps we may be of use as well?” He added, taking a look back at the barrier. “Certainly another strike like that might cause enough damage to at least delay it further, Divines know the impostors more than likely quivered in pain with your first attack.”

“How are you sure? I mean, I did study the arcane back in military college, but I’d say this was just a stroke of luck, most of us didn’t expect it to work and doubt we’ll have sufficient enchanted runes and gems to do yet another blast.” Alistar commented, looking at the Lubyakan artillery piece. The thing withstanded the blast it shot out, but at heavy consequences, falling apart almost immediately after the blast.

“Perhaps, but you’ve had more success than anyone else as of yet, and we would be interested to know your techniques,” Luna said, looking up to Alduin, “Would it be possible for us to observe?” she asked.

Alistar nodded. “With pleasure…” He also noted that he didn’t officially introduce himself or the others, but it was thanks to the confusion the arrival the two brought along. “Before I show you, do mind our manners… We’re the 3rd Montesardi Engineering Batallion and I am General Alistar. Anyway, enough of the formalities… I have one question. What interests you in knowing how we did it?”

“What manner of magic you used, it had an effect, and that’s a starting point for working out how to make a much greater effect,” she said.

“Very well, if that’s what you wish to know.” Alistar cleared his throat and levitated his small tablet with a picture of a megaspell missile to Luna, gesturing to show it to the dragon. “See that missile? In concept, it’s what we replicated here. With the help of enchanted and refined gems, for example, a bolder of opal and a few fire crystals… We basically harnessed the power from them to overload the power of the barrier. In theory, it would have overloaded the magic of the barrier, either making it null, or going to the most volatile manner possible. This is called a magical byass.”

“Hrm, perhaps more gems would have accomplished the task?” Alduin inquired, looking at the gems Alistar held in his hand. “Certainly I can provide you with quite a few soul gems for another attempt, they might provide an extra boost.”

Luna gave him a look. “My doesn’t this whole thing make for interesting cooperation!” she said.

“Well, cooperation is the last thing I expected from this coalition!” He bemusedly stated, a quick shout conjuring up a dozen ovoid purple objects, a unsettling black energy visible within them. “And here lies the souls of those convicted of the worst crime known to joor, spare not your sympathy for them, they deserve none.” He grew grim for a second, before returning to a more jovial mood. “Shall we test them then?”

Luna pondered how to extricate the matter, she was far from content about the utilitarian ruthlessness of many of her allies, this was no different she supposed, she showed nothing but a disapproving frown as she considered, before closing her eyes, “Let’s take a look at what else we can do first,” she said.

“There’s a minor issue… Actually, a big one. See, we don’t have another artillery piece and this one is falling apart.” Alistar looked to the ponies that were welding parts of the thing back together, as if it were an old Diamante car that could be fixed with rubber bands. Sadly, it wasn’t the case here. He looked at the ponies, in response, they smiled back.

“¡No se preocupe, mi General! We’ll fix it, good as new!” Cheered a tanish pegasus stallion with a smile, another pony welding the bars together as he screwed some bolts on.

“Or perhaps, we could try again, your call?” Alistar asked the winged pair once more, his expression almost hysterical.

“I have a feeling,” Luna said, “we should see about getting more resources here.”

[Lubyak]

Written with approval from Equestria and Karai
138th Rotanan Siege Regiment
Near Kharv, Karai
Operation Petard

---

“Ma’am?” the communications officer spoke up. “We have a signal from 4th Operations Rocketry. They signal ready to begin Operation Petard.”

“Navy signals that it can not participate,” the naval liaison officer spoke up. “All available aircraft are engaging Equestrian forces in the southern waters.”

“13th Air Fleet reports all serviceable aircraft airborne, and ready to begin Operation Petard Phase 1 and 2.”

Tatyana could only nod slightly. “Good,” she said, her left fist clenched as the stone shards cut her already abused skin. The plan was coming together now. Days of bombardment from the mass of heavy guns assembled by the informal coalition defending Karai had slowed the barrier’s advance to an almost imperceptible crawl. The Montesardi bypass spell and Allanean anti-mag bombardment had done even more, driving the barrier back and--Tatyana swore--even cracking it deeply in a few places. She could feel the barrier in her very soul, and the glove only made the feeling stronger.

