Tolwin was genuinely shocked and amazed. As he stared through the lenses of his binoculars, he spotted what he swore were an alien equinoid species running a beautifully rich town. They were everywhere. So this is where the driver intended to bring us. So many questions flooded his mind as he watched, never peeling his eyes away from the lenses.

He was accompanied by Marchetti and Riggs, who worse equal astonishment. Among them was also Faust, shifty-eyed about the group and what they were witnessing. The Shilka was sitting idle just behind them, on a steep slope that overlooked the distant town, not far from the second transponder site in the forest.

"Those were the ones that attacked us." said Faust, pointing at a particularly large band of newcomers to the town. Tolwin observed. They appeared to wear medieval battle armor and weapons. Some even drove old-fashoned carriages that carried more of them.

"How many?" Asked Tolwin, almost in a whisper.

"A platoon of fifteen."

"How did they get past the AA gun?"

"They hit us in a crossfire. They were armed with bows-and-arrows and took out our major armament before finishing us off."

Tolwin, for the first time since they arrived at this slope, took his eyes away from the binocuilars and turned to Faust. "Then how did you escape?"

He took a pause to think. "Well, Junkers accidentally started a fire with one of our weapons, so I went out alone in the woods to put it out. I figured the smoke would give away our position."

After a moment of silence Tolwin became agitated. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Oh right, well, I warned some of them off with my weapon and made a run for it. I had no choice, because by then they had already took out the majority of the squad. Eventually re-enforcements came and I was horribly outnumbered."

This is so uncanny. The driver lead us to a land of intelligent equine... but why? In an instant, he remembered his theory on the driver's intentions and looked back at the town with a smile. It is a trap! And here it is, staring us in the face with the most innocent camoflage imaginable.

"This just ain't real, man." Marchetti said with a snort of disbelief. "How is this even possible?"

"Regardless, they stand in our way as an opposition." Tolwin said, once again looking through the binoculars.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Riggs.

Faust, however, grinned deviously with perfect understanding.

"They're hostile." Tolwin put his binoculars in his belt-pouch and walked toward the Shilka. "We now have a potential settlement for operations. But first, we have to clear it of said opposition."

"But, this is the first contact with an intelligent species other than people!" Protested Riggs as he followed Tolwin. "They could be aliens from another planet for all we know."

"Yeah, an intelligent species that wiped out my whole squad." Faust interjected.

"Your squad was lazy! Always keep your guard up, even with a force of seemingly weak defence as these things."

"What do you think we were doing, throwing darts?!"

"I'm just saying, it's rare incompetence when the gunfighters lose to a knife."

"Shut up!" yelled Tolwin. "We're going back to basecamp to pack up and prepare for our invasive strike. Riggs, make sure the gunship is fuled and hot before we move out."

"Yes, sir."

...

...

...

Dusk began rolling through the evening twilight. The winds settled and the birds climaxed their sweet music before finding a final resting place for the coming night.

Ponyville was cleared of civilians, who at this point were in hiding within the Town Hall's subterranian shelter. The Guard was situated in major road-blocks and overwatch positions around the town. Gulfstream's men in particular were situaded around Town Square to protect the Hall, with crossbow snipers placed in the nearby clock tower.

Trenches were dug around the outward parimiter of the town facing the direction of the Everfree Forest, with haystacks and rusty rail-bariers to slow down whatever enemy ground forces charged at them, giving the Guard a better opertunity of driving them back in a heated battle. The barriers also surved the purpose of temporary cover say the guardsmen have a chance to drive the enemy back, however that meant it was also potential cover for the enemy as well.

The trenches were dug along the earth in layers like an onion, with the closest of which keeping the unit's leaders, including field commander Blackburn. They also contained reserve supplies and weapons for over half of the entire legion.

Everypony watched and waited with what felt like an eternal duration thanks to their utter nervousness. Blackburn was no exception, for it was also his first official conflict. My enemy, my faceless enemy... unmask yourself and step out of the shadows for us all to see. We want to witness your shame in challenging our great land's integrity. We will never crumble in the hooves of such a likeness as yourselves. Come, my enemy. Your fate awaits.

"It's gonna get dark soon." mumbled Wulf, breaking the tense silence. "They might use the shadows to their advantage."

"Right." Dornier agreed. "Better get the torches lit around the parimiter. Who has them?"

