Invasion: The Fall of Equestria ('Revolution' Part Two. Open: Apply in OOC)

[Valencetiger]

O~Twilight Sparkle, in the Citadel Courtyard~

She looked down tenderly at Replica, and listened half-heartedly as Doppleganger made his explanation. "Yeah...yes, of course, Doppleganger. We can discuss it at the meeting today, okay?" She looked up at the massive clocktower on the Citadel, blinking. "I...if you'll excuse me, Doppleganger, Replica. I...I must attend a few things." Giving one last smile, she hastily trotted off into the Citadel.

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~Agent Virginia (Applebloom), within Freelancer HQ with Nova~

She appreciated Nova's comforting words, and after a few moments of silent contemplation, she looked back over at him. "...back durin' the Revolution, I was still just a small filly...but I had been forced to grow up rather fast. However, durin' my 'travels' I...stumbled upon somethin' rather odd." A few images swam through her mind as she came upon the subject, disturbing...bizarre images. "Due to the wide-spread battles, several things were dug up...included a group of ruins I came across. They were advanced...beyond anythin' I had ever seen anywhere then, or since. Ancient machinery, magical artifacts...it looked like one of our own facilities, except more domestic. When I went inside..." She choked on her words, taking a few more moments before she could speak again. "...when I went inside, I was assaulted by...visions? Memories? Dozens of slaughtered alicorns...civilian and military...everywhere, their blood stained the walls. Innocents...foals...it was horrible. After goin' through that, I barely escaped with my sanity...that was when I was found by a Shade Corps operative...the one who created them. He called himself 'Lost One', but it was an obvious ailiase. After he recruited me...he vanished. That's practically how my whole life was changed."

She took in a deep, shuddering breath, looking down at her lower legs. "I...I never told anyone that before. Not even 4-6-9er."

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~Rainbow Dash, in the 'Harmony's Rest' in Equinia with Chronarch~

Rainbow laughed a little bit at Chronarch's question as a waitress brought them a pair of wineglasses, filling them up to the brim with red wine. Once the server was gone, she answered. "I don't know, actually! I kinda just stumbled upon it a couple weeks ago...I was so enchanted by my first visit, it became my favorite spot in no time. This is where I go in my free-time...whenever I can get it, anyways!" She took a few sips from her glass, eyeing Chronarch warmly. First were the soft, easy drinks...soon the fun stuff would be drunk!

[NovaArkwing]

> Agent Foxtrot-117 (Nova), Freelancer HQ

Nova took in what Virginia had said then his intrigue grew curious about the mentioned advanced ancient artifacts and made a note to ask about that afterwards as he saw her expression grow more horrified and troubling he looked down at the ground trying to envision and recreate and decode the event and what happened that day all that time ago in his mind like a puzzle before he turned back to Virginia feeling a little guilty for making her relive those awful memories, "I can imagine anyone would lose some of their sanity after going through that amount of mental stress in that ordeal..." he paused as he comforted her trying to cheer her up after she remembered the tragic experience again as if she was in those very ruins again.

"Thanks for opening up Virginia and I think you should talk to 4-6-9er about this if it's this much of a burden, you and her have been inseparable ever since you two met and I think she should know about these...Experiences that you're having, and I'm always available if you wanna talk or need help just ask it's no trouble. Since there's little for a First Generation Agent like me to do around here aside from training the new agents and managing my own training regimes." he advised Virginia and nodded before standing up and was about to leave until his curiosity about the ruins arose again.

Hoping to secure the ruins for Freelancer R&D teams before they fell into the wrong hands he turned back to her and asked her about them, "Virginia, if you can remember the co-ordinates to those ruins could you send them to me, finding that kind of technology will provide Freelancer all sorts of benefits and advantages in technological I’ll send a report to the Director and tell him that you found them, I’ll throw in a good word for you and if the Director likes it and approves I’ll make sure you get promoted into a good Fireteam like Washington’s or the Dakotas Fireteam if you want. You earned it.” Nova smiled and offered her a promotion but only left curiosity as to why he himself didn’t lead a Fireteam as he seemed like the perfect candidate to lead a Fireteam.