It was a song almost, dancing on the edge of her consciousness. One voice, with occasional additions by others. It had been strong and stable when she first arrived in Karai, but it seemed more strained now after the near constant bombardment of munitions. When the Allanean anti-mag struck the barrier, the voice had screamed. When the Montesardi bypass spell hit, it had whimpered, nearly going quiet for a moment before a second voice took its place. The second voice was nowhere near as strong as the first, and the Kriegsherr bombardment had weakened it even more. It had still yet to recover, unable to keep up with the drain of the barrier. It was all according to plan, and now she could bring the Equestrian Barrier crashing down. Closing her eyes, Tatyana stretched her gloved hand out to the barrier, and drank in the music.

She could see it. The barrier danced in her mind, its shimmering pink expanse filling her utterly, but now...she could see it as it truly was: a wall of magic, utterly impeccable in its beauty. The notes of the song whirled around it, concentrating where needed and dispersing where not, and all the while striving to expand out. The barrier was almost alive. It danced in response to the notes of the song, longing to grow and consume more. It was beautiful. The sheer amount of energy kept in check was astounding, and it was somehow able to channel away new energy inputs even more so. She was a mere student, gazing up at the work of a grand master, but...even still, if her eyes were open, she would have blinked in surprise at what she saw. The grand master’s work seemed to fall apart on closer inspection. It was riddled with cracks, blotches, smudges, and all manner of imperfections. The voice was discordant, as if it was struggling to keep pace with what its conductor demanded of it. The barrier was faltering of its own accord, the nails in its coffin half driven in already. She would just be finishing the job.

“Begin,” she whispered to no one in particular. The crew of the command vehicle lept, radioing and signalling Tatyana’s order to all the pieces of the plan. All had to move as one for the plan to succeed. Thankfully, the Lubyakan Army’s HIVE battle command system was perfect for such a plan. Meant to coordinate the movement of whole army groups on the vast Reichland plains, arranging an inter-service co-ordinated bombardment of the barrier was child’s play. Computer made orders appeared on the screens of the various parts, letting each unit know what is role was to be. One by one, they fell into place. and Operation Petard began.

---

The first units to respond were the tactical rocketry regiments of the 4th Guards Operations Rocketry Brigade. Three battalions of short ranged ballistic missile launchers pointed their cargoes skyward, each launch vehicle’s missiles tipped with the same yellow, black, and red rings within rings that marked the shells loaded into the siege regiment’s guns. Moments after Tatyana’s order had been whispered, the short ranged missiles launched, burning hot gas scorching the ground behind them as the Emperor missiles climbed skyward. Each was tipped with a strategic Stone Dogs warhead, the product of near a decade’s research into anti-magical weaponry, and the very nature of magic itself. Stone Dogs was the ultimate outcome: magic, contained by technology, and shaped to shatter the mind of a magic user caught in its blast. Operation Petard was to be the first time Stone Dogs would be used in combat, and the first time it was to be used en masse.

Even as the ballistic missiles climbed into the sky to begin the ballistic phase of their flight, the rest of the Operations Rocketry brigade opened fire. Four battalions worth of Satrap operations missile launcher operators covered their ears as they launched their war loads. Engines roared as missile after missile--nearly a hundred and fifty in all--lept from the launchers, their onboard AI’s quickly networking with each other and positioning themselves in accordance with the plan. The Army’s missiles were soon joined by their air launched counterparts, as bombers ripple fired their payloads, racing towards the barrier, each tipped with the same Stone Dogs warheads.

The last to join were the siege guns. The massive 203 mm cannons roared, sending shockwaves up and down the whole of the battery as they sent their shells arcing at the barrier. Unlike the others, the siege guns were the signal for more than just the guns, and soon every single gun the Lubyakan army’s forces could bring to bear were firing at the barrier.

