The sound of marching hooves echoed down a road that cut through the open plains of the Zebra Tribal Lands as a massive army of Zebras, Saddle Arabians and Caribou made their way to the coastal city of Rhymista. Their marching caused the ground to shake, the soldiers were armored up with magic resistant gold-steel composite armor and carried arcane rifles. Tanks and artillery armed with similar arcane weaponry, their banners unfurled in the wind, declaring their nationality to anyone that happened to watch them. In total the army consisted of three hundred thousand Caribou, two hundred and fifty Saddle Arabians, and half a million Zebra warriors. They outnumbered the entire Onorussian Military by a ratio of two-to-one, and despite their limited air and naval production capacity, they still had managed to build and buy enough ships to carry the whole kit and caboodle across the South Luna Sea.

It had been expensive, very expensive, but many of the ships had been built by slave labor. Most of them had been commissioned as civilian vessels, to throw off suspicion of the Onorussian spies that littered the three allied countries. The forces had been quietly built up in secret, weapons mass produced by the more industrialized nations that had been dominated by the Axis of Evil that tormented the western hemisphere of Equus. Factories had been disguised as schools, granaries, farms, and even temples. The high command had planned cunningly, running fleet operations in the North Luna Sea to draw the attention of the Onorussian interlopers. Little did they know that the naval ships were little more than old merchant vessels that had been painted with military colors and armed with fake cannons.

For eight long years the three allied nations had toiled to prepare to defeat their greatest opponent on the global stage, to eliminate the Onorussians would be to eliminate any doubt in the superiority of their collective races. Each soldier of the Zebra and Caribou armies had been filled with countless calls for violence, they were to show no mercy, to be as cruel and ruthless as they would be to snakes or other vermin. The Saddle Arabians were the only ones that viewed the Onorussians as their equals on the battlefield, but despite that distinction they harbored great resentment. Over one million hate filled, well armed, well trained soldiers marching on to destiny, a staging area where they would await the order to begin the largest amphibious invasion in their world’s history.

[♠]

Maria sighed quietly as she looked out over the South Luna Ocean, the chilly winter air made her breath visible, but she didn’t mind. She had decided to take Julia and Jacob to see the coast, of course they had also brought Altair along. Unfortunately Luna and Dominic were busy with work, but Maria always jumped at the opportunity to leave the palace and get back to enjoying the simple things in life. For instance, the ‘Vacation Home’ that she had rented for dirt cheap, as it was the off season. Even during fall the coast of the South Luna Ocean had plenty to do, her aunt and cousin were just enjoying the chance to explore as much as they could. Maria adjusted her grey jacket as the cold wind blew across her cheek.

The woman stood on the beach that lead right up to the vacation house, her boots sinking lightly in the sand as she did her best to keep her hands warm. As it turned out hunting season had just started in the province of Cobrastan, the part of Onorus that she had decided to visit with her newly found family. She had brought along her Tac 50 and her Mosin Nagant in preparation. Altair had always expressed an interest in hunting, and it seemed the right opportunity to teach him about gun safety, as well as hunting. She wasn’t going to give him a gun, that would be absurd, but she would take him with her to track animals and so on… But that was for a couple days in the future. For now, Maria simply wanted to enjoy the chilly air and the pleasant view of an ocean dotted with white caps.

Maria sighed quietly and tucked her hands into her pockets before closing her eyes, she still hadn’t told Julia or Jacob about what had happened to her parents, and she was hoping that keeping them busy would give her time to come up with something, but once again her mind was drawing a blank. The woman quietly eased herself down onto the cold white sand of the beach while watching the chilling grey clouds that stretched out onto the horizon. In the distance she heard the sound of a foghorn, most likely from a naval ship making its way towards the base in the coastal city of New Murmansk. She sat in silence, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of nature around her for what felt like hours, though in actuality it was only thirty minutes.

To her surprise she heard the door to the house open behind her, Maria opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see that Altair had come out of the house wearing his wool coat and fluffy fur ushanka. Maria stood up as he got closer, a bit surprised to see her son out of the house, he normally liked to stay inside when they visited during the winter, especially on days when new episodes of ‘Lunar Commandos’ aired on the television. The boy quietly adjusted his wool gloves as he reached Maria, his expression looked a bit uncertain.

