I can feel the hot sun bearing down on my back, my hands cupped over my face as I feel the stress of the last few hours wash over me. Letting out an exhausted sigh I remove my hands as I make my way towards the cook house. Trudging along the dirt path I look up into the sky, in the distance I can see a pair of Chinook helicopters flying across the horizon.

Entering the cook house I make my way to the chefs and collect the current ration pack which they call dinner, sausage casserole with tomato noodles and a hot pepper sauce. Sitting at an empty table I raise the fork to my mouth but pause, staring blankly at the food I let it fall to the plate as I drop the fork.

I feel a hand press against my back, "Taking it pretty hard?" Turning to face the source of the voice I find Williams looking down at me.

"Yeah. I can't believe that Taylor is gone."

Williams sits alongside me, "Neither can I. We did everything we cou-"

I smack my hand on the table, "Don't you dare fucking say it! I fucked up and got him killed!"

"You did nothing wrong."

I stand from the table, "I'm supposed to be the fucking ATO! I'm supposed to keep you all safe and make sure you all make it home. He died by an IED just a few meters away from where I was positioned, if I had checked the area I would have found it and he would be here eating this shit we called food, he could eat just about anything."

Willaims raises from his seat and presses his hands on my shoulders, "You can't blame yourself."

I mutter under my breath, "It should have been me."

He leans closer, "What was that?"

I shove him away, "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"

"We don't need you falling apart on us! We need you!"

I stomp away from him as I rush towards my quarters, throwing the door open I enter and slam the door shut. In my anger I punch against the door rapidly as I swear at the top of my voice. After a few moments I stop to look at my now bleeding knuckles, a sharp pain shooting through them.

Williams voice calls to me again, "So they gave you another squad to lead?" The voice seems off, I swear it came from... inside. Turning around I can see Williams leaning against my desk with his cocky grin, though he has a large wound which is crusted with blood on his cheek. What the fuck... I don't remember this. "They clearly don't know about this side of you, the stupid rage which brought you to the edge and endangered all our lives," He steps towards me and halts just a few short feet away from me. Leaning closer he chuckles to himself, "I hope they're ready to die under your command... Just like Taylor."

I jolt awake as the train pulls into Griffonstone station, despite the name it is actually a significant distance away from the capital. My Section has orders to disembark and to advance rapidly towards the defence line on our side of the river Guto before the town of Wingston, my Section is to stay of the front line in order to help hold the line from any offences. Before going to sleep I selected a number of soldiers to fill roles within my Section, Sergeant Night Chaser, Sergeant Blitz, Corporal Sunny Shield, Corporal Firefly, Lance Corporal Silver Spark, Private Sky Mist, Private Moonshadow, Private Colbalt and Private Blaze were the ones I selected for various roles. I had agreed with Shining Armor that I would instead take command of a smaller Section instead of a Platoon, this was to allow us to break off from the main Company when required to assist on other areas of the field.

Each member of my Section has their own speciality to make them more effective. Blitz is a arctic blue Pegasus stallion with a slate grey mane, a former Wonderbolt he transferred to the royal guard and has since been renowned for his combat capabilities in rapid strikes from above. Firefly is a candy red Unicorn mare with a snow white mane, an experienced medic who helped to treat civilian casualties after the Changeling invasion of Canterlot. Sky Mist has a sage green coat with a mint coloured short cropped mane and tail, the Pegasus mare was highly effective at manipulating the weather to provide fog cover for troops. Moonshadow is a solid black Earth Pony stallion who specialised in heavy melee weapons and breaching structures, his stature is much larger than any of the others. Colbalt as you could imagine had a cobalt coloured coat with a mane of turquoise blue, the Unicorn stallion specialised in recognisance. Finally Blaze was a bronze Earth Pony mare with a honey coloured mane who was know for her speed and agility in combat.

We all disembark the train will our full equipment, I'm back in my full MTP and have stocked up all of my magazines with ammunition along with having the others each carry a box of either 5.56mm or 9mm cartridges in their 'saddle bags' as they call them. We are no more then a few steps away from the train platform before I am stopped by a Griffin.

