The wonders of tiberium had made budget constraints a thing of the past for GDI and Nod, and the fact that refineries could pump out just about anything that both factions needed both in the field and domestically was a miracle that could not be understated. For Spike it was a welcome miracle as he continued to watch Rarity tear her Mareajevo office apart, right down to the support columns.

For the first hour he tried to get a word in edgewise to no avail, even with Twilight trying to get a call in from her lab in the deepest sub-levels of Temple Prime. Neither of these worked, so Spike settled for keeping the unicorn general contained so she didn’t go around making Ironside’s day a good one by killing most of the Nod leadership.

Her hair was wild, unable to keep its usual form and cover the tiberium-infested portion of her face. Her hooves were dented and bloody from how many times she had attacked the wall or kicked through a monitor, and her mascara was running horribly as tears flowed as freely as her mourning screams. It wasn’t until almost three hours into her breakdown that Spike was finally able to calm her down long enough to restrain her without hurting the mare.

“Shhh…. easy now, Rarity…. Breathe...” he whispered, holding her close while keeping her eyes away from the fast-approaching medics and engineers that had been waiting outside.

“Sh-sh-sh-she… she…. She’s gone…. My little Sweetie Belle is GO-OOW!”

Before Rarity could begin another raving episode, the lead medic injected a very powerful sedative right into her flank. Normally she would slap anyone who got that close that wasn’t Spike, but her thoughts soon went blank as she passed out in her dragon’s arms.

“We’ll get her patched up sir, though with… this reaction… will she be able to lead?”

“Take her to Princess Twilight’s lab; have the medical team go there as well, I’ll be assuming direct command of her unit until further notice.” the dragon replied quietly, steel behind his voice as he cradled the crazed unicorn, “Move.”
_____________

If Rarity’s office was the definition of chaos, then the bridge of the Everfree was the epitome of order. Despite receiving the bad news that the initial strike against the Cloudsdale base was met with a 90% fatality rate, the collected officers kept their minds focused on using the blood-earned lessons to focus on achieving their three-month long objective: wreck an alien superweapon.

“We’re looking at better security than what our previous attack found, but there is a significantly lower amount of air support here. Estimates put an aerial response within 30 minutes, but with wormholes… well, shave that down to 30 seconds.” Mantis stated, gesturing to the holographic map of their target and the surrounding area being updated in real time. Usually an operation like this would be planned days or weeks in advance. However with the aliens apparently adapting quite well to joint Nod-GDI attacks, none of the officers aboard wanted to risk planning with old information. Hyperion leaned in with his front hooves on the table, with Blizzard mirroring the motion along with many of the other officers, regardless of uniform, pacing around the area. Some murmured amongst themselves while others looked at their personal EVAs and took a closer look at various parts of the map, reviewing roster assignments, and keeping the comm system searching for Brotherhood reinforcements that High Command said were somehow in the area.

“Might be time to go at this one with the GDI playbook.” Blizzard finally replied, having his EVA project his available forces in a standard assault formation, “Mammoths and Predators lead the way, Everfree keeps the skies clear, and the Nod troops work shoulder-to-shoulder with GDI infantry.”

“Oversimplified, but possible… GDI has a tendency to work best when they’re steamrolling enemy positions.” Hyperion added.

“We’ll be the broadsword. Send a dagger force against the flanks and with any luck we’ll be able to turn their lines in on themselves long enough to get charges or a few railgun shots on that damn Rift Generator.”

“Can we depend on your Pitbulls to integrate with the buggies we would be sending to the flanks?” Hyperion asked, getting a nod in reply from the older officer.

“Unless each one of those buggies has laser weaponry, there’s no way they’d pack enough of a punch without the Pitbulls.” the zone trooper officer said, “Scorpions, Predators, and Mammoths will form the main assault force with infantry holding back. A detachment of Zone Troopers will ride into the fight with the flankers, Timberwolf APCs will keep our recon vehicles company and maybe get in a few good shots while they’re at it.”

“We can add some firepower if necessary.” another voice interjected, one that Hyperion recognized immediately. Even before the old coot’s form solidified on the holotable, he was already glad this was who High Command had referred to.

“Zeek.. it’s been some time.” Hyperion stated.

“Stealth required radio silence, but we’re in a safe zone. For now at least. My battalion has been busy behind Scrin lines for the past few months. If the Everfree would be kind enough to offer my boys a lift back, we can put the last of our ammunition to good use against our bug friends.”