-----------------------

>Freelancer HQ

Freelancer Case File 01.045//Level 2 Confidential [CEDOCUNET] Mission: Failure, All Objectives

As another Freelancer dropship landed in one of the Operation hangers a bulky and tall white armoured Second Generation Agent codenamed Maine watched as a Fireteam led by another Second Generation Agent in brown customised armour codenamed Connecticut or C.T for short, their armour was scorched and scratched as they were defeated and forced to retreat by an unknown force to the north of Equestria. While the Fireteam disembarked the transport and stumbled to the briefing room C.T stormed off into an empty room which overlooked the training floor with a scoreboard of the top Agent Fireteams.

She slumped onto a bench facing a window which looked out and over the Training room with a view of the scoreboard. She took her helmet off revealing her short-styled brown-coloured mane she flipped her helmet over and stared at it despairingly, C.T wasn’t the best fighter in Freelancer or the best Agent as she and her fireteam were outclassed and constantly bested. Her Fireteam was the lowest ranked out of the elite Agent Fireteams despite her best efforts at trying to improve their efficiency they always were overlooked in favour of the more superior Agent-led teams like Carolina’s and Washington’s. Jaded and frustrated she threw her helmet at the wall only for it to smack into the wall and bounce back at her feet with the visor staring back at her, judging her silently. She sighing deeply depressed before she picked it up and placed it next to her.

Washington upon hearing the commotion poked his head around the door and saw C.T depressed, wanting to help her he slowly moved into the room and slowly walked him behind her and started feeling that she knew he was there and didn’t want his help. “It wasn’t your fault Connie...” Wash started as he tried to comfort her only for her to give him a sharp fierce glare with a very small hint of melancholy, “[colour=#8b4513]Easy for you to say. You didn't drop the ball![/colour]” She snapped back at Washington and stood up sharply leaning on the railings by the window. “The ball got dropped. We were all there, it's everyone's responsibility.” Washington added trying to make it sound like it wasn’t her fault, “[colour=#8b4513]Dammit David, why are you doing that...?[/colour]” C.T cut through Wash’s excuses watching as other agents trained below on the training floor.

“What am I doing? I'm trying to make you feel better. We all make mistakes Connie...” Washington answered her in a slightly soft tone, “[colour=#8b4513]Yeah? great. Hey, how about you go make Carolina feel better? Go pat Maine on the head. See how that works out for you. No! We don't make mistakes....[/colour]” Connie replied viciously as she shot Washington down looking like she was about to go into a passionate rant. “Connie, come on...” Washington cut himself off as C.T continued, “[colour=#8b4513]That's the point! We don't all make mistakes. Some of us very specifically make mistakes, and others don't seem to make any mistakes at all, like Carolina or even Nova. That's why they're doing all this! These missions! The rankings! They're drawing a line between us Wash. And you're either on one side of that line, or you're on the other. And it's getting pretty god**** clear which side I'm on.[/colour]” C.T ranted despairingly as she turned to face Wash who just watched and listened to her rant about Freelancer.

“No one thinks like that; we're a team. The Leaderboard is just a formality for friendly competition, nothing to be taken too seriously. Besides the higher Freelancer teams get the more suicidal and highly dangerous missions” Wash countered trying to calm her down while not as quite a smooth talker as Agent York or Nova, the sincerity was still present in his tone “[colour=#8b4513]I'm not talking about you guys. I mean them. Him.[/colour]” C.T venomously added staring at the Director who was on the training floor addressing a new Fireteam of new Agents, “The Director? He's given us everything. He's helping us! Many of us wouldn’t be alive were it not for him!” Wash defiantly defended the Director as C.T started accusing the Director. C.T stared straight at Wash giving him a look as if he just spat in her face disrespectfully, “[colour=#8b4513]Helping us? Wake up David! Wake the **** up! He's filtering us! This is a selection process. I don't know for what, but, if you're not at the top of that board, you're not worth anything to him.[/colour]” She furiously glared at Wash face to face oblivious to the vicious death glare that Wash dished out on her for accusing the Director of such claims, “You're just overreacting. You've always been hard on yourself, Connie...” Wash started but felt too sick to continue the sentence as the argument gave him a large headache as C.T slowly walked away from him.

