The convoy consisted of 2 BTR-60Ps and a IS-2. They were dated sure but they beat everything we carried. The Iosif Stalin 2 went in the front of the formation, crushing all cars in it's path. Behind it were the BTRs, they simply followed in it's wake. The BTRs had a 20mm cannon mounted on the top, whereas the IS-2 had a 122mm main cannon paired with a top mounted 50cal MG. They were truly terrifying.

"We can sneak around them if we're quiet enough, its our only hope!" Helm whispered.

"Looks like you're right, we move on the left lane. Lets go." Replied Defiant.

The plan went to hell fast. Halfway through sneaking the gunner on one of the BTRs spotted us and opened fire. MG fire riddled the cars we were sneaking behind, we thought we were safe behind the engine blocks. We were wrong. A shot penetrated right through the engine block of one of the cars and went right next to my head. We went moving behind the BTRs, for the guns couldn't fully rotate. We took fire the whole way, every shot missed.

Once behind the convoy, I spotted a food truck. I knew what to do.

"Hold up, I gotta plan. It's not a good one but it'll work!"

"Well then go do it!" Defiant yelled back, he was putting down MG fire over the heads of the gunners in the BTRs, although he did remove the head of one of the gunners, one was still alive.

I ran to the food truck and kicked the door in, nopony saw me go there so I was safe from the wrath of the IS-2. Inside was exactly what I needed; Water bottles, vinegar, baking soda, and paper towels. I got to work.

As I exited the vehicle, I had strapped the bombs to myself. No, I was not going to do a suicide bombing. I plan on living past today. The bottles swashed as I ran, They were filled with rubble as well as the explosive compound that I had in it. The rest of my team was taking fire from the BTRs. They laid on the ground, they BTRs couldn't hit them without the shell bouncing off of something.

Octavia had stuck close to me, I hadn't even noticed her. I ran on the other side of the road, nopony noticed me. As I neared the first BTR I pulled a water bottle off of me. Payback's a bitch.

I grabbed onto the handle to the rear door and climbed until I was just below the top of the doors. I shook the bottle three times, then I threw it in the vehicle. The bottle exploded and threw shrapnel in all directions, blood sprayed from the tank as screaming engulfed all sound. I jumped off of that and ran to the next one.

The crew had been staring at the vehicle, which now was on fire. Once they caught sight of me they opened fire. I ran behind the engine block of a car and waited for a cap in the shooting. As soon as there was I poked my head out and tossed another homemade grenade into the vehicle. This one didn't explode.

My stomach sank to the bottom of the pits of hell as the soldiers fired again. That was when one held it up, in an attempt to throw it back at me.

The force of him reeling his arm back detonated the explosive. Bodies flew from the back door, and the pony holding the grenade lost his arm. The door opened, a pony riddled with shrapnel rolled out of the vehicle, begging for mercy. I kept moving. Now it's time for the IS2 to get what it had coming. I hid behind the other BTR and watched it. That was when I noticed something odd.

It's turret was rotating somewhere, as if the angle was changing. Then it hit me, like a filly wondering why the baseball was getting closer. I ran from the BTR just in time. The IS2 fired a 122mm AP shell into the engine block of the BTR, causing it to explode. I tackled Octavia, who had been following me the entire time, behind a truck. I was cut across the face by a piece of the shrapnel.

The IS2 probably assumed we were dead and moved on to the group again. I ran towards it with four of the bottles taped together. As I approached I looked over at where the group was, they had retreated. All but one.

Defiant Visor had set his M240B up atop the food truck, he kept a steady bark going at the IS2. He wasn't trying to kill it, but to buy time. He wanted to die. He knew it was over.

I ran towards the tank, it isn't too late to stop this. That is, it wasn't yet. The IS2 fired into the food truck's cargo bay with a high explosive shell. that half of the highway was engulfed in a massive explosion. I never felt so mad in years.

I ran towards the tank with all the fight I could muster, and the IS2 was scared of it. They turned the turret directly at me, loading another shell. They fired it at me, but the shell instead went right by me and went far off the edge of the road. I kicked off of a car as they loaded another shell. One this one fired it hit a car off to my right, the car was wrecked.

I didn't stop there, I jumped on the tracks, in an attempt to get me off they backed up. I jumped onto the top of the tank in time to not get crushed. The commander exited the tank with a Tokarev in his hoof. He pointed it at me and fired twice. Both missed. I dove at him, grabbing his face. I slammed it against the tank and didn't stop for another ten hits. He was limp, so I slammed the hatch on his head and continued until I heard the neck snap. I shoved him back in, the crew was all rushing to their weapons, waiting for me to enter.

I threw the four grenades in and ran off. The tank caught fire as I was running. It was a weird fire at first, as if a volcano had gone off inside of it. That was when it exploded. The turret was entirely removed from the tank, whereas the tracks had broken in half. The once green on red paint scheme was now a solid brown and black. Smoke filled the air where it once was. The smell of phosphorous filled the air.

I slowed down, I was panting like a dog. I waited there for a minute, Octavia patted me on the back gently.

"Real natural tank killer huh?"

"Seems that way, where's the other guys?"