All along the barrier, the soldiers of the warring armies could only stop and stare at what was coming towards the barrier. Streaks of light from the heavens met with the roaring contrails of cruise missiles, and merged with the roiling smoke and fire of the artillery shells striking the barrier as the Stone Dogs warheads detonated as one. The barrier screamed like dry ice meeting red hot iron, as a thunderhead of black formed about the impact point. Unlike the artillery shells, the black never dispersed, but stayed in place, lit only by red lightning flashing in its depths.

---

Her eyes screwed shut, Tatyana’s chest grew tight, and her breaths came hard as she kept the barrier in her mind. Whatever intelligence was on the other side of the barrier had stopped its song, and was now only concerned with holding the barrier up. The days of bombardment and precursor attacks had taken it to its limit. It could not stand now. The Stone Dog cloud boiled against the barrier, its chaotic screams of dozens upon dozens of voices clashing with the pure song of the barrier. Energy surged as the two clashed, and Tatyana saw claps of lightning and thunder roar where the two met, and repulsed each other.

Now, she thought, reaching her hand out towards the barrier. The stones in her glove grew hot, but she hardly noticed the burns they left, or the pain as the pooling blood smoked and boiled. Her whole body seemed to seize up as she let her mind be drawn into the Cloud itself, leaving her body behind.

It was chaos there. All around her dozens, if not hundreds of voices screamed and cried as they bashed themselves against the pure sound of the barrier. Some whimpered and went silent, only to revive themselves again or be replaced by new screams and cries. They longed to Reaching her gloved hand out towards the barrier Tatyana reached into the cloud with, and commanded the cloud to bend to her will.

Pain arced through her soul as they fought her commands. They longed to fly in every direction they could, but her will held them in place. They hated her for it. They resisted her every command, snapping back at her and swirling back towards her. It threatened to consume her voice in the cloud, and leave her body an empty husk. One voice in particular roared its defiance, and charged her. With a dismissive wave, she turned the charge aside and turned it back towards the barrier. Slowly, but steadily, the defiant ones bowed, and the others fell with them. Like loyal obedient dogs, they turned and--as one--hammered the barrier one after another.

It cracked. Like shattering glass, the barrier cracked, and the voice driving it cracked with it. She could sense so much more now, of whatever was behind the barrier. The voice powering it was so much more now. So much more a being, rather than a deity, and so much more vulnerable in turn. The crack grew wider, and Tatyana smiled.

There she thought, focusing the remaining voices at the crack. She spent voice after voice, thinning the cloud as she smashed them against the weak point. They whimpered and protested, but did as they were bid. The crack was wider now, more a hole than anything else, and she could see through it. Verdant green fields and farms stretched into the distance, studded with the occasional blooming orchard or pastel farm house. A beautiful blue sky hung over it all like a picture perfect backdrop. Lone clouds so pure they seemed like candy floss drifted through the sky, merging together and separating peacefully.

She was through.

“Now...just...one more....” she whispered, as she gathered all that she could, and hurled it into the hole. The black cloud vanished as it raced through the breach in the barrier, tongues of red lightning licking out of it. She heard the voice that drove and directed the barrier scream once more, before going silent. A sound like the single largest pane of glass the world had ever seen colliding with a mountain range echoed out, and Tatyana opened her eyes, back in her own body once again.

“Wha...” she mumbled, as the scent of burnt flesh drifted through her mind, still dazed by the experience, and readjusting to flesh and blood. She had only a moment to look at the blackened and burned remnants of her left arm before her whole world went black, her scream of pain a stillbirth in her throat.

---

It was when these shells struck the barrier, that an almost inhuman scream was heard, followed shortly by another. The barrier, already slowly cracking, now visibly shattered into shards upon shards, as if a massive glass dome had just broken. Equestria was no longer safeguarded by the barrier it had hid behind, now exposed to the foreign earth’s atmosphere, one that was not particularly friendly to its new guests.

