Dominic quietly stood in front of the mirror in the abandoned house’s bathroom, adorned only in his undershirt, fatigue pants, and boots. He had just finished shaving his head, leaving only the mohawk he had taken on when he had completed Luna’s training. Outside of the house he could hear the sound of tanks preparing for what was to come that day, the New American Army was only hours away from Denver, and hours from its first major ground offensive. Shaving his head was his way of preparing himself for the horrors he would face when his forces rolled into the city. Word of the purge in Golden had already been conveyed to him by his UN liaisons, and thought the UN was in the process of trying to stop it, it still meant that his forces would be the only ones to enter the city of Denver.

Dominic had pulled out all the stops and ordered his three best pilots and their planes through the portal, and he was glad that he had. Initial reconnaissance flights showed great plumes of dust and smoke obscuring the outskirts of the city centre. As time had passed, it became clear that those plumes had been the result of large scale demolition. The EOL was collapsing buildings in order to force Dominic’s forces to enter through the most heavily defended parts of the city.

As Dominic continued to stare at himself in the mirror he felt his heart beating fast in his chest, there was a good chance that the battle would cost many American lives. Dominic’s original plan had been to send small teams to infiltrate the city over the course of a week, relying on them to destabilize the EOL defenses long enough for him to mount a blitz. Of course, that plan had gone out the window, there was no way to enter the city with the massive unstable piles of debris.

As the commander pulled on his olive drab fatigue shirt and began to button it he realized he would need to risk his thestrals and changelings more than anything. They were the only ones that would be able to infiltrate the city with flight, but it was likely there would be a great loss of life on their part. Dominic finished buttoning his uniform and looked to the door of the bathroom, a kevlar vest hung there quietly, as well as a black kevlar helmet. The man debated wearing his steel pot instead, but there was no room for taking chances. The man strapped on his armor and looked at himself in the mirror, he could see his chest rising and falling from nervousness.

Dominic’s eyes rested finally on his leather jacket, the two patches on the shoulders reminded him just who was counting on him that day. Solemnly he slipped into it, with it buttoned halfway he looked at himself in the mirror one final time. He barely recognized the face that stared back at him, and yet, it was so hauntingly familiar he couldn’t deny it was him. Every moment in his life had seemed to lead up to his moment, all the speeches his father had given him, all the reading, all the training, every moment would determine whether he was breathing at the end of the day.

“I won’t let you down, dad… I won’t hesitate.” He said quietly before he straightened his helmet and walking out of the bathroom, his boots echoed through the house as he descended the steps. He pulled on his belt, tightening it and adjusting both the holster and the scabbard, before finally slinging his AK-47 over his shoulder. The man stood in the living room, taking a final look around the place where he and Maria had slept the night before, where he had shared a laugh with Luna, where he had been given the news that the EOL threat had only grown.

“Excuse me…” A voice said from behind him, it was old and rasping with an odd accent. Dominic turned around quietly, unsure of who was addressing him. He was surprised to see an old man in odd clothing standing in the hallway that lead to the living room. He walked fowards, his face decorated with odd paint. “Are you the commander?” Dominic nodded slowly, watching the man carefully. The elder walked forwards quietly and offered his hand. “I am Chief Watchful Bear of the Native Confederacy. Your soldiers said I could find you here.” Dominic shook the man’s hand firmly, unsure of why Watchful Bear stood before him.

“Chief… I’m sorry to say now isn’t a good time.” Dominic said as he looked out the window at a couple tanks rolling past, Watchful Bear nodded slowly as he followed the commander’s eyes.

“I know, word of the Empire’s actions have spread to my people…” Watchful Bear said, his rasping voice thinly veiling anger at the EOL. “Many of those in Golden are my people, but I know it is you and your warriors that shall save them.” Dominic was a bit surprised to see the old man withdraw a small wooden bowl from his pocket, covered with leather to keep whatever was inside from spilling. “I am afraid we can barely spare soldiers to defend ourselves, we cannot aid you in battle, save for the few braves that I suspect will go for revenge. I have come here to bestow upon you the only aid I can offer, that of the spirits that inhabit this land.”

“You know I’m a catholic, right?” Dominic asked, it was a dumb question, but he had a lot more on his mind and it happened to slip out. To his surprise Watchful Bear chuckled and opened the the wooden bowl, revealing a fine red powder.

“No one’s perfect.” Watchful Bear said with a shrug, he gestured for Dominic to lean a bit closer. “The correct way to do this was unfortunately lost to the infection, but I have a feeling the spirits will understand.” Dominic watched uncertainly as the old man closed his eyes and began to mumble words he could never hope to understand, after a couple seconds the chief picked up a handful of the red powder and tossed it into the air above Dominic. The commander found himself coated lightly by the powder as the chief continued his chanting, occasionally adding more of the powder, until the powder was gone entirely from the bowl.

Watchful bear reached out and placed his dusty thumb on Dominic’s forehead, then moved it quietly, resulting in a crude depiction of a wolf’s head. When the chief finally lowered his arm and opened his eyes Dominic felt somewhat strange, he looked himself over, covered in the red powder, as if he had rolled around in the desert sand.

“That should do it.” Watchful Bear said with a nod, Dominic stood up at his full height, towering over the old chief by nearly a foot. “The wolf is the hero of the Ute, I believe that you will live up to his name. Now do not let me keep you any longer, Commander. We shall be watching.”

“I’ll do my best.” Dominic said before slowly turning and walking towards the door, feeling somewhat disarmed by the man that had just marked him. He reminded him more of his grandfather than anything else, quiet and to the point. Dominic stepped outside, the breeze instantly blew most of the loose powder from his clothes, and more of it fell away with the vibrations of his steps. He instantly spotted his tank parked in the yard outside the house, standing beside it was Luna, Maria, and his trusty crew. They looked at him with varying degrees of curiosity, but none commented on the marking.

“You ready to go, boss?” Asked Gear Grinder as he adjusted his uniform, Dominic looked at Luna and Maria quietly. He wasn’t sure what he should say to them, thankfully they spoke for him. Both of them approached him and hugged him tightly, he quickly returned the embrace as the sound of engines continued to echo through the air around them. When the hug was broken the man looked at them both again, opening his mouth to speak.

“Well… It’s just about time.” He said, the two of them nodded quietly. “I suppose I’ll see you both when it’s all over?”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Luna said, doing her best to keep her composure, though internally she was beyond fearful. Dominic was well trained, but the risk was still there, as evidenced by his attention to his armor and weaponry. “There’s so much I wanted to say… But, for the life of me I can’t think of a way to say it.”

“I think I know what you want to say.” Maria said with a small smile, running a hand along Luna’s neck as she looked at Dominic. “I’ll say it for you.” She leaned in and kissed him strongly on the lips, holding him in place for a couple seconds before pulling away. “I love you… Stay safe.”

“You too…” Dominic replied, the trio stood in silence before Dominic straightened his helmet and cleared his throat. “I’ll be back, don’t you worry… Too stubborn to die, remember?” Maria chuckled grimly, it was all she could do to keep from breaking down into a ball of nerves. Dominic looked over his crew, pausing as he noticed Scribs wearing a blue boilersuit with a red bandana tied around his head. “What do you think you’re doing dressed like that?”

“I’m your loader and gunner, Commander.” Scribs said, Dominic smiled for a moment before shaking his head and pointing to the ground beside Luna.

“Not today, pal. You’re a reporter, I can’t ask you to fight in a battle like this.” Dominic said, Scribs smirked quietly and pulled a cigarette down from behind his ear with his magic. His horn ignited the end as he took a drag on the white tobacco tube before exhaling.

“All due respect, sir, but you couldn’t drag me away.” The stallion said, Dominic smirked for a moment before looking at Avos and Gear Grinder. They nodded quietly, conveying their consent. Dominic didn’t waste anymore time and climbed up onto the tank, pulling the hatch open and gesturing for the crew to enter their vehicle.

“Mount up, then. We’ve got a war to win.” Scribs and Avos climbed in through the turret hatch while Gear Grinder made his way around to the front drivers hatch, once they had entered Dominic climbed into the tank himself and looked down at Luna and Maria. He paused for a moment, then reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a pair of cigars. The commander tossed one to both Maria and Luna before patting his pocket quietly. “We’re gonna share those when all this is over, and not a moment before.” Dominic pulled on his headset. “Start us up, Gear.”

The engine rumbled to life, and within seconds the tank was rolling away. Maria and Luna watched for a whole of thirty seconds before the sniper tried to rush after the vehicle. She was stopped by a large wing, the woman turned to look at Luna with tears starting to form in her eyes. Luna wrapped her wing around the sniper, hugging her tightly, just long enough for Maria to rein in her emotions.

