As the enemy firing line halts down range I watch as they begin to fire down into the skirmish, they don't seem to care if they hit their own as enemy and friendly forces all begin to drop one by one. My Section has all been successful in finding suitable cover alongside me, the melee fighters stay low in positions ready to strike in case the enemy get too close as those armed with rifles line up alongside me. Shining Armor once again erects a shield around our position to protect us from incoming projectiles, I don't know if it will hold for long with that many rifles against it but something is better then nothing. His shield only protects our front leaving the flanks exposed, I'm guessing this will allow him to focus more energy into the front of the shield compared to a full dome like the last time.

"I hope you've got a good plan here!" Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolt's land alongside my melee fighters to assist in any close engagements.

"Hold this location at all costs! We need to wait for reinforcements to arrive, we haven't got the numbers to push on without them!" Aiming down range I fire off a full magazine fully automatic along the firing line, normally we would have to rely on a support weapon for that role but my rifle is the closest thing to a light machine gun in this world, hell it's probably a heavy machine gun with the calibre it uses. That's two magazine's gone, I've only got the five left and no additional ammunition to refill them once they run out.

Shining shouts out over the battle, "How long can you engage them like that!?"

I insert the new magazine and press on the bolt release catch, "At this rate?" -I fire off a short burst dropping another three units- "Not very long! We need a plan and we need it fast!" Spotting an officer I decide to target him in an attempt to weaken the hostile force.

PHAT PHAT

The two rounds rip through his breast taking him off his feet, the rounds fail to kill him but have at least incapacitated him as he clutches to his wounds. A round is fired at me but is deflected by the shield, out of force of habit I immediately duck in the ditch I'm using as a firing position. Lifting my head again I glance behind me down the mountain pass, to the far distance I can see the artillery guns gathered far in the distance, "Can you deliver a message!?"

"What message could you possibly want to deliver now!?" Shining ducks down in the ditch behind me.

I fire off another burst to the front, the regular fire and the small number of units still at the front are helping to keep the enemy back, "Signal the artillery! Turn them into red mist!"

Shining doesn't initially reply, after a few short moments he finally gains his voice "Are you insane!? You're going to get us all killed!" I can hear the shock in his voice over the gunfire.

"We have little choice! Do you have a way of doing it or not!?"

"N-no I don't! Any runners we send down there will likely get killed before they reach the artillery!" I can feel Shining manoeuvre in his makeshift cover, his movement only acts to disrupt my aim causing me to miss.

"There must be a way!" I fire off the last few rounds in the magazine and begin to switch it for a new one.

Spitfire shouts from behind us both, "I'll do it!"

Shining and myself find ourselves looking towards her as she stands there. Shining looks directly into her eye, "There's no guarantee that you'll make it!"

"I have to try! It's better then sitting here to be killed!"

With the new mag loaded I climb out of my cover and take a knee alongside her, "I'll get you there! Wait for my command then fly as fast as you can!" When she nods to me I move to the edge of the shield and take a deep breath, I need to give them a target other then her. Jumping to the side out of the cover of the shield I raise my rifle down range, "COVERING FIRE!" I fire off fully automatic at the line which hasn't yet fired off, as the first few begin to drop they go against their orders and break rank to aim for me. As they take aim for me I dive to the side rolling across the floor back behind the safety of the shield. Coming to a halt I can see the dust settling on the ground where I just was, if I stayed there any longer I'm pretty sure I would have been riddled with bullets.

Releasing a sigh of relief I look to where Spitfire was but can't find her, standing I scan towards the artillery and find a small speck approaching the guns with a grey smoke trail following behind. It shouldn't be long until the artillery hits, with no time to lose I jump back into my ditch which Shining decided to fully occupy. He move out of the way for me scooting back into his previous position, "No wonder you always get injured!"

"It fucking worked, didn't it?" He scoffs as I continue firing upon the enemy, they've been able to finish off the last of our fighters and are rapidly pushing on us as their riflemen remain at the rear. Emptying my third mag I rapidly replace it as I scan the battlefield. If we backed up it would force their melee fighters to be bottle-necked into a narrow gap in order to bypass the shield. I grab Shining and hoist him out of the cover, "Move back at a steady pace and keep that shield up! Keep the left side pressed against the rock-face!"

Shining swats my arm away from him and glares at me, "You don't give me orders!"

Out of annoyance I bring my backhand across his face taking him by surprise, "Just fucking do it or we'll end up six feet under!" Taking a moment to regain his composure he starts to slowly back up, "Everyone fall back! Keep the fire up!" As we step backwards we all continue to target those charging directly towards us, it doesn't take too long before they start to reach our previous position. I only stop moving when I bump into Shining, glancing to the side I can see the Shield positioned leaving a bottleneck next to the cliffedge, "Hold this line! Riflemen keep firing, everyone else don't let any get around that shield!"