42nd Equestrian Guards Rifle Division
West of Kharv
Redoubt Ave Luna

---

”Down! Down!” someone shouted, barely audible over the whistle and roar of artillery shells. The Allanean bombardment was unceasing. Shells rained down like hail, smashing into the unending newfoal herd. Yet, despite the massed artillery fire, enough survived to press against the front lines of the 42nd Rifle Division. Corporal Bright Moon glanced over the lip of her trench, and slipped her rifle over to fire several shots. Somewhere down the line, a machine gun opened up. The newfoals came on, occasional gas clouds drifting over the in spite of it all.

“There’s too many!” the pony next to her shouted. “We need to fall back!”

“No!” Bright Moon replied, popping back up again to empty her rifle’s magazine into the newfoals. She didn’t even look to see if any fell. “We need to hold. The barrier fell back! We can win this!”

The pony opened his mouth, but whatever he said was droaned out by a colossal roar. Light shone down on her, as the roar continued. The pony next to her screamed as he shook his hoof, and threw something towards her. It bounced against her legs, still hot. Bright Moon’s ears rang, as the light died down, and she glanced at the spent shell casing rested in the mud next to her. The pony next to her was staring above and behind her, eyes wide. Somehow, they went wider and he curled up into a small ball, pressing his hooves against his ears. Bright Moon glanced behind her for a second, then did the same, just as the light and roar began again.

Behind her a small tank rolled forward, turret taking up most of its green body. Its whole body was smattered with crushed grass and mud, and a large dish sat on the back of its turret, swinging idly back and forth. From the front of the turret, four small short barrels sprouted, each one blazing fire at the newfoal horde, swinging back and forth as they sent shells raking across the whole of the newfoal front. Spent shells sprayed forward like a brass fountain, sending sprays of steam up when they landed in the mud.

Bright Moon poked her head over the lip of the trench to watch the hell unleashed by the anti-air gun, turned on infantry. The newfoals seemed to be gone. Evidently the firepower of four 23 mm autocannons was too much for them.

“Come on!” she tried to shout. She could hardly hear herself, and she wove her hoof in the air as she threw herself over the trench and trotted in the wake of the anti-air gun. All along the trench, other rifleponies followed her lead, and soon it seemed like a whole battalion was on the advance.

“Forward! Come on!” she called out, her hearing slowly returning. Somewhere ahead, she saw something move across the barrier, silhouetted against the glowing pink of the barrier. Nonetheless, she pulled the trigger and sent rounds forward. “We’ve got them on--” she began, before an even greater roar cut her off.

She fell to the ground, and screwed her hooves to her head as she gazed up at the sky. Streaks of light were smashing against the barrier, atop pillars of fire and cloud. Where they hit, a black cloud spread, and red lightning forked out, rebounding up against the barrier. She screamed, as the pressure in her head skyrocketed. It was like an overfull balloon, just longing for a single moment of weakness to burst. Her eyes slammed shut, almost ready to give up, just to end the pain.

With the sound of shattering glass, the pain vanished. Bright Moon rolled onto her belly and gazed up. The barrier was shattered, shards falling to the ground in a rain of pink sparkles. Beyond lay green pastures, and high above the harsh clouds of the battlefield mixed with the blue sky of the lands beyond. She rubbed her eyes, blinking as she tried to grasp what lay in front of her own eyes.

“Follow me!” someone shouted, and Bright Moon glanced over to see some pony waving a rifle over his head. “First one to the other side gets the first bottle of cider we find!”

A roar of approval echoed up and down the battlefield as the rifleponies surged forward, their bayonets glinting in the new found sun.

[Equestria and Karai]

When the artillery struck the newfoals, it was not a very pretty sight. Hundreds were immediately vaporized by the blasts, reduced to little more than red mist and flesh. Hundreds more were gibbed violently and thrown across the fields. It was a violent and horrid display, only made more horrifying by the still surviving newfoals, no matter how broken or disfigured, continued their horrific advance, the similarities to zombies only increasing. Pain was seemingly not a factor to them, not anymore it seemed.