“I… I have to go too. Melissa and I are going to be providing overwatch for combat medics.” Maria said, Luna nodded quietly as the woman emerged from her wing. The two stared at eachother for a couple seconds before Maria silently walked off to find her pick up truck and her sister in arms. Luna was left to stand alone in front of the house, watching the warmachines roll on their way to an unknown destiny in a city very far away.

“Greetings, strange one.” A rasping voice said from behind Luna, the princess turned and watched an elderly man wander up beside her, watching Dominic’s tank quietly get further and further away. “The soldiers here call you Luna, Queen of the night.” Luna nodded quietly before the man gave a slight bow, the princess returned the bow just as respectfully. “I am Chief Watchful Bear of the Native Confederacy… I’m told you are the one that trained the commander.”

“I am…” Luna said as her eyes went back to the T-34-85 that was gradually getting further and further away. “He was an interesting pupil… So full of talent, and yet lacking in confidence. I can only pray he keeps his humility now that he’s realized how much he can do.”

“He will.” Watchful Bear said with a small smile. “I know someone who was very much like him when he was younger.”

[♠]

Jack stood quietly by his aircraft as he looked out over the plains of Colorado, smelling the air that he had left behind for Equestria. He wore his jacket and aviator cap, his gloves were tucked in his pocket and ready for the order to take to the sky. Beside his aircraft were two more, belonging to Dusty and Sarah. Dusty was currently attempting to woo one of the pony mares responsible for fueling the aircraft while Sarah was leaning against her aircraft. Jack watched her for a couple seconds, recalling just how well she had taken to flying biplanes, despite her fighter jet background.

Jack’s aircraft was adorned with a ghoulish face painted on the front, updated to include a pilot’s cap riddled with bullet holes. He was already contemplating how he would defend Sarah if things started to go south, he knew that she had trouble turning due to a bit of knee trouble, but he doubted she would be dogfighting. Still, there was always the risk. Jack began to pace back and forth, running over the possibilities in his mind over and over again, each one playing out like a chess game. He became so immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t realize Sarah had walked over to him until she placed her hand on his shoulder, the man flinched and looked at her.

“Hey, kiddo. You alright?” She asked as she looked the young daredevil up and down, Jack looked back at her for a couple seconds before slowly shaking his head. “What’s up?”

“Worried about what could happen today… I don’t want to lose anyone else.” Jack said quietly, his eyes turned to the rumble of engines in the distance. He could see the armored column rolling down the highway, it wouldn’t be long before they were sent up. Jack was surprised when Sarah pulled him into a rather comforting hug, patting him on the back a couple times before letting go.

“It’s going to be fine, alright? You’re going to be fine, I’m going to be fine, we’ll all be fine.” Sarah said firmly, Jack nodded silently as the woman patted him on the shoulder. “Proud of you.” With that she started walking back to her own aircraft, Jack felt a bit more confident in the battle that was to come. He tightened the straps on his pilots cap before he heard the familiar sound of someone shouting ‘Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!’ coming from the radio tent that had been set up a couple yards away.

The three pilots climbed up into their aircrafts with practiced ease, slipping into their harnesses and plugging their headsets into the radios. Jack checked over all his dials before looking over at Sarah and Dusty’s aircraft. They were just as focussed as he was, a couple stallions ran out of the tents and up towards the front of the aircraft, Jack knew what would happen next and did a quick sign of the cross over himself.

“Contact!” He shouted before the stallion gave a hard turn of the propeller, coupled with him hitting the starter switch. The engine sputtered for a moment before it roared into full life, Jack reached up to his cap and pulled down a pair of goggles over his eyes, then he buttoned up the fur collar on his jacket. The other engines weren’t far behind, and soon all three of them were chomping at the bit to get into the air.

”Take us up, kiddo!” Sarah called over the radio, Jack gulped quietly and looked over the side at the front wheels of his plane. His first ever combat mission would begin as the chocks were pulled away, he steeled his nerves quietly and cleared his throat.

“Chocks away!” The man ordered, the stallion who had started the engine rushed forwards and pulled the chocks free from the wheel, causing the aircraft to begin rolling forwards across the flat plains. Jack turned his attention back to flying his aircraft, his hand tightening around the stick as he pushed the throttle up. The engine snarled like a wild beast as he began thundering forwards, the tail of the plane bounced up and down on the rough surface before finally lifting up completely. Jack eased back on the stick and his aircraft lifted into the air, he climbed to a not so high altitude of four thousand feet and waited for the others to catch up.

Eventually he saw Sarah’s aircraft edge out in front of him, she took the lead in the formation while Jack was on her right wing and Dusty joined up on her left. Jack adjusted his throttle back from take off settings and settled in for the flight as the cold wind buffeted against his exposed skin, then he adjusted his radio to the proper combat channel, he could instantly hear more chatter between ground units. The flight gradually made its way to the column on the ground, they would occasionally have to bleed off airspeed to keep up with the slower moving tanks, but the plan was to keep them close until the fighting started. If they needed fuel or repairs they could quickly land and get the help they needed.

Sarah looked down from her aircraft at the lead tank, one of the newer T-34 models that had started coming through in mass a couple days ago. To her amazement she could see with surprisingly clarity just who it was riding in the turret, occasionally the man would look up at the aircraft, then back at the road ahead. There was no question about who it was, the scantily clad woman on the front indicated that it was indeed the Commander’s tank.

Sarah couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head, but as she saw him pointing something out to someone in his tank, she got a good idea. The woman looked forwards quietly and spotted a plume of black smoke rising up into the distant clear blue sky ahead. It was possible for her to see Denver as well, just as it was when she had finished her earlier recon flight. They were still a good distance away, but she knew that within an hour the first shots would be fired.

Time ticked by for the pilots and the soldiers on the ground below, each passing second was another moment closer to destiny, another moment closer to what could very well be their imminent demise. As an hour ticked down to a half hour and everyone’s eyes were shifting to their watches, there seemed to be a growing mix of feelings, confidence and dread.

”Compatriots of the New American Expeditionary Force, rogue members of the Native Confederacy, and whatever other independant allies may be out there. Today we are going to be engaging in a battle that could determine the destiny of survivors for generations to come.” Commander Occisor’s voice came over the radio, everyone turned up their headsets and listened closely. ”The enemy is ill trained and ill equipped, but he is well entrenched, and unlike us he has no regard for the lives of his fellow man. When he needs allies most he will stand alone, as he does now. We will not be deterred when he carries out his next unspeakable act. We will march into his capital city, we will topple his regime, and in the end free a suffering humanity from the chains of slavery! We will not settle for anything but complete and total victory!”

Sarah quietly tightened up her cap’s straps and adjusted her scarf before reaching forwards and pulling the charging handle on her machine guns, a round racked in the chambers of the two weapons that were remarkably similar to old fashioned 50. Cals in their design. By now Denver was dead ahead, she could spot EOL banners dancing in the wind above numerous buildings. It must’ve been a humbling sight in those towers, at least, she hoped it was. To see so many armored vehicles and soldiers coming for them would’ve been heart wrenching, the woman looked to the side as she spotted a rather impressive amount of thestrals and changelings rising into the air. Some were armed with sabres and gun platforms, other’s carried just sabres, a few were armed with spellbow platforms. It was clear that there was going to be blood running through the streets of Denver soon enough.

[♠]

Eugene and Nocturne had run out of gas a short distance from Denver, they had been running from the Americans that had destroyed the EOL outpost that had been in the road. Now they were walking through abandoned suburbs and watching over their shoulders for the occasional infected that still roamed the neighborhoods. In the distance they could see a massive plume of smoke rising into the sky, but none of them cared to guess what the source of it was. Besides, there was bigger things to worry about, mainly the sound of engines from the South.

“What do you think is happening?” Nocturne asked as she looked around them, noting a couple shadows passing overhead.

“Something big.” Eugene said quietly as he looked himself over, still adorned in his EOL uniform. “We need to get off the streets and out of these clothes.” Nocturne raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of what he meant by that. However, as the engines grew louder she found herself growing more and more fearful. She nearly screamed when Eugene grabbed her wrist and began running towards a house on the corner, just as they managed to get inside the engines overhead became apparent.

“They have airplanes?!” Nocturne said as she watched through the door of the house, she ducked back as she spotted a swarm of thestrals and changelings following the aircraft towards denver. “Eugene, what do we do!?” Nocturne turned and spotted Eugene stripping out of his uniform down to his undershirt and boxers, leaving only his balaclava to hide his face. “What are you doing?!” Eugene pulled on a pair of jeans that had been left on the couch of the abandoned living room, then put his boots back on.

