December 13th, 1972
Biên Hòa Air Force Base, Biên Hòa, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam

“Hurry it up you dogs! We are getting ready to fight against some aliens, and this won’t cut it!” Drill Sergeant Theiu Suong Nguyen yelled as many of the ARVN troops ran through the obstacle course. Many of them had been fresh out of boot camp. After the Thanksgiving offensive, there was a sharp increase in enlistment for the South Vietnamese armed forces, more specifically, in branches where it was likely that they would see combat in the upcoming counter offensive. Many decided to join not just the ARVN, others transferred to the Marine division, while others transferred into the Airborne division or the Rangers or even Special Forces. Many of them were young, wanting nothing but revenge for the atrocities committed by their alien foe.

In turn, many were cocky, and as such, the task of breaking them in and training them for combat fell onto a recently promoted Captain Nguyen. The National Assembly had seen fit to not only award him for his actions in the offensive, but have President Thieu personally promote him to captain. For this, he had spent the past week trying to get things in order and often had to stay awake late into the early hours to make sure everything was ship shape.

Thus that led him to his current overseeing into the training regime set by the Drill Sergeant, mainly being there to provide guidance and to help make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. So far, the new troops had went through the course barely under record time. Looking through binoculars, the senior sergeant muttered “At this rate, they might not stand a chance against our new threats.”

“They might, our police officers were able to hold their ground until the Rangers arrived.”

“From the report, it said you and your men were nearly overrun. To the point where you were considering withdrawal from the area.” The drill sergeant grunted back, still staring down at the struggling grunts.

“That may be so Sergeant, but if our police force can hold their own against a few magical enemies, than we can push them back.”

“Which is the reason why I’m so concerned about these recruits.”

“I know. Boys, just out of high school. Many of them impassioned from the horrors they saw these past few weeks.”

“With that kind of passion, they’re bound to make a mistake.”

“Yes, and so we train them, but do you have to necessarily be harsh on them?”

“You and I have been through similar situations before, Captain. With all due respect, this will at least have them prepare for the battlefield. Any kind of punishment I dish out to them, though it may destroy their ego, will humble them so that they can think clearly and rationally when we charge into that new land.” An nodded in agreement, as he and the Senior Sergeant continued to push their troops, covered in dust, mud, and sweat upon their gear, to the limit.

December 24th, 1972
Biên Hòa Air Force Base, Biên Hòa, III Corps, Republic of South Vietnam

Christmastime in Vietnam had been quite eventful. In addition to the last Bob Hope USO show in Vietnam taking place, Nixon, though under constant scrutiny from Watergate, had reassured Thieu that he would support South Vietnam in the defense of their land, even after possible complete American withdraw. That, and a strong desire by the American people to get North Vietnam to end the war pushed Nixon to respond with a Christmas bombing otherwise known as Operation Linebacker II, a campaign that had wiped out Hanoi and key strategic cities, and had just now pressured the North Vietnamese to talk at the peace table.

In response to the Thanksgiving offensive, Nixon had the approval of Congress to at least keep several advisors in country and to up the ante on sending equipment and supplies to the South Vietnamese, but not to send boots on the ground. The Soviet Union, in the meantime, did little in response. They merely observed, and pressured Hanoi to end the war at a truce, at least until they could get word on the extent of this extraterrestrial threat.

Bin Hoa had become a bustling base these past few weeks, as Australian, New Zealander, and South Korean troops were flown in from their respective countries. The portal, after analysis from South Vietnamese scientists, and several more scientists from Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, deemed the portal portable, and in turn the military moved it to Biên Hòa with great effort to not only safeguard against any remaining Viet Cong, but to also keep the threats within the control of the ARVN and the VNAF.

In turn, the base had a few more defensive mechanisms sent from the U.S. Among them was a steel door to seal up the gate if their foothold got compromised, and a last ditch effort via the rigging of a few underground nukes that when detonated, would destroy the not only the base, but possibly the surrounding town.

Captain Nguyen had managed to help train his troops, and stood proud as his men, standing at attention and in rank and file, next to many other troops from their allied nations, finally stood in front of the gate, M113’s and M35 trucks, some carrying artillery, were lined up in front of the portal entrance in two columns. In front of them they were escorted by M48 and M42 tanks, as well as M42 dusters to provide anti-aircraft and mobile artillery cover with the M107 self-propelled guns. From the side, a podium was set up with some staff members, commanders of the various nations in the coalition, and an entourage of five.