“[colour=#8b4513]Not as hard as they are, David. And not nearly as hard as they're going to be...[/colour]” C.T said as she pushed her helmet into Wash’s hands and was just about to walk out the room until she stopped for a moment, “[colour=#8b4513]Oh and David...Don't call me Connie. It makes me sound like a ****ing kid. Call me CT. Oh, and the line that I talked about?...you better hurry up and figure out what side you're on, Agent Washington. Before they figure it out for you.[/colour]” She ominously added with hidden venom as she mentioned his official callsign before walking out of the room leaving Wash all alone.

He watched her leave then slowly switched his attention to her empty helmet turning it around looking at the visor for a moment and sighed heavily, “Dammit Connie...” He uttered hopelessly, he grew more and more worried about his close friend as she grew more and more obsessed with training. Every time he tried to talk to her about it she always shot him down when deep down he cared a lot about her and secretly had feelings for her. A Freelancer Internal Affairs officer past the doorway and spotted Washington inside, the officer walked into the room and saluted Washington. “Agent Washington, you have been summoned by the Internal affairs committee to a meeting. They wish to speak with you ASAP, better follow me.” The Officer said while saluting the Agent. “Thanks...Lead the way...” Wash replied stoically as he followed the officer, his thoughts were still clouded by C.T current state of mind.

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>Freelancer High-Command, The Director’s Office

The Command centre was quiet as the majority of information and reports was handled and organized by F.I.L.S.S or Freelancer. Integrated. Logistics. Security. System, the Freelancer’s central Artificial Intelligence. Terminal clusters were scattered around the outer shell of the Central Command chambers while inside the chambers command servers and terminal clusters were streaming, archiving and sending information across all active Freelancer cells around the world which saved on hiring personnel who could’ve been potential spies from hostile organizations intent on sabotaging F.I.L.S.S but even then machines still need repairs or upgrades, magic-casted drones initiate the required upgrades or repairs, as to where the magic comes from is unknown even to the Director himself. However F.I.L.S.S was the first of its kind of smart AIs, well defended with regenerative and self updating software and rapidly adaptive cyber-warfare suites its immensely powerful processing power makes it the most superior hardware to date, however still vulnerable to Physical damage it was built to suit Freelancer’s needs.

The Director’s Office was empty as usual excluding his chair and the Holographic-screens in front of a large table which held data streams which contained valuable intel on Freelancer cell activities, results of experiments, reports of political and military activity, everything a individual needs to keep one step ahead. The Director himself was sat in his desk pouring a bottle of Canterlot ’45 fine wine into a glass, watching footage of a Freelancer UAV which was tracking an unknown vehicle in Equinia. He knew it was the Forgotten Army, a thorn in Freelancer’s side since the X-02 attack in the arctic. Both sides have crossed paths before while Intelligence agencies from overseas nations warned them of missing stockpiles of devastating weapons had disappeared from seemingly random locations from various continents at different dates. But they were a heading to the same place...Equestria.

However the Director soon figured out their targets and their overall plan, they would try to strike at the Citadel tower the hub of all the Federation’s military intelligence there by rendering the Federation temporarily blind. Then they’d try to attack a particular Official of the GEF. Rainbow Dash, The Director pulled up Dash’s biographic files and began studying them. “Rainbow Dash, Young Mare. Pegasus born on Cloudsdale...General of the Federation’s military. Senior politician and member of the inner circles of the Federation elite...Friend of-“He stopped for a moment, as he paused on a single fact which sparked his interest. “Friend of the late Red Fox now confirmed as the once thought dead Twilight Sparkle...” The Director took a sip of the wine and closely studied her profile further and began formulating a plan that could potentially slide GEF activity towards a more Freelancer-friendly agenda. One problem remained which the Director tried to avoid, eventually Freelancer would have to reveal itself to Equestria and with events escalating faster than he had predicted it would be inevitable.

“F.I.L.S.S, we have a rather, risky situation developing in Equinia and I would need the following resources be readied plus reports on all 0-5 Alpha-level experiments.” The Director called upon F.I.L.S.S urgently standing up slowly and approached past the data feeds and gazed out of the large window in a solemn and stoic stance wrapping his hands around his back and stared out the window in deep thought.