“Surviving.” He said as he tightened his boots, the man pointed to a pile of clothes resting on the arm of the couch. “Get out of that stuff, if they catch you in that garb they’ll try you as a war criminal.” Eugene picked up his rifle and moved towards the door, Nocturne nervously approached the couch while the man watched outside. The ground began to rumble, the sound of engines was getting even louder. It was so loud he saw a couple infected sprinting down the street towards the source, their tattered flesh and exposed bones barely held together after so much decomposition.

A loud chattering of gunfire indicated that the infected had been dealt with, Eugene leaned out the doorway and looked down the street. A few seconds passed before his eyes widened, T-34s were rolling down the street with soldiers riding on the sides. At the head of the column was one decorated with a scantily clad woman with red ribbon, the commander of which was looking around quietly. Eugene slipped back through the door, holding his rifle tightly and breathing heavily as the tanks began rolling past.

Down the street he could hear gunfire again, this time from the other direction, the first shots of the battle for Denver had been fired. He looked over at Nocturne, the woman had just finished slipping into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and was working on tying up her boots. Eugene peeked outside again, his heart racing as he saw the soldiers dismounting the tanks and rushing towards nearby buildings.

“We need to go! Now!” He shouted frantically as he spotted a four soldiers rushing towards the door, Nocturne managed to finish tying her boots just in time to get up. The two of them began running towards the back door of the house, only to stop as a tank rolled its way through the back yard. It was smaller than the other ones, but still just as intimidating up close. Eugene grabbed Nocturne by the wrist again and dragged her through the hole it had made in a fence, he let go when she caught on to following him. The man climbed over another fence and helped Nocturne along. Now they were on another street, and more tanks were rolling past, this time they had troop trucks with them.

“This way!” Nocturne shouted and pointed towards an alleyway, the pair darted between the trucks of soldiers and into the dark back street. They ran along the cramped dirty roadway until reaching another street, Eugene peeked out and darted back into cover as he spotted a fighter plane coming in low.

“Set up a perimeter! Fight for the Empire!” Shouted a voice from down the road, EOL troops were setting up a defensive position in wait for the incoming American troops. Nocturne began to run out of cover, but Eugene grabbed her and pulled her back just as the airplane engine was getting louder and louder. “Take cov-” The sound of machine guns cut through the air as bullets kicked up the asphalt and concrete out in the open. Only after the plane had banked away did Eugene grabbed Nocturne’s wrist again and begin pulling her towards a brick building.

“We can’t go out there, both sides are likely to shoot us!” Eugene said as he let go of Nocturne and looked around the inside of the structure. It was an old highschool, if the lockers were any indication. “We’ll have to wait it out in here.” Eugene pointed to one of the classrooms, Nocturne nodded quietly and followed him inside, both of them ended up taking cover together in the corner furthest away from the doors and windows. It was going to be a long day.

[♠]

Dominic looked through the command view slit in the turret as bullets pinged off the armor of the T-34, he had taken his forces right into the teeth of the enemy defenses, but he hadn’t had a choice, there was no way he would’ve been able to get in any other way. The EOL had bottlenecked the routes into downtown Denver, and a good amount of them were taking cover in the high rises that hadn’t been knocked over yet, firing with impunity from a high angle.

His ground forces were taking cover among the houses and small structures on the outskirts while his airborne thestrals and changelings were working out a strategy to take on the enemy in the towers above. Already reports of wounded were pouring in over the radio, Dominic couldn’t afford to be bogged down, but he couldn’t just destroy the building. It could fall over and block the only way into the city, and the EOL soldiers there seemed to know that. The commander looked up through the view slit at a squad of thestrals armed with gun platforms, they were dodging the defensive fire from the EOL troopers on the top floors relatively well.

“Support that squad!” Dominic ordered over the radio, the tanks further back were able to get better angles on the enemy and began firing bursts of machine gun fire at the EOL troopers on the top floor to try and force them to take cover. “Come on! Pull it off and I’ll give you all a medal!”

In the air above the thestral squad opened fire on the top floor windows, busting out the remaining windows and perforating a couple EOL defenders. They were the First Recon Squad of the Globe Corps, Captain Poplawski’s chosen cream of the crop. They landed in the highrise and looked around, adjusting their helmets as the EOL soldiers took cover behind overturned desks and filing cabinets. Moving as one the squad began moving towards the enemy, taking cover behind other desks and flipping a couple tables.

Bullets flew past them from the frantic defenders, a couple second later the gunfire stopped as the EOL troops began to reload. That was when the squad struck out, popping up and taking down targets as a well oiled military machine. Within minutes they had secured the top floor and gathered up ammunition and explosives from the dead EOL troopers.

”We’ve secured the top floor! Send in the rest!” The radio announced as Dominic smiled, watching more of the thestrals and changelings moving to the top floor. His joy was short lived as he spotted seven bulldozer tanks rolling down the street ahead, unlike their predecessors they were armed with grenade launchers rather than machine guns, as well as their crude front mounted cannons.

“Incoming armor!” Dominic shouted over the radio, watching as Scribs and Avos began to load the gun. “Gear, take us to the right, fan out!” Gear Grinder nodded and drove the tank forwards and to the right, allowing the other T-34s and smaller tanks to fan out better. Dominic watched one of the tanks fire its grenade launcher, three grenades rained down near the tank. Two of them hit home, but the sloped armor did its job. The tank shuddered as the grenades exploded, Dominic nearly banged his head against the side of the turret. “Take it out!”

Avos rotated the cannon around towards the fourth bulldozer tank, the gun was already ready to fire thanks to Scribs help. The griffon gritted her beak and pulled up on the trigger, the gun boomed and kicked back on its mountings. Dominic watched the enemy tank burst into flames, two T-34s and a light tank followed suit. With three tanks burning the EOL armor began to back up, still firing away with their grenade launchers.

“Scribs! Get on the machine gun and waste those gunners!” Dominic ordered as he moved away from the command slit to help Avos load another shell into the gun. The reporter turned tank crewman hesitated for a moment, then quickly moved to the machine gunner seat beside Gear Grinder.

”Those grenades are doing a hell of a job on us!” Shouted a frantic voice over the radio as several more grenades exploded on the hull of one of the light tanks. ”Shit! It looks like one of them took out our turret controls, and the welds are starting to-” Another grenade exploded on the hull, this time Dominic was shocked to see one of his own tanks burst into flames. The hatch burst open and a couple diamond dogs tried to scramble out, but they were cut down by EOL machine gun fire before they could get away.

“This is Night Eagle, I need a strafing run…. Fifty meters ahead of my position! Target will be marked with white smoke! Danger close!” Dominic shouted into his radio as Avos fired another round at the retreating armor, the shell exploded close to one of the tanks but the damage was superficial. “Load willy pete!” Dominic once again began helping Avos as Scribs fired the machine gun, trying to suppress the enemy grenadiers.

”Copy, this is Ghoul, sixty seconds out, due south of your position!” A male voice replied over the radio, Avos pulled up on the trigger again and a cloud of white smoke exploded down range, easily visible from the air. Dominic held onto the sides of the turret as he waited for the strafing run to take place. He expected to see the fighter coming in from an angle, as flying between the two buildings would be dangerous. ”Guns! Guns! Guns!” Dominic was shocked to see a biplane zoom over his tank, guns blazing as it strafed the retreating armor. The aircraft suddenly entered a high angle climb as it careened towards a building, to Dominic’s relief the aircraft didn’t crash and instead banked away.

“Forwards!” Dominic ordered, the tanks rolled forwards, getting closer to the two buildings that the EOL had set up the bulk of their defenses in.

”This is first recon, be advised, have discovered EOL forces have access to man portable anti-tank weaponry!” The voice of a thestral called over the radio, Dominic moved rapidly to his view slit and peeked outside. One building was rapidly being secured by his forces, the other was still offering up a good bit of resistance. His eyes widened as he spotted movement in one of the windows.

“Left! Left! Left!” He said frantically, Gear Grinder complied and the tank rapidly began moving left, but not before a trail of white smoke emerged from the window and streaked towards the tank. The tank was rocked by an explosion as the rocket hit the sloped armor and deflected into the ground before exploding. “Fuck! Get us out of here! Full ahead!” The tank began rolling ahead at full speed just as a second rocket slammed into the ground where it had been. Dominic was joined by the other T-34s that were leading the charge, many of them surviving similar encounters with EOL rocketeers.