“How many tanks do you have left?”

“45.” the holographic stallion replied, “Lost 12 of my tanks out here in the red zone harassing the Scrin as best we can. Send us the pincer deployment areas and I can have my battalion split in two to secure the area and wait for your troops.”

“Any objections?” Hyperion asked, getting silence in reply, “Very well then. Zeek, we’re transmitting now; keep tight-beam contact with us when you can. We should have a designator for you by the time we-”

“Hammer and Sword.” Mantis interrupted, getting a chuckle from Hyperion and a raised eyebrow from Major Blizzard.

“Those names will work.” Zeek said, “If you all don’t have an issue with her choice of names, that is.”

“A little overdone, but accurate…” Blizzard quipped, “Jet Deck will be in charge of the troopers on the flank. Assuming neither of you object, I’d suggest that I keep operational command of Hammer, Mantis take Sword, and Hyperion have theater command with Sister-Battle Commander Pie. As for air support, I’ll see about getting a Firehawk strike on painted targets.”

“Unit rosters need a bit of shuffling but that will be acceptable. We still have the element of surprise so preparations can take as long as needed.” Maud stated in her usual monotone, “However, I would suggest that the assault begin within five hours. Weather reports have an ion storm hitting the battlefield in ten.”

“Duly noted.” Hyperion replied, “Hammer Actual, Sword Actual… let’s get this done.”
_____________

Brotherhood and GDI technology were not built to work with each other. However, with a common foe threatening scorpion and eagle alike, engineers on both sides of the tiberium doctrinal lines found a way to make things fit. One of the smaller cargo bays had been converted into an armory for GDI’s Zone Troopers, specifically to provide the necessary equipment to get them suited up and armed for combat. Zone armor, while a marvel of engineering, wasn’t the easiest piece of equipment to strap onto a pony and so specialized arming bays were designed to assist with this based on the version used in the project’s prototype phase at the beginning of the war. These days the technology had been perfected, or at least as much as they could given the limitations of the times, and what used to be a thirty minute process was now 45 seconds.

That short processing time was a boon given the word that had just come down from on high. Jet Deck and Apple Bloom were already in the specially designed fatigues meant to be worn beneath the armor and shortly after, they had roused every trooper from naps, showers, and throwing rocks at each other. Within minutes they were fully armored and barking out for their troopers to follow suit.

One pony in particular took to getting ready with particular vigor, a grey mare with a close-cut silvery-mane and the obvious surgical scars that showed she had her eyes enhanced before trooper school. Her armor was still relatively fresh with no real signs of scuffing or burning like the few veterans of the Trooper Corps had, and the name stencilled into her flank was still in pristine condition.

“You’re staring again.” Jet Deck whispered, getting a small shudder from Apple Bloom as she tore her gaze away from the rest of the company.

“I knew her growing up.”

“The gray one?”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom replied quietly, “Silver Spoon, her and Diamond Tiara were… troublesome fillies back in the day before I got my cutie mark, good friends after that though.”

“Tiar-oh, Captain Tiara? Filthy Rich’s daughter, right?” the yellow stallion asked, quirking up an eyebrow, “Isn’t he funding half the war personally?”

“She was, and not that much.” she responded coldly, “Silver, Scoots, and Pip, wherever he is, are the only ponies my age left alive from Ponyville.”

“You… gonna be ok this round, Bloom…? I know the news hit you har-”

“I’m fine, Jet, really.” she told him, looking over, “Aliens took my best friend… I’m just glad I’m getting a chance for some payback. I’m solid, you know that, so don’t worry about me, and worry about getting the rest of these newbies back in one piece.”

Jet Deck was about to protest, for all the good it would have done, before he felt her nudge his shoulder and give the first smile he’d seen in days, no matter how small it was. He smiled back, giving a slight nod before pulling up his EVA.

“Whatchya doin’?”

“Transferring Corporal Spoon’s squad to your flanker team. They may be green but in the two engagements they’ve participated in they’ve performed with distinction. Should be a good fit for your side of the pincer.”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

“If you minded you would have left me by now.” the stallion quipped, getting a slight scowl from his partner before it transformed into a resigned smirk. She may not have been the same since hearing about Sweetie Belle, but she was right about being solid. He knew she was more than capable of holding her own and staying steady as a mountain when chips hit the fan.