Each of the three officers represented the branches of the South Vietnamese army, navy, and air force. The fourth staff officer was Brigadier General Ngô Quang Trưởng, a well-known general who’s previous commands included the 1st ARVN division, the IV corps: the southernmost sector; and most recently, I Corps: the military defensive sector that was furthest north, to the border on the DMZ, taken up after he organized the defense and counter-offensive named Lam Son 72 during the Easter Offensive.

The final man, standing on the podium, was President Thieu, who was organizing his note cards in preparation for a speech. He stared out into the vast audience, and cleared his throat, before he began to speak in English, with a distinctly heavy Vietnamese-French accent.

“My fellow countrymen, and my allies. Today is the day that we take the fight back to the monsters who not only sacked Saigon, but also pose a great risk to the free world. For many of you, for all of us, it was but a dream that we would meet beings from another world within our lifetime. Even less that they are friendly. And thus, it is that low probability that we are here today. To fight against this hostile force. And to free who or whatever is being enslaved by these beings.

This fight will be long and hard, as much as our current war with the north, maybe even more. That is a guarantee. But what I can promise is this, what we are doing is right. If no one will help them, who will? We must certainly not let this world fall into Communist hands, even if they fail to react so far to this new threat. You have our blessing to go to fight for their freedom. In time, we will not be alone, in time, the world will see the wrongs being done, and in response, they will send help. Until then, we must depend on ourselves, and make sure that all of us, friend and foe, get home safely, thank you. General, you have my orders.”

General Trưởng saluted and then turned to the group, and yelled, “Men, you will be the first to set foot onto a planet with sentient life. We will not be the first men to land on an astronomical body, as that honor has clearly been given to the Americans. However, that should not deter you from your duty to defend your homeland! I will not tolerate funny business and I’ll draw the line here! We represent what is best for not only the Republic of Vietnam, Australia, or even South Korea, we represent what is the best for Earth. So if I hear of any incidents that soil our reputation, you will live to regret it from not only me, but from your commanders, and from the world! Understood!?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good. Heed every order given to you by your officers and leaders, and follow your instincts. Those two instructions will help you survive in this possible hell of a war. If you meet the locals, be sure to win their hearts and minds, and show them that we will protect them until their motherland is free once more! And with that, I wish you the best of luck! You have gotten your briefings from the appropriate commanders, and you know what to do! Move out!”

And with that order, the coalition mounted up to their respective vehicles. The tanks, artillery, and the various vehicles revved up, and turned on their lights. The ARVN General mounted up onto the lead jeep, and then signaled the coalition to move forward. The gate door was opened up and was reactivated, various .30 caliber gun turrets fixed their sights at the entrance. As the VNAF ground personal guided the vehicles into the gate, many troops began to whisper their prayers that they would arrive safely. Others sat there, contemplating the possibility that they might never come back. As the last of the convoy disappeared into the gate, the general staff monitored the radio transmissions near the gate entrance in a command APC, waiting to see what would happen.

December 24th, 1972, 1700 Hours (5:00 PM)
The Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus

The allied coalition had expected to go up against a fierce enemy. What they received, however, was silence, and an empty hill. Taking advantage of this head start, the coalition quickly built an entrenchment system and an FOB to gain a foothold within the region. As artillery pieces and prefabs were set in place, Rangers and Special Forces members quickly fanned out and enacted reconnaissance in the surrounding area.

The four nations organized their emplacements into four sectors of the FOB, as they set up dugouts and machine gun nests. It was in one of these entrenchments, that Captain An was leaning against the dug in trench, binoculars in hand, radioman next to him, looking outwards and keeping an eye out for any movements. Frustrated, the new radioman sighed and said, “I thought we were here to fight demons, not just sit around to become bait.”

“Patience, Corporal. We cannot afford to lose this foothold, for if we do, who knows how we’ll recover. We have so much that needs to take place, and so many things that could go wrong.”

“I know sir. But you’d think that they would better defend their prized gateway.”

“That’s why the Rangers and the Special Forces ar-”

“Firebase Alpha, Firebase Alpha, this is 1st Ranger squadron, we have located an enemy positon at mark 10 kilometers east from firebase.” The captain and the corporal looked on to the distance, but listened in on the developing situation.