"Lieutenant Davies?" He stands at roughly the same height as me, his body consisted of oil black feathers with his head being a snow white, his armour is made up a steel chest plate and steel greaves, the joints themselves have light chain mail to allow manoeuvrability, underneath the armour is a red uniform which is used to identify the Royalists from Militarists.

I cross my arms, "Yes?"

He quickly salutes, "I am Corporal Georg, I have been ordered by my C.O. to accompany you to act as your guide around our lines and other units, Sir."

I shrug as I continue walking, "Come on then, from what I've been told we are required immediately on the defence line."

Georg leaps up and glides to my position, landing he continues to walk alongside me as the rest of my Section stick to my rear, "There was an assault early this morning, Sir. We were able to hold the line but we desperately require reinforcements, it's a good thing the Equestrian military is arriving now rather than later, Sir."

I can hear Moonshadow mutter behind me, "Brown nose."

I turn my head to Georg, noticing that his weapon of choice is a short sword along with a crossbow with bolts strapped around his torso, "Drop the 'sir' crap, only bother with it when we are with anyone who is a higher rank than me. Just call me John."

Georg nods, "Understood." Following a pregnant pause, he glances back to me, "So what exactly are you? We only heard that the Equestrians had another species in their land who was experienced with combat."

I sigh as I tap my regiment patch. I'm fed up of being asked this question, "I'm a human, Ammunition Technical Officer in the British Army, Royal Engineers."

"Fair enough. The walk would normally take us a couple of hours to reach the front line, but as we are in a hurry to gain reinforcements we have arranged for you to be transported in the airship which is delivering supplies to the frontline."

"Airship?" He just remains silent, as we climb a hill I see the ship as we approach the peak. The balloon itself seems to be reinforced with numerous plates of armour protecting the vulnerable gas bags within, the body itself is constructed of wood and metal with two propellers mounted to each side to allow forward momentum, Renaissance era artillery cannons are mounted on various points of the hull providing cover to the ground and against large aerial targets. Looks like I found one of this worlds Industrial powerhouses.

Georg flies to the top and lowers a ladder for when we approach the ship. Taking hold of the rope ladder I climb to the deck of the ship and examine the various crew moving supplies and loading the cannons situated on board. Georg steps to me, "Welcome aboard, I doubt your world has anything to rival this for air combat."

I just laugh as I walk to the rest of my Section, "When you see an Apache, AC-130 and Tornado fighter bomber you'll quickly learn there isn't a thing that can rival them for destruction from the air."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are all gathered around the deck as we approach the front line, I am inspecting the scope on my rifle when Colbalt approaches me, "John there is a enemy force moving up towards the trench line."

I lower my rifle and look over the edge, I'm unable to see a single thing down below through the cloud cover. I turn to him, "How can you tell?" Colbalt just taps his horn. Right... magic, "Inform the others quickly along with the Captain of this ship, we will likely need the fire cover,"
Colbalt rapidly darts across the deck shouting out to the rest of the Section and crew. Slinging my rifle over my shoulder I enter the ship and move to the lower guns, the crew are all idly playing cards around a table, "GET ON YOUR STATIONS! WE HAVE AN ENEMY FORCE APPROACHING AND I WANT THEM BLOWN TO KINGDOM FUCKING COME AS SOON AS THEY'RE IN RANGE!" They all just look to me initially in confusion as they likely are unaware of who I even am. To emphasise my point I kick the table over and push one of them of their chair, "NOW!"

Another Griffin enters the gun deck behind me and starts shouting to the others, "BATTLE STATIONS NOW! LOAD ALL THE GUNS AND PREPARE TO FIRE ON THE CAPTAINS ORDER!" Soon enough everyone is running around to various cannons. With these idiots finally manning their guns I return to the top as the ship lowers below the cloud cover, approaching the rest of my Section we all look below to the battlefield. The ground itself looks like no mans land you'd expect to see in the first world war, numerous trench lines are manned by Griffins armed with crossbows and artillery positions. The fields separating both forces are riddles with craters and corpses from the earlier attack, none of the farmhouses that once stood here are even recognisable as homes instead they're all burnt out husks apart from the one village closer to the enemy trench line. A large concentration of forces are advancing towards the defence line armed with swords and crossbows, they all have similar armour to the Royalists except their uniform is a dark green.