Dominic’s tank rolled over a couple of old cars before returning to the road, ahead of him he could see the three remaining enemy tanks. The one furthest to the right fired its crude cannon, Dominic heard a metal clang as the projectile bounced off the armor that had already taken a decent punishing. Avos rotated the turret around, as Dominic hefted up an eighty-five millimeter shell and slipped it into the gun breach. As soon as he locked it shut Avos pulled the trigger and the gun bucked backwards, the shell blew the enemy bulldozer tank to pieces.

“What’s the status on the two high rises?!” Dominic shouted into the radio as he heard more radio, bullets pinged off the armor again, and he found himself gaining a head ache from the constant noise. Scribs was doing his best to keep the enemy suppressed while Dominic and Avos moved to load another shell into the gun, the smell of burnt powder had rapidly filled the tank as the onslaught continued.

”We’re working on clearing out the second one, taking minor casualties! We found a stash of grenades, they’ve been helping!” Was the reply, Dominic let out a small sigh of relief as it most likely meant that the less armored rear of his tank was less likely to be struck by an enemy missile. Another tank fired, taking out the enemy tank on the left, Dominic looked through the command slit at the final tank as it continued trying to back out of the way. Avos saw to it that didn’t happen, yet another cloud of smoke and flames erupted into the sky.

“Alright, their armor’s history!” Dominic said as Gear Grinder began driving the tank forwards. “All vehicles not designated to support ground forces are to make a push towards the capitol building. I don’t want to hear those damn bastards escaped because we were too slow!” The vehicle pushed a burning car out of the way, Dominic for the first time since the battle started wasn’t able to hear the sound of bullets pinging off the side of the tank. He slipped back into his commanding position fully, to the point where he pushed the hatch up a tad to get a better look of the battlefield. “Keep your eyes open, you never know what these nuts will try next…”

[♠]

Jack held his breath as he circled the city, looking down at the fighting that was advancing through the streets below. Occasionally the enemy would fire small arms at him from their places in the high rises, but so far they hadn’t come even close. His two compatriots were off on their own missions, supporting the ground offensive and covering evacuating wounded soldiers. Jack was still waiting for tasking, his nerves growing more and more tingly with every passing second.

”This is Major Valova, pinned down on the sixteenth street mall, wounded are pinned as well! Anyway we can get armor here?!” A voice shouted over the radio, Jack listened closely but was already turning his aircraft in the direction of the enemy position.

”We’re working as fast as we can, got reports the bastards rigged up explosives in that sector! Stay in cover! We’re coming!” The voice of the Commander replied, he sounded rather distressed, more so than usual. ”Any asset that can provide assistance do so now!”

“Copy that, Ghoul inbound.” Jack said as he started nosing his aircraft down, the buildings on either side were close, but he had flown in much tighter spots than that before. The streets offered him just enough room to fly and maneuver slightly, and it gave him a perfect attack run on his target. As he flew closer to his target he readied the charging handle on his machine guns, then put both his hands back on the throttle and control stick.

The machine gun emplacement was rather large, but nothing a couple strafing runs wouldn’t handle. It seemed the roar of his engine got the attention of the soldiers in the emplacement as he could see more than a few of them diving to cover or starting to wheel their machine guns around to face him. Jack tightened his finger around the trigger, then pulled it back completely, bullets arched forward from his machine guns into the enemy soldiers below.

The pilot pulled back on his stick and gained altitude until it was time for him to turn around and repeat the process, this time he would strafe them from the opposite side. He dove back down between the buildings, engine still thundering away and announcing the coming hail of lead. Jack pulled the trigger once again, raking gunfire through the enemy position before pulling off once again. He was about to repeat the process again, but a rather relieved voice echoed over the airwaves.

”They just raised a white flag! Great job, Ghoul!” Major Valova declared, Jack relaxed quietly back in his seat and continued looking around for targets of opportunity. The pilot paused for a moment, something felt a bit off about the sky, and out of instinct he checked over his shoulder. To his surprise there was another aircraft diving on him from above, it looked like it was barely under control.

“What the hell…?” He said as he rolled right, the aircraft leveled off alongside him. It was a cessna, and while it didn’t have machine guns mounted to the front it did have a pair of yellow crossed swords on the door. The door was pushed open by someone inside, an EOL trooper with an LMG. Jack pulled back on the stick hard, climbing just as the trooper opened fire. “Fucking knew it! I knew it!” He rolled back over and onto the tail of the cessna. “Dusty, Sarah, be advised the EOL has an air force! A shitty one, but an air force nonetheless! I’m about to shoot down a cessna with a door gunner!”

Jack lined up his lead on the cessna as it attempted to shake him, but the pilot wouldn’t be dissuaded so easily. He saw the gunner lean out the side, firing bursts wildly in the direction of Jack’s aircraft. The ghoul found himself smirking quietly, his gunsight leading perfectly over the poorly trained pilot in front of him. He pulled the trigger, peppering the cessna with machine gun fire. It burst into flames and belched black smoke as it went spiralling out of control, flinging the gunner out the door to fall to his demise.

“Splash one!” Jack shouted loudly as he watched the aircraft slam into the ground, his eyes scanned the horizon for any other surprises that could’ve been out there for him. He had a good idea of where the enemy plane had come from, Denver airport wasn’t too far away, and there was bound to be a few still functional aircraft there. However, he doubted they would be much of a threat in a dogfight. He turned his attention back to the search for targets of opportunity, sighing as he readied his guns once more.

[♠]

Maria and Melissa rushed through the shredded EOL machine gun line, ignoring the soldiers there that were raising their hands in surrender. After all, there were plenty of ground forces coming up behind them that would take care of that. The two snipers had taken care of their original mission, ensuring that the combat medics would be safe until reinforcements arrived. Now the pair was moving on to take care of something a tad more personal, and it was located deeper into the city, but only a couple blocks away. They wanted to be the team to put a bullet in the Empress’ head, and hopefully save that much more time at the war crime tribunal. The tanks were on their way there already, but Maria and Melissa figured they would get there sooner.

They cut through back alleys and ruined store fronts, occasionally stopping as they heard yells from EOL forces in the floors above them. Maria gripped her Mosin tightly, looking around her as she made her way through a storefront that once had been a cupcake bakery, Melissa was close behind her with her own rifle at the ready. She seemed to be spacing out, as if she was seeing a ghost. Maria paused and took cover behind a wall, out of sight from the main road, and gestured for Melissa to get beside her. Her protoge did just that, taking position beside her with a curious expression.

“You okay?” Maria asked quietly, Melissa nodded. “I get this is probably not the best trip down memory lane… If you don’t want to come with I understand.” Melissa shook her head and looked around the storefront again, remembering once or twice she had come there with her fellow ponykin. However, what she was more concerned about was the thralls… slaves that she had seen mistreated in that very room.

“I… I’m worried about the slaves in this part of the city.” Melissa admitted, Maria briefly glanced outside the window at the street, it was still clear of traffic. “They’ve kept in an underground parking garage, and the EOL is bringing buildings down…” Maria’s eyes flicked to Melissa again, her heart deciding what was more important faster than her mind could argue. “They’ve already suffered so much.”

“Then fuck bagging the Empress.” Maria said firmly, leaning out to look at the street again. “Lead the way, Melissa. Let’s go get those people.” Melissa nodded and ran out, leading Maria down a familiar street, both of them sticking to the shadows and cover whenever they could. Maria noticed that a rather pungent odor was starting to fill the air, and as they covered more ground she found herself wondering if perhaps they were already too late. The scent of decaying bodies was something that was rather familiar to Maria, and she feared the worst.

“Hold up.” Melissa said quietly as she took cover behind an abandoned car, Maria joined her and readied her rifle. Melissa peeked through one of the car windows, down the road to where numerous EOL vehicles were parked. There were ten soldiers there, all of them attempting to herd numerous people down into the parking garage underground. “This could go really bad.”

“Shut up and shoot.” Maria replied as she leveled her gun at one of the EOL troopers, Melissa nodded and followed suit. There was no verbal command to fire, Maria simply squeezed the trigger and watched her target fall to the ground. The slaves ducked to the ground in fear while the EOL soldiers looked for the source of the gunshot. Melissa fired next, dropping another one of the troopers. The troops spotted the muzzle flash and raised their weapons at the two snipers, firing at them wildly.

“Come on! Fight back!” Melissa shouted over the car, hoping that the slaves would realize the back of the EOL had been broken. The two snipers leaned out to fire again, Maria cursed under her breath as her shot missed. Melissa gulped as the troopers started running towards them, there was no way they would be able to hold them off. “Maria! Run! I’ll hold them off!”