“This is Command, are they aware that we’re here?”

“Negative, we ha-wait, there seems to be a caribou running into the base now. I presume he is a scout. Th-There’s a commotion being stirred in the encampment, they’re breaking camp sir!”

“Get out of there! All positions, prepare for an incoming attack from the east! I want all recon units to organize and set up flares at appropriate locations for artillery bombardment! Try to harass them and wear them down, make them fear us by the time they get here.”

Within minutes, the soldiers of the firebase would quickly spring into high alert, as the swiveled their guns over a field of mines and barbed wire. Many soldiers twitched and quivered in nervousness, An squinted as he looked down his iron sights from his M4A4 Carbine, breath held as he waited to see what monstrosities would come into their line of fire.

“And those are their defenses, lieutenant?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then you may leave us.”

The caribou lieutenant gave a prompt salute before returning to his regiment of mixed forces. In addition to the assorted Zebra, Buffalo, and Pony slaves, each brigade within the task force consisted of three battalions of Equestrian troops, a battalion of griffon mercenaries, a battalion of diamond dog mercenaries, a battalion of Minotaur mercenaries, and a battalion of caribou regular army troops. Providing air cover were ten wings of dragons; who didn’t participate in the assault on the strange lands due to the fact that many of them had arrived late to the assault, and had just now arrived.

Quietly, the general of the forces ordered his task force, led by each of their respective lieutenants of their respective species, further to the source of light, carefully hiding the thump of their hooves and gear. Many of the creatures looked around nervously, quaking and shaking, it hadn't helped that the bipedal beings had ambushed them multiple times, only to retreat back into the forest without a trace. They had lost many men to the mysterious green men, and by this point, many of the soldiers were deterred and jumpy.

They passed by a sign that read in Equestrian and random scribbles, Prench, and some modified version of Equestrian, “Keep Out: For Safety Reasons, This Area is Off Limits. By Order of the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam and the Pacific Coalition.” The General was puzzled “Who were the Pacific Coalition, and what happened to their own invasion force?” He pondered as he led his men.

His thoughts quickly came to an end however, as suddenly, several flashes of red lights flew into the air, lighting the entire night sky. Many of the forces looked up, surprised at seeing such fireworks in a desolate place like this. Suddenly, explosions rang out across the entire field, as bolts of light sliced through their ranks, making many of them fall. General Stalker ducked down, then looked back and yelled, “They know we’re here, but we must push forward to victory, charge!” Like a stampede, they tried to charge, only to be cut down by these strange lights.

Suddenly, explosions and large, audible "pops" rang out, followed by large explosions landing on the ranks, cutting into them like butter. This quickly struck fear into the soldiers, and caused them to route, leaving General Stalker to try to regroup them. As he left the hill, he turned back, eyebrows hunched in anger, and stared at the source of these new lights, squinting and muttering, “We will make you fall to our will.”

Over the next few days, the firebase was locked in a siege, as the enemy tried again and again to charge at them, only to be cut down by machine guns and artillery fire from both the actual artillery, and tanks entrenched in their positions. Two days afterward, the caribou attempted to combine forces with their dragon wings. The strategy worked to some effect, as Captain An and his men quickly ducked to narrowly avoid the fire, which caused some damage and had blown a few tanks and one of their fuel dumps. Many of the men rushed around to try to avoid the breath of what they looked up to as a sacred animal.

The dragon’s reign of terror soon ended though, as ARVN dusters quickly swatted them down with slow, but steady rhythms of anti-aircraft artillery. A few days into the siege, the VNAF were able to roll in a flight of A-1 Skyraiders with their wings folded. As soon as the planes and their pilots were prepped for flight, they were immediately scrambled to assist the dusters and the anti-aircraft guns with the turkey shoot. The already ancient Korean War-era aircraft flew up, down, and around the dragons, trying to avoid their fire, while they got off a few shots, piercing their scales and taking them down.

Pretty soon the VNAF, though outnumbered, were able to quickly route the dragons, and clear the skies for the coalition forces. With air superiority quickly retaken into coalition hands, the VNAF quickly took advantage of the situation and made strafing runs against the charging enemies, releasing MK82 bombs and napalm into the fray, burning most of the enemy forces alive. The ARVN and their allies were free to call in trucks and trucks of ammunition and supplies from Saigon to keep up their game.

