Chapter 29: Conquest of Neighpon (Alliances IV)
Part 1: Task Force Far East
TIME: 07:22 NRWT
DATE: War Day 258 (Local)
LOCATION: HMS Bellerophon, off the coast of Neigha, Okinumnah, Reinyuku Islands
Commodore Saletine: "And I sez we should turn around an' get the army!" He snorted, pacing across the deck.
Nurse Redheart: "Hold STILL, K!" She grunted as she fixed the bandage on my leg.
K: "We're not leaving, Commodore. We can't. These people need us. Moreover, if we leave and give no resistance, Tirek will have a foothold close to Equestria. Close enough that he would have a nation for slave labor, hostage-based conscription, or.. buck, I don't know, maybe Raptorians eat ponies?"
*Several gasps*
I was on HMS Bellerophon. Commodore Saletine, performing the traditional role of a Rear Admiral (commanding the rear or reserve element of a fleet), had set the fleet in a defensive formation, to prepare for whatever I had in mind. After our failed attempt to probe Neigha, all we knew for sure was that the place was being conquered by Tirek's troops.
Norfy had accomplished his primary objective, though, and he was heading back. They had not found the Governor, but they did confirm that Tirek's forces controlled the harbor and the Prefectural Palace.
The Reinyuku Islands seemed to be completely controlled by Tirek - at the very least, they had control of Neigha and seemed to have enough troops running around to have the island completely within their control by noon. We knew little else. Except that we were outnumbered and isolated. Norfy arrived, getting off the longboat from HMS Alarm. Twilight had parchment in her hand, and a quill floating nearby. Besides smelling like expended ammunition and burnt wood, they all looked fine.
Twilight Sparkle: "Dear Princess Celesti-AH!"
She started writing, I took the letter from her and wrote out a military report.
Twilight Sparkle: "Really, K?" She snorted a little.
K: "Really." I said. "We can possibly hope for a resupply in a month. If we're lucky. The entire Navy is right here, Twilight. We have no ships that could escort a relief column. So, our lowest risk choice is to ask for as many materiel resources as we can get. Rations, ammo, guns, medicine. Those are the basics. Or, as we like to call them, Beans, Bullets and Bandages." I shrugged. "Still, a month by sail, given average winds. Good winds, and it's about 20 days. We took as long as we did because we had to conserve coal after the ship battle." And transferring coal is a messy, time-consuming process. We lost a total of two days because of that.
Twilight Sparkle: "And if Unicorn and Alarm had had sails?"
K: "Good point, actually." I nodded. "Still, Unicorn would have lost her sails in the battle. Possibly Alarm, too. But if they'd been undamaged, we might've gotten to port 36 to 72 hours earlier." I shrugged. "The delay might've saved us, though. Had we been in Port when they attacked..?"
Twilight Sparkle: "Okay, point taken."
Commodore Saletine: "Still, general!" He huffed. "I don't mean t'sound yell'er, but, by gum, we're in over our heads!" He crossed his arms and sat upright, chewing the stem of his corncob pipe.
Fluttershy: "And how is that different from any other time!?" She stomped her hoof on the ground.
Everyone on deck went quiet.
K: "Fluttershy.."
Commodore Saletine: "Miss Flutters-"
Fluttershy: "No! We can't leave here! We can't just leave these people to suffer! Or else.. or else.." She cowered. "..they might end up like me.." And back in the shell she goes.
I just shrugged and looked at Commodore Saletine, while handing the scroll to Spike. Applejack gave him an apple-cinnamon muffin, and he made an extra-efforted flame-puff to send it off.
Commodore Saletine: "D'arr... Miss Fluttershy.. I.. I apologize." He bowed to her.
Fluttershy: "It's alright. You just want to be cautious." She rubbed her upper right leg with her left fetlock. "You don't want to see ponies you care about get hurt.."
K: "Still. I'm in charge. And while your due caution is noted, Commodore, we absolutely cannot let this go unopposed. If we let Tirek have Nieghpon, then South Cowrea will be next. Then Formoserow. If we don't fight here, next stop is Baleston." I shrugged.
Commodore Saletine: "Fine, then! We'll make garters from thur gizzards'n'keel haul the rest!" He harupfed. Saletine was a very dedicated Griffon, hence why I promoted him after the Islands Incident.
Rainbow Dash: "Uhm.. K. We have a report."
Norfy: "The governor was nowhere to be found, but-" He looked over to the little filly. She was still clinging to Cosmic, as Dr. Allcome was checking her over. "..uh, K? May I have a word with you?"
I stepped aside with Norfy. I gave a look to the others.