“I’ll prep my pincer, talk to the troops and all that... meet up in 10?” Apple Bloom asked, though it felt more like a statement than a question.

“Major Blizzard should be down here by then, yeah, we’ll get the full brief out to the rest of the troopers and go finish what we started in Canterlot.”
_____________

“I say again, all armor crews are to button up immediately, drop is imminent.” Blizzard announced as he walked the line. At the front were the four Mammoths, all with their engines running, hatches locked down, and turret locks released. The massive tanks had to make a box formation given their size and how relatively thin the deployment bay of the Everfree was compared to a Kodiak, but they still made it work. Behind the behemoths stood 80 Zone Troopers in formation with a company of Predators behind them, and scattered along the sides of this impressive formation were the other 220 GDI regular infantry outfitted with ZOCOM armor suits.

Blizzard usually would have expected the Brotherhood formation to look haphazard in comparison, but he was glad to see that Hyperion had plenty of his father’s discipline instilled in him and, by proxy, his soldiers.

Scorpion tanks were escorted by a handful of Black Hand, as well as proper Nod soldiers. No militia was allowed on the Brotherhood airship, and the battalion at the Everfree’s disposal was made purely of veteran, professional soldiers that had all seen combat before being selected for duty aboard ship. However, despite the initial segregation, once the armor was in place, GDI soldiers spaced out properly along the edges of the formation from the start of the GDI line down to the final Scorpion tank.

“Hammer Actual to Command Actual, all heads are ready, round is in the chamber.” Blizzard stated.

“Sword Actual to Hammer and Command. Carryalls in position, flankers are ready to disembark.” Mantis chimed in, her face popping up on Blizzard’s HUD next to Hyperion’s.

“Strike leaders this is Command Actual…. Board is green, commence assault.”

No reply was needed. Instead the older soldier looked out as the massive door of the deployment bay slammed open. All pretenses of stealth were being thrown out the window to give Sword the necessary smoke screen, and Blizzard was more than happy to go charging into a fight the old-fashioned way. All down the bay, every unicorn and changeling that could use magic channeled their energies as they ran forward, and the tanks moved with them.

The Everfree couldn’t land without a proper dock, and being on her own she couldn’t risk getting close enough to the ground for enemy armor or infantry to try a boarding action, so the task force put their biggest advantage against the aliens to work. As the Mammoths finally reached the end of the ramp, magic encased them and instead of falling like rocks to the ground 50 meters below, they continued moving forward while descending at a safe speed. Behind them, the Predators and Scorpions followed suit, spreading out from the initial egress to form the battle line with the supporting infantry floating or flying alongside them.

By the time the last tank hit the ground, a battle line of four Mammoths, 16 Predators, and 28 Scorpion tanks was formed, with Blizzard leading the charge as he and the rest of his Zone Troopers galloped ahead of the armor. Each tank and the infantry supporting them kept pace, not stopping as the Everfree now free of her deadly cargo began lifting back up to proper air support height and began spewing Venoms from her flight deck.

Side by side, Zone Troopers, Black Hand, and infantry from all walks of life charged the alien defenses, firing as they moved from cover to cover. The smell of ozone and the cracks of railguns filled the air as lasers and contrails struck forward, almost as if they were carrying the momentum of those who fired them, and the shields protecting the base shuddered and failed.

The ferocity and suddenness of the attack delayed the Scrin reaction, but they were not ones to lay about and leave a challenge unanswered. Plasma began lancing out at the attacking force, Stormriders surged from mid-air portals only to be intercepted by Venoms, and the battle was well and truly joined.
_____________

Sword had hit dirt shortly after Hammer had gained the Scrin’s attention, with cloaked Brotherhood carryalls having the honor of giving the combined assault force a combat drop before peeling back to the safety of the Everfree. Timberwolves with the upgraded “Guardian” point defense system, Nod Buggies, and the fresh off the testing field C-66 Pitbull Recon Vehicle.

Pitbulls were a new addition to GDI’s arsenal, with the first 20 in service being attached to the Everfree for anti-alien operations. Built like a stocky, closed-cab truck with a next generation sensor suite, they were originally meant to be an answer to Nod’s skirmisher doctrine. They were quickly proving themselves against the aliens across all theaters thanks to their high mobility and surprisingly heavy armament.