All around An, troops rushed out of foxholes to quickly unload land rovers and M35 trucks of their ammo and supplies under constant spear, arrow, and spell fire. Sounds of M16 and SLR fire mixed with the steady beat of M60 machine guns and the occasional thumps of mortars and artillery shells quickly replied to the oncoming enemy gunfire, the stench of burning flesh and napalm quickly filling the air as the VNAF did another bombing run. At night, the Captain An led groups to take in the bodies and replant the mines for another day of bloodshed. Whoever they were going up against had quite the dedication to charge into a literal meat grinder.

December 28th, 1972, 0500 Hours (5:00 AM)
Firebase Alpha, Undiscovered West, Equestria, Equus

"Sir!, Sir! Wake up!" a sleeping American jolted his eyes open as he was violently awakened by an ARVN lieutenant, dressed in an ERDL uniform of various greens and browns, topped with a maroon beret.

He groaned as he lifted himself out of bed, clad in a dark green undershirt and green boxers. He soon turned to the lieutenant and asked, "What's going on? Are we being attacked?"

The Lieutenant shook his head and say, "No, the Colonel wants to see us for a briefing, he wants us to be in his office immediately."

"Shit. Alright, I'll be down there, you go on and let the colonel know I'll be over there as soon as possible." The Lieutenant nodded in affirmation, and quickly walked to the doorway, leaving the captain to go slip on similarly colored uniform and beret. He checked and saw if he had forgotten anything as he grabbed his pistol belt, and then rushed out of the barracks, contemplating his life so far in country as he rushed to his latest meeting.

He was hoping since the war was winding down for the U.S. that he would receive a relatively uneventful tour of duty before returning home. It was a complete shock to him when the DAO had ordered him to go with his advisor unit to the new region of magical horsey land to exact revenge on some fucked up version of the deer he had hunted back home in Kentucky.

When he arrived here, and when he came face to face with the enemy, he thought he had accidently taken LSD, until he got decked in the head of course when a caribou got too close to him. But since the waves died down, he had hoped to get some sleep, only to be interrupted by this hullabaloo. This week sure wasn’t a lucky week for him. "Well, it's a good time to be up at least." he remarked, as he witnessed the sun beginning to rise, creating a various pastel of light blues and oranges. He and his Lieutenant briskly walked into an office labelled Colonel Truc Nguyen, and snaped to attention to salute. “Captain William Taylor and Lieutenant Huong Sinh Pham at your service, sir!”

“At ease, Captain, Lieutenant.” Truc said, as he poured some coffee into a mug and walked up to a rudimentary map on the board after saluting back at them. Taylor and Pham stood at ease, before they both took a seat.

“Alright, I’ll be brief, since the siege on our firebase, we were able to ship and reassemble a reconnaissance aircraft to scout the area for the enemy encampment once we were able to gain aerial superiority.” He then gestured to the dossier full of aerial photographs of a set of tents and fenced off areas.

“We had found this camp,” he pointed at a certain place on the map, “Here, 15 kilometers from our firebase. Your mission is to destroy that camp, and end this siege once and for all. We have spotted a gap in their defenses near their rear flak, near some mountains. You will rappel near the forest bordering the camp with the mountains, from there you will trek through the jungle west until you reach the camp. Once there, eliminate any remaining hostile forces, capture any key officers, and rescue anyone trapped within the camp. Do not worry, elements from the 1st Armored Cavalry division, as well as elements of the 1st, and 23rd ARVN Divisions, with a unit of airborne troops will back you up immediately, the rest of the coalition would soon follow. Any questions?”

Taylor nodded and asked, “What kind of air support can we call in?”

“We are limited on air power as it is, Captain. Until we can get more air groups through the gate, you will be limited to a squad of Skyraiders if things turn south. In addition, you will have MEDEVAC available to you as soon as you free the camp, or fall back to a safer area. You will also have choppers to evacuate if needed, however, there will only be enough to carry you, and your unit until we can receive more from Tan Son Nhat.”

“So you’re saying we’ll be out of the dark until we destroy the camp?”

“Precisely.”

Taylor nodded and said, “Understood, sir. Do you have any questions Lieutenant?”

Pham shook his head. “We are good to go whenever you are, sir.”