We hold for the next minute before their melee unit gets close to the narrow passage we left open for them. Taking aim I clock a grenadier preparing to throw his grenade over the top of the shield.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The rounds easily tear through him before he can release the grenade, it only lands directly in front of his injured form. I watch as he attempts to kick the grenade away in desperation.

BOOM

When the smoke clears I can only find the top half of his body, the grenade was close enough to blow off both of his legs along with a sizeable portion of his abdomen leaving his internal organs exposed. Continuing to fire on the enemy closing in I only manage to fire another five rounds before being forced to once again reload.

"John, a little help here!" Placing the empty magazine into my pouch I glance up to find Chaser and the rest guarding the flank engaged in melee combat. Not even bothering to fit the new mag I swing my rifle around my back and draw my sword as I sprint to him. With Chaser locked in a grapple with the Griffin I bring one solid swing down on top of her right arm slicing through the flesh and lodging itself into the bone, as she screams in agony Chaser is able to break free and plunge his blade through her heart dropping her to the floor. Stamping my foot onto her wrist I'm able to dislodge my sword.

Taking a step back I observe the others as they're engaged in their own little fights. Sure Strike is using his wings to great effect breaking the oppositions defensive stances thanks to the rapid strikes from the blades concealed in his plumage, he even manages to roll between the enemy bringing quick slashes against the rear of their legs causing them to drop to the floor before bringing his steel horseshoe down on their grounded forms. Haralt is using his weapon to strike against the Griffins wings rendering them inoperable, once he has them weakened he is using his weight to force them over the end of the cliff to their deaths. Crimson and Comet are once again working in unison allowing them to effectively protect one another and to engage their targets two against one, it's good that they're able to cooperate on the battlefield. Balbean is heavily reliant on his gauntlet to inflict maximum damage, I watch as he seems to target a vital artery with every single strike, each slash of the bladed gauntlet is catching the exposed flesh causing his enemy to bleed out at a rapid pace.

Approaching the skirmish I grab hold of the next one that comes around and throw him to the floor. I swing my blade directly down towards him only for him to counter with his own, scrapping our blades together he manages to push it far to the side resulting in me losing my grip as the sword escapes my grasp. He brings his legs around the rear of mine scooping me off my feet, as soon as my back impacts with the ground he manages to roll on top of me pinning me beneath his weight. As he raises his arm to strike me I force my hips up knocking him off course, the sudden jolt moves his body higher up against my chest where I wrap my arm around his waist. Before he can recover I throw him to the side as I roll changing our positions. I hold down his sword arm as I run my hand along my thigh, retrieving my pistol I force it against his temple.

PHAT

The round drills through his skull ending the fight, blood splashes against the floor and manages to spray along my hand and weapon due to the close proximity. Stumbling off of his body I lean down to retrieve my sword as the others continue to hold their line. Raising my pistol towards the advancing enemy I'm interrupted by the sound of distant cannon fire, pivoting I look down the cliff to find clouds of smoke rising from the guns, "EVERYONE ON THE CAPTAIN NOW! ARTILLERY! DANGER CLOSE!" Shining pushes the shield to block the entire passage from the enemy as we all sprint to him, with everyone all huddled up he brings the shield to wrap around us whilst Sunny provides additional power into the shield.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

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I don't even know how long the bombardment lasted for, it could have been five minutes, maybe even twenty, all I know is that my hearing is totally fucked. All i can hear is the constant ringing in my ears from the surrounding detonations. I don't even realise that it stopped, I have to be shaken out of my fear ridden state by Chaser. Not much shits me up anymore but being caught in that bombardment took me back to Afghanistan where we came under mortar fire which resulted in the death of three men and twelve more being injured, something like that tends to leave you with a permanent impression.

Raising my head I can't see a thing, heavy dust and smoke surrounds the magical shield making it look more like we are caught in the middle of a sand storm. The shield flickers before it finally gives in coating us all in dust causing us to enter a coughing fit. As soon as the dust begins to settle I look over the others as they all begin to rise from their positions. The two which stand out to me are Sunny and Shining Armor, Sunny is motionless on the floor whereas Shining looks near to collapsing from exhaustion.

Kneeling down alongside Sunny I raise her head and look over her, "Sunny? Sunny can you hear me?" Lowering my head to her mouth I try to listen for a response... at least she is breathing, "Balbean! Get over here!" Slowly he moves alongside me and looks down at her, raising his head to face me I watch as his mouth moves but fail to hear anything he says, "What!?" He nudges me to the side and begins to examine Sunny checking her vitals.