That armament was busy swatting Stormriders out of the sky, and the ludicrously equipped missile launchers mounted on the back of the light recon vehicle were working overtime, with the rear-mounted 80mm auto-loading mortar putting in work as well. Alongside them, the Nod Buggies were swerving about, dodging fire as best they could while harassing any alien infantry that so much as glanced in the direction of the pincer, all while the APCs kept pace shortly behind.

This mixed bag of light armor, or in Nod’s case no armor, was split evenly down the middle with Zone Troopers latching onto whatever vehicle they could hop onto like they were extra plating. Despite their impressive speed, even a Zone trooper couldn’t gallop at the speed of a Pitbull without jet assistance, and fuel was to be preserved until the two flanking forces were inside the alien perimeter.

Ammunition on the other hand was in generous supply and was spent in an equally generous manner. The Zone Troopers under Jet Deck’s command were happy to gun down anything in optimal firing range.

“90 seconds until first burn, troopers! Prime targeting solutions and prep the boosters for bounce!”

“First Sergeant this is Brigadier General Zeek, holding fire until your troopers are ready to boost.” Jet Deck heard over the comm.

“60 seconds, sir, ready when you are.”

“Missiles are primed, chaff pods are up, and EVAs are synced. Fire is go on your signal trooper.”

Countdown timers ticked down as the scattered plasma fire began to pick up, and once it hit zero, the sky was filled with hundreds of contrails. EVA targeting kept the missiles from impacting the Zone Troopers who had launched off of the pincers in force, and with explosives and power-armored ponies all mingling in the air together, the targeting systems that the aliens had for air defense couldn’t keep up. As armored ponies jumped into action, the atmosphere began burning, and the Everfree reminded everyone on the battlefield of her origins as the GDA Canterlot.
_____________

Normally the largest laser weaponry available to the Brotherhood was Obelisk-class, used on Avatars and on their namesake the Obelisks of Nod that protected important installations. The main ship-to-ship weaponry of the Everfree had been upgraded shortly after the Battle of Canterlot, and now sported the only models of laser to have an output more powerful than an Obelisk. As such, they required an appropriate name when they were finally classified.

All four Kane-class laser batteries opened fire on the alien base, shredding what little shielding was left on the various buildings around the compound after the initial armor volley. Three portals that GDI InOps had identified as vehicle summoning bays simply disappeared under the sustained fire, and what appeared to be some form of construction device with multiple manipulator arms was turned to dust.

“Effective fire, four targets destroyed, calibrating for second volley.” the gunnery officer announced, his tone neutral and dispassionate. Maud preferred to have her bridge crew share her mannerisms in combat, if not in their personal life, and found it kept things from becoming hectic and chaotic aboard the massive airship.

“Return fire inbound, EVA identifying surface-to-air alien weaponry…” another officer announced, not wavering as the ship rocked from the impacts, “Tiberium shard weapons. We have minor infestations on the outer armor, sending containment drones.”

“Secondary set of primary targets identified, ready to fire on your command.”

“Erase them.” Maud ordered, using her most passionate vocabulary as the left corner of her mouth quirked up roughly one micrometer. Holy fire rained down from the sky through the grace of Kane and she considered herself honored to be the one to command such blessed weaponry.

“Two targets down, two heavily damaged. Preparing third salvo.”

“Status of GDI orbital and air support?” Maud inquired, glancing at her EVA while surveying the main map in the center of the bridge. The electronic voice that she had grown fond of replied with only a single word.

“Imminent.”
_____________

Major Blizzard, despite all odds, was enjoying himself today. The assault force had managed complete surprise and, despite the withering fire hitting Hammer the hardest, they were still able to fire and advance just as planned. Mammoths would let off a salvo just before the Scorpions and Predators added their weapons to the mix, creating a deadly one-two punch that the infantry could move with. Instead of using foxholes or barricades, GDI infantry unicorns were using a tactic that had been plaguing Nod troops whenever GDI went on the offensive; magical barriers.

Each unicorn, on average, had enough magical strength to keep a magical barrier up in front of two fireteams complete with firing slits that could be closed at will. The only downside to providing such heavy cover from incoming directional fire was that air support and indirect weapons like mortars could decimate units if they couldn’t anticipate where they would land. Even then it was exceedingly rare for a single unicorn to be able to stop a mortar shell or air-to-ground missile on their own and survive.