“Excellent, meet the choppers on the tarmac in 8 minutes, dismissed.” Both officers left, quickly assembling their team and quickly hopping onto the choppers, flying off into the dangers unknown. As they began on their journey, Taylor rested his boonie hat over his eyes and rested himself against the wall of the huey, slowly falling asleep to the lull of the helicopter blades.

December 28th, 1972, 0648 Hours (6:48 AM)
Airspace Over Smokey Mountains, Equestria, Equus

“Captain Taylor!” The aforementioned Captain bolted awake as he was violently shaken by a crewman nearly three quarters of his size with a broken accent. “We are near the LZ! I have already notified your lieutenant! Just get ready for drop!”

“Alright! Thanks crewman!” Taylor yelled back, as he unslung his CAR-15 and extended his stock. His Lieutenant crouched next to the captain and tried to yell over the helicopter blades.

“Captain Taylor! The troops are ready to fast line into combat, shall we go over the plan!?”

“Sure! If that will make you feel better! You know the drill, right!?”

“Form a perimeter once we touch the ground! After the choppers leave, form into five fire teams of six!”

“Right! And after that, form into clusters and move in a column position! Once we arrive at the camp, we’ll set up shop, and figure out what to do there!”

“Arriving at LZ in five minutes!” The crewman yelled out, as the door gunners raised their weapons and scanned the area for enemy movement.”

“I’ll review the plan with the men! I’ll see you on the ground!”

“Good luck lieutenant!” Pham nodded, and crouch-walked back to his men, relaying the plan in Vietnamese. The captain returned his gaze to the outside, seeing the trees fly by and the mountains nearby, snowcapped over them with several distant houses, all in shambles.

“We are here, release the lines!” The crewman cried out, two lines, one on each side, quickly dropped to the ground. “Go! Go! Go!” The crewmen yelled, as the troops quickly rappelled down to the LZ. The troops quickly unslung their weapons, and formed circles around where they dropped, as soon as the lines retracted, and the sound of the choppers faded away, the Pham quickly gestured for the ranger squads to form up into their respective fire teams.

“Alright, stick to the plan, and move in a column, keep on the lookout for any hostile, I don’t want any creatures to leave unscathed, understood?” the rangers nodded and gave a thumbs up before forming up. The rangers then began to move along the forest path. Hours of tense hours passed as the rangers scanned the tree line, only to find nothing but movement from the wildlife, scared by the alien’s appearance.

Taylor suddenly raised his fist and quickly stopped the platoon. “What is it Taylor?” The Captain gestured to the south east, toward a clearing full of light and sound. They sneaked up to the camp, hiding behind bushes close enough to see key details of the camp, but far enough to not be spotted by long range sentries. Both Pham and his advisor, Taylor glanced through their binoculars at the camp. The sight before them was a sight to behold.

The camp was lively, sure, but many ponies, griffons, diamond dogs, minotaur’s, and caribou were wounded. Nearby there was a pen where more ponies were chained up together with collars of varying colors. They had a feminine look to them and many were in varied states of abuse only slightly noticeable from the distance. Some of the creatures were copulating with them, others were outright raping them, beating them, or working them to death.

“Alright Huong, I want you to set up some snipers from places they know they can’t miss, set up your squads to surround the camp, I don’t care how, just do it, it’s your call. Then group up with me and bring a radioman. Have the fire teams signal when they are ready to attack, rules of engagement do apply, we need to get those slaves out alive.” Huong nodded, and gestured to the fire teams and the snipers, whispering for them to get into positions and directing them where to go.

He then returned to his advisor’s side with a radioman, and then crouched down behind the bushes, as they watched the fire teams slip into position. Several minutes later, the fire teams reported in that they were within position.

“Captain Taylor, they are ready to move at our command, your suggestion?”

“Move in slowly and gradually, have one of the sniper teams and one of the fire teams monitor the perimeter to make sure no one leaves alive. Then move in quickly, and quietly, and take out the outer sentries.”

The Pham nodded, and gestured for the radio, he adjusted the channel, and whispered, “Sniper team Alpha, monitor the area, Fire team six, form a perimeter around the camp and keep track of any movement. The rest of you move in and close the space, take out any enemies silently, once we get near the fence, hold your position until I give the order.” His word was quickly relayed to the other fire teams, and soon the sixth fire team spread out to cover ground. The rest quickly moved in, Huong and his advisor moving with them.