“Don’t be stupid!” Maria replied as she fired another shot, striking the target this time. “I’ve been in worse spots than this!” Maria gritted her teeth and dropped her rifle, reaching into her holster and drawing her handgun. One of the EOL troopers rounded the corner, rifle raised. Maria leveled her handgun at him and fired, his head exploded as the sniper sprung up and grabbed his corpse. She grunted as she held the body, using it as a shield as she continued firing her gun, dropping two more of the oncoming enemy soldiers. Melissa watched her mentor drop the corpse, seamlessly grabbing the AK-47 off the falling corpse and racking a round.

Maria rolled to the side as one of the remaining four troopers fired at her, the roll her behind a concrete divider as more bullets pelted the asphalt. Melissa gulped as she one of the EOL troopers trying to flank Maria, she raised her sniper rifle and lined up the shot. It was the fastest shot she ever made, she was surprised to see the target fall considering how quickly she had moved. Of course, now the troopers had turned their attention to her. Melissa watched the soldiers turning with their rifles raised, only for Maria to spring up and fire three shots.

Melissa watched the three enemy soldiers fall to the ground, blood oozing from bullet holes in their backs. Maria tossed the AK on the ground and walked over to her dropped Mosin, she picked up the rifle and slung it over her shoulder before offering her hand to Melissa. The woman took her hand and was pulled up onto her feet, looking around at the ten dead troopers.

“Remind me not to piss you off…” Melissa mumbled quietly, Maria just shrugged and started walking towards the underground parking lot. Melissa followed her, pausing to sling her rifle over her shoulder and pick up one of the discarded AKs. The stench was even stronger than before now that the two of them stood in front of the entrance, over the entryway someone had painted the words ‘The Pit’ in red. Maria and Melissa walked cautiously into the garage and looked around the dark space, but for the life of them they couldn’t see a thing, despite knowing there was a large number of people down there.

“Hello!? United States Army!” Maria shouted into the darkness, there was no reply from the deep black void. “Please, we’re not here to hurt you!” Again, silence reigned, in the distant underground Maria could make out the frantic scared breaths of fearful people. She was about to speak again, but stopped as she heard two more vehicles pull up behind them. She and Melissa turned as EOL troops stepped out of a pair of SUVs, armed to the teeth. Maria and Melissa looked at eachother, then at the enemy soldiers.

“You mundanes think you can defeat the EOL so easily!?” One of them declared, adjusting a stupid looking crown that was seated atop his head. Melissa quietly racked a fresh round into the AK, knowing that the prospect of getting out of the situation was slim. However, as they stared at the men that would most likely kill them, something strange happened. A very large man pushed between Maria and Melissa, his back was scarred with whip lashes and he wore the tattered remains of a police uniform. His black hair was mangy and dirty, and a beard covered his chin.

“Get back down there, thrall!” Ordered another one, more and more burly men emerged from the dark below, all of them pushing past Maria and Melissa, forming a wall with their bodies. Gradually more and more people, men and women allike, emerged from the dark underground. Their muscles were large and toned from years of forced labor, and all of them bore hateful expressions. “Get back down there! All of you! Now!”

“No.” The first man declared in a booming gravelly voice. “I have lived on my knees for four years, I will die on my feet!” He pointed a trembling finger at the EOL troopers with such speed that they took a couple steps back. The two snipers took aim, that coupled with the growing horde of angry people prompted the EOL troops to scramble back for their SUVs. The horde ran forward at them, yelling furiously as years of repressed rage were unleashed. Maria and Melissa looked away as the crowd of slaves reached the EOL troopers and pulled them from their vehicles. Maria was sure she heard someone shout ‘I’ll rip your arm off and beat you with the wet end!’, that statement was followed shortly by loud pained screaming.

It was like witnessing the infection all over again, though unlike the infected the freed slaves ran past them like a river parting for a rock. Eventually the screaming died down, after minutes of roaring cheers and cries of anger the noise was reduced to a dull roar. Through the crowd emerged the man in the tattered police uniform, approaching Melissa and Maria in a way that made them rather fearful. In the distance there was the sound of machine guns, engines, and cannon fire, but it was getting much closer.

“You are with the army?” The man asked in his gravelly voice, Maria and Melissa nodded simultaneously, doing their best to hide their fear. “Night Eagle’s army? The one we heard about on the radio with the aliens?” Once again there was another nervous nod. “Well then, tell us what to do until the rest of you arrive! We can’t just stand out here!”

“Arm yourselves and secure this perimeter, then raise a plain white banner. We’ll keep you covered until it’s all set up.” Maria replied as she snapped out of her daze, she tapped Melissa on the shoulder before rushing towards a nearby fire escape that would provide them with a good vantage point going down both directions of the street. Once they were in position Maria pulled her radio from her belt. “We’ve liberated a nucleus of slaves about two blocks from the capitol!”

”We just snagged a dozen or so women from a forced brothel a block south of you.” The voice of Jen said, thinly veiling disgust at the situation. ”Mind if we move them up with you? We’re burning this place to the ground.”

“Go ahead, Captain.” Maria replied, looking down as the slaves that could arm themselves did so, the two snipers did their best to ignore the mangled bodies of the EOL troopers, one of whom was missing an arm. It was clear there were a hundred or so more hiding in the pit, but the twenty out in the open were able to arm themselves in one way or another. Maria looked in the direction of the capital, wondering just how well it was going.

[♠]

“Fuck!” Dominic shouted as he popped up out of the turret with his revolver and fired at a man running full tilt towards his tank, dynamite strapped across his chest. Scribs was doing his best with the front machine gun while Avos was laying into the horde of suicide bombers with the machine gun mounted alongside the cannon. That still wasn’t enough, they seemed to be pouring out of every building. So far the tanks were able to keep them from crawling under the tanks, though there had been a few close calls. “Where’s Six Six Six, damn it?!”

“I don’t know, but fuck them, wherever they are!” Gear Grinder declared as he pushed open the driver’s hatch and began firing with his own AK weapon platform. Things were getting awfully sporty, that was for damn sure. Another bomber came screaming towards the tank, this one wearing a ridiculous dragon costume. Dominic didn’t chance shooting him in the head and missing due to the size of the mask, and instead opted to pop him in the chest. There was a tremendous boom as the bomber squeezed the detonator from pain.

“Fuck! It got in my mouth!” Dominic groaned before holstering his revolver and pulling his AK from inside the tank, he began firing away at the continuing onslaught. More and more of them were exploding, and more and more of them were getting closer and closer. Dominic wouldn’t let himself be stopped so close to the capital though, he could see the building right in front of him. His rifle continued kicking against his shoulder as he continued frantically taking down targets, counting down the rounds in his head and reloading as accurately as he could. “Scribs!”

“Yeah?!” Scribs yelled up from inside the tank.

“Under your seat is a black bag! Toss it to my feet!” Dominic shouted back as he slipped a fresh magazine into the rifle and readied the action. He felt the bag hit near his feet, but didn’t react, continuing to lay into the oncoming horde wherever his machine gunners couldn’t. Over head he heard the buzz of engines, as well as a small explosion. He chanced a quick glance upwards and watched a yellow piper cub spiralling towards the ground on fire. It slammed into the earth twenty yards from Dominic’s tank while the fighter planes above dueled with the occasional incompetent pilot in a cessna.

One of the bombers managed to make it under one of the light tanks, to Dominic’s surprise there was no explosion and the tank backed up to expose the enemy soldier desperately slamming his hand on the detonator.

“Fuckin’ idiots can’t even wire bombs together right!” Dominic shouted before firing at the bomber and taking him down, then going back dealing with the rushing horde. It looked like they were thinning out, and running out of explosive vests, as many of them were now charging forwards with only their poorly made swords. Dominic’s rifle clicked empty, he dropped it into the tank unceremoniously and reached down to his black bag. With a grunt he pulled an old grey shotgun from within, his shotgun that had been with him since the very beginning, his most trusty firearm.

Dominic shouldered the weapon, it felt like hugging an old friend, and with a yell he began firing buckshot at the charging enemy. Many of them fell with one shot, clutching at their wounds as they writhed on the ground. Dominic would’ve ordered the tank to roll forwards at that point, but there were so many explosive vests in the way he wasn’t sure that would be wise until after the enemy had stopped charging his tanks. He continued firing at the charging enemy, now all of them were lacking the vests, just rushing with their swords. Dominic’s shotgun clicked empty as well, forcing him to tuck it away. Rather than give up the fight he hopped up out of the turret and drew his sword, standing atop his tank at the ready. He slammed the hatch shut, ensuring no one could get in.