"Um... Maveric's unit, I think."

"You sure?"

Wulf shrugged.

"Hey, Mav!" Dornier shouted further down the east side of the trench.

"Yeah?" answered a distant voice.

"You got any torches?"

"No! Why?"

"Well, who has them?!"

About five seconds passed as Maveric could be heard mumbling a conversation with his men. Then: "I think Breguet has them!"

Dornier turned to the west-side. "Breguet!"

"What?!"

"Set up some light around the outer defences!"

"Affirmative!"

"No campfires," said Blackburn, "just tiki torches and candles. Campfires will take too long to set up."

"Right. Breguet! Tiki's and candles only! Black's orders!"

"Alright!" acnowledged Breguet, gathering his selected torch-bearers.

"Wulf." Blackburn said.

"Yes?"

"Cover them with your archers, alright?"

"Yes, sir. Archers! Follow my lead, lets go!" He lept from the trench and galloped in the direction of Breguet's unit as they set up the torches, with his archers following in two-by-two formation. Once grouped, they spread among each of Breguet's men to provide decent cover while they were occupied with their task.

"They better get here before sunset." Said Dornier. "The mountains are going to cast an unpleasant shadow over the plains that any ground forces could pass through stealthfully."

"Up until the torches, at least." Blackburn interjected. "They'll be lit up enough for the qlose-quarters assault groups, but the archers are gonna have a real problem with range."

"Hmm, I dunno. Closer for them the better, in my opinion."

Blackburn shook his head in dissagreement. "I tried it once myself. Depth-perception is off when you attack silhouetted targets."

"Gulfstream's men'll have a real bad day then if things go south up here."

"Huh?"

"He's only got fifteen swordsmen." He let out an amused chuckle.

"Oh, horseapples. We'll have to get Mav's unit to fall back if the first three defence lines are penetrated."

...

...

...

The Raiders were packed up and ready to move out as they scrambled for their vehicles, heading out for the pathway through the forest. Among them was Tolwin and his monster Chinook gunship, leading the way across a shallow horizon.

Riggs let out a yawn over the radio.

"Riggs," Tolwin said, "you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just aces, sir."

"Good. I don't want you falling asleep at the wheel."

"Just worn out. My back's killing me too. Been sitting in this seat too long today."

Tolwin rolled his eyes with a sigh. "So's mine, just suck it up until we secure the town."

"It's gonna be hell trying to organize an assault without our GPS." Jones said, casually seated at his station in the crane-controller box.

"I know. Just make sure Marchetti leads the armored column in first. I want the softskins as far back as possible."

"Yes, sir."

...

...

...

The Shilka's interior was a cramped mess of machines that made it extremely difficult for one to leave their seat, or station itself. It was dimly-lit with only with two red lights and computer screens. It rattled and heaved uncomfortably as the driver pushed through rough terrain.

Marchetti was seated just rearward of the vehicle, at the "command station", sandwiched between Faust and an assisting technician, who went by the name of Virus.

Jones' voice crackled over the radio. "Shilka! Metalheads forward, softskins rearward. Copy?"

Marchetti hit the transmit button. "Roger." He then switched to the general ground frequency. "All MBTs and mobile artillery up front, spread out. ACs and softskins in reserve. Stand by."

Various drivers shouted their acknowledgements over the radio.

Faust in the meantime was writing something on a clipboard with one of their grease pens. Marchetti couldn't help but notice and expressed his curiosity.

"Hey Faust, what are you doing?"

Faust flipped the front page back and showed him. It appeared to be some kind of checklist with scribbles of mathematical equations in various places. "It's our munitions reserve. I'm just estimating how much we lost in the attack back at the second transponder site."

Marchetti nodded and went back to his buisness.

Faust flipped the page over again and continued his activity. Except that the second page wasn't a list at all, but what appeared to be a note or letter to someone. It read:

All is going as planned so far. Please thank the primary operations advisor for such a well thought-out plan. However, there is some troubling concern I have that I feel I should share with you. These new subjects are far greater than the last ones. They are much smarter, and much more resourceful. They are armed with such devistating firepower, the likes of which that are a fearful match against our own arsenal. I fear my cover won't hold for long. I strongly suggest you delay the lone arrival and prepare your forces immedietly.

He finished it off with "Signed, Operative 29."