Suddenly, the fire team discovered a sentry of their own, Huong quickly sneaked up, hunched over and tip-toeing, careful to avoid any twigs and any beams of light from further sentries. He then slowed to a stop near the sentry behind the brush, and laid in wait for the sentry to return. Huong breathed in deeply, and quietly as he waited for the sentry to return, he gripped his K-Bar from his webbing and mumbled, "C'mon you bastard, you have to return at some point."

Huong soon had his chance, as he heard the clopping of hooves returning to his position. Once he heard the clopping go directly next to him, he struck with a fierce passion worthy of the black panther on his shoulder patch, pouncing on the poor bull's back, k-bar drawn. He quickly covered the bull’s mouth, and slit his throat. He collapsed to the ground in a puddle of his own blood gurgling and drowning from the red liquid. Pham stood up, and with the help of three of his men, dragged the corpse into a nearby bush. They then continued the process of sneaking and taking down sentries until they met up with fire team three near the fence entrance.

“Sir, fire teams two through five have reached the wall, we are ready to move on your mark” the radio blared out silently.

“Tell the snipers to find their targets, and signal when they are ready.” Pham replied back into the receiver.

Several minutes passed before the radioman reported that all snipers found their targets. Captain Taylor nodded to Huong and whispered, “They’re all yours, Lieutenant.”

Pham nodded, and quickly, but quietly drew out his flare gun, he then quickly loaded it with a red flare, and then pointed it towards the sky.

December 28th, 1972, 0725 Hours (7:25 AM)
Camp Roughneck, Smokey Mountains, Equestria, Equus

“Sir, we are down to nearly a quarter of our forces left. This siege has to stop, the enemy clearly has the upper hand.” A battered Lieutenant reported. His armor was significantly dented, with several burn marks from the close calls with the sticky flame dropped from the strange metal birds.

“We had explicit orders from Emperor Diann himself, you fool! You know the margin for error is none! We have to take this hill and retake the gate, or die trying!” General Stalker yelled back enraged, the Lieutenant quickly cowered under the scrutiny of his superior, but foolishly retorted back.

“Sir, we barely have enough to contain the slaves we brought with us, what makes you think we can repel another enemy offensive”

“Diann had promised us reinforcements will come relieve us by train. If we can hold-”

“You are aware that that might not be possible sir! You, yourself have seen the capabilities of these bipedal creatures!”

A young caribou cow flinched as she heard her master, and also unfortunately, her father, yell at one of his subordinates. A lot had changed in these past few weeks. It wasn’t too long ago that one of the scouts had rushed back to camp saying the enemy had arrived on their doorstep. That had left the camp in complete frenzy. Soldies rushing to assemble to go to the front, slaves being dragged by their chains in the opposite direction, fillies and a few colts crying as they tried to process what was going on.

The complete and utter chaos had given her the opportunity to try to escape with her closest friend, a Crystal Empire unicorn with a sparkling lavender coat and a peaceful light sky blue mane, and a cutie mark of a book with some random letters and runes hovering over with a few lines surrounding it representing speech. They had succeeded…for a few meters. They were recaptured again surprisingly by a few of the stragglers. Cowardly to retreat from the enemy, yet still domineering enough to notice a few of runaway slaves.

She had received many beatings and much worse once they resettled. Since that night, she and her crystal pony friend had noticed that many of the soldiers and mercenaries in the camp were trying to party harder than usual, the soldiers they slept with noted their extreme fear, telling stories of metal birds who dropped sticky flame and shot magic strong enough to kill dragons. Of the initial attack, where they had unseen enemies in the pitch of night, yet they shot bolts of orange magic, strong enough to break through armor.

Then of the horror and terror as the new foe and used explosion magic, of how the ground blew up from underneath their comrade’s feet, and how there was a heavy rain of fire after claps of thunder. Such descriptions terrified the two best friends to the point where the minute they had overheard the argument concerning what type of military action to take against the creatures while waiting to be invited in, the very thought nearly shook them to the core, for though they might have a chance at salvation, they had little to no idea what had happened to those who were taken in by these aliens.

“Do you think they might be nearby Daleering?” the crystal unicorn whispered, trying not to let the guards overhear her.