“[colour=#00ffff]Yes Director I will commence compiling reports immediately. What recourses do you require?[/colour]”

“Activate Project: ALLISON with Authorization level: 0-5 Tango-Epsilon-X-ray-Alpha-Sierra then prepare a flash teleportation gate leading to Epsilon district in Equinia and scramble one fast gunship to accompany her. We need to warn that Official ASAP the fate of our Equestria-based operations depend on that Official’s survival” The Director eventually ordered realising the gravity of the situation which required him to awaken her...His own private secret project which resembled someone he knew a long time ago. Someone very close to him that he thought was forever lost.

“[colour=#00ffff]Authorization approved, I’ll ready a teleport imminently as she wakes up and I’ll send a scramble alert to one of our fast moving assets. Anything else, Director?[/colour]” F.I.L.S.S replied courteously as it began setting things into motion.

“Yes, find me a connection to Red Fox A.K.A Twilight Sparkle as soon as you can. I have business proposition for her that I wish to discuss with her, also get me a report of the results on the Advanced Defence Fighter Xperiment Project division if you please, we’ll need to prepare for the coming events sooner than we had anticipated and that means advancing our military forces even further and gain superiority in case the Federation decide to turn against us. That will be all for now, thank you F.I.L.S.S” The Director requested F.I.L.S.S as he sat back down on his chair and took yet another sip letting the alcoholic aroma fill his senses as he prepared for the communication and then requested F.I.L.S.S to compile a progress report on one of Freelancer’s more important military aviation experiments located somewhere classified in South Germaney afterwards he then thanks F.I.L.S.S knowing that it’d carry out his orders faithfully.

“[colour=#00ffff]Of course Director, I will prepare to initiate communications with the Federation and co-ordinate with the ADFX program to assess its readiness.[/colour]” F.I.L.S.S dutifully responded as it got to work on carrying out the Director’s orders. The Director continued monitoring the situation at Equinia all by his lonesome in the deathly quiet large chamber, after a while he tapped a code on his own private data console which activated a separate holographic screen where a video flashed in front of him, he reached out and initiated the playback sequence and a young soft female voice began to play the video showed a blonde-maned Green eyed young and beautiful mare in a REA Marine uniform appeared...Smiling...Completely full of life...Happy... The video was time-stamped 6 years ago, the day she disappeared from him forever on a expedition to some unknown ruins which was led by the once thought dead Twilight Sparkle...His last moments with her. The Director continued watching the video and drinking the wine until the last drop was gone, in silence he sighed deeply secretly wishing to see her again...

“Don’t say goodbye, I hate goodbyes. You’ll see me someday.”

The mare in the video last words to the younger Director who filmed their last moments echoed, he never forgot that day all those years ago as he came to wish her goodbye and promise she came back safely just as she walked off smiling at the camera then the video stopped eventually her words echoed around his mostly empty office as if to emphasize the solitude and loneliness he now resides in, “So do I...Perhaps next time around.” The Director replied softly, his gaze was stuck on the video his thoughts slowly clouded with guilt and sorrow after so long ago and replayed it again hoping to see her again preserving the last precious piece that reminded him of her.

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>Harmony’s Rest, Equinia

The bar was filled with a joyous atmosphere as groups of friends, soldiers and people were celebrating the 6^th anniversary of the Federation’s founding, despite the most recent disastrous events this event was different as people cheered, sang merrily and heartily, drunk tremendous amounts of alcoholic drinks and exotic cocktails in light of the occasion even the bartenders joined in as they served drinks, however one such individual seemed quiet and reserved, not willing to join in, her pitch black armour was camouflaged and disguised, her head was hooded and covered as she waited for her target to arrive. Her target was easy enough dead giveaway to spot as she had rainbow coloured hair. After awhile of idly waiting she spotted the rainbow-coloured maned-mare but soon spotted that the target wasn’t alone as a rather intimidating-looking stallion soon followed, her helmet’s visor identified him as Chronarch, the GEF right hand Stallion.

She waited for them to sit down and observe the mare for a moment as if she was sizing the Rainbow-maned mare up for a moment examining her before she’d send the warning. As the waiter approached the two she disappeared into the crowd of people to get closer to the two without arousing suspicion, she strode near their table then used her magic to get a dataslate to appear in her hand which would hold all that the Rainbow mare would need to know and warn her. Just before she closed in she activated a voice changer inside her helmet to a deep unrecognisable voice “A warning from a concerned anonymous. I’d advise you listen to it very soon, it might save your life.” She instructed the mare as she handed the dataslate to Chronarch’s and the Rainbow Mare’s table before vanishing out into the streets.