Sunny turns from the view back to me, "Orders, John?"

I unsling my rifle and load a round into the chamber, "We are going to be lowered onto the battlefield once we have eliminated this first wave from the ship, we will use artillery to weaken their formations separating their forces where we will eliminate the stragglers from the ground. You all need to prepare for any Griffins that attack this ship whilst it's in the air, I'm going to attempt to engage their ground forces as we close the distance."

As the ship lowers the battlefield begins to be bombarded with artillery fire, the firing lines are immediately dispersed as they come under fire from the ship and the artillery guns on the ground. A number from the lines take to the air and advance towards our ship. Time to show these fuckers why you shouldn't charge a rifleman. Aiming down my sight I line up the first shot directly towards the officer.

PHAT PHAT

Both rounds impact with his chest plate but manage to penetrate with ease, That's why we got rid of plate armour with the invention of muskets, soon he's plummeting towards the ground below as the rest of the forces continue to advance. Lining up my next shot my eyes widen as a crossbow bolt is flying directly towards me, a shield forms in front of my position taking the blow from the bolt. Glancing to Sunny her horn glow fades as the blot lands on the deck, nodding to her I take aim again and spot the Griffin reloading from the air.

PHAT

The round goes clean through his skull, a red mist sprays out the back of his head as his lifeless body descends below. Another target takes aim towards one of the crewmen, I take aim as he fires off his bolt.

PHAT PHAT PHAT

The first round misses but the next two connect with his wing causing him to loose his position and crash onto the deck of our ship, a quick glance towards the crewman he fired towards reveals that his attack was successful as the crewman lays motionless. Sprinting across the deck I bring my boot around and kick with all my strength against his beak as he attempts to stand, the blow throws him onto his back as he falls unconscious.

The remaining attackers begin to move back from the airship, gliding low they attempt to outmanoeuvre incoming fire. I lean over the railing and attempt to fire off a few shots.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

No luck, at this angle combined with their speed I'm unable to hit the target.

The ship's Captain shouts from his position, "WE ARE TOUCHING DOWN NOW! ALL GROUND FORCES DISEMBARK!"

As the ship hovers just above the floor I step to the opening in the rails and turn back to my section, a small smirk on my face, "You heard him. Off we fuck," I grab the rope ladder and jump backwards, swinging slightly above the floor I lower slightly before releasing myself from the rope. Landing on the floor I sprint over the battlefield towards our trench line, artillery fire is still going off from both sides of the battle. Hopping into the trench I rest my rifle over the edge and aim towards the slowly advancing forces, one by one the rest of my Section join me in the trench, Silver Spark had managed to salvage the crossbow from the downed Griffin and had even set the end of the bolt on fire, "You sure do love your fire, don't you?"

He just chuckles as he fires off the bolt impacting the neck of an enemy unit, the fire combined with the impact sends him thrashing around on the floor as Silver Spark loads another bolt, "Love it, so primal yet very effective. You must learn to respect it or you will meet its wrath."

I remove my magazine and inspect the ammo, twenty rounds left, "We are to hold this line until we see a break in their line! Once we have our window we are going on the counter-offensive!" I place the magazine back into my rifle.

Chaser shouts over the artillery fire, "We aren't exactly suited for ranged combat here!"

Silver fires off another bolt hitting his target, he lets out another laugh, "Speak for yourself."

I take aim and fire off at a small cluster of enemy troops.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The four drop dead with another clutching to his bleeding chest, "If you can do quick aerial strike then do it! Stay within range of us though so we can assist!" The three Pegasi take to the air and start to do flanking strikes on the Militarists who are assaulting various positions. Turning back to the others I can see Sunny, Firefly and Colbalt all retrieving crossbows and bolt pouches from the fallen hostiles with their magic, soon they're all equipped with their own ranged weapons. "We will keep a firing line and gradually push forward!" -I point to Moonshadow and Blaze- "You two will keep our flanks covered from anyone who gets cheeky and tries to flank us!" They both nod as they take hold of their weapons, Moonshadow has a large war hammer of sorts which he can easily hold, Blaze has two short swords which he seems to balance nimbly.