“I-I am not sure.” Daleering said meekly. Her face scrunched up with a slight fear in her eyes. The crystal mare noticed, and quickly wrapped a fore hoof around her dear friend’s, away from the gaze of the guards. “I-I’m sorry I can’t answer your question Crystal, I’m just as scared as you are, l-let’s just hope that-” their conversation died quickly as a flash of red light shot up to the sky.

“That’s them! It’s the aliens! They’ve come to kill us all!” one of the nearby guards cried out in terror, before his head exploded in skull fragments, brain matter, and gore in front of the duo. Suddenly, the entire place erupted in a cacophony of loud bangs and cracks, as flashes of light appeared from everywhere. Panicked for their lives, Dalerring quickly dragged her friend to someplace safe, as soldiers fell around them, and several explosions trembled the ground, her mind rushed as she dragged them near a pit, and covered it up with leaves. Now all they had to do was wait through this holocaust, hoping they’d be spared of this destruction.

“Keep the pressure on them! Don’t let them run off!” Pham yelled out, as he and Taylor led their squads, charging into the compound guns blazing. Many of the mercenaries quickly tried to kill off the rangers. Minotaur’s grabbed rangers and crushed them in their fists, the poor souls screaming as their bones audibly cracked, before they gurgled and faded into oblivion. Pegasi and griffons swooped and dived, trying to grab at the rangers, some of the newbies were grabbed, and dropped from a killable height, some make it out alive as their captors were quickly shot to pieces by rifle and machine gun fire.

Taylor unloaded a clip into a charging Minotaur before it was able to reach an unsuspecting Pham. Pham turned, and smiled, giving a nod in thanks, before flinching and shooting his rifle at a unicorn charging his magic, waiting to strike the Captain until his head exploded. “Now we are even.” He said.

“Let’s get back to work.” Taylor replied back, as both the Lieutenant and the advisor returned to shooting at charging enemies, as their troops continued to rush into the compound. Some of them would duck and cover, trying to dodge arrows and spell fire. Some of the rangers threw grenades into foxholes being occupied by diamond dogs, forcing them to run out into the open to be gunned down. Yelling could be heard as some of the earth ponies, unicorns, and caribou tried to charge into Taylor’s position, their ranks quickly being gunned down by M60 machine gun fire and the combined arms of many M16’s.

Minotaur's reinforced a scant few of the caribou ranks, trying to break through the line, with limited success, as they swung their axes and battle hammers, smashing skulls and chopping off limbs. Many of the rangers briefly panicked at the carnage, some even fell back, but in the end they managed to suppress the minotaur’s after a few minutes of combined fire. With a majority of their leaders and strong, key players killed in the charge, the mercenaries and some of the caribou and pony troops routed and retreated.

The diamond dogs became the first to attempt a full retreat, as they tried to dig out a means to escape. Some of the rangers pursuing the dogs dove in behind them. The dogs had no chance of survival as the pursuing rangers, trained in tunnel warfare by tunnel rats, were either gassing them out with tear gas, stabbing them to death from the rear, or shooting them in their own graves by pistol fire. Unicorns and scantly potent caribou mages tried to fire spell after spell at the rangers, managing to burn holes through several, but losing many of their own to gunfire in the process.

All the while, the routed forces tried to escape, only to be picked off by snipers one by one. Those who were lucky to make it were met with resistance from fire team six, as they quickly gunned the majority of the ponies and the caribou down. The gunfire in the surrounding area gradually stopped, as less and less enemy troops were found escaping.

Back inside the compound, the rangers quickly searched through tent after tent, clearing them out one by one. Sergeant Trung led his mean to one of the tents near the mess tent. He raised his fist and had 3 rangers on each side of the door. He then gestured for them to move in, only to take a bolt of magical plasma to the gut, his men quickly avenged him by gunning down the remaining caribou inside. “All clear inside!?” Lieutenant Pham yelled from the outside.

“All clear sir!” Corporal Dung replied back, quickly taking command of the fire team. “We need a medic though, Trung has been hit!”

“Get him out of here, we’ll call in a MEDEVAC and have medics treat him before then. Medic!” Pham yelled out, waving a nearby medic down, he rushed to the Lieutenant’s side, and stood by as the fire team carried the Sergeant out. The fire team returned to the Lieutenant’s side, and then grouped up as they continued their search.