As he continues to check her over I move to Shining Armor and raise his head to look to me, he seems to be out of it as he stares straight through me. I feel a tapping on my shoulder and look back to see a Unicorn I don't recognise with a medical band on her foreleg, leaning her head closer to me her horn illuminates alongside my ear. Following a few shot moments my hearing returns bringing the surrounding world back into focus, moving to the side she takes my position and begins to examine the Captain.

Surveying the others I watch as they all get their bearings back as numerous combat medics use magic to return their hearing. Everyone is visibly shaken up from the artillery bombardment, I can only imagine that this will stick with them for a long time. With the Captain out of it I kneel alongside the medic treating him, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's magically fatigued, maintaining that shield during the assault has taken its toll. He will be disorientated for some time, he can't continue," The medic notices my focus shifting back to Sunny, "She's just fatigued as well. We will take her and any other casualties to the medical tent back at the bottom of the path."

Nodding to her I insert a fresh mag into my rifle and move to the others, Balbean moves Sunny onto a stretcher provided by the medical team before joining the rest of us. We slowly start to step off until I'm interrupted when Spitfire lands in front of me, "Thank Celestia you're all okay."

"Just about, a bit shaken up but I'm sure we'll live," As the reinforcements push past us at a rapid pace we slowly advance along the crater covered path, numerous dismembered bodies litter the way. Most of the local foliage has been burnt away and destroyed, trees which once stood now lay broken across the once lush grass, smoke bellowing from their shattered remains. The barrage was so devastating that nobody caught within it had survived, if they weren't able to fly away then they were forced to join those who fell before them on the battlefield. Back home we would be issued identification tags in an attempt to identify the dead, without those there would be no way to identify the bodies along this path, the heavy fire will make it almost impossible to identify the dead.

I can see the shock setting in on everyone's faces at the true reality of war kicks in, sword wounds and gunshots are one thing but nothing can prepare you for heavy artillery fire and the devastation it can cause. As we near the end of the destroyed path the Imperial Pegasi begin to pass us overhead to provide aid for the next phase of the assault.

The Captain breaks off and steps up to me, "Lieutenant, who's in command here?"

"You are, Sir. Along with Captain Spitfire you two are the superior officers."

He glances to Spitfire as he slowly nods his head, "Lieutenant take your unit and advance through the residential section of the market district, we will secure the rest of the district. Clear the area of any and all hostiles, from there you are free to advance as you see fit until I give you new orders. Understood?"

"Understood," Stepping off I turn to my Section, "Everyone on me now, we're moving in!" Before anyone can respond I begin to advance up the road behind the advancing Imperial Pegasi, they've already passed the entrance to the market district which is identified by an arch with a copper hue and additional wooden features attached which remind me of a wing effect.

On the other side I can already see the first group of Pegasi engaging with the enemy, they are able to make quick work of their Griffin opponents. From what I can see those which are remaining with the Militarists are those who have been made to fight, they all appear to be young and far to inexperienced to be soldiers. They are easily cut down as they attempt to repel our attack.

Reaching the entrance I take a knee as the others catch up. Spitfire is the first to catch up as she glides across the ground before coming to a stop next to me, "We are going to push onto the anti-air guns in the market to allow us to push higher up. Are you lot going to need any support?"

"If we do I will holler and get Chaser to come and find you, those blue suits kinda make you stand out so you shouldn't be that hard to find... Stay safe out there."

With a smile she pats me on the back, "See you back at camp sapper," She immediately leaps to the air and begins to fly low over the buildings with the rest of the Wonderbolt's in tow.

"See you later crab," She's far out of earshot by the time I even say it. With the rest of my Section gathered around I check the ammo I have left, one in the rifle with two spare. This isn't going to be enough. "Is everyone ready to move?" I look them all over as they watch the skirmish up front, without none of them complaining I raise myself up from my knee, "On me! Stick close to one another! We will be fighting in close quarters so stay on high alert! Make sure you identify your targets before you engage, there may still be civilians in the buildings!" Once everyone gives me some sort of confirmation I begin to move down the road leading to a collection of housing, this route takes us away from the main fighting but there is no telling how many enemies are fortifying their positions within those residential buildings.

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

We have had no hostile engagements as we pushed up through the residential area, the mass majority of Griffins we saw were either Royalist forces or civilians hiding within their homes. A mass majority of the buildings have been damaged in some say as a result of the earlier artillery barrage prior to our initial attack. Looking high up as we move I can see the palace sitting at near the top of what appears to be an old yet sturdy tree. Why they decided to build their homes up trees is beyond me, maybe it's some primal thing due to being part Eagle. We are only about one-hundred metres from the base of the tree.

