As proud and ready as that army infantry force that advanced was, it was but a single force. Though reinforcements were scheduled, others theoretically hitting other beachheads or even landing just behind them, they weren't there yet.

The snap of fire from behind was their first clue that their enemy had noticed their vulnerability. The silence was broken, and noise rushed in to fill that vacuum. Vehicles rumbled free of hidden trenches, heavy turrets swiveling onto the infantrymen.

Quite suddenly they were surrounded, which meant the fighting could begin in earnest.

"They caused more damage than Tirek, and that was just one of their bombs. Just one!" The feline leaned forward towards her aquatic tea-partner. "The time to be passively neutral is long over."

"You think we are not aware of these things." The fish raised his teacup, sipping gently. "We are aware. We are moving. Most of the EFC is harmless, dangling baubles from the tree. The humans are the threat."

"That's more like it." She raised her glass towards the fish. "Bloody aliens think they can just walk all over us."

Rason snatched up his ringing phone. "Hello?" That wasn't how he should have answered, but it was an unidentified number, and hope had lurched up within him.

"I called the other number," spoke a familiar voice. "Decided to call you afterwards."

Rason let out a little breath, glad the proper people had been informed, still... "What did you learn?"

"Minotaur government is dust, literally. You're their king, why did you--"

"--I didn't," he cut off with some anger. "We've sc..." He trailed off, realizing he was edging towards potentially classified information. "We didn't launch any nuclear missiles." That was a safe statement.

"Someone did. Their capital is shredded, but I saw some suspicious things. All those burnt buildings, no ruined military. Not a single torn up vehicle their military would use. Speaking of that, their head bull's crowned himself commander and is the only one in charge now. Coincidence?" His report was interrupted by a sudden bout of heavy coughing. "Excuse me... I've been feeling a little off."

Rason realized then with a chill what was happening to his spy. That poor, brave, bastard was being dosed with potentially lethal radiation. "Where is their leader now?"

"Not here..." There was noise, something moving past, then quiet for an uneasy moment. "Look, I should go."

"Wait, please, get away from there." As valuable as that spy's intel was, consigning a man to misery, a fellow 'ling, warped or not... "I doubt there's much more to say about their capital right now anyway."

"I'm trying to track down their boss. He shouldn't be too hard to find. Speak to you later." The phone went dead.

There was no safe space. They had been trying to keep their precious spellcasting cargo well away from any conflict, only to have the very first shot catch Twilight in the shoulder with a howl of pain. They had missed their intended target. That first sharp crack was but the first drop before a storm as shouts from both sides raised and gunfire became the normal where silence had once dwelled.

Her plastic chemical suit had done nothing to stop the angry munition from piercing into her, not that it was ever intended to hold up to anything but undesirable particulate in the air. Starlight was already diving for her, knocking her to the ground as bullets flew over their crashed heads, piercing the space they had occupied moments before. "Are you alright?!"

Twilight knew she had been shot, but it didn't hurt all that bad. "I'm fine. I'm alright." She looked around with wide eyes as chaos unfolded in all directions. "We have to help."

"Help? We have to get out of here! We are not soldiers, Twilight, and you're bleeding!"

Was she? Twilight looked where Starlight was pointing. Oh... she was. That was... a lot of blood. Why didn't it hurt? "Let's go." She and Starlight vanished in a shower of Twilight's magic, popping out of being.

Angry belches of colorful bands of light were whimsical, until they tore men and equipment apart. "Armor contact," shouted one man as if it wasn't quite clear.

Hoku had been out in front, as he had been assigned with his squad. That was the least occupied part of the battle. They had come rushing in from the sides and back, with only a token force in front of them. The battle had already started, and his squad had their weapons raised and ready by the time the first enemies appeared within their sights.

Bulls and cats and other creatures charged with a unified roar, to find Hoku's team had dropped behind cover. The gunfire began in both directions. "Focus," shouted Hoku to his mates, leveling his gun at a specific combatant, a bull that wore just a little too much metal on his chest.

The bulls were so confident in their annihilation of the human forces that their command had moved up with the infantry. It was not a mistake Hoku would allow to pass without comment. It wasn't him that landed the shot, another squaddy landing the vital hit that sent the enemy leader down with a collective "Hooah!" from the squad, invigorated by their small victory.

That victory was short lived as an explosion ripped their cover to pieces, a thrown grenade removing that advantage from them. They scrambled for new places, Hoku diving behind the corner of a building, another squaddie slapping into place beside him.

Paul was just behind them, boots thundering against the ground in a manic scramble. Hoku unleashed a spray of bullets, not even trying to hit anything, just to suppress the enemy, hopefully keep them from firing on Paul while he was exposed.

He dived for cover, but it was in the wrong direction, and he hadn't dived. A thin beam of rainbow, trailed by a supersonic round, hit him in the side of his head and he was sent in an ungainly spin to crash to the ground, unmoving, blood pooling beneath his pierced skull.