The first challenger was a scrawny man that looked more like a girl than anything else, perhaps it was the pig tails. He took a wild swing at Dominic, it was easily countered and Dominic ran him through before shoving him off the tank. The sword chargers kept coming, swinging wildly and unskillfully, Dominic felt more like he was in the beginning stages of his sword training than anything else. A ring of corpses was forming around the tank, many of them filled with stab or slash wounds as Dominic’s sword was coated in blood.

Another attacker hopped up onto the tank, a woman wearing rather surprisingly good looking battle armor and wielding a large sword. Dominic took a swing at her, but she parried the strike and actually managed to put him on the defensive for a couple seconds. The warrior of the night bounced back, striking her blade with tremendous force and causing the brittle steel to shatter. His sword continued onwards, passing through a gap in her armor and piercing her lung. Dominic shoved her off the tank like all the others, he was panting heavily as sweat ran down his forehead, coating his face in red from the marking that had adorned his head earlier that day.

The next challengers fell so quickly Dominic was actually starting to contemplate holding back to at least offer his opponents a sporting chance. After a grueling ten minutes the attackers stopped running, corpses littered the green field in front of the capitol building, and loud groaning could be heard from numerous wounded. Dominic quietly shook some of the blood from his sword, then wiped the rest on his jacket before sheathing it. The man turned and looked down at the open driver’s hatch, Gear Grinder was staring at him with rather wide eyes. Dominic silently turned to the hatch to the turret and opened it, climbing inside and sitting down in his command chair.

“Avos… Clear a path for us.” He commanded quietly, leaning his head back against the turret wall. The griffon nodded and fired a burst of machine gun fire ahead of them at any body adorned in an explosive vest. Once that had been done, Dominic tapped Gear Grinder on the shoulder and gestured for him to drive forwards. The tank lurched ahead, and Dominic stood up in the turret once again. The other tanks followed his example, clearing paths for themselves before rolling forwards. Numerous bodies were crushed under their tracks, but the crews didn’t have much sympathy for those that had tried to kill them minutes earlier.

Dominic’s tank stopped just short of the steps, the commander pushed open the hatch and adjusted his helmet before he climbed out of the armored beast once more. By now ground forces were arriving on the scene, mainly comprised of griffons and diamond dogs. Dominic looked down into the tank at his crew.

“Avos, you have the con. I’m going to finish this.” He said simply, they nodded silently before he closed the hatch and descended the front of the tank. He was only armed with his sword, as he had used all his other munitions. “I am completely out of ammo… That’s never happened to me before.” The man drew his blade as his soldiers started rushing up the chest, pointing it towards the doors of the capitol building. “Through the heart of the Empire! Charge!”

“Ura!” Shouted the Griffons, Dominic supposed it was because they were similar in Russian culture. To be fair rather liked the sound of that as opposed to anything else. The commander rushed up the steps and pushed the doors open while his soldiers simply broke them down. Dominic rushed into the atrium and took cover behind an overturned bench as machine gun fire sparked up from above him. The building was still surprisingly intact, with many of the paintings and gold leaf on the walls still hanging straight. Of course, the furniture had been overturned and the defenders seemed to be fighting to the last man.

Dominic watched his soldiers rush in wincing as a couple of them were struck by the enemy fire, the commander bolted out of his cover and rushed up a set of nearby stairs onto the second floor of the atrium. He could see the gunners were busy trying to stem the tide of soldiers, they didn’t notice one man coming at them from the side. There were only two of them, oddly enough, meaning the EOL was probably just about out of soldiers. Dominic charged the two machine gunners silently, his sword raised and ready.

Dominic brought his sword down on the man reloading the machine gun, leaving a sizable gash in his neck. The gunner turned in shock and started to go for a handgun, but Dominic ran him through with his sword. The man slipped his sword back into its scabbard and picked up the handgun, a Colt 1911. He looked down at his soldiers who were rushing up the steps, yelling cries of battle as they went. Dominic began running as well, charging down numerous hallways until he came to a single door. The man pushed it for a moment and took a step to the side, seconds later bullets riddled the door with holes.

The commander turned and kicked the door hard sending it off its hinges, the handgun was raised and ready. Two EOL soldiers stood in front of him, each of them mid reload, he didn’t hesitate. Two shots rang out, both soldiers collapsed to the floor. Dominic tucked the handgun into his belt and approached the two dead soldiers and grabbed one of their rifles, then finished reloading it. He shouldered the weapon and prepared to push the door open, but stopped and took cover as three gunshots echoed through the other room. To his surprise bullets didn’t come through the door, prompting him to carefully nudge the door open.

The office of the Empress had three EOL soldiers lying on the floor, and an odd woman in a wolf mask was about to join them with a gun to her head. Dominic fired a shot at the gun itself, there was a spark and the gun shattered, the woman clutching her hand in shock. Dominic rushed forwards and hit her in the head with the butt of his captured rifle, sending her to the floor with a groan. His soldiers rushed in a couple moments later to begin cuffing her, Dominic sighed quietly and tossed the rifle down onto the floor before walking out.

As the commander walked he spotted someone approaching him with a message in their hands, he quickly took it and looked it over. A soft smile passed his lips, the EOL forces in Golden had been crushed by a slave rebellion and the UN’s attack. And now that the head of the Empire was being taken into custody, it seemed things were going to be better off. Of course, there was a small thing that still needed to be done.

It took Dominic ten minutes to return to his tank and grab what he needed from his bag, it was tucked firmly under his arm as he made his way back up through the capitol building. He followed a couple signs and then climbed numerous sets of stairs until finally he had reached the roof access. The man walked out across the roof towards the gold dome of the Denver capitol building, the tattered remains of the EOL banner was still flying above it. Dominic climbed up the side of the dome using a service ladder, stopping at the base of the flagpole. He undid the knots and let the flag fall, then unclipped it from the line. The tattered banner fell to the ground where it belonged, then Dominic clipped what he had tucked under his arm onto the line. With a grunt he pulled the line up, the flag unfurling and whipping in the wind. The man tied off the flag and looked out over the city.

”The Empire is defeated! The war is over! Glory to the New United States!” Someone started shouting over the radio, Dominic smiled faintly as he heard cheers starting to go up through the city. The man watched his troops clearing out the explosives that lay in the streets, making way for hundreds of beleaguered free slaves and EOL civilians. The two groups were separated pretty quickly, as the slaves were understandably vengeance happy. Dominic climbed down the dome and made his way back into the capitol, passing by numerous soldiers that were cheering loudly.

Eventually he made his way outside, climbing up onto his tank and looking out over the cheering crowds. Somewhere out in that swirling mass of bodies someone began to chant ‘USA!’, it grew louder and louder, and Dominic couldn’t help but admit he felt his eyes tearing up. He had done what he had come to Earth to do, to save the people of his home and to free a suffering humanity. As the chanting went on it began to change, and soon enough, he heard them cheering his last name. Dominic felt an odd feeling filling his chest, as if he could conquer the entire world if he wanted to, but as the chanting eventually evolved into singing the feeling passed.

Through the crowd Dominic saw Maria rushing towards his tank, Dominic hopped down off the vehicle as she reached it. The woman pulled him into a strong kiss, one that the man returned just as strongly. They held it for what felt like an eternity before eventually breaking away from one another, they were both smiling widely and looked back to the cheering crowd.

“What happens now?” Maria asked over the noise, Dominic remained quiet for a couple seconds before looking to the flag that was now fluttering over the capitol building.

“Our next job? We evacuate those that want to evacuate and save as much of the human culture that we can...” Dominic replied as he looked towards the mountains in the distance. “There’s something that I want to do though… You and Luna welcome to come with me.” Maria followed his gaze towards the mountains, understanding just where he was looking.

“Back to Evergreen?” Maria asked, Dominic nodded slowly. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll prep the Crown Vic we captured a couple weeks ago, then we’ll go.” Dominic quietly unstrapped his helmet as he heard the people around them starting to sing the American national anthem. “Then after that… We go home.” Maria hugged his arm quietly, resting her head against his shoulder. “For now though, let’s relax and celebrate!”

“Oh, we’re going to celebrate alright. All night if necessary.” Maria squeezed his arm tightly, the man found himself blushing at that. “Now come on, I hear they captured a warehouse filled with whiskey on the outskirts of town!”

“Alright, let’s go-”

“Commander!” Shouted a soldier who pushed his way through the crowd, Dominic looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “They need you in the situation room, sir! It’s Putin!”

“God damn it!” Dominic cursed loudly before looking at Maria, the woman kissed him on the cheek.