PHAT

I feel a sudden force against my head throwing me off my feet, my vision begins to distort as a resounding pain shoots through my skull. Disorientated I tilt my head to watch as my riflemen begin to fire towards a large building which appears to be a pub. Before I can even react I find myself being pulled across the floor by Balbean, he manages to move me inside a damaged building out of the line of fire.

He unclips my helmet and drops it to the floor, "John? Are you okay?"

Nodding slowly I groan as I drag a hand across my forehead, "What happened?"

Balbean collects my helmet and places it in my hand, "Your helmet just saved your life," Tilting it in my hand I find a bullet lodged just off of the centre on my helmet. Fuck... a little lower and it would likely have gone through my eye.

"Thank fuck for Kevlar," I lean to Balbean and grab a pair of surgical tweezers from his medical harness, clamping it down on the bullet I'm able to dislodge it where I proceed to drop it to the floor. Throwing the tweezers up in the air he manages to catch them and place it in his harness as I put my helmet back on and secure the chin strap.

"You shouldn't really be going out there so soon."

"Fuck that. We need to keep moving," Grabbing the rifle from my chest I shakily stand and make my way to the doorway. Peeking around the frame I observe the pub as the firefight takes place, I can see at least ten shooters scattered at various windows suppressing the Section. Raising my rifle I rest it alongside the door frame and aim at the wooden wall alongside a bay window which a Griffin is using as cover.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The rounds tear through the wood as if it wasn't even there, I just catch the top of his head fall to the side behind the window signifying that my rounds had met their target. Finding my next target I take aim as she leans through the window to fire her crossbow.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

Her body slumps over the window frame and rolls through sending her falling straight to the cobblestone road below. She continues to move on the road as I hear her scream out in distress. Deciding to put her out of her misery I line up my sight with the front of her head.

PHAT

The round drills deep into her frontal lobe completely destroying the vital organ ending her suffering. A round collides with the door frame next to me propelling splinters and wooden fragments against my rifle. Instinctively I duck back through the door and consider my options. Seeing as their rifles lack accuracy I decide to make a run for the other side of the road in order to advance on the pub. Exhaling I prepare myself mentally before darting across the street, two rounds are fired towards me but as I suspected they missed only impacting the road.

As soon as I reach the other side Balbean joins me from the house and takes cover alongside me, "You have a plan I take it?"

"Kinda," leaning around the corner I take aim towards the doorway.

PHAT PHAT PHAT PHAT

The rounds don't seem to hit anyone but that wasn't my intention in the first place, "Chaser, Georg, Silver on me now!" I empty the rest of my magazine in an attempt to suppress the enemy as my team mates reach me. Only two magazines left, I need to try and save my ammo for the push on the palace, "We are going to push in through this alley and clear the building as the others continue to engage from the front. Stick close to me and watch for civvies."

I begin to push down a side alley on the other side of the building which I presume will lead to the pub, we come across no resistance as we advance down the alley. Reaching the end I halt at the corner and prepare myself, quickly I lean to the side with my rifle raised and my finger on the trigger. Surprisingly the enemy don't seem to have caught on to our flank, keeping my sights on the door I whisper to the others, "Someone get that door open and move out the way."

Chaser creeps past us and cautiously steps to the door with his sword raised. Reaching the step leading to the door he slowly reaches forward preparing himself to open the door.

PHAT

Debris sprays from a small opening on the door showering Chaser as the round pierces the door and his armour sending him back down the step screaming in agony. I freeze as I watch him impact with the floor, his metal armour clanging with the stone road from the collision.

Happy now, John? Is that another one dead?

As anger clouds my judgement I fire automatically into the door draining my entire magazine, you can still hear the bullet casings clattering with the floor by the time the cocking handle locks on the rifle. Releasing my rifle I draw my sword and charge into the pub, barging through the destroyed door I scan the room to find my target. Resting at my feet is the soldiers I presumed shot Chaser, choking on his blood I just stare at him as I watch the life drain from him.

Control your anger, John. You idiocy is causing harm to more then just your team.

Confused I look up to find Williams leaning against an overturned table with the legs pointed towards me, the table itself has also been hit numerous times from the barrage of bullets I sent through the door. That's when it hits me, eyes falling to the floor I can see a large pool of blood forming at the bottom of the table. I hesitantly approach as Williams just watches me, my foot steps cracking against shattered glass and wood spread over the floor. Reaching the table I close my eyes as my hand rests on the edge, taking a deep breath I try to prepare myself for what is going to greet me on the other side.