***

Behind the barrier of Kharv, it seemed something grand was coming. Already the noise of engines and the fluttering of wings could be heard in a mild-meltingly loud noise, drowning everything else at the front out. Before too long, thousands of Equestrian Air Force Pegasi now left the safety of the barrier, followed closely by the same fighters used in the naval conflict. The Pegasi's objective was simple, remove the enemy forces at Kharv. The Fighters' were tasked with destroying both the armored and anti-air forces of the enemy, hopefully accomplishing their task quickly enough. Before too long, a large portion of the Pegasi flew towards Kharv, intent on clearing out the enemy forces there. They were armed with SMG's and flamethrowers, both christened with an exceptional range and firepower. They had lleft mere seconds before the barrier had fallen.

The pegasi who moved towards the armored forces were armed with rocket launchers, seemingly primitive looking, but with a very cruel and long ranged punch. They intended to fly over their targets, firing at their weakest spot of armor. The squadrons of Fighters began firing their anti-tank missiles at the tanks and APC's below, intent on destroying as many as possible. A few designated SEAD fighters fired antiradar missiles at any AA unit that used Radar, hoping to eliminate their presense.

At the same time. Once the barrier did fall, an unpleasant surprise revealed itself. Several hundreds of tanks, large, ancient looking, yet clearly enchanted to be a match for their opposition, all stood behind the barrier. It was clear that they intended to push an offensive on the advance at Kharv, the falling barrier seemingly signaling their advance. They fired with an uncanny accuracy to them on the move, and a direct hit would reveal a miniature shield defending the tank, disappearing shortly after being struck with a large shell. All it all, it seemed the first ground battle of the war would begin here at Kharv, with the armies of the enemy now being forced into combat.

[Imperial New Vegas]

Captain Frank Fontaine, 14th Strategic Missile Squadron, 5th Strategic Missile Wing, Imperial Strategic Command, was bored. Like every other day on the job, today was packed full of gripping monotony interspersed with occasional periods of wondrous tedium. The most exciting moments of his day were when he went to the bathroom.

Of course, his was one job where boredom was a good thing. Frank spent his working day with his partner, Captain Andrew Ryan, in a horizontal steel cylinder eighty feet underground, about sixty miles north of Goodsprings. They were one half of the launch crew for one of the three missile clusters operated by the 14th Strategic Missile Squadron; along with another pair of gentlemen in a similar underground bunker a few miles away, eight Minuteman missiles in their concrete-lined silos responded to their command. The Minuteman was solid-fuelled, meaning it was always ready for launch, a fact that had contributed in no small part to the speed with which it could be launched, and thus its nickname.

Having two launch control centres for any given missile was considered vital- it precluded the possibility of any rogue, traitorous or insane officer launching the missiles without authorisation. For the missiles to launch, both control centers had to send the same command within a short window after receiving their orders. If only one signal was received, nothing would happen. Each pair of command centres controlled the operation of eight missiles; a Missile Squadron possessed 24 missiles; a Missile Wing, 96. In total, the Imperial Strategic Command operated nearly 500 missiles, spread across the Drug-Dealing Empire in silo farms.

Most of the missiles carried a single large warhead, but several Missile Wings had been equipped with upgraded missiles that carried three re-entry vehicles, each with a smaller warhead. These were the citybusters- though their warheads were of a lower yield, they would scatter themselves across a wide area, such as a city, and inflict more damage than a single, larger warhead. It would only take a hand-full of missiles to destroy a large city like Canterlot.

Frank yawned. The passage of time itself seemed to slow down whenever he was 'in the hole.' Though he had been on shift for less than an hour, it already felt like weeks had passed since he had descended the ladder from the surface and heard the heavy steel hatch clang shut. The artificial light and the glare of computer screens were already making him miss the sun. The heat, while not quite oppressive, was making the control room a little on the stuffy side. Andrew sat in the chair at his own console nearby, flipping idly through a magazine.

'Gotta take a leak,' Frank announced, standing up. His companion nodded, not taking his eyes off the magazine. Frank stretched his legs and walked over to the cramped toilet the planners had thoughtfully included in the underground chamber. He did what he had to do and then splashed some water on his face to try and help himself stay alert. He couldn't understand how Ryan could sit there reading the tiny print for hours on end in the relatively dim light. Did eye strain mean nothing to him...?