The caribou general was in a panic, his camp was falling before his eyes, and the aliens were quickly approaching his tent. His aides were quickly burning documents, as his right hand man, a buck in colonel armor, walked next to him. “I want what’s left of our men to try to escape to the rails at once, take whatever supplies we can carry, and burn down anything that could give away our path!”

“What of the slav-”

“Leave them for dead or kill them! Do what you want, but we are not taking them! I must return to my quarters, colonel, but I must ask you to take this,” he handed to his subordinate a scroll bearing the imperial wax crest, “And lead the remaining men in an evacuation, get this to the nearest occupied city as possible, you are dismissed.”

“But si-”

“Leave, now!” The general barked back, as his underling quickly rushed out, orders in his saddlebags, the general stormed into his room. In it, a bedroom in disarray, the clearing near his bed drawn with intricate runes, glowing stones stored within a box nearby. The general picked up the stones, and placed them in a set pattern, the stones glowed with increasing intensity, and eventually revealed an image of Emperor Diann, vast and grand as always, scowling in anger as he muttered, “This had better be important, General Stalker, I was in the middle of-”

“The creatures have taken the base, my lord!” the general exclaimed. “Our troops had done our best, but it looks as though the invasion has failed, now aliens come with the intent on ending us all! We’re next!”

“I see…” The emperor nodded in thought, stroking his beard like a stereotypical evil madman. “What have you done?”

“I’ve evacuated as many troops as I can to the train station my lord, I have burned all of the important documents, and I’ve sent my colonel to-”

“And what of the slaves?”

“They are to be left for dead, my lord.”

“You are foolish general! Kill them at once, dead slaves will tell no tales, after that, you know what to do.”

“Of course my lord.” The emperor nodded in acceptance, before the hologram faded out, and the stones glowed back to their warm glow. The General started the process of cleaning up before-

“ARVN! Put your hooves up and you will not be harmed!” The same message was spoken in Equish from what he could make out, and in some other language that he had no knowledge of, he heard tables being overturned, and sounds of a struggle as his staff tried and failed to overpower the rangers. The General quickly tried to grab for his crossbow from his dresser before he felt someone tackle him, and then knock up into blackness.

“We’ve got someone, Taylor. Looks like a prominent animal!” Pham yelled out, as his men quickly tied up his fore hooves, and lifted him up to carry. Taylor walked in, carbine slung, as he took a look at the unconscious prisoner.

“He might be important, keep him under guard, and I’ll radio it to base. I think it’s safe to say we can call in the cavalry to join the party.” Pham nodded back, smiling. He picked up the receiver from his radio man, and radioed the all clear, he then handed the receiver to Taylor as he gave a report with the DAO officer on the possibly important prisoner.

What Daleering and the crystal mare saw beyond their hole was amazing and terrifying. In a span of what seemed like a lifetime, they had saw their masters slaughtered and captured, and strange creatures rush into the compound. Some of them were jumping down from giant metal dragonflies, others were moving in, riding strange, metal contraptions on wheels that moved on their own, some were boxy and angular, and had strange wheels with tracks. Others seemed like normal carts, only larger, and moving on their own power. They saw the strange beings, dressed in a variety of dull colors of brown and green, quickly rush out of the strange contraptions, and began sweeping their camp.

They were yelling in a mix of languages, many in strange tongues that they didn't recognize, some in Equish with what seemed like a less polished version of a Canterlot accent, others in some unknown language. They trembled as they saw some of the figures beat their captors into submission with the backs of their strange rods. They winced as they heard the audible cracking of bones and skulls. And they panicked even more when in the confusion, they saw their fellow slaves being gently led to somewhere they couldn't see. Daleering trembled in fear as she shrunk next to her friend, whimpering as she began to see a hopeless situation, with no way to escape without consequence.

Suddenly, a large pair of boots stepped in front of their eyes, causing both of them to squeak in surprise and duck further inside their hole, only for their cover to be lifted up, light shining at their eyes, as a silhouette of a tall man in green fatigues, a belt, and a strange cap appeared in front of them, with several similar creatures behind him. Daleering yelped in fear as she hid behind her friend, tears streaming from her eyes. This only made the Crystal mad, and so with hope of survival, and a need to protect her friend, she shut her eyes and tred to give the creature a hard buck. She would hear a crack and a high pitched shout of pain...