[MasterMustang]

[colour=#006400]- Col. Star Striker - [/colour]

[colour=#006400]Augmentation Research Bay, Delta Labs, Equestrian Aerospace Defense Command Facility (RLF Secret Bunker)[/colour]

(Aprox. 1 week ago)

In the sterile glossy white complex of the research bay, Dr. Maximus Xyiance stands before the single greatest experiment of his life. The Doctor calmly adjusts his glasses as he observes a rapidly recouperating Ranger. The augmented and imposing figure of Star Striker floats inside a blue liquid filled chamber, in a medically induced statis. Even in the bright whiteness of the room, the blue liquid emits and erie florecent glow...

[colour=#0000CD]"Entry 19... The Colonel is a far more remarkable pony than I could have ever anticipated... at the beginning with the little tangable data that I collected over my time with this project, I wasn't sure what to expect... so many variables... but as time progressed with this project things began to... I'm not sure. It is as if this proceedure was designed for Colonel Striker... like as if this was one great test to everything he is. I read much on the Colonel before and during this operation. The stallion pushes through every trial he has ever endured. The more difficult or... dangerous, the task, the harder he pushes himself to get results. The will of this soldier... I think it goes beyond the science genetics or enviormental variables. I think this stallion is one of a kind... if not beyond our kind."[/colour]

Dr. Maximus goes silent for a second. He shakes his head, adjust his glasses, and gets back to the formalites of his entry log.

[colour=#0000CD]"Well back to business, the Carbide Ossification was a sucess as were the pelvic adjustments and implants admistered to the subject. He can now stand bipedally and operate as such as well as being able to switch back to quadrapedal movement at will without any issues, granting him great adaptability of movement for rapidly changing combat scenarios. The Colonel's bones are now reinforced with an ultra-grade tungsten-carbide alloy coating that covers 92% of his skeletal surface area. My estimates project that his bones are now virtually indestructable to blunt force trauma. This proceedure added a significant 78kg onto his current weight of 100kg. This change in weight will be effectively neutralized with the next proceedure which involves chemical and mechanical enhancement of the subject's muscular system. This includes mulitple stages of intra-muscular injections of varius enhancement serums and intense physical training. This will also be really painful for the subject as the muscle growth will be extremely rapid and the paitent will experience a sensation of his muscles being ripped apart. However, we will allow Striker another week to fully recover within medical statis before we atempt the proceedure. Projected results of this expriement predict that the subject will be able to handle stresses of at least three times his current body weight, including the cardbide enhancements, which will allow him to generate massive amounts of force. I am looking forward to the data that will be collected. End of log..."[/colour]

********

Meanwhile... inside Striker's mind...

The lone battered soldier lumbers along the old stone path of the Neighlington National Cemetary of what remains of Canterlot. The sky is dark and rain falls like millions of tears. As his eyes stray from the path before him he looks upon the tombstones to his left and his right. All of them... names of his fallen brothers-in-arms...

Whispers are heard... "Why did I have to die?"... "It... it hurts..." "Was I not strong enough?"... "What about my family?"... "Please... not yet..." All the thoughts of men who died under his command...

Eventually he enters a clearing and 3 mares stand before him... Chrysalis... Twilight... and Tender Care...

First Tender Care collaspes as a bullet is seen ripping though her chest... the Colonel's heart flinches and several tears run down his face...

Then Chrysalis is hit by a magical bolt of energy, it burns her back severely... she wobbles away from striker until she falls upon a blank tombstone... Striker's heart begins to beat faster as a great pain burns inside his chest but still he stands motionless... paralyzed... unable to do anything...

Then Twilight approachs him and strokes his cheek with her hoof... she nuzzles his shoulder until she begins to back away... everything begins to go dark... he drops to his haunches in tears, whimpering... everything around him reminding him of his failures... and perhaps a future one...