Tilting my head down I reluctantly open my eyes to find a form rested against the table... no, there's two forms curled up together holding onto each others. The first is a female in some sort of civilian clothing with numerous entrance wounds across her back, blood is draining from her body and her beak as her head rests on the second figure. Kneeling in the blood I carefully rest my hand on her head and raise it, my eyes widen in horror and disgust when they fall on the second form... a child. Oh fuck... I killed a kid! The side of his neck has been torn open ending his life far too early.

Carefully I rest the mothers head back down to allow her to hold her child close to her, slowly rising to my feet I can feel my eyes becoming heavy, disgust and sorrow quickly taking over all emotions within me. The sound of numerous hooves behind me wake me from my state, turning I find the rest of the Section entering the building with Balbean still outside with... Fuck, Chaser! "Clear the rest of this building!" Before they can even acknowledge me I sprint for the door and jump down the step.

Chaser is laid down on the floor with his armour piece removed, I can see the gunshot had been able to pierce the side of his plate allowing the round to hit his chest. Kneeling down alongside him I take a hold of his hoof as his screams of torment fill the air, Balbean is currently working on his wound likely attempting to remove the bullet and to stop the bleeding. Chaser looks up to me with shattering pain plastered across his face, "John?"

I lean closer to him holding onto his hoof tighter, "I'm here mate. Don't worry, everything is going to be-"

-His body suddenly tenses as he shouts in agony, blood spraying from his wound paints his midnight blue coat a crimson red, "Ah... I'm going to die!"

Leaning closer to him I rest a hand on his cheek and turn his head away from the wound forcing him to look up at me, "Your not going to die," I quickly look to Balbean as he continues to work, "Haven't you got any morphine?!"

"I've got no idea what that is," He doesn't even look up to me as I watch him struggle with Chaser who continues to squirm.

"Then give him that shit you gave me!"

He spares a quick glance to me before reaching to his harness and holding a syringe to me which I quickly snatch, "Locate a vein and give him two-cc's, he won't need as much as you did."

Raising it to my mouth I bite the cap and spit it out to the side. Turning Chasers head I rest his ear on my knee as search for a vein, "How the fuck do I find one underneath this fur? I trained on Humans not animals," Pausing I reach for my rifle and remove its bayonet, cautiously I take hold of his forehoof and use it as a razor to remove the fur from his right foreleg. After half a minute I can easily identify a vein, "Hold still mate," Slowly I pierce his skin with the needle and find his vein, I begin to push on the plunger pumping the concoction into his blood stream, once the correct amount has been administered I cautiously remove the needle and apply some pressure on the puncture.

It doesn't take long before his eyes begin to close, despite his best efforts to stay awake the drug does its job and sends him to sleep. Balbean looks up to his face and feels for his pulse, after a moment he nods and continues his work, "Your army is certainly more trained when it comes to medical treatment."

"You kinda have to know how to treat someone once they get seriously injured, we often came across soldiers losing limbs in the last war I was in," I move the chest plate from around Chaser and position it under his head to act as a pillow, "Is he going to be okay?"

As if on cue Balbean recovers the bullet from Chasers body and discards it, "Now that I've got the bullet out he should be fine. I have to ensure he doesn't lose any more blood, come here and hold the wound open."

Looking to him I scoot around Chaser and rest my hands on the wound opening it slightly to allow Balbean to work. I could never stand the sight of surgery so I turn my head away to watch inside the pub as everyone begins to leave with three Militarist prisoners in tow. I can feel the warmth from Chasers blood coating my hands as Balbean finished off his work, before too long he sits straight up and pats my arm leaving a talon blood print on my sleeve.

I stay with Chaser along with Sure Strike as the others begin to check over the last few buildings and take the prisoners to the nearest Royalist forces, my mind keeps playing back the image of the mother and child I killed inside the pub, my eyes involuntarily flicking back to the destroyed door. When my eyes flick back up again I notice Williams sitting at a table with his feet up, as soon as he sees that I'm looking at him he just raises a tankard to me before taking a drink, "Stay here," I look to Sure Strike who just nods, making my way into the pub I lift a chair and sit alongside Williams.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Finally realised your actions are responsible for getting others killed? And all it took was you to mow down a mother and child.

Pushing my face into my hands I groan, "Just piss off. I know I fucked up."

I know you think I'm just here to torment you... but I'm not-

"-Then why the fuck are you here?!" I raise my voice as I bring my fist down on the table.

To help-

"Bollocks! You've done fuck all other then drive me nuts."