Luckily for Major Blizzard and the rest of Hammer, GDI was bringing the big guns today. As promised, Firehawks were quick to join the fight after they entered the AO. At the onset of the engagement Venoms were keeping Stormriders off of the ground forces, but they lacked the firepower to properly down the alien aircraft in a timely manner. Firehawks were simply the superior aircraft on the field and the newly reconstituted Phoenix and Onyx Squadrons tipped the balance of air power in GDI and Nod’s favor.

“All air forces, this is Phoenix Lead. Updating your EVAs with incoming ordinance trajectories.” Scootaloo stated over the comm, her EVA doing most of the work as she danced around the battlefield in her new Firehawk.

“How big are we talking?” a Nod pilot asked.

“Orbital assistance inbound, brace yourself because these bad boys will knock you around.” she replied, smiling as her HUD started showing exactly what was coming. All around her, aimed at the outer alien defensive line, red tubes starting at the ground and extending to the heavens sprang to life, showing her exactly where not to be in a few seconds. As she continued to weave about the battlefield gracefully, the ordinance she had prepared for finally arrived.

10 metal rods 20 meters long and only a third of a meter in diameter screamed through the atmosphere at far past terminal velocity. Fired from an orbital station after many months of gathering dust in their tubes, these projectiles had been fired from railguns instead of just letting gravity do the work. While the Ion Cannon Array had picked up the nickname “Celestia’s Wrath” on both sides of the Tiberium War, this form of kinetic bombardment had picked up a similar moniker among GDI troops privileged enough to watch them in action.

“Ironsides’ Calling Cards are on the way, I say again, rods in the air!” Scootaloo announced, getting an almost jovial affirmative from Major Blizzard on the ground. She could see the impacts from her place in the air, but on days like this she wished she could see the fireworks from ground level.
_____________

Captain Sandhorn let out a whoop as the ground shook and the orbital strike obliterated the first line of alien defenses, not that anyone outside of his Predator tank heard it. Sandhorn had managed to put in some good work at Dodge Junction, and then ended up being the only member of his crew to survive Canterlot. As luck would have it, he ended up in the expeditionary team formed by Blizzard and was now paying the aliens back for every ounce of blood they’d taken.

Old Proverb belched fire and smoke once more, sending another railgun-assisted HE round down range into a Scrin fighting position as he watched his detonation join the masterpiece of destruction that the orbital strike had created. Kinetic rounds required no warhead, as gravity and a little assistance from magnetic rails was more than enough energy to annihilate anything it landed on. His crew had a saying that if grenades were a message to a party, and their tank firing was “to whomever it may concern”, these pieces of orbital artillery were easily a letter addressed as “Dear Grid Square”.

“Target hit, won’t be seeing anymore plasma coming from that turret.” the gunner announced, cackling slightly and letting her hoof dance behind the firing stud. Apple Cider was a lesser known member of the Apple Family, but she was an Apple all the same and Sandhorn was happy to have the blue mare aiming Old Proverb’s main cannon.

“Or anything around the damn thing.” Sandhorn quipped, giving Cider a friendly nudge on the shoulder, “Plenty of targets up and the Old Man is ordering a push. Ahead full and keep up with the the Zoners.”

“Copy that Cap, pushing up.” the driver announced. He was a young pegasus that went only by his nickname “Gearbox”. He was younger than your usual armor corporal, much to Sandhorn’s dismay, but the green stallion could drive and drive well, much to the surprise of everypony during their first training exercise.

“Ammunition is at 72%, sir.” their loader announced as he slammed another shell home magically. A scarred white unicorn, presumably of the same lineage of Prince Blueblood but if the dead unicorn prince was the image of vanity, Sergeant Nails was gruffness personified. You couldn’t tell his mane was blonde because he shaved it and his tail down, stating that they just got in the way in a tank, and his white coat was permanently marred by scarring and burn tissue that he refused to let be magically erased.

“Received, just means I need to find targets faster for you lugs.” Sandhorn told him, smirking back at his loader and getting a grim chuckle in return. While they surged forward, he brought up the tactical map and checked in on the battle as a whole, smiling slightly as he saw the progress that Sword was making into the alien compound. Another few meters and they’d be within firing distance of the Rift Generator and they could all get the hell out of this red zone.

“Expect a little turbulence, alien guns gutted the terrain pretty badly.” Gearbox said, giving an unseen grimace from his seat as the armored beast joined the surge of metal and immediately dipped in and out of a plasma crater. Everyone heeded the announcement, bracing appropriately as the 70-ton MBT rode the terrain like a skiff on a rough ocean.