"School..." Hoku's teeth clenched, fury and sorrow rising violently within him, but he was not a warrior, not anymore. He was a leader of warriors. He had other squadmates to see through things. "Inside." He slammed the end of his rifle against a window, shattering it inwards. "Take position."

They scrambled through the window and took up positions beside others facing their enemy. The abandoned home became a makeshift bunker they could fire from with some faint modicum of protection. There were only three of them left, but they were steeled to take many more of the enemy than that.

The door exploded inwards beneath the glowing axe of a bull. "Monsters," bellowed the enemy soldier, charging them with that axe raised high in preparation for a deadly swing.

Hoku riddled the bull with shots, causing them to stagger backwards, charge stopped, but they were still standing. Bull armor had proven effective.

"No helmet," noted one of his peers, the same that had downed the general. With an eerily calm instant of moving his gun around, the bull crashed to the ground, a hole through his eye. Hoku made a quiet note to commend his capable warrior. Perhaps becoming a sniper was in their future. Good leaders spotted and encouraged good warriors, or so he reminded himself.

"Outside!" Hoku pointed right back at the window they had climbed through to start. With the door smashed and more likely on the way, the building was poor cover, their timid bunker busted. They were just getting through the window as the front of the house began to allow the light in, bullets ripping it to shreds and promising to do the same to any of their number still inside.

Elsewhere, armored divisions came into contact with one another. Angry great shells warred with swirling beams of energy. The two were reasonably evenly matched, with the shells of either disliking the touch of the other's weapons. The thick metal of the human tanks could take several energy blasts that did not come close to the sea-facing turrets, but the shields on the enemy tanks could take several tank blasts to penetrate, creating a slow stalemate of a battle that promised to be long and gruelling.

Until one American tank suddenly lurched upwards, thrown up and to the side with frightful intensity. A mine? Worse. Diamond Dogs were moving beneath the battle, getting explosives in place to take out tanks as they rolled over them, attacking their weakest points with great blasts across their underside and backs even as they struggled to keep their fronts facing their armored enemy.

There were infantrymen with the tanks, as was appropriate, but they were largely occupied fighting the infantry of the enemy and neither they nor other AFVs were equipped to attack the burrowing enemies. It was a moment of bitter satisfaction when one tank suddenly sank. The sappers had dug too close to the surface and it all gave in on them, crushing them beneath the tremendous bulk of the tank.

The death of a few diamond dogs did not mean the rest were safe. There were answers, there always were. Artillery began to rain down on the field of battle, weakening shields and digging out dangerous craters in the ground. Some specifically missed enemy tanks, blowing holes in the surface and threatening any foolish enough to dig beneath it.

With a strange screech, a strange mechanism of crystal and metal rose up from over the horizon, each about eighteen feet in height, marching towards them with crystalline fingers extended.

Though the danger of doing so was considerable, an airstrike was ordered.

Celestia sat gently on her seat, her sister beside her. They were facing a round human table. The other members of the EFC were there, but not the Saddle Arabians, she quietly noted. A poor sign.

Novo was smiling, but it was a false smile, hiding whatever she was truly feeling, but all felt sure it wasn't happiness. She had guards around her, all surveying the room with suspicion.

Ruddertail was there, also smiling, though hers was far more genuine. "Why frown? So many unhappy faces." She slapped the table firmly. "We win. We win, they lose. What else want?"

Rason cleared his throat softly. "Thank you all for convening here. I feel certain most of you have seen my announcements, and they are the truth. America did not use nuclear weapons. To start with the most blunt of reasons, insufficient reason has come up for us to require them, or even consider them. We are on the winning side, why wou--"

Luna raised a hoof sharply. "Your people have a love for historical media. The last time you used such weapons it was against an enemy that was already losing. Such claims do little to settle that matter." She smirked faintly, looking satisfied with her cleverness. "A telling blow to end the battle."

Ruddertail hopped up onto her feet, tail lashing behind her. "Yes, is good. Less good warriors die. How bad?"

Cadance inclined her head towards Ruddertail. "If I may answer that?" Rason nodded and she smiled faintly. "Such weapons do not simply destroy warriors or factories. They poison a land and its people, even those not involved in the fighting. Innocent people are now dying and suffering. Even... when we first met, and I tasted the fury of their bombs... it destroyed much... but it was a focused thing, stealing my fight from me, a fight I never should have had. This... cannot do the same. It... is too terrible to consider."

Rason raised his hands together, flat towards the table. "I swear that we did not use nuclear weapons. We could not say where the explosive came from, but we didn't do it. We have other worrying information that puts this in a dangerous new light." He brought his hands down to rest on the table. "The government of the minotaurs is gone, replaced with a lone bull that managed to be not in the blast radius. None of their weapons were caught in the explosion, not a single one. With confidence, I believe the people of 'the council' have been taken over in a forceful coup."

Author's Notes:

Things are suddenly very real. The fatality counter is ratcheting upwards. This war is on.

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