“What is it, sweetie?” Maria asked as she knelt down to get on his eye level, Altair rubbed the back of his neck for a couple seconds.

“Mommy? Why do people call you the Queen of Death?” He asked bluntly, and he sounded almost afraid to speak. Maria stared at him for a couple seconds, feeling a tightness forming in her chest. “T-The television had a commercial for one of those new movies and it called you the Queen of Death…” Maria put her hands on Altair’s shoulder, squeezing him gently as she looked at the ground. There was no way she could talk her way out of this one…

“W-Well, honey… Before you were born there was a lot of fighting.” Maria admitted quietly, she looked back at her son, who still seemed to be rather uncertain. “I was a sniper, like… Like Sergeant Oslo on Lunar Commandos.” Altair raised an eyebrow at his mom. “People call me ‘The Queen of Death’ because… Well… I was the best at what I did.” The woman quietly rubbed her eyes. “I… I… It isn’t a name I’m proud of, but I had to earn it… So you and your friends could have a better life than your father or I…”

“So… You aren’t going to kill me?” Altair asked, Maria stared at him, she could feel her heart crumpling in on itself as she shook her head.

“N-No… No no no…” Maria said in a shaking voice as she hugged Altair tightly against her. “I would never hurt you, Altair… My sweet little baby, no…” Altair quietly wrapped his arms around her, he could feel warm drops landing on his neck, and now he was the one that felt like a complete jerk. He didn’t like when his mom cried, and now it seemed that he had been the one that made her cry. “I can’t explain to you just how much I would do to keep you safe, baby…”

“O-Okay, mom…” Altair said, doing his best to make sense of the emotions that he himself was feeling. “Please, don’t cry…” Maria rubbed his back a couple times before pulling away from him and looking at him, she wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I don’t want you to be sad…”

“I’m not sad, sweetie…” Maria said as she gripped his shoulders again. “I just… Love you… So much.” The woman stood up and looked over her shoulder at the ocean, watching the waves as they crashed against the shore, the cold winter wind had picked up, causing the tears on her face to chill and begin to freeze. “Let’s head inside and get some hot cocoa, okay?” The woman had become adept at putting up fronts of calm around her son, if she was calm he was calm. Altair saw that she didn’t seem upset anymore, and nodded at her suggestion.

“Okay, mom.” Altair replied, he was still doing his best to make heads and tails of the emotions he felt. Maria ushered him towards the rented house, they ascended the creaky steps of the one story ranch style building. Once inside, Maria removed her coat, leaving her in a light grey turtleneck. The inside was just warm enough without being uncomfortable, and when she closed the door behind her she could feel the icy grip of winter loosen its grasp. Altair made his way to the living room and sat down on the floor in front of the television while Maria went to the kitchen and began to prepare the cocoa. As she took the milk from the rather old fridge she felt her composure begin to break, in an instant she felt tears streaming down her face again. The woman made sure to face the wall so that Altair couldn’t see.

The woman wiped her tears further as she poured the milk into a small pot which she set on the stove and began to heat. She was quick to gather the other ingredients before returning her attention solely on the pot, all the while she did her best to cry as quietly as possible. After a couple minutes she wiped her eyes again and shook her head, with a slight grunt she forced herself to compartmentalize as much as she could. That managed to put her tears to an end, but internally it was like putting a bandaid on a broken leg. She became so focussed on controlling her emotions that she nearly let the milk boil over, she managed to catch it before it got too out of hand.

Maria finished making the hot cocoa and walked to the couch near the TV, handing one mug of the warm liquid to her son. She had taken the hotter cup so Altair didn’t burn himself on accident, she leaned back in the couch and watched the TV. There was a movie on with samurai charging towards thousands of soldier with rifles and gatling guns, Altair seemed to be enjoying it. After a couple minutes he stood up and moved to the couch, silently stitting next to his mom and sipping his hot cocoa.

“Mom? Why are they still fighting?” Altair asked as he watched the samurai on the screen, Maria looked at her son with a raised eyebrow. “They can’t win, the soldiers have guns…” The woman set her cup down on a table near the couch and hummed.

