Andrew brought his binoculars to his eyes, scanning the open field in front of him. From the trench he was currently in, he could only see a single row of armed hostiles composed of Diamond Dogs, Griffons, and ponies alike. He didn't understand why though, because this place was so peaceful, and armed conflict was never a real problem until the slavers came to Equestria.

"Andrew, those are going to be ponies we're shooting at!" Jhon stated, "why?"

"I don't know Jhon, but I have an idea," Andrew trailed off, trying to think of some sort of reason, "I'm guessing they're doing it for the money, I'm not too sure of it though."

"Greed is a very strong thing in all species alike; humans, animals, even these ponies are an example. When there's competition for something, there will always be the ones who want more than they already get." Andrew coughed, taking the binoculars off around his neck and handed it to Jhon.

"It doesn't look like there's too many-" Jhon was cut off by the radio.

"Major, I'm seeing multiple firing lines from up here, are you sure we can take them?" Helena asked, discouragingly.

"We're just gonna have to hold until we can get the residents out of here. Night Shade said it's gonna take a little while."

"Nick, is that MG set up?" Andrew pressed the earpiece closer to his ear, pacing himself along the trench.

"Yes sir, this baby is ready to go." Andrew could hear Nick pull back the charging handle through the radio, which made a satisfying click.

Andrew took off the bandana from around his face, and breathed in the dry desert air. The sandstorm has uplifted and the skies are clear, he could see the lining of his enemies in plain view. It was very quiet, no one made a single sound as either side saw each other, some even saw the whites of their eyes. Helena adjusted the scope of her rifle, the wind would create a nuisance for her.

Andrew heard someone shout a command through a loudspeaker, though to his ears it was inaudible, and because it was so far away to where he couldn't hear it. Once he realized what that command meant, the huge mass of slavers started to advance towards him. Andrew looked to the left of him, and saw Jhon looking straight back at him.

"What are you waiting for? Give the order!" Nick shouted, causing Andrew to instinctively command his squad to fire.

"Fire! Fire!" He yelled to the top of his lungs.

Nick started to pump bullets down range, managing to start a first shot chain reaction when got the first guy, the others started to trip over him and made easier targets for themselves. Nick let out a sadistic laugh as he let the bullets fly. With the giant box magazine that was in his machine gun, he didn't have to reload as often as compared to the others, sine their weapons were magazine fed.

The rifle scope of Helena's sniper rifle had a glare, noticeable enough for the enemy to see. The only thing is that before they could retaliate, thery were already dead. Helena was a dead shot, managing to pull headshot after headshot at every target she aimed for.

"Night Shade? Where's the civilian evac?" Andrew yelled over the radio, all he heard was static from his end. Though he knew he wouldn't just drop off the face of the earth like that. He ducked into cover and waited for a response, arrow bolts flying past his head.

"Jhon, cover my ass! I'm going to check on Night Shade!" He ordered, falling back owards the south end of the town. Jhon, following orders, took the spot Andrew was previously in.

Andrew slung the rifle onto his back and started to jog at a fast pace towards the south end of town. He saw Night Shade over inside of a building, holding a pad to his shoulder. Andrew walked inside and saw that there was a tril of blood, as well as a broken arrow, snapped in half on the ground.

"Sorry I couldn't talk, I got hit pretty badly."

"I don't know anything about pony anatomy, but it looks bad."

"Damn thing nearly missed my heart, don't worry, I have a regenerative property, like Luna and Celestia, I'll be fine in a few moments." Andrew nodded his head, grabbing his rifle off of the floor and headed out the door. His locator lit up an aqua colored line that lead him back to the north gate.

"Hey Andrew!" Night Shade called out. Andrew returned to the room.

"Don't die on me." He coughed.

"Don't worry, death told me it's not my time to go." Andrew chuckled, readjusting his helmet and continued outward back to the north entrance.

"Jhon, sitrep," Andrew ran on over back to the north gate, luckily most of the fire had been drawn there, Night Shade didn't look too good.

"There's too many Drew, we can't hold them for too much longer, we're losing too many guys!" Jhon exclaimed, switching off the radio right after.

Andrew checked the magazine currently in his rifle. He had about twenty rounds left, good enough for him. He then vaulted himself over a wooden fence, landing on his knees inside of the trench he was previously in.

Knowing that he had to conserve ammo, he switched fire modes to single shot. He then looked out into the open, seeing that there was a massive army converging on his position.

"Night Shade?! What's the situation on that civilian evac?"

"It's almost here! I can hear it!" The flapping of wings and the clatter of a rather large carriage could be heard, Andrew got down to business. He opened the vault and eberypony inside immediately climbed out, basking themselves in sunlight.

"Alright everypony, I want you to safely make your way to that carriage over there, keep your head down and do not panic. I assure you that everything will be okay." They all mumbled multiple words of help or Celestia trying to help them, as if there was a religion revolving around Celestia.

"Sir, I can't find my baby! I've looked everywhere for her!" A pony came up to Andrew and tugged at his uniform. Andrew gave her a warm smile, and kneeled down to ger level.

"Ma'am I assure you everything will be okay, I'll find your baby. Can you tell me where you last saw her?"

"I was about to feed her, and then she wandered off somewhere. I remember that we were by the storage facility when I lost her. Please sir, find my little angel." She cried.

Andrew firmly nodded, going back into the bunker. He slowly made his way down the steps, watching where he put his footing, since it was dark. The dim lighting did not help, because he was just outside where everything was lit up by the summer sun, he switched on his flashlight and flashed it around the room, looking for labeled signs.

"Storage, eh? Alright, let's take a look," Andrew switched on his radio, "Night Shade, how long until our evac arrives?"

"We've got seven minutes, whatever you're doing you're doing one hell of a job, keep it up." Night Shade said, explosions erupted in the background as their onversation continued.

"I'm currently looking for a lost foal, I'm inside of the stronghold looking in the storage facility. I don't know how long my team can hold, so if possible send reinforcements to the north gate."

"Affirmative, I'll send Alpha Squad, one of the best guys we've got."

"Copy that, I'll meet you topside." Andrew switched frequencies, now connecting to Nick's radio.

"Nick, how's it going?" He asked, hearing drips of water coming from leaking pipes. He heard the distant sound of laughing, causing him to whip the flashlight around and point it towards the source. Nothing.

"Everything's fine up here sir, they're falling back to regroup, we're running low on ammo, I don't know how much longer we can hold. Hold on...what the hell is that? Oh my god, they got artiller-" Nick was cut off by the sound of a loud explosion. Andrew let out an audible grunt as he heard static come from the other end of the call.

"I'll be fine, just hurry up with that transport! We'll hold them off as long as we can!" Nick finally continued. Andrew let out a sigh of relief.

Andrew immediately switched off his radio and sat down against a wooden crate. He buried his face into his arms, and moaned, "this isn't what I signed up for."

Author's Notes:

Deez niggas can't hold me back, as in fuck the haters out there! I don't give a single fuck! Also, sorry about the short(er) chapter this time around, I've been trying to update for a while, but I couldn't find the time to write.