Yeah well I'm only here because of you, He places his drink down and leans over the table towards me, Surely you realise that this isn't normal. You shouldn't be seeing me or anyone, your mind is buggered.

"No... really?" I put on a sarcastic tone as I stare at him, "I thought seeing the dead was a normal thing."

Who said that I was dead? He raises his drink again with a sly smirk. He's right though... I don't now if he even died, he was injured but that doesn't mean he died on the battlefield. Many he medic saved him or they managed to get him to the doctors back at Bastion.

Retrieving a cigarette I light it and lean back in the chair, "So you claim your here to help me. How exactly do you intend to do that?"

We've both been in the army for a long time, John. We may have gone to Afghanistan together but I have still been in the army longer then you. I've seen many a man lose himself in tough situations, letting anger get to them clouding their judgement. You are such a prime example, you let your anger affect your judgement resulting in the death of those two civilians and putting the lives of your men at risk.

I let out a heavy sigh running my fingers across the bridge of my nose. Turning my head to the door I can see Sure Strike stood outside watching over Chaser, "So what do I do then? I'm afraid that I will lose them all, no doubt if the Princesses learn of this they will no longer support me," I wait for a response but don't get one, "Williams?" Turning back to the table I find him nowhere in sight, sighing I get up from the table and step outside again.

"Everything okay, Sir?" A deep and gravelly voice takes me by surprise, looking to the side I see Sure Strike looking directly to me.

"Holy shit... you talked," He just gives me a deadpan stare, "Yeah... I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

He just grunts before returning to his usual position. We wait for five minutes before everyone returns with the Wonderbolt's and a medical unit. The medics immediately rush over the Chaser and check up on him, Spitfire makes her way up to me, "We are going to make our push on the palace, we need some assistance. Since you can't fly though we will carry you up, any of your aerial unit will need to join us."

I turn to everyone, "All ground units make sure the residential area remains secured. Balbean, Georg and Sure Strike will accompany me to the palace," I move up to the medical units who are preparing him for transport, "Is he heading down to the medical centre?"

"Yes, Sir."

I approach Spitfire and load my last rifle mag into the rifle, "Okay... let's finish this."

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"Come on. Fly faster!" I'm currently being held underneath each arm by Georg and Balbean as we climb up towards the palace. The Wonderbolt's and the Imperial Pegasi all flew off ahead to secure the entrance allowing me to land. The plan is for them to engage all the guards within the main sections allowing my four man team to bypass the security in order to locate General Guerino.

Georg grunts as they continue to carry me, "It's all your kit, you may aswell be a fat bastard with all the weight you have."

I scoff in an attempt to feign insult, "It's not fat, it's raw power!"

Reaching the palace entrance they both drop me just above the floor causing me to fall to my knees when we land, "Well looks like your raw power is useless," I can see a small smirk on his face,

"Oh, ha ha how very mature," Picking myself back up I take hold of my rifle and move towards the main courtyard where I can already hear the fight as it intensifies with Pegasi and Royalist reinforcements. Before the main courtyard though there is a side passage which should take us past the fighting around the outskirts of the courtyard. Kicking the wooden door open I quickly push in and check the corners and down the main corridor, "Clear."

We begin to cautiously make our way down the corridor until it takes us up a flight of stairs and opens up with numerous arches on either side of the walkway. The right allows us to look out over the city and the various battlefields spread out around the distance, five airships are in the distance slowly making their way towards the capital to provide the Royalists with reinforcements. Moving ahead I watch the left side which opens onto the main courtyard showing the large scale fighting within, nobody within even seems to be aware of our presence as we push on.

I can see that these Militarist seem to be the last of their elite fighters, they seem to be far more competent in melee combat then any of the others I have seen so far throughout the city. At this rate it seems that for every three of ours they kill they only lose the one, thankfully though we have numbers on our side with many more coming to join the fight. Reaching the end door I slowly creak it open and push into the hallway, staying low I watch as a group of fifty fighters move further down the hall and enter the courtyard.

"Follow me and stay low," We quickly push down the corridor and try to stay as quiet as possible, the Griffins are able to successfully stay quiet thanks to their rear paws where as Sure Strikes hooves echo loudly throughout the building, my boots are at least a bit better as I had been trained in the past by a friend in the royal marine commandos. reaching a large set of double doors I pause as we all position ourselves to enter, glancing back I can see some more Griffins approaching our position.

Forcing the door open we all run in and push it closed behind us, pressing our ears against it we listen as the Griffins pass the door without investigating it. Breathing a sigh of relief we all push away and look into the room... and that's where we all freeze. Across the hall is a group of ten soldiers all gripping their swords as they stare at us, on reaction we all draw our weapons and hold them in front of us.