His train of thought was rudely interrupted by a sudden, pulsing klaxon from the main room. Despite his training, a jolt of fear and adrenaline shot through him.

'Get your ass back in here!' Ryan shouted, throwing his magazine to the floor. Frank moved swiftly back to his seat. A red light flashed on an equally red telephone handset embedded in his desk.

He picked it up. Andrew did the same with the identical handset on his console.
The wailing of the klaxon meant one of two things- either an unannounced test of the Squadron's response time was underway, or a nuclear attack was bound to happen.

'South Fork, Vulture. South Fork, Vulture.' The pre-recorded voice coming over the phone read the coded phrase that told him if this was an exercise or the real thing. Fireblade was hearing the same message. A string of alphanumerics followed, using the Equestrian phonetic alphabet.
'Alpha, Three, Seven, New Vegas, Delta, Four, Four, Bravo...' I Frank scribbled the characters down on a notepad. Andrew did the same, and then the two Captains exchanged their pads. The computerised voice repeated the code and they wrote it down again. Frank compared the two sequences written on the pad- only if both of them matched up with each other could they proceed to the next step.

'I have a valid alert code,' he said. 'Confirm.'
'
Confirm valid alert code,' Ryan said, standing up. Frank followed him and together they crossed the narrow room to the grey safe mounted halfway up the wall. Each officer wore a key on a lanyard around his neck- together they inserted them into the two locks on the safe. With a loud buzzing the safe clicked open. Andrew Ruam withdrew two large manilla envelopes and passed one to Fontaine. They returned to their seats and tore open the envelopes. Frank tipped the contents out onto his console- another key, a red binder and a plastic card.

His next task was to compare the code that was written on his notepad with the pre-printed code on the card from the envelope. He held the card next to his notepad and read off each character.
'Alpha!'
Fireblade read from his own card, confirming.
'Alpha!'
'Three!'
'Three!'
If all eight characters matched the pre-printed code, the launch order was genuine.

'...Bravo!'

'Bravo! I have a valid launch order!'

'I concur, valid launch order,' I Frank replied. They glanced at each other.
'
Launch checklist!' Frank said, opening the red folder. They rattled off the procedures necessary to arm and ready the missiles for launch.

'Insert launch codes!' he said, quickly tapping his ten-digit code into the keypad on his console. Andrew entered his own personal code into his console.The next step was to insert their launch keys.

'Launch Enable on my command!' This was the final step. Once the keys were turned, they could not stop the launch. He inserted his key into the slot and glanced over to see that Andrew was doing the same. Frank gave a quick countdown and, together, they turned the keys a quarter to the left.

The phone on his console buzzed and its light began to flash. Frank picked it up.
'Not bad, Captain. Four minutes, seventeen seconds from the klaxon to the launch sequence start.' The voice on the phone was that of the Squadron's commanding officer, Colonel Dempsy. 'Thirteen seconds under the target time. Well done to you both. This concludes the test.'

They had both known it was a test from the original coded message. Unannounced tests like these were conducted periodically to keep the crews alert and test their reaction times. They followed the procedures of the real thing as closely as possible, but at some point they had to deviate from the reality, for obvious reasons. The firing room had two safes- the grey one contained test orders, and the bright red one on the opposite wall held the real ones. Their keys opened both safes. In the kind of test they had just completed, the test safe was filled with a pair of manilla envelopes with the word 'Test' stamped on them in large, red letters. As an added layer of security, both safes emitted loud, electronic buzzing sounds when unlocked, so that they could not be opened surreptitiously. When opened, they also sent a signal to the above-ground Squadron command building which oversaw the daily operations of the missile complex. As a final precaution, the crew turned their launch keys to the left, to a setting clearly marked 'Test.' In a real situation, the keys would have been turned to the right.

Besides which, Frank thought to himself, the missiles wouldn't have launched even if we had gone nuts. It takes two to tango- the other launch centre would have had to go nuts at the exact same time. No way these missiles could get launched accidentally.