“They don’t want to surrender because it would be dishonorable.” Maria said as she put her arm around her son to hug him gently. “They would rather go down fighting instead of admitting defeat.”

“Like dad?” Altair asked, Maria chuckled quietly.

“Your father certainly is stubborn, that’s for sure. When he puts his mind to something, there’s little anyone can do to stop him.” The mother said, watching as the samurai on the screen charged towards a line of gatling guns, countless members of their numbers were cut down in the process. “He’s a warrior at heart, as much as he refuses to say it…”

“I wanna be a warrior too.” Altair said as he looked at his mom, Maria rubbed his head quietly and sighed.

“Well…” She said, unsure of how to respond. “Whatever you end up wanting to be in life, I know you’ll do the best you can to be the best you can be…” Altair smiled, he was glad to see that his mother was in a better mood as he continued watching the screen.

[♠]

Dominic sighed as he looked over a couple pictures that had come in from his spy planes, he was sitting in the war room with his generals. The Caribou ships in the north had been startling at first, their presence had caused the Onorussians to launch all of their spy planes to patrol the ocean. The ships in the north were starting to look more and more like a diversion for something far more sinister. Almost overnight millions of males from all three allied powers, now dubbed the New Axis, had seemingly vanished. Considering that the New Axis nations only allowed males to serve in the military, it made sense that they were building up some sort of force.

The lights were dim as the generals and other officials mumbled to one another and looked over numerous maps. Some were of Equus, others were of Terra, the plans to begin reclaiming Europe and Asia were set to begin, but they would require a massive amount of troops and resources. Doing so would leave Onorus vulnerable. Dominic sighed and rubbed his temples as he looked to the generals for any sort of input, it was likely that they would end up facing a force of over a million soldiers, the question was where was it going to land. For a technologically inferior alliance, the New Axis had managed to hide their troop movements well.

“We will have to put off Operation Zephyr and Operation Big Ben until we’re sure we’ve dealt with the New Axis.” Dominic said as he looked over a map of the Onorussian coastal defences, they hadn’t completed nearly as many of their defensive positions as he would’ve liked, there were only sparse pillboxes along the southern ocean, as it had been assumed the Zebras wouldn’t be able to field a large army after their numerous defeats, the northern shore was in more danger. “General Bulwark, you know the most about our defenses in the South Luna Sea, what do you suggest we do to prepare, in case they decide to attack there?”

“Well, our forces there are mainly troopers fresh out of training. The area normally acts as a sort of secondary training ground, letting them get used to actual operations.” Bulwark explained as he walked towards the map and looked it over. “We’ve got seven light forts along the coast, all former Equestrian, we’ve upgraded them as best we can. There are also two fortresses, one in New Murmansk and one in New Normandy.” The general pointed to several forts and fortresses on the map. “And a hundred or so pillboxes, one third of them are armed with anti air weapons and coastal guns, another third has just the ack ack, and the rest are coastal batteries only.”

“What about Changeling defenders?” Dominic asked, Bulwark gestured to several places on the map.

“We’ve alerted every Changeling Defense Force unit we have, they’ve already begun preparing to evacuate civilians.” Bulwark responded, Dominic quietly took a cigar from a nearby box and bit the cap off before lighting it. “We should also consider calling up some of the troops on Terra to aid in a defense of the mainland.” Dominic nodded quietly as he took a puff on his cigar and looked at the map. “I also recommend that we recall the Imperatrix from her visit there…”

“Right… Begin sending reservists to the Southern coast.” Dominic said as he rubbed his chin and bit down on his cigar, the man put his hands on the map table and leaned against it, looking down at the map of the southern coast. He turned his attention to Field Marshal Eventide, the stallion in charge of the Onorussian Missile Defense Command. “Put our missile silos on alert. Take us to Defense Condition Three.” The man sighed quietly as he exhaled a puff of smoke and took the cigar from his mouth. “Make the immediate targets military and industrial targets, moderate yield… We’ll use the missiles as a last resort.”

“Yes, sir.” Eventide said with a salute, Dominic looked off to the side.