[colour=#008000]"no... no... no,no,no... NO,NO,NO,NOOOOOOO!!!"[/colour]

*BANG!!!*

********

In the real world, Doc Xyiance watches the one of many of the soldier's nightmares but... he is unable to help. he shakes his head... [colour=#0000CD]"I'm sorry my friend but... if you want something bad enough... you need to endure the pain... and uncertainty."[/colour]

[TheBritishBrony]

-[colour=#800080]Lavender Bloom[/colour], the frozen wastes, near royal changeling hive-

A crow perched on a rock as it's breath curled into the icy air above, twitching it's head as the noise from down below met it's ears. It cawed, then took off as the evening sun disappeared behind a nearby mountain. Lavender raised her head from the scope on her sniper rifle, shuffling a bit as she watched the bird fly. The snow covered ground was cold, and it permeated through to her coat even with all the layers of clothing and armor she was wearing. She put her head down to her scope again to survey her immediate surroundings, it was her job to make sure the way was clear before the rest of her platoon could advance. Everything was clear, but deadly quiet. Even the birds had shut up for the occasion, as they sat and watched the Eternium Brigade like silent angels of death. Lavender shuffled again, kicking over a nearby helmet, hers in fact. She looked up at the disturbance, then slung her rifle on her back and walked over to put the helmet on. She hated wearing the **** thing, it made her feel claustrophobic. But regulations were firm, and she was lucky enough that nopony had spotted her yet. Sliding the armor over her head, she blinked as the HUD buzzed into life, highlighting how much ammo she had left and putting a small reticule in the center of her vision. She raised her hoof and clicked the communicator on the side of the helmet, speaking into the built in microphone blandly.

"Second Lieutenant Lavender Bloom, Hades Core, reporting in. Terrain ahead clear, advise moving ahead on foot and setting up beacons for troop carriers to follow, blizzard 3 clicks north." Shaking her wings free of the snow and ice she was sat in, Lavender took off towards towards her next perch, keeping her eyes cautiously focused on the ground below her, trying to spot any hidden ambushes. The RLF and Equestria as a whole didn't have much info on this new threat, let alone militaristic behaviors. Judging from how quickly they managed to level the royal changeling hive and footage of the event, they fought with magic and sheer strength in numbers, along with monstrous dragons attacking from above. It was a huge risk sending anypony up here in the first place, let alone to face a threat like this. Shaking her head, the mare brought herself back from her daydreaming, as a shrill scream entered her helmet, followed by static. A distress beacon shot up and lit the darkness of the snow, blazing a bright red on her HUD.

Landing cautiously, Lavender pulled a small SMG socket in the armor on her socket out and leveled it, scanning the area fro a threat. Inching closer to the beacon, she noticed a sound, almost like a moan. Her eyes widened as she broke into a run, desperate to find the source. She nearly tripped over something and stumbled as she turned around. "Oh gods......." She whispered as the lifeless torso of a fellow Eternium Brigade member met her view, having been sliced clean in half. The bloodshot eyes of the former pony peaked through the shattered visor of it's helmet, showing nothing but pure terror. Crunch. Lavender swirled and held out her SMG again, breathing rapidly, resisting the urge to just fire blindly into the darkness. Crunch. Closer this time. Lavender was trapped now, as blizzard was now on top of her, and made it impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of her. Crunch. Lavender swirled as the crystal knight leaped at her, letting out an unholy scream. The mare yelled her own battle-cry as she opened fire on the hellish creature, the armor piercing rounds slicing through the creature's body. It didn't stop it's momentum though, and Lavender was thrown to the ground as it's spear entered her helmet and stopped mere centimeters away from her head. Her rapid breathing returning, she fumbled as she tore the spear out and threw the helmet to the ground, now useless. She put on a wireless earpiece, hearing more screaming and shouting. An explosion rang out nearby to her, and she was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. Her ears rang as she got up groggily, and she ran to a nearby ledge to get a better view of the situation, the blizzard now having calmed. Complete and utter chaos. "Celestia save us......." Lavender muttered. The Eternium Brigade was in disarray, wounded peppered the valley with small dots as the encroaching black sea that was the Crystal Empire's military inched ever closer.