Norfy: *Harsh whisper* "That's the Princess of Neighpon!!" He pointed frantically at the Filly.
K: "And how do you know that?" I said, keeping my voice low.
Norfy: *Harsh whisper* "Her image was on an alert poster. Some.. I don't know, it looked like a Be On The Lookout sort of thing. I know she's the princess because they used the same royal emblem that the Shogun of Neighpon did at the NEIGHTO conference!" He sighed.
I walked right over to her and pulled her cloak down some - she recoiled a little, but finally allowed me to.
K: "Your Highness." I bowed my head.
Princess of Neighpon: "How?" She asked.
K: "Major Loconsole found a poster in the Governor's Palace with your image on it." I nodded to Norfy. "Do you speak Equestrian?"
Princess of Neighpon: "Hai. Yes. A RitteR." Her accent was impeccable Japanese.. er, Neighponese. No L's.
K: "I'm General K. I'm Princess Celestia's commander of her military."
Princess of Neighpon: "Auntie CeRestia sent you!?" She seemed excited.
K: "Y-y-yes.. yes, she did." I nodded. Twilight sorta rolled her eyes a little.
Princess of Neighpon: "Oh! I so happy! My.. my.. Fozah.. he.." She shook her head, grabbed a parchment, and Twilight's quill -
Twilight Sparkle: "Hey-!"
Princess of Neighpon: "I draw!" She drew images with her horn's telekinesis. She was telling the story of what happened here, with labels. She drew Tirek himself.
Norfy: "Is that.." He stumbled. "..that's Tirek."
K: "Another flash?" I asked. That's what I called his 'bleeding memories' - flashes.
Norfy: "Y-yes.. so strong this time.." He shook his head.
Commodore Saletine: "Ye alright, lad?" He placed a claw on Norfy's shoulder.
Gaze: "Norf.. relax, buddy.. I'm here. We're all here."
Dash: "Norfy.." She went over and put a hoof on his other shoulder. "..tell us what you see, huh? Just chill, okay? We're all here."
Norfy: "I.. see.. bugs.. insects.." He shook his head, a hoof laying over both Saletine's claw and Dash's hoof, forelegs crossed. "Suffering.. a pony's legs.. a mouth.. it's.. it's screaming.." He took a deep breath. "I feel.." He shook his head. "It's gone. But I felt something. Something powerful, I'm sure of it."
K: "Tirek himself?" I asked, concerned.
Norfy: "I think so."
Princess of Neighpon: "AR done!" She held up the parchment.
The parchment told a story that I pretty much expected to see - Tirek invading. Shadow Demons. Duregars and Raptorians. Her father fighting. The Shogun was nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures. But it was pretty clear from the way she drew things that most of Neighpon was under Tirek's control. Just by the little cities she drew with X'es over them.
K: "Where is your father? And where is the Shogun?" I asked, nodding to the parchment.
Princess of Neighpon: "My Brozer? I dun'no.. I ran when the paRace was attacked. My fozah, the em'prah, he Reads what resistance is Reft. An isRand near here is his headquarters. I come aRone to Neigha, to seek brave souRs to join us!" She nodded.
K: "What's your name?"
Yuuki Jingu no Ken: "Yuuki Jingu no Ken." She bowed to us and removed her cloak, revealing what looked like an ad-hoc mixture of martial arts Gi, Samurai armor and a Ninja's Gi.
K: "Jingu!" THAT name, I knew. Empress Jingu was a legend in Japan. I'd read about her in a distant connection to Japanese World War II history relating to the conquest of Korea. "That's.. a bigger name than you realize, Princess." Yuuki.. meant, like, brave or courage or something. It was kind of a standard Anime name. And "No Ken" meant 'Of (the) Sword.' Or roughly. So, basically, her name translated to 'Brave Shrine of the Sword.' Given she was female, that probably referred to a Shrine Maiden.
Commodore Saletine: "So? What'd'we do, General?"
K: "First thing's first - we find the Emperor and tell him his daughter is just fine. Tirek was probably after her to get him to come out of hiding, then kill him, and hold her hostage to the people. You know, crush any attempts for an uprising by holding their precious flower and killing the old Emperor. Typical bad guy stuff." I turned to Yuuki. "Which island?" There were dozens of small islands in the Reinyuku chain, some with tiny fishing villages on them.
Yuuki: "It is that way." She pointed south-south-east. "About one day's saiR. The isRand has a Rarge shrine on its taRest peak. It is caRed the IsRand of SuRfur."
K: "...Iwo Jima." I shook my head. "Io-to." A sigh. "Commodore Saletine, bring the fleet about. Set a course for Iwo Jima. How's our coal bunkerage doing?"