A minute passes with nobody moving or even speaking, nobody even knows how to react to this situation. Taking a step forwards I lower my rifle slightly but keep it close at hand ready to fire off if needed, "If I was you I'd lay my weapons down and surrender before the main force pushes through," They all quickly glance to one another, many of them look fairly young to be experienced soldiers.

One of them surprisingly just charges forward with his sword raised, immediately I raise my rifle and aim for his leg.

PHAT

The round tears through the flesh and muscle stopping him in his tracks as he slumps over to hold onto his injured limb. The others all look to each other with fear as they watch their wounded teammate roll about on the floor. Stepping forward I kick the sword away and step on the Griffins chest as I point my rifle directly to his head, looking to the others I ease the trigger slowly, "Last chance lads."

They all begin to charge towards me one by one, taking a few steps back I only have to raise my rifle and fire fully automatic in a line to mow them all down with ease. They all drop to the floor leaving only four who are still clinging onto their lives. Georg steps alongside me and looks over them all, "Now that wasn't very smart. Was it?"

"Nope, not at all," Raising my rifle again I remove the magazine and examine the ammunition within, only six bullets in the mag and one in the chamber. I'm likely going to have to rely on my pistol as we move on, at least I've only used the one bullet for that. Stepping over the bodies I advance to the next set of door at the far end of the hall, "Any idea how far we are from the throne room? I bet you a fiver that the General will be held up there."

Georg and the others join me on the other side of the room, "Last time I was here was a fair few years ago. If my memory is correct it should be through this door, down the hall then up the main stairs, the throne room should be directly at the top."

Opening the door I raise my rifle in case of any immediate threats which we luckily don't come across, stepping down the hall we notice a distinctive lack of decorations and artefacts which have likely been stolen by the forces which occupy the city. Slowly stepping down the hall we find no sign of life, how nobody came out to investigate the gunshots I will never know, maybe the room is just soundproofed or something. Reaching the stairs we begin to climb when a crossbow bolt impacts the step above me, turning around I find an advancing unit hot on our tail.

Running the last of the distance I find the main door to be slightly ajar as we take a knee and face back down the stairs, "We need to move but we can't do so if these guys keep on our asses. Georg, Sure Strike, you two think you can hold them off?"

Sure Strike just grins to me, "With pleasure," With a demented growl he dives down the stairs straight towards the group with Georg joining behind him almost instantly.

Balbean steps alongside me as the two begin to fight the group of enemies, "He sure is eager."

"That he is," Turning back we push into the throne room and secure the door behind us, this time though we check the room and find nobody within. Exploring the room we find numerous tables spread around acting a war tables allowing the officers to plan offensive and military operations. I head to the largest table and scan through the documentation which was left behind, "If he's not here then where the hell is he?"

"I'm right here!" Turning around I find a balcony above the main doorway, a door is now wide open where four guards and the General have entered, the guards have some sort of modified rifle which instead has four barrels which I assume are to allow multiple rounds to be fired before reloading. Guerino leans against the ledge of the balcony and draws a pistol aiming it directly towards me and Balbean, "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long you hairless ape," Hairless ape? That's new, I'm surprised they even made that connection.

"Well I aim to please, General. You haven't exactly helped yourself by starting a civil war."

"Your right... a civil war. Equestria had no reason to interfere with our matters," Clicking he points to the ground below the balcony signalling the guards to fly down to our level, once they're down and surrounding us the General soon joins us and moves to the opposite side of the table from me, "What crap has this agent of the 'Unification Syndicate' been spouting to you? That the world will benefit from their rule?"

Glancing to Balbean my eyes narrow slightly as he looks back to me, "The Unification Syndicate?" I turn back to face Guerino, taking off my rifle sling I hold it by the hand guard, "I don't give a shit about their interests. I'm just a soldier, Guerino. I follow orders and keep my head down, I'm stuck in Equestria and you pose a risk to it, that's why I'm here."

"It's Equestria you should be fighting against, not us. They have caused instability to this world since the return of Nightmare Moon, in the last year she has returned along with Discord and King Sombra, Changelings have attempted to even invade the country and the natural forest even overran the land rendering the leaders useless to act against it. These events are only the beginning of the end of Equestria, nothing can be done to prevent the inevitable," Lowering his pistol he slides documentation towards me. Lifting the papers I can see various photos of Canterlot being attacked, the land deformed by some creature made up of various animals and the overgrown forest spreading across the country, "We need to prepare for the upcoming threats, the madness will spread from Equestria and we will be the ones to stop it."