“Summon the Caribou Ambassador to my office at once, I want to have a chat with him.” The Imperator ordered as he took another puff of his cigar and began making his way to the door. “If anything else comes up, alert me immediately. Have someone pick up my wife and son, as well as the two VIPs.” The others nodded and went about preparing to give the new orders, all of their papers had the current date stamped on top. November 6th, 2026.

[♠]

A Caribou Captain looked out over the ocean as his ship sailed out of the harbor of Rhymista loaded with troops and vehicles, it was riding low in the water from the added weight. The ship was one of many that was sailing to the East, they had set sail the moment the ship was loaded, joining an ongoing convoy of ships. The sound of singing and war chants echoed from the deck of the ship, much to the captain’s annoyance. Even if the Onorussians discovered the convoy there would be little they could do to stop it, the bulk of their naval fleet was in the North, by the time it could be brought in the Caribou would already have a foothold in Onorussian territory.

The sound of engines echoed in the sky above, causing the captain to look up, the midday sun made it easy for him to see the silhouettes of hundreds of biplanes and bombers flying to the east. Loaded down with cluster bombs and fire canisters, they would be the first to draw the blood of their enemy. The trip across the channel took less than three hours by ship, the aircraft would be their even sooner.

Little did the invaders know that beneath the waves of the ocean lay a group of silent sentinels, four submerged Onorussian U-Boats. They had been deployed as part of a training cruise for the recruits of the Onorussian Naval Academy. Some of their crew were no older than seventeen, the senior officers were the only ones with real experience. In any other situation, the orders would’ve been to return to base, as going into combat with a crew of recruits was considered to be insane… As it turned out Captain Eugene was just a little bit crazy. He looked through the periscope as his training crew rushed about behind him, preparing the submarine for combat.

“Sir! We’ve alerted Southern Naval Command. They’re sending as many ships as they can, the closest vessel is a destroyer patrol pod.” One of the recruits that had been put in charge of the communications room announced over the intercom. “It’s being lead by the Trotzig, they’ll be coming in with a couple more destroyers and cruisers!”

“Understood!” Eugene replied as he watched the large convoy on the surface, his heart was racing as he looked at his watch. The other submarines had been dispatched to set up in other positions around the convoy, a textbook wolfpack attack. “All vessels, target the ones riding low in the water.” Eugene set his periscope on one of the lead ships, taking note of the bearing and speed. “Target vessel, bearing zero-one-seven. Distance, one kilometer. Speed… Fifteen knots.”

“Targeted.” Replied the tactical officer, Eugene took a deep breath before speaking again.

“Flood tubes one and two.” He ordered, he could hear the water rush into the forward tubes. “Open tubes one and two.” Once again the sound of whirring machinery echoed through the submarine. “Fire one!” There was a whoosh of compressed air as the torpedo was ejected out into the water and began its journey towards the enemy ship.

“Torpedo in the water! Impact in sixty seconds!” The tactical officer shouted as Eugene clicked a stopwatch and watched the second hand begin ticking. He set it aside and went back to watching targeted ship, his hands clenched and unclenched as the seconds ticked by. His eyes occasionally flicked over to the stopwatch, it was the longest sixty seconds of his life. He looked back to the target just as the minute finished ticking by, there was a mighty spout of water as the torpedo detonated beneath the ship. The explosion of water caused the ship to be tossed out of the water as it was split in half. Timber and fabric were torn to shreds by the explosion, tons of military equipment and soldiers spilled into the ocean.

Eugene watched as more of the convoy was struck by torpedoes from the other subs, but despite the effectiveness of their attack the convoy was still far too massive for them to put any sort of dent in their numbers. The man gritted his teeth as he called out another target, the next torpedo was fired, but he doubted that even if he fired every torpedo he had he would be able to stop the enemy convoy.

”Sir! Sir! I have the reinforcements on sonar, sir! It’s Trotzig! She’s alone, sir!” The recruit manning the sonar station shouted over the intercom.