“I’ll save you a bottle of the good stuff, don’t worry.” She said, Dominic smiled weakly before following the soldier through the cheering crowd. He did his best not to get caught up in large clusters, even though more than a few women had tried to drag him into the circles, he supposed they didn’t know he had a girlfriend that could put a round up a fly’s ass at a hundred yards. Eventually they pushed their way back into the capitol building where a temporary command center was being set up. Dominic made his way to the radio table and sat down in a rickety office chair before putting the headset on.

“Putin?” He asked.

”Commander! I had worried you had been hurt in the fighting!” Putin’s surprisingly happy sounding voice cut through the radio. ”I’m sorry to pull you out of the celebration, especially since you earned it. However, I have a bit of a problem here in Golden and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind assisting me?”.

“What’s the problem?” Dominic asked tiredly as he leaned on the table.

”The EOL didn’t really get far in their purging operations, the bonfires were prepatory. I’m glad to say a good portion of their soldiers weren’t so crazy as to start shooting innocent people. That isn’t the problem though, just an update. We’ll assist in moving the POWs to your holding camp, wherever that is.” Putin’s voice trailed off for a moment, Dominic rubbed his temples in preparation for the actual problem. ”We’ve stumbled across a stockpile of spirits and we don’t have anywhere to put them.”

“Good thing the people here are going to be getting plastered.” Dominic said tiredly as he leaned back in the chair and listened to the cheers continuing outside. “Send it over…” The man looked at his watch, hoping that the discussion would pass quickly.

”I figured you’d say that… We’ll be there shortly, I look forward to meeting you.”

“Good luck finding me, I’m going to be busy for the next couple hours… I’ve got an appointment with a very enthusiastic brunette.” Dominic spoke, he heard Putin chuckling on the other end before the line went dead. The commander stood up and looked at the soldiers in the situation room. “Hold my calls, unless it’s New Liberty calling I don’t want to be disturbed.” They nodded, Dominic took a deep breath and stepped back outside, smiling faintly as he thought of Maria again.

[♠]

Celestia looked out the window of her hotel room in New Liberty as she heard cheering going up through the streets, she could see crowds forming as people started waving flags. Her guards looked nervous across the room, but as she opened the window she could hear just what was being cheered over. The Princess had come back through the portal when she had heard that the EOL was engaging in an extremely despicable act.

“The war is over! The Empire has been destroyed!” She could hear some people shouting as the celebrations began to spread through the city. Celestia felt a flood of mixed feelings run through her, on the one hand she was glad that the war on earth had ended, as it meant the Empire’s tyranny had been put to an end. At the same time it meant that an army of battle hardened soldiers and tank commanders would return to New America with possibly thousands of refugees. Well armed refugees. The princess could feel the reins beginning to slip through her grasp, if she didn’t do something soon America would be the power to beat on the global stage.

They would have the rights to demand their accurate borders and the force to back it up, even if Celestia had numbers and money on the Americans. As Celestia looked at the city breaking out into celebration she realized that the best way to maintain Equestria’s place on the global stage was to attempt to build up Dominic’s opinion of her government. If she could get him under her control she wouldn’t have to worry about anything else.

Celestia sighed and shook her head, realizing just how wrong her thoughts were starting to sound. The princess couldn’t believe she had even considered making Dominic her friend just to control him, she should’ve been striving for his friendship because it was the right thing to do. The solar princess watched with slight fear as an impromptu military parade began in the streets, complete with martial marching music. So many people in America were connected to the military in one way or another, that sort of display of jingoism was just the sort of thing that got Celestia’s dander up.

“Gather your belongings, we’re going back to Canterlot.” Celestia ordered as she looked away from the window, the two guards nodded and went about grabbing their clothes and armor that they had brought for the trip. Celestia, meanwhile, was contemplating just how to start making a friendship with Dominic. The first order of business would be to cancel the mission to steal military secrets, word had spread that Rainbow Dash had defected and most likely warned them of everything. Celestia felt hurt that one of the elements of harmony had felt the need to leave Equestria, but at the same time, she knew she had herself to blame for allowing the element to be chosen for the mission in the first place.

The mare paused as she looked to a calendar hanging on one of the rather sparsely decorated walls. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized just what month it was, the Grand Galloping Gala was only two weeks away. The invites had already been sent, if everything was still going according to plan, Twilight had been put in charge of that festivity this year, but Celestia had written up the guest list. She had forgotten, perhaps on purpose, to include Dominic. That was something that she would need to rectify as soon as she got back to Canterlot, right after she called off the espionage mission and arranged for her forces to back off of the American border.

“We’re ready, your highness.” One of the guards announced, Celestia nodded and levitated her own packed saddle bags over her back. The group walked to the door and descended down to the lobby, Celestia left the key on the desk, as the clerk was nowhere to be seen. The guards pushed open the door and stepped out into the crowded streets, the parade had devolved into a massive party, with more than a few citizens wandering around with open bottles of alcohol. Celestia opened her wings and took to the sky, the two guards joining her quickly, it was at that altitude that she could see just how widespread the celebrations had gone. Nearly every street in the city was packed, and even the refugee center had dancing in the courtyard.

[♠]

Johnny watched the princess flying away from New Liberty through his binoculars, unsure of what was going on, he could see a lot of activity in the city from outside the fence of the Prisoner of War camp far outside of the town. However, he could see a large convoy of vehicles making its way towards the camp, to his surprise some of them weren’t American. Some were trucks, others were APCs, some were painted white with the letters UN on the side.

“What the hell?” He said quietly before whistling and looking up at a guard tower, the soldiers there were already readying their weapons. “Get the prisoners back into the barracks! Hold your fire!” He could make out that the light tank at the front of the column was American, that was a good sign, he could probably get an explanation from them. As the column rolled closer he could see that it seemed to be hauling the most POWs he had ever seen.

Johnny walked towards a guard house outside the gate as the column got closer and closer, he adjusted his tie and leaned against the small structure as an MP stepped out of the guard house to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“The hell’s going on?” The MP asked, Johnny shrugged and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a green apple and dusting it off on his jacket before taking a bite out of it, eating it from the bottom rather than the sides. Johnny didn’t care that it made him look more like an asshole, he liked apples. “The radio’s been out all day, but they would’ve sent a runner if we were getting prisoners, right?”

“I don’t know…” Johnny said, taking another bite of his apple while the tanks rolled closer and closer, until finally they came to a stop. “Have the dogs ready, just in case.” The MP nodded, being a thestral he opened his wings and flew over the fence, leaving Johnny to approach the tank on his own. The top hatch slowly opened, and to his surprise, he saw a familiar face emerge. “Jen?! What’re you doing here?!”

“The war is over!” Jen said happily as she climbed up out of the tank. “We’ve got a batch of war criminals here, Dominic said I could come home early if I brought them!” Johnny smiled widely and looked over at the gate, signalling rapidly for the guards to open the gates. Jen hopped down off her tank as it drove to the side, making room for the column of trucks and UN vehicles to enter the camp. Johnny rushed towards his fiance and wrapped her in the tightest hug he could, burying his face into her shoulder and catching a whiff of her usual perfume, a smell that he had missed for what felt like an eternity.

“Okay, big guy, come on! Let go! You’re gonna make me blush in front of my men!” Jen said as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, Johnny shook his head and looked at her.

“So what? I can’t hug the love of my life when I’ve been worried about her for so long? Nah, I don’t think so.” Johnny hugged her tighter, lifting her up off the ground before finally letting go. “You wanna help me deal with these new prisoners?”

“I’d love to, and then we can do some celebrating afterwards!” Jen said cheerfully before turning to look at the crew of her tank who was watching her with big smiles on their faces. She just chuckled before walking with Johnny through the gate, she was very happy that her driver had managed to hide the worst of the battle damage by angling the tank a certain way. If Johnny had seen just how much of a pounding the armor had taken he would’ve had a conniption. Johnny, meanwhile, was a bit surprised by the appearance of UN soldiers in trucks and APCs. Tires were a rare luxury in New Liberty, as petroleum was rather hard to come by, hence most of the vehicles ran on ethanol. Of course, R and D were already on working out a way to make tires without oil, but Johnny didn’t have contacts going high enough to learn that much.

His mind snapped off the oil demands of his country and instead turned to the prisoners being disembarked by UN and American troops. The UN soldiers were looking around in astonishment, most likely still coming to terms with being on an entirely different plain of existence. None the less Johnny could see they were taking their job seriously, and as he approached the group of assembled prisoners he was glad to have them there. There were more than a few angry faces among the prisoners, not the normal looks of broken morale, more like rage that their delusion had been destroyed.

“Welcome to camp Four Chan!” Johnny said in his normal cheerful tone, accentuating his words by moving his hands. “As many of you know, the war is over! That being said, you are being held over for processing, as there is going to be a tribunal.” Johnny and Jen walked along in front of the assembled group, a hundred or so in all, looking them over for markings of rank. To his surprise there were four that stood out, and he looked to Jen with a raised eyebrow. “What rank do these four hold?”