Commodore Saletine: "Ten percent. We have enough for a couple days, or we can fully supply Unicorn and Alarm for about ten days at maximum speed. We'll need coal soon, General." He shrugged.
K: "Sail, then, until we can secure coal. Keep Unicorn and Alarm at no more than a quarter of a bunkerage of coal to maximize fuel efficiency."
Commodore Saletine: "Aye-Aye, General!" and off he went.
TIME: 10:37 NRWT
DATE: War Day 259 (Local)
LOCATION: Iwo Jima Island, Reinyuku Island Chain
We took the day. Alert and with double watches, we sailed for Iwo Jima. Once we saw the island come into view, I had HMS Unicorn and HMS Alarm break off and do a quick coal-powered circuit around the island, just to be sure there was no enemy ships waiting for us. Commodore Saletine led them, and came back with an all-clear.
Sailing into the small port at Iwo Jima on HMS Alarm, with the rest of the fleet firing saluting shots and running the Royal Rigging (where the mainsail has the seal of Princess Celestia on it), we were cheered as we approached the dock. Not just the villagers of the island, but the remnants of the Neighponese Armed Forces (such as they were) even turned out, waving banners. Shrine Maidens even arrived to bless the docks themselves.
We disembarked on the main dock in Formal Uniform. It was the reception I wanted to give at Neigha, but was denied thanks to Tirek. Alarm and Unicorn's Marines marched in formation, with Forest Spirit and Tankette Blinda in the lead, along with HMS Alarm's officers and Petty Officers. I was at the head of the formation with my General's Staff - and Princess Yuuki, in a hastily designed dress by Rarity.
Yes, Rarity recovered. Thanks to Yuuki.
We were led by the Shrine Maidens and a hastily organized Honor Guard of the Neighponese Armed Forces into the small village and to a house at the far end, young fillies and colts spreading cherry blossoms and other flower petals at our feet (hooves) as we went. It was.. impressive. At the house, the Emperors Retainers greeted us, and out of the humble home walked the Emperor of Neighpon himself. Dressed rather casually in a subdued grey and brown kimono, what I assumed were pony-grade tabi, and simple waraji, he stepped from the home with his swords already on him.
He walked up to all of us, his grizzled but kind face electric at seeing his daughter. And he bowed to greet us.
K: "Emperor no Ken." I bowed to him, at the waist, fully. "I am General-Field Marshal K---- ----, Commander of the Armed Forces of Equestria and the N.E.I.G.H.T.O. Allaince. I am honored to be welcomed by your people, in your lands."
Emperor no Ken: "Werl then, you ah wercomed by me as well, Generarl." He grinned. The sparking eyes of a foxy old man, the kind with tricks up his sleeve. "You have saved my daugh'tah. For zis, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
K: "I'm a father, too, Your Imperial Highness. I can sympathize with your feelings." There was still cheering going on in the background. Lots of it.
Emperor no Ken: "Senshi. Clear the crowds, pr'ease. We must speak wif de Generarl an' his staff, an' whirle I appreciate ve enfusiasm of my peoprle.." He shrugged. "Ret zem party! But not here."
A very swarthy, chiseled-jawed Stallion stepped up, bowed to the emperor, and wordlessly walked past us.
K: "Uhm, Forest Spirit, have the Marines return to the Alarm. You and Blinda stay with me." I dismissed him to handle that. "Your Imperial Highness, allow me to introduce my officers." I stepped aside. "These lovely ladies are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie-"
Pinkie: *Giggle* "HIYA!"
K: "-Rarity, Fluttershy, and my fiancee, Applejack. The Elements of Harmony. And these three are Majors Norfy Loconsole, Lidless Gaze, and Cosmic Plane. Cosmic is the one most responsible for the safety of your daughter."
Yuuki: "Oniichan protected me!" She half-hugged his leg.
K: "This is Commodore Saletine, commander of the fleet. Next to him is Major Forest Spirit, Senior Officer of the Royal Marines, and Lieutenant Tankette Blinda, Commander of HMS Unicorn's Marine Detachment."
Commodore Saletine: "'Tis an honor, Yer Imperial Magesty!" He bowed. "On b'half o' Equestria's Fleet, allows this ol' sailor tae pledge our fortune an' our lives ta' th' liberation of yer homelands, Syre!"
Emperor no Ken: "Hai. A'v course." He chuckled a little and bowed his head to Commodore Saletine. "Prease, General, come in. Whire I hate to impose on our gracious hosts, I wish to have you all in for tea!" He nodded. "We can discuss what we must do to correct thiz situa'shun!"