”The other ships have engage the enemy aircraft we spotted earlier, Trotzig is on her own!” The communications officer shouted, Eugene cursed under his breath and said a quiet prayer as the latest torpedo slammed into one of the ships. There were ships of shapes and sizes scattered out on the water, a solitary grey destroyer facing nearly a thousand vessels. The invaders must’ve seen her as they rampaged along, standing firm between them and the Onorussian coast, the solitary destroyer gave a deafening blast of its horn. The sound echoed over the water for miles.

Slowly it moved towards the invaders, then with a deafening roar and whoosh of spray it swung about and charged towards the invading Caribou. Moving swiftly through the waters, cannons blazing as she came, the destroyer sent shell after shell towards the lead ships of the Axis invasion force. Eugene watched as shell after shell impacted the wooden ships of the invaders, blasting massive holes in their sides and sending them spinning in the water. From the flotilla came seven Man O Wars, their forward cannons firing at the lone destroyer.

Captain Stahlflügel, a grizzled Thestral female, pointed her swagger stick towards one of the Man O Wars as the Trotzig charged onwards. Shots from the enemy ships had started to impact the ship, and even with their Earth Material Armor the arcane weapons were still having a damaging effect.

“Fire on their forward powder compartment! Keep us moving, don’t let them line up a broadside!” She ordered as alarms blared through the bridge, the crew of the vessel was untested but so far they hadn’t let her down. The cannons roared once more as shells fell on the Man O War, unfortunately the enemy was keeping Trotzig from her job, which was stopping the invading convoy.

The Man O War that had been targeted suffered severely as shells from the Onorussian ship punched through her armor below the waterline, she began to list to starboard, offering the gunners on the Trotzig to fire on the deck. It didn’t take long to destroy the enemy ship by detonating its powder magazine, the explosion was bright and loud, but there were still six Man O Wars to contend with. Trotzig lurched heavily to port as an enemy shot struck her stern, where the E-Mat armor was weakest. Captain Stahlflügel grunted as she steadied herself, her mane falling into her eyes.

“Report!” She shouted as another shot of arcane energy slammed into the ship, this time striking the lone smoke stack.

“Our engines are at seventy percent, ma’am! That last hit took something out of us!” An ensign shouted as he looked over a console displaying information from around the ship. “Our rudder is damaged, we’ve lost twenty percent rotation to starboard and thirty to port!”

“Verdammt! Put as many crews as it takes on getting our rudder back to work! We can’t afford to get caught in a broadside!” Stahlflügel ordered sternly as she watched the sea, more enemy shots impacted the deck, sending some of the crew flying and damaging several of the anti-aircraft emplacements on the deck. “We must hold them off until their air attack has been dealt with! Sure up the line! No surrender!” She was tossed back as a blast of energy impacted the forward turret, she was shocked to see one of the cannons was melting.

“Forward turret is jammed, ma’am!” The ensign shouted as smoke and flames began to rise up out of the ruined turret, the thestral gritted her teeth as she looked towards one of the Man O Wars.

“Perhaps today is a good day to die!” She shouted angrily as she moved to the control panel. “Give me ramming speed!” The ensign stared at her with surprise, so she pushed him out of the way and gave the order herself. “Sound collision!” The ensign shook himself out of his stupor and pushed the alarm, bells rang through the ship as Stahlflügel took control of the helm, steering her damaged ship straight towards one of the Man O Wars that had lined itself up for a broadside. The ship's siren began to blare loudly as it got closer and closer to the Man O War, catching the attention of the Caribou crew. Some of them stopped in shock as the Trotzig, travelling at nearly twenty knots, slammed into the side of their ship.

Both vessels shuddered at the massive impact, the Man O War buckled and split in two as the Destroyer cut through it like a knife through butter. Caribou sailors jumped overboard as their ship was ruined, to their shock the Onorussian Destroyer continued sailing through. The bow of the vessel was dented and bruised, but aside from that it seemed that it was fine. Several survivors of the Man O War crew found themselves lying on the deck of the metal war beast. They stood up and readied their swords as Onorussian crew members spilled out onto the deck. Rifle shots joined the cacophony of sounds as the Trotzig’s sailors began to repel the boarders.