Cider wasn’t idle while the tank was moving though, and compensators built into the turret kept the guns steady as she let loose another HE round and the coaxial .50 caliber MG into the steadily deteriorating alien defensive line. Despite this, the aliens still kept pumping return fire into the armored advance and plasma continued to spatter against the hull of the Old Proverb, melting inch after inch of tempered armor.

“Load up, alien AT looking straight at us!” Sandhorn barked, but before he could bellow out for Gearbox to evade or for Nails to get AP loaded, the gun aiming straight at them was bisected by a Scorpion laser.

“That one’s on the house, Sandy.” came a familiar voice over Sandhorns headset, “Think you can spare one of those lovely armor-piercing ‘fuck you’ rounds into that MG nest harassing my boys at your 2 o’clock?”

“Copy that, Kane’s Hoof.” Sandhorn replied, suppressing a laugh as he did. Kane’s Hoof was commanded by Brother-Captain Quarry, his brother who had defected when the war started. Pure chance had lead to them both being on the Everfree, but not to them both being tankers. It seemed armor ran in his family’s blood regardless of what side they chose.

Diligently his tank returned the favor, pulping a plasma machinegun and the bipedal aliens manning it, but before the victory cheers could be let out the infantry that Sandhorn had just saved disappeared in a flash of plasma that was all too familiar to him. He knew what had taken the shot before he even got back on his scopes, and his hopes of a quick victory died with another squad of soldiers.
_____________

Annihilator Tripods had devastated GDI and Nod forces alike at Canterlot. Their only competition in the war were the Mammoth tank and the Nod Avatar. However, the monstrosities facing this cooperative assault were different than those anyone had seen before. Where the standard variant had one massive eye, this one had 4 extra ones above it, and while the other was spindly, almost skeletal, this version was obviously heavily armored with tiberium-tipped legs behind its energy shields.

After the war they would be designated as the Reaper Tripod, and they were all too effective at their job. Within moments of them wading into the battle, dozens of soldiers and three tanks from Hammer were wiped out, with only a Firehawk strike managing to down one before it could flash-vaporize another GDI platoon. Hammer was brought to an abrupt and bloody halt as they started going toe-to-toe with the massive walkers. Sword on the other hand was met with less numerous but just as effective force on the flanks. One tripod even had the gall to fire up at the Everfree after two Mammoths had stripped it of its shielding, and though it melted through the thick armor plating with ease and even managed to rupture a missile battery, it received a Kane-class laser strike for the trouble.

Rumor has it that Brother-Brigadier General Hyperion muttered “Mine’s bigger.” directly after killing the tripod, although no sources can confirm this as fact.

Despite support from the Everfree, the assault was stalled on all sides. And despite having the least amount of contact to worry about, Sword was taking the worst of the alien counterattack. While Mammoths could shrug off a hit and Predators that weren’t completely cored by the plasma beams could at least fire back, any Pitbull or Nod Buggy caught out in the open simply vanished if the alien walkers managed to score even a glancing blow.
_____________

All through this carnage, Apple Bloom was boosting around like a beast possessed. The missiles that Zeek had so kindly donated meant her troopers weren’t caught out in the open, but facing tripods again wasn’t on her list of things she felt like dealing with. Her engines were already running hot from weaving around the original defenders, but now with walkers porting in she, along with every other Zone Trooper, was pushing her boosters to their limit. No way in hell was she going to let herself or anyone else get caught in the open like at Canterlot.

“Spoon, burn on me and land 5 meters right!” Apple Bloom barked, Silver Spoon replied instantly, following her lead and jumping through the air in sync with the more experienced trooper. They both landed, made their shots, and jumped again all in the span of 5 seconds. In another 5, they made it behind a ruined portal for cover, panting slightly as other Zone Troopers followed the same attack pattern. Another laser leapt forth, impacting another tripod and stripping it of its shields long enough for another team of the power-armored ponies to jump in and try put it down.

Apple Bloom screamed when one of them vanished in a puff of vaporized titanium and the pony next to them slumped over, his armor overheating and glowing from being so close to the beam.

“NO!” she wailed, leaping back into the fray as the dying tripod looked over at her. In a vain attempt to fire, it raised up its last functioning weapon arm, only for Apple Bloom to jet through it and land on its eye. Railguns cracked and pierced the strange alien alloy protecting its optics, making the damn thing howl like it was alive. She continued pumping rounds into it until the husk stopped moving, screaming at it as if it alone were responsible for the entire invasion. It wasn’t until another set of contrails hit one of the damaged arms that she looked up and saw the team she had been leading personally. Silver Spoon had thrown in a salvo just to be safe.