“They’re members of the inner circle.” Jen explained as she looked over the four prisoners, three women and a feminine looking man. Johnny raised an eyebrow as he noticed they were still wearing handcuffs. “The others committed suicide before they could be apprehended.” Johnny found himself grinning slightly before looking over to yet another outlier, a woman wearing an odd dog costume, minus the mask of course. “And that is the Empress.”

“Oh, is that so? She go on a diet?” Johnny asked as he looked over the dog lady, Jen shook her head.

“Night Raven died, she’s the replacement, the one that wanted to purge the slaves before we could liberate them.” Jen explained again, Johnny rubbed his chin quietly before taking another bite of his apple. The man looked over the angry inner circle members closely, smirking faintly at the thought that such high profile prisoners would be locked in his capable custody.

“So we have the infamous inner circle in our midst? Good.” Johnny’s expression became serious as he stepped back. “As I’ve dictated to you, you will be held here until processing! Considering we’ve got such high profile guests here, I’ve decided to add a bit of extra security! The guards patrolling the fences will, all of them have permission to shoot on sight, and shoot to kill!” Johnny adjusted his suit again. “There has never been a successful escape from Camp Four Chan, but please, feel free to try. It’s so rare that the guards get to shoot anything that isn’t a clay pigeon! If you do manage to get past the fences you won’t get far though, with attack dogs, deadly wild animals… Guards that can sense your fear and other emotions…”

“My advice to you is simple. Don’t try to run, you’ll only die tired.” Johnny concluded his speech by referring the prisoners to their barracks and the senior POW officer. As he and Jen began to walk away, he began to hear shouting amongst the prisoners. The man shrugged it off and instead put his hand firmly on Jen’s rump, just to fuck with the trigger warning, safe space, social justice prisoners of war. Sure enough shouts of misogynist and sexist began to go up through the crowd, Jen smirked faintly. She didn’t mind Johnny doing that in public, especially if it got a rise out of the EOL.

The guards began herding the prisoners into their barracks, ignoring the shouting and angry protesting coming from many of them. Of course, the four inner circle members and the Empress were held over to be placed in separate barracks that were being stripped of anything that could aid in suicide. One of the inner circle members, the feminine looking man wearing a ridiculous elf costume, took it upon himself to do something drastic.

“Fuck you! You overseer to the cis-gendered mundane patriarchy!” He shouted as he punched one of the guards in the face, the guard was a griffon however. Griffons abhorred slavery in ways that couldn’t truly be described, it stemmed from a period of time where their race had been nearly enslaved by Sombra. They weren’t vocal about it often, but it was certainly an ingrained hatred. It took every bit of self control he had to keep from tearing the prisoner’s throat out with his talons.

The tribunals were sure to be a nightmare with so many war criminals ascribing to the same ideology, and so many of the MPs being griffons.

[♠]

Rainbow Dash quietly looked out the window of her second story room in New Liberty General, her shoulder was bandaged and her muscles ached. The sound of partying in the streets had drawn her attention, and more than a few of the nurses had gone out to join in the festivities, but there was a new sound that had drawn the mare’s attention. Odd vehicles with round wheels rather than tracks, marked with red crosses, were rolling up to the front door of the hospital in mass. Rainbow Dash shimmied over in her bed, watching as soldiers began to be unloaded from the back on stretchers. Some of them were human, others were griffons, thestrals, or changelings.

Of course, some of them she couldn’t tell, because they had sheets covering their faces. Rainbow Dash’s feelings mixed at that sight, knowing that some of those dancing out in the streets would soon realize their loved ones wouldn’t be coming home. Rainbow turned her attention to the hallway outside, doctors and nurses were rushing past, many of them wheeling along carts of medical supplies. There was most likely an overflow at the military base hospital, and it was being moved over to the civilian one. Rainbow Dash continued watching the soldiers being unloaded, as time went on the time between vehicles slowed down.

The mare turned her attention back to the hallway outside, then the bed that occupied the room with hers. It was very likely she’d be getting a roommate, she hoped it wasn’t some sort of nutjob. Rainbow leaned her head back against the pillow, her mind racing with thoughts on what her life had become. She didn’t really have a home, or any friends, or any idea what she would do now that she was in a place that didn’t really use a weather team. Her most obvious choice would be to enlist, but she doubted they would trust her given she was a defector.

At least she had been able to warn the American’s of the impending threat, she had conveyed the news to Princess Luna herself. Her mind shifted to those odd flying machines she occasionally spotted in the air above the military base, they seemed to be trying to outfly thestrals. She figured maybe they’d let her be one of those types of ponies, after all, she had nearly been a wonderbolt. She’d be able to help with whatever it was they were trying to do, of course that was after she got out of the hospital.

Rainbow Dash listened to the sound of soldiers being rolled past her door, wondering just how many casualties had been sustained. It was a good ten minutes before anyone came to her room, and sure enough, it was a nurse wheeling in a soldier. Rainbow couldn’t really get a good look at them, but their were putting up a heck of a fight with the large diamond dog orderly. Finally they were plopped down in the bed, muttering curses under their breath. Rainbow could atleast make out they were a griffon, but the orderly was still in the way.

“Now you’re gonna stay here until the doctor says otherwise.” The diamond dog said sternly, after a couple more mutters the dog walked out. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she realized just who it was in the bed beside her, the griffon’s uniform was ruffled and torn and she had a bandage wrapped around her head. Despite that, she looked just as she always did.

“Gilda?” Rainbow asked in shock, the griffon looked at her before a look of realization passed over her face.

“Holy shit! Dash, what the fuck are you doing here?!” Gilda replied as she sat up in the bed, Dash gestured to her shoulder quietly. “I get your hurt, but what the hell are you doing in this neck of the woods?”

“I defected.” Rainbow Dash admitted, Gilda seemed a bit surprised by that as Rainbow Dash looked down at the floor. “How’ve you been? We haven’t talked since that thing in Ponyville…”

“Well, our economy tanked, so I lost pretty much everything… Then I came here, and things are actually starting to look up again.” Gilda admitted as she leaned back in her bed, running a claw over her head. “Fucking pussy hit me in the head with a stapler of all things, my CO sent me back just in case.”

“Must be really bad if they’re sending people here.” Rainbow Dash mumbled, Gilda shook her head and looked at the ceiling.

“They’re sending military casualties here because the civilian hospital has more doctors that specialize in thestrals, griffons and so on.” Gilda explained, sighing as she began undoing the buttons on her uniform. “The base hospital is mainly human docs, and they’re all working full time on the really badly injured the the human refugees, they sent all the light injuries here.”

“Ah…” Rainbow Dash said quietly, the two of them lapsed into a rather awkward silence while Gilda scratched her fur under her uniform jacket. “Hey, Gilda?” The griffon hummed quietly. “I’m… Really sorry about what happened in Ponyville.”

“What do you have to apologize for? I was the one making an ass of themselves.” Gilda replied, the two of them continued laying on the beds quietly. “I was actually just about to apologize myself, I treated you and your friends like shit. I had a lot of anger back then, the economy was just started to tank and I was on the brink of bankruptcy, not that it excuses my actions…”

“Who are you and what have you done with Gilda?” Rainbow Dash asked in a joking tone.

“It’s still me, just with less vinegar.” Gilda replied, chuckling slightly. “You learn real quick not to mouth off to your superiors here, nothing like the Griffon army. A lot less politics and a lot more push ups.” Rainbow Dash watched her roommate rub at her bandages again, she could see a wince cross the griffon’s beak. The door to the room opened and a griffon in a doctor coat walked in, looking at Gilda with a raised eyebrow. “Looks like they’re taking me for another examination, talk to you later, Dash.”

“Yeah, see ya!” Rainbow Dash replied as she watched her friend walk out with the doctor, once again she was alone in her room, left with only her thoughts. Her thoughts drifted back to her friends in Equestria, if they even still thought of her as a friend. Rainbow looked down at the floor again, sighing quietly as she imagined there was likely a lot of anger among the five remaining elements of harmony. The mare leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to get a little sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she could only imagine what the future held. There was cheering in the streets now, but she felt there was something far more grim on the horizon.

Author's Notes:

Hello again, folks! It is I, the all powerful Boss man, come at you loud and proud from my marvelous studio in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey! Things are starting to pick up, and I'm trying my best to give the characters enough time, but with so many it's a little hard to do. Still, doing my best!

Anyway, here's your clip of the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnDZ3a1WoQw