The noise from the communicator was deafening, so Lavender turned it off. Running up to a higher point on the ledge, she skidded and landed on her belly, un-slinging her sniper rifle and taking aim. Five shots rang out, five crystal knights dropped dead on the ground. Another two, two more dead. It did nothing though, as the tide of metal and death got closer and closer to Lavender's platoon. Rockets, bolts of magical energy and other projectiles began to fly across the scarred landscape, as the Eternium Brigade slowly began to reorganize itself and fight back against the foe. Lavender continued to fire, now beginning to recognize higher priority targets throughout the slowly approaching enemy force. She switched her attention from ground units to aerial dragon riders, sniping the beasts and then the riders with accuracy. But with every single dragon slain, every single knight mowed down by the torrent of gunfire streaming from the Eternium Brigade, more seemed to take it's place. Mortar cannons now began to fire down upon the Crystal Empire's forces, as catapults hurled fireballs towards the EB. Pegasus soldiers clashed in the skies above, Eternium Brigade sword bearers met the shields of the Crystal knights, it seemed the two forces were matched.

Suddenly, two of the mortar cannons burst into balls of purple fire. The explosion bloomed and swallowed many of the soldiers, causing Lavender to look up from her scope. Another mortar cannon burst into flames, but Lavender noticed something the confused EB commanders didn't. Atop a pedestal in the middle of the Crystal Empire force, was what looked like something directly out of hell. A black armored alicorn sat atop the moving platform, purple lightning crackling and moving across the carapace looking stallion, looking like some sort of unholy sorcerer. Lavender focused her scope in on the alicorn, but it disappeared. She looked up for a second, but was then thrown backwards as a small explosion unfolded directly in front of her. In the crater stood the alicorn from earlier, who was looking mighty angry. Walking up to Lavender, he kicked her in the chest. She played dead, hoping to get him to let his guard down. "Your soul shall make a fine addition to king Pierrot's army. Maybe even a Chevalier." So that was what those things were called. Chevaliers. As the alicorn began to step away slowly, Lavender reached one hoof down to grasp her knife, the other her SMG. Getting up, she leaped at the Chevalier, stabbing him in the chest and pushing her SMG into his neck, squeezing the trigger as hard as she could. The monstrous stallion roared, and threw her off, clutching his wounds. They weren't invincible then. Shaking her head to clear her blurry vision, Lavender noticed her sniper rifle laying on the ground. She scrambled for it, grabbing it and then getting up clumsily. The Chevalier was now getting up himself, and his horn was starting to glow faintly, clearly trying to cast another spell. Lavender didn't give him the chance, as she charged him and tackled him to the ground. Standing atop him, she pointed the muzzle of her rifle at his chest and fired continuously, holding it in one hoof and sliding the bolt back and forth with the other. Letting out a final growl of pain, the crackling lightning across the Chevalier's armor disappeared, leaving nothing but a black carapace.

Lavender looked back out across the battlefield as more explosions rang out, letting out a sigh of relief. The cavalry had arrived. RLF bomber jets flew across the night sky, delivering their payloads onto the Crystal Empire's forces. It was only a matter of time now. Lavender sat atop the ledge and watched as Pierrot's forces retreated, being pushed back by the hail of bullets from the RLF. She sighed, wiping a streak of blood from her face.

[Dunder]

::Dunder Blust at Equina, RLF sector::

On top of a box filled with some miscellaneous equipment, canteens and belts, sat Dunder. He was a large pegasus stallion, almost as big as Big Macintosh. He had a big brown mane and tail, and greyish-brown two-toned coat, and light brown eyes. The day was good, warm and only if a little windy. He wore nothing as he sat down, his uniform on his cot in the tent. Though, he had his rifle leaning on the barrel next to him. The AK-like rifle with bayonet attached had helped him with many battles with the G.E.F.

He felt like he should have joined them with drinks in the Harmony's Rest bar, but he couldn't bring himself to. These G.E.F. soldiers, long enough back, would gladly have shot the pegasus without giving a second thought. He had been fighting with them for so long, and now he was going to have to fight beside them. Fight beside the soldiers who had killed him fellow R.L.F. soldiers. He sighed, facehoofing and rubbing around his eyes. He was even within ear reach of the bar, able to hear the hoots and hollers of happiness, but still he couldn't join in.

He swallowed, standing up, then sitting back down, realizing he had nothing to do and nowhere to be. Worst part about being a soldier was waiting to see the next place where potential death waited.