Captain Stahlflügel shook herself off and wiped blood that was dripping down her vision as she continued to control her ship. The only turret still functioning was the rear facing cannon, forcing her to control her ship in reverse in order to maximize its effectiveness. The emergency bulkheads in the front of the ship had held up to the impact, she still had a ship, meaning she still had a chance. The turret continued firing away at one of the five remaining Man O Wars, shell after shell arched across the ocean and slammed into the enemy vessel. The destroyed Man O Wars had become floating wrecks, drastically reducing the visibility of the enemy gunners.

Eugene watched through the periscope as the battle raged on the surface, he had just fired off the last of his torpedoes, but still the massive convoy still carried onwards. It was as if they didn’t care how many ships they lost, an unstoppable horde of hateful invaders. The man adjusted his cap as he pulled down the periscope and looked at his crew.

“The other subs are returning to New Murmansk to rearm, we and O-391 are remaining behind to pick up any survivors, should the Trotzig go down….” He said solemnly, knowing that such a mission would be extremely risky. “Anyone not helping with ships operations… Arm yourselves.” The crew nodded and began moving towards the armory, Eugene turned back to the periscope and pulled it down to watch the rest of the battle unfolding on the surface.

Trotzig had lost one of its engines and the starboard side of the ship was listing lower in the water as holes of melting metal pocked its sides. Captain Stahlflügel struggled to steady herself, her bridge crew as dead, and the last turret had been blown open like a tin can. With a tired grunt she gave the order for more speed before picked up the ship’s intercom.

“All hands… Abandon ship.” She said as she began steering the ship towards the convoy, ignoring the Man O Wars. She held it on a course that would cause it to slam into at least three enemy ships. Along the sides of the ship the remaining crew began to jump into the sea, Stahlflügel stood up straight as the Trotzig and her got closer and closer to their targets. The blasts of energy continued to rock the ship, more and more water began to flood in, but it soldiered on through the fire and the flames. Stahlflügel closed her eyes and began to sing loudly. “Ich hatte einen Kameraden! Einen bessern findst du nit!” The vessel steamed closer and closer, picking up more and more speed as the fire and smoke began to flood the bridge. “Die Trommel schlug zum Streite! Er ging an meiner Seite! In gleichem Schritt und Tritt!”

Eugene watched in stunned silence as the Trotzig smashed into another vessel, ripping it apart before slamming into another, and then another, in a diagonal line. The indomitable vessel continued on for several seconds, giving Eugene a vague bit of hope that perhaps it was still seaworthy. That hope was dashed when he saw the defiant destroyer explode in a magnificent fashion. Lashing ropes and smashing timber, fire and Arcane bolts pierced the deck. With the smoke of battle clearing, over waves and graves defiled, the valiant little vessel was slowly disappearing. Eugene said his final farewell to Trotzig. That was the signal to surface the ship and begin the arduous task of a rescue mission.

[♠]

Maria and Altair stood on the steps of the rented home, looking out over the ocean as explosions and weapons fire echoed over the water. Plumes of smoke rose high into the sky as jet fighters and bombers screamed overhead towards the fight, still Maria could make out faint shapes that seemed to be getting closer and closer to the coast. Altair quietly stood behind his mom, watching the fire and brimstone on the horizon, feeling a level of fear he had never felt before. His mother looked at him quietly and picked him up, then carried him inside.

“Start packing everything, okay sweetie? My clothes and yours, and then your aunt and cousin’s.” She said in a rather shaky voice, Altair nodded and rushed to his bedroom to begin packing his things. Meanwhile Maria went to the gun safe that she kept her rifles in and put in the combination faster than she had ever thought possible. There was a swift knock on the door before a group of Lunar Marines entered, they wore full body armor and carried rifles.

“Madame Imperatrix, we’re here to escort you and the Nova Imperator to the evacuation helicopter!” Said the lead soldier as the others set up a perimeter, Maria nodded quietly and set her rifles down on the counter.

“I’ll be right back.” She said before making her way to the room where Altair was packing their things. “Sweetie, go wait in the living room. There’s a bunch of Lunar Marines there that are here to protect us.” Altair stopped packing and hugged Maria’s leg, he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

“Mommy, I’m scared…” The boy said, Maria knelt down and put her hands on his shoulders, smiling as best she could.