He settled down for the rest of the boring shift.

[Allanea]

Battle of the Newfoal Horde:

The two tank divisions were now rushing together, closing together on the newfoal horde from two directions. As soon as the tank crews could see the pony horde on their tanks' electronic targeting screens, they opened fire with everything they had. Tank commanders cheered and hooted, yanking on the controls of their remote weapons stations, pouring heavy machinegun fire into the horde. Tank gunners pulled the trigger again and again, strafing the ponies with the fire of their automatic cannon.

Now the Newfoal horde would be caught between the Allaneans on their right and left, and the Lubyakan 42nd division at the front. This was a trap.

*

As the fighters strafed the Allaneans, obviously Allanean air defense also opened fire. Some of the AA launchers were impacted directly by HARM missiles, catching fire immediately, while others were protected by the dug-in positions in which they stood. More importantly, not all Allanean AA positions were guided by RADAR. Each division had with in its ranks dozens of MANPAD operator, and now those MANPADs were being fired at the passing enemy fighters. Moreover, the Allaneans had many BMP-3 armored vehicles, that could and did fire their automatic cannon at passing enemy aircraft. As there were over a thousand those vehicles, soon the skies became dense with autocannon explosions.

Still, dozens and hundreds of missiles were now streaking downwards towards the Allanean vehicles. Some were shot down, or distracted by EW systems, but still quite a ew impacted, and the brackish smoke of burning armored vehicles rose towards the sky.

For the pegasi, on the other hand, the Allaneans had a very very nasty surprise. Hidden within their trenches and bunkers, the Allaneans began to fire machineguns and rifles at the passing pony warriors, who would soon discover that if they could shoot at an enemy, the enemy could shoot at them. There were thousands of Allanean soldiers below, and very soon every pegasus that ventured near the ground found themselves the target of dozens of riflemen and machine gunners.

*

As the Allaneans detected the horde of enemy tanks approaching them, it was a bit of a sign of concerned to them. Their tanks began moving back and forth, entrenching themselves in the ground with their self-entrenching blades, and their MLRS systems were reloaded with the infamous Mercury ATGM missile. Very very soon it would be time for a wholly new plan.

[Princess Luna]

Kharv

Princess Luna wished she could say she hated violence. In truth, a part of her still felt ancient anger, she had always been impetuous, and sought adventure, thereby seeking to win glory and fame. To a modern 'civilized' mind that urge was archaic. But Luna herself was archaic. She remembered a childhood of high adventure. She would not take life herself, if she could avoid it. At the first sign of the enemy assault, she swept Alduin's soul gems up for safe-keeping in an aura of night-blue telekinesis, packing them away into the pockets of her body armour, kineblades flicking out, as her guards closed in around her. Far from a division, only two were with her, but she seemed to have no desire to back down or seek safety.

Her sword flew from its scabbard, guard patterned in the fashion of Pegasus wings, a silver moon upon it, and she held it out beside her as she cantered to a decent vantage point. She was not planning to hide from battle, but neither was she aiming to throw herself madly at the enemy. She would fight with the Montesardi.

If the need arose. She still had another urge, unrelated to the one that craved adventure and triumph, and it would hardly do to fail to try it.

That urge was to protect ponies in general, and harmonists in particular. As deluded as these ponies were, it applied to them, too, and if she could on any level induce the enemy not to attack Kharv, so be it.

To defeat an enemy on the field was victory, to stop him from attacking in the first place, would be mastery.

She drove her will into the Voice, keeping back only what would be necessary to defend herself as best she could. Though to some degree she had to hope the dragon would have her back throughout this.

"CEASE YOUR ATTACK! THERE SHALL BE NO BATTLE HERE! WE YOUR PRINCESS COMMAND IT."

Her shout was perilously loud, enough to drive nearby bystanders back physically, and deafen those of weak constitution, amplified as the sound of thunder splitting the sky and more so, for a brief moment it would rival even the roar of battle, or so she hoped.

Worth a go, and if it saved even one life, worth it.