Balbean remains silent through this as he tries to avoid making eye contact with me, "You have done nothing but weaken your country from this 'madness', nobody is going to be able to fight off this so called threat if half of your army is dead."

"Soldiers are expendable, I can always recruit more to serve me," Stepping up to me he looks to my rifle, "That weapon of yours can give one soldier the ability to engage multiple targets at one. Fight off these invaders for me then give me your rifle to replicate it, I will make you a Captain in my army. Leave those weak Ponies behind and join me, our species can work together to ensure this world is under our protection... under our control."

Looking around I can see the disbelief in Balbeans face as he likely believes that I'm going to take him up on his offer. I raise my rifle and remove it's magazine, once that's removed I pop the round in the chamber disarming the weapon. Balbean steps forwards and is immediately stopped by one of the guards, "John! What in tartarus are you doing?"

I present my rifle to the General which he happily takes. Looking to Balbean I simply shrug, "His offer is better."

The General grins as he turns his back on me to examine the rifle, "You've done the right thing, Captain. Just one last thing to deal with before you deal with those Ponies knocking on my door." Raising his hand he points to Balbean, "Get rid of this traitor."

"With pleasure, Sir," Stepping alongside the General I rest my hand on my pistol ready to draw it.

Balbean watches in fear as two guards restrain him knocking him to his knees, "You bastard! We had a deal, John!"

"I know," I wink to him earning a confussed expression from the guards as Balbean immediately calms, "This is for the best," Rapidly drawing my pistol I fire on the two guards who are still holding onto their rifles, before they can react they are both dropped to the floor as the rounds tear through their armour. Once they've been dispatched with I turn to the two others as they release Balbean to try and retrieve their rifles. One shot into each of their heads sends them to the floor.

I feel something press against the side of my head, turning slowly I find Guerino pressing the barrel of my SA80 against my forehead, "Nice try you stupid ape," He pulls the trigger creating only a minor click as the rifle fails to fire. His eyes widen in horror as I take hold of the barrel and raise my pistol shooting him once in the gut, as he releases my rifle I once again take control of it.

Curled up on the floor he screams as I kneel alongside him and reinsert my rifle mag, "No ammo, you really should have seen that coming."

"Y-you've doomed us all!" Blood is seeping between his talons as he tries to hold onto his wound.

"We'll see about that," Raising my rifle I pull on the cocking handle and press the barrel between his eyes.

PHAT

The bullet instantaneously forces its way through his skull causing his shattered head to rock backwards impacting with the floor. Standing again Balbean steps alongside me with one of the modified rifles in his hands, "It's done... The Griffin Empire owe you a debt it can never fully repay. You delivered on your side of the deal, I shall let my employers-"

"-The Unification Syndicate."

"I will tell them you delivered. We will provide you with intelligence when we gain control, I shall send one of our agent to you when everything is ready. Now lets tell everybody that this war is over."

Leaning down I grab the deceased General's garment lifting his body slightly, "Sounds good to me," I begin to drag the body along with us as we head out the door. Opening the throne room up we find Georg and Sure Strike standing over the bodies of various Militarist forces, once they see the General in my grasp they begin to follow close behind me as we head back towards the courtyard. After a minute we reach the courtyard where the fight is still ongoing, a mass majority of the Militarist forces have now been eliminated. Resting my rifle on my hip I fire fully automatic into the air emptying the mag earning the attention of everyone on the battlefield.

I throw the General's body down the steps leading onto the main courtyard as everyone watches me, "The General is dead! Lay down your weapons or face the same fate as him! This war is over, no need to throw your lives away!" Everyone on the battlefield is silent as they all stare at the deceased General, it isn't long before the Militarist forces begin to throw their weapons to the floor as they surrender. As the weapons begin to clatter to the ground the Royalist and Equestrian forces all begin to cheer at our victory.

As the last weapons are forfeited I make my way through the crowd earning various pats on the back and congratulations from allied forces. Reaching the courtyard main entrance I lean back against the wall and search through my pocket for my cigarettes, drawing one from the packet I place it in my mouth and light it up. Exhaling a plume of smoke I look over the battlefield to see the destruction caused by this conflict. The army's job is now done, it's now up to the government and the nations civilians to help repair the injured country.

Hopefully we did the right thing by coming here. Though the war has taken it's toll on the nation I think they will be able to rebuild and make their nation better from this experience.

Author's Notes:

The chapters on the Griffin civil war shall now come to an end.

I would love to hear your feedback on the story, should you wish to provide some then feel free to send me a private message

Keep those character suggestions coming. More shall be used for future developments in the story, once again feel free to send a private message.

I hope you enjoy the story