Taking aim I target an officer commanding an advancing firing line, as I ease the trigger to fire I'm beaten to the punch as Blitz dives down on the flank of the officer bringing his blade across the throat. As the officer drops I adjust my aim to the right side and pull the trigger as I move my aim across the line.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT *CLICK

The mass majority of the front line all drop, the spectacle of the immediate demise of their allies causes the rest of the firing line to turn in order to fall back. Removing the magazine I place it into my pouch as I swap a fresh magazine into the rifle and release the bolt. Climbing from the trench I slowly advance as I take aim at various targets, the others are soon out of the trench and move in line with me.

PHAT PHAT

Another drops before he managed to deliver a killing blow to one of the Royalist soldiers.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The rounds fail to connect as they rapidly zig-zagged in a low glide straight towards us, a group of eight advance rapidly with swords drawn. One targets me as he straightens out his path for a direct strike, quickly I raise my rifle and fire without aiming

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The last round connects with his chest causing him to crash directly into me, the impact knocks the air out of my lungs as the injured form lands ontop of me. With him ontop I'm able to push him off to the side, as he tries to frantically crawl towards his nearby sword I take aim and pull the trigger.

*CLICK

What the fuck? Glancing to the bolt I can see it retracted slightly with debris filling the chamber, most likely a result of the collision with the ground. Pulling the bolt to the rear ejects the cartridge as I tilt the rifle to the side shaking the debris loose. As the bolt pushes forward once again my eyes widen as I can see a sword striking downward towards me. Jumping backwards almost on instinct allows me to dodge the blade but he soon brings it back up as I once again attempt dodge it, this time I'm not so lucky as the tip make contact with my cheek slashing towards my ear. With no melee weapon in reach I'm forced to improvise as I bring me rifle across my body blocking another sword strike.

The strike knocks me back causing me to back peddle, the impact with my weapon however also dazes my attacker. Releasing my rifle it falls to my side as I charge forward, wrapping my arms around his raised sword arm and neck I rugby tackle him to the floor preventing him from striking back. With myself ontop he releases a volley of frantic kicks in an attempt to knock me off. I use my left hand to hold down his sword arm as I immediately bring my right fist into contact with his head, I repeat my strikes with more force and speed as I try to end his assault. After a flurry of punches, his body lays motionless apart from shallow breathing as he releases his sword.

Sitting up on top of the unconscious Griffin I take hold of my rifle again and view my surroundings, the rest of the Section are engaged is melee combat with the attacking force. Aiming at the backs of the occupied attackers I fire off a single shot into each one.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The last four drop as the rounds make contact, the Section was able to eliminate three as I was engaging with the one below me. It seems that the Militarists are far more experienced in melee combat compared to the Equestrian forces, it would be best to engage them at range in future if possible. Not having a melee weapon other then my bayonet I lean over to remove the enemy's scabbard and attach it to my utility belt, I then take hold of his sword and place it into the scabbard having the sword on my left hip with the Glock on my right thigh... Why the fuck didn't I just draw my pistol on him!?

As I stand I view the remainder of the attacking force retreating back towards a village on the far end of the fields. Firefly moves up to me, I can see that she is shaken from the combat, "Are you alright? You're bleeding."

Panting I run the back of my hand over the cut smearing a small amount of blood across my cheek and knuckle, "Yeah... I'm fine... I kicked his ass."

Chaser and the other two Pegasi land alongside the rest of us, "John, the enemy is retreating, the Royalists are going to bring forward their airship to launch a counter-offensive on the weakened forces."

Grasping the rifle I brush my fingers over the deep scratch across the hand guard, "This was just a small taster of what we are going to be facing here" -I turn to face the others- "This is only going to get worse as we progress. We will wait for the Royalists to launch their offensive before we move in. We are going to mop up any stragglers in order to provide an open window for the rest of Alpha Company when they arrive over the next few hours, we need to push while we can to make ground."

Everyone mutters some sort of acknowledgement as they stare at the approaching allied airship as it continues to fire on the retreating forces, the military war machine is obviously a shock to them as they've never seen true combat. Stepping off I start to jog towards the new line of allied forces gathered further down field waiting to move on the enemy-held village, they are in a position so they are out of the firing arc of the enemy artillery.

As much as I want to engage the enemy at range, this is going to be a war fought primarily in close quarters. It's going to get messy