Apple Bloom looked at her, then to the stallion laying on the ground screaming obscenities at the aliens as a medic began tending to him. She knew it was Jet Deck before the beam even got close to him, but hearing him shout out was more than she could take.

“We have a job to do, everyone! We’re endin’ this now!” the yellow mare barked over an open channel. She didn’t care if only Sword heard her or if her voice carried all the way to Hyperion’s EVA. Her troopers were quick to reply, shouting out war cries of their own as they charged with her and lived up to their reputation. An armored hoof slammed against the alien counter attack, shocking the alien defenders like a cavalry charge of old and leaving them open to the rest of Sword.

Tripods fixated on hitting Hammer or annihilating the Zone Trooper offensive were met with deadly salvos from the Stealth Tank battalion, while mortars from the Pitbulls and laser fire from the Everfree continued to pummel the area into submission. GDI and Nod alike bled and died as they continued to push the alien line back until finally, Corporal Silver Spoon got a laser designator onto the Rift Generator. Seconds after, another dozen Zone Troopers added theirs to the mix and Apple Bloom let out every GDI soldier’s favorite phrase.

“Bring the rain!”
_____________

“We have your designators, standby and hold onto your teeth.” Lieutenant Joy stated matter-of-factly. She was nowhere near the battle, in fact she wasn’t even on the planet. Far above the engagement, the same Orbital Defense Station that had kindly fired its railguns into the fray was preparing another volley. Usually the railguns could pinpoint one of its titanium rods onto a target the size of a Scorpion tank, but in this case GDI and Nod both wanted to make sure that when this superweapon was destroyed, it stayed dead.

Pinpoint targeting and EVA coordination tied in through the laser designators being used by the Zone Troopers meant that they could get their targeting grid from aiming at an area in a matter of meters to a matter of centimeters. The turrets all aligned, each one syncing up to a different designator and letting the EVAs set the firing timers. Once more, overkill was suggested and agreed upon. 20 rods would be hitting the Rift Generator simultaneously with the timing and precision that only an EVA could provide.

Lieutenant Joy barely felt the vibrations through the station as every gun they had fired on one target, but it was enough to bring a smile to her face.

“Payload released, enjoy the show.”
______________

Apple Bloom, Silver Spoon, and every other Zone Trooper in Sword was thrown to the ground when the Rift Generator came apart. The wormhole it was providing stability for collapsed in on itself as the stabilization arms were ripped apart by the sheer kinetic power slamming into them, and parts of them even managed to get sucked into the portal before it essentially ate itself and disappeared. Shortly after, Scrin units started dropping where they stood or falling out of the sky. Whatever was commanding this base did as many of them did in the past and deemed the entire area a lost cause.

The units that didn’t shut down disappeared again, walking or flying into portals the same way they had entered the battle, and by the time Apple Bloom was done sprinting to where Jet Deck was still being treated, the battlefield was strangely quiet. Only the fires still burning, the thrumming of engines and jet boosters, and the distant roar of Hammer bellowing out their victory was left to fight the silence.
______________

Even in the middle of a combat situation, regular engineering procedures were followed, and that included maintenance. One particular gryphon had the illustrious duty of checking as many of the conduits running power from the main generators to the weapons systems continually and compensating or making repairs whenever necessary, and had been getting into the guts of every major junction at least twice since the battle began.

However as the power requirements began to dwindle and the signs that the battle was coming to a close were making themselves known through the systems, she made her way to an unassuming junction box and carefully pried it open. With the small panel exposed, she put in a seemingly unimportant device no larger than a matchbox, but flinched slightly when she armed it due to her EVA vibrating to indicate an incoming transmission. With a sigh, the gryphon enveloped herself in green magic, showing her true changeling form for the briefest moment before she transformed into a gray unicorn mare in a GDI InOps uniform. She put on her best smile, activated her masking software so the EVA wouldn’t show her location, and finally answered the call.

“Agent Gray here, what can I do for you Major Blizzard?”

Author's Notes:

For those who haven't seen, the ever-talented Lopoddity accepted a commission from the Green Sun team, the artwork is proudly displayed in chapter 22, but you can find it here. Go show Lop your support!