"They ran to an exit ramp, they're waiting. Lets go."

We walked the road, switching sides on where Defiant's grave lay. Something made me miss him. I kept moving like I was supposed to, the exit ramp was coming up on my right. I approached them slowly, I hate being the bearer of bad news.

I saw both of them, they didn't notice that they had lost their zebra friend.

That is, all but Helm.

"Hey, where's Defiant?" He asked, his face quizzical.

"Yea, where did he go?" Celestial hadn't figured it out either.

It hit them both at the same time. Celestial fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes. Helm held his ground firmly, but I could tell he wasn't taking it well.

"How is this happening?" Celestial screamed through tears.

"He died saving you two, that's what matters." I said reassuringly.

"What happened back there?"

"The IS got a hit on him, he's dead."

There wasn't much time left for this. I could hear a thousand hoofs marching in our direction as we spoke. I broke the window to a ford fiesta and hotwired it.

"We don't have time! Everypony get in now!"

They followed to a tee, Octavia got shotgun whereas the other two got in the back. We sped off down the exit and kept heading alongside the highway. That was when we saw the troops. It was a platoon of Communists. They saw us and immediately raised their rifles. The hail of fire was too much for the car, We all ducked under the dashboard to keep from getting shot. The car made impact with some of the ponies in the group, we ran them over with a large group of massive thumps.

That was when a shot penetrated the front right tire. The vehicle spun out of control until it came to a stop. We call busted out of the doors and commenced firing. There were probably thirty ponies left after we ran over about twenty. Celestial handed me the Vz. 61.

"Listen Cloud, she's gotta high rate of fire, keep her on semi."

I nodded and set the firearm onto semi-automatic. Celestial set the Remington 700 up off the side of the trunk and fired a shot. It went right through the neck of one of the soldiers and into the throat of the one behind him. Celestial bolted the rifle and took another shot. This one missed by an inch, but still made impact with a target.

I got the Vz ready and fired a shot towards the crowd. It sure as hell wasn't accurate but it'd do for now. It fired the underpowered .32 shell, so none of my shots were lethal. That was when a shell bounced off the hood and nearly got me. I ducked under the engine as the commies moved up on me. When the rounded the car I switched it to full auto and unloaded the entire magazine into the chestplate of one of the communists. He fell to the ground coughing up blood. He won't be living much longer, I grabbed his AKM and swung the stock right into the face of his friend. It shattered his nose and jaw.

I then switched it onto semi automatic and fired a 7.62x39 into the chest of a oncoming communist. He fell to the ground dead. That was when my ears started ringing from the sound of a 12 gauge shotgun. I looked over to see Helm, double barrel in hoof. Two communists were riddled with pellets.

He reloaded the shotgun as he kicked one of the communists. Once he was loaded he flipped the shotgun upwards, closing the breach. He blew the head off of the pony he kicked and then shot the leg off of the one that had commenced fire on him. That was when I felt it. The pain was unbearable.

I fell directly on the ground, screaming to myself. Celestial had since picked the Vz up off the ground and engaged in CQC with the oncoming hoard of Communists. I got up in front of the mirror, a portion of my left ear was gone. It was the very tip of the left ear.

The pony that inflicted the wound was pointing the barrel at Octavia. She swung her leg into his knee, and then her hoof into his face. He was thrown back. I shot him in the head while he was on the ground. There were only three ponies left, and they were heavily armored.

They carried shotguns on them as well. When the moved up I started opening fire. All my shots bounced off their armor. Celestial fired a round into the chest of one in the middle, who stumbled backwards. At first we thought he killed him. We were wrong. He got back to his hoofs and kept a solid approach towards us as he regained control of the shotgun.

They opened a synchronized hellfire of pellets downrange. Helm had readied a satchel charge and threw it over the fiesta. It slammed against the face of one of the juggernauts and then it exploded. He was thrown backwards, his helmet painted an ugly shade of red. That was when they put suppressing fire against him. Celestial fired another shot at the facemask of one of them, it bounced.

I ran around the corner. Knife in hoof. They didn't notice me, so I grabbed one by the back of his facemask and pulled his head towards the windshield of the car. It slammed against the windshield and shattered it. He got up, unharmed. I kicked the shotgun out of his hoofs and threw a solid front kick to the face. The force pushed him back onto his face, but he got back up with no injuries. I picked up another AKM from the ground and put it on fully automatic.

Once he had been facing me, I emptied the magazine into his facemask. It was cracked to high hell. He couldn't see shit. He threw a few swings, none of which made contact. I weaved under one of them and kicked him in the side of his leg. It broke the leg. He got on his knees as I slammed the windowbreaker against his facemask, which shattered it. He grabbed his face, screaming bloody murder. I stabbed the knife through his hand and into his eye. He pulled his hands off, eye bleeding. I stabbed him in the face a few more times until I hit him in the forehead with the windowbreaker. His skull cracked.

I looked over at Helm, who was beating the shit out of the other one with his facemask and chestplate removed. He got up, shotgun in hoof, and fired both barrels into the jugg's chest. He was blown in half.

We grabbed another ride. It was time to get moving north again.