“It’s okay to be scared…” Maria said as she looked over her shoulder at the door that lead to the living room. “Take a deep breath and count to four, then exhale…” Altair hesitantly nodded and took a deep breath, four seconds later her exhaled. “Again.” Once again her son followed her instructions, as he did he felt himself calming down. “Now, go out there and keep calm. I’ll be with you shortly.” Altair nodded quietly and exited the room, leaving Maria to pick up the task of packing. She had hoped that giving Altair the task would take some of his stress away, but now that the marines had arrived she had to get the job done quickly.

She had practiced and practiced, as the threat of something happening like this on one of her excursions was always high. In less than fifteen minutes she had packed the bags and dragged them out into the living room where she saw one of the soldiers was crouched down and talking to Altair. Maria wasn’t about to have the soldiers carry her bags for her, so she slipped the duffle bag over her back before doing the same with Altairs. It was heavy, but she had carried heavier in her life. That left the two wheeled bags that she could pull. The woman moved to the counter and slipped her rifle straps around her, now the weight was starting to get to her. She grunted and took the two rolling bags.

“Captain, let’s not tarry any longer.” She said as she began making for the door, the marine officer nodded and signaled his troops. The group of thestrals moved outside first, clearing it before signalling Altair and Maria to come out. The two of them stepped out onto the sandy soil as the wind picked up, they wasted no time in rushing through the sand towards a black armored car parked on the side of the house. Maria looked out to the sea and was shocked to see dozens of white sails approaching the beach while smoke rose higher in the distant sky. Just as they reached the car she spotted flashes of light from the lead ships as they started turning to line up broadsides.

Blasts of energy slammed down into the water, causing spouts of hot steam to rise into the air. Altair covered his ears as the marines helped him into the armored car, Maria tossed her bags into the back, and was midway through putting her rifles away when the first blast landed near the car. The ground shook and rocks rattled down around them, it seemed that these arcane weapons were far more accurate than normal artillery. Maria shouted loudly as she finished tossing her Tac 50 into the back of the car, another blast exploded near them, far closer.

“They’ve got us zeroed!” One of the soldiers shouted from inside the armored car, Maria gripped her Mosin tightly and closed her eyes. In the time it would take her to get in the car they could be hit.

“Go!” She shouted, the marines in the back of the car looked at her with surprise as she grabbed her bag out of the car. “That’s an order! Get my son out of here!” She closed the back of the car as Altair began shouting, the car’s tires screeched as it tore off down the road. Maria hefted her bag over her shoulder as she ran across the road past several houses and into a wooded area behind them. More and more explosions echoed from the beaches ahead of her, her heart was pounding heavily as she dropped her bag and her rifle. As it stood, her clothes were too bright. The woman unzipped her bag and looked through it before pulling out her grey battle fatigues, still bearing the patches of her days in the service. She had intended to use them for hunting, but now it was all about survival again.

The woman swapped her light clothes her fatigues, she tightened her boots and reached into the bag once again. From within she pulled several magazines of ammunition she tucked into her breast pocket, then she grabbed the boxes of ammo she would need to replenish those magazines when they went dry. The explosions grew louder and more frequent, but she kept her nerves as calm as she could. With her equipment ready, she slipped her Mosin Nagant over her shoulder and put a hand over a necklace she wore.

Maria ran her hands over the crescent moon shaped pendant as she looked to the sky where the moon would normally be. Maria closed her eyes. The screaming sound of jet fighters roared overhead, but Maria ignored it as she took a moment to pray for her son. Several seconds had passed before she opened her eyes and covered her bag in branches and leaves, afterwards she began to trek through the wooded area. Her object was simple at the moment, see if she could get to an evacuation center, and failing that, resist the invaders.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's another one for you lovelies! A bit of news, in case I haven't already said it, I'm going to be moving back to Colorado pretty soon. That's part of the reason I wanted to get this out there. I was hoping to sort of capture just how quickly things can go from peaceful to deadly. Sort of a look into what it might have been like for someone living in Poland during the German invasion, I hope it turned out okay.

Here's your clip of the day, I listened to this and watched it plenty of times while writing this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTHhYf2rx3w