We entered the home. It was small, of course, but plesant. The home's owners - the village elder and his wife - were being assisted by four Palace Maidens in preparing tea for us all. I actually took the step of removing my boots, and bidding the rest of my officers to do so as well. I brought my own slippers - of course, Rarity made them for me. They were insanely cozy.
We all sat on the floor, and exchanged plesantries. The Retainer known as Senshi came back and stayed at the Emperor's side. When the Emperor sat down, he put his own sword away, but kept the shorter companion with him. Senshi kept both of his Daisho set on him at all times. He was a warrior. No, literally, Senshi means Warrior.
K: "First thing's first, Your Imperial Majesty. I would like to request that my fleet be allowed to land on Iwo Jima, and offload all of the military equipment we brought with us. We originally had sample equipment meant to supply both you and The Kingdom of Cowrea (the official name of South Cowrea - North Cowrea was The Ponies Democratic Republic of Cowrea), however, the need here is very urgent and I would like to offload everything we have with us. We can construct and guard our own supply dumps - we have the materials."
Emperor no Ken: "Straight to ze point, I see. I rike zat." He nodded. "Do as you think iz best. I know my royarl retainer would object to Foreign Devils doing so much when our honor has been so horribry wronged, that zey would be responsibur for ze riberation of our homerands, but we have absorutery no choice." He hung his head a little, in shame. "Ze enemy has teknorogy zat we cannot match. Tactics, ekwipment.."
Senshi: "Zey ahh dizonoraburr scum!" He immediately blushed and bowed deeply. "Fo'give'ah me, My Emprah. I speak too bordry.." He went to prostrate himself for forgiveness, but the Emperor waved him off.
Emperor no Ken: "Senshi, the time of our ancestors is past. We must embrace ze future, or we wirr be nofing but a footnote in history!" He shook his head a little. "Our tradishuns may not su'vive in whorle, but somefing wirr rive on in ze hearts of all Neighponese. Our warrior spirit. Our honor. Our respekt of our ancestors.." He gave a dismissive hand wave. "But not our Bushi. Zerr time, I fear, is over."
K: "Not completely. I don't know if you even have a concept of my world, but where I'm from, there is a land much like this one, with similar traditions. At one time, they attempted to fuse the Bushido ideal with a modern army, but relied far too much on certain cultural traditions to get it done. I think I can.. fuse these ideals together. Retain the concept of Bushi, while modernizing Neighpon - keep a part of the past, while helping you into the future." I studied Senshi a minute. "You're a proud and honorable pony, I can see this. A warrior, willing at any time to die for your Emperor. That dedication, that bravery.. I would never wish to see snuffed out or replaced." I pulled my Morgan out and placed it on the table, barrel facing me. I made a show of slapping it on the table - both to draw attention to it and to indicate its significance. "You hold the weapons of the old ways - while those weapons are still used in this strange new form of combat, our leading sword is different. I give you mine. And I will teach you to use it. For you, for your people, and for the Emperor. Please accept my humble gift, fellow warrior, that we may march into the future together, and destroy our common foe as one." I bowed my head. My voice, the entire time, was a low, respectful, and humble tone.
Senshi and I were technically of the same social class. Or perhaps I was a bit ahead of him. I was commander of Equestria's military, and while I was not Celestia's personal retainer, in a way, I was Luna's Royal Consort. Humbling myself in front of a mere Bushi like this, was an immense sign of respect.
Senshi reached for the Morgan, and in its place, he set his Uchigatana next to it.
Senshi: "Prese fo'give my insorence, Generarl. You give me de future, it is on'ry right, I give you part of my past." He bowed deeply, and the exchange was made.
A promisisng start - and that's what we needed. Cultural respect and understanding. We needed to work together in this war - and Tirek wasn't going to make this easy by a long shot.
{End of Part 1}
Part 2: Raising the Army of the Rising Sun
TIME: 12:00 NRWT
DATE: War Day 262 (Local)/23 Lunarius, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Joint Military Base Hatsukaze, Reinyaku Islands, Empire of Neighpon
General Senshi and I were - oh, yes, the Emperor appointed him General of Neighpon's Armed Forces - reviewing the troops. What troops there were. Survivors of Nieghpon's House Cavalry, some members of the Army and two boats of Navy personnel - 127 ponies total - was all the professional military force that Neighpon had. Even then, the naval personnel were more sailors than combatants, the Army were primarily ceremonial, and the House Cavalry acted more like a drunk and vagrant removal service, than soldiers.
And then there were the Bushi. Seven had survived to this point. Only the oldest of them truly knew what it was like to take another's life, and that had been in a duel. The Old Master, they called him. Rojin Roshi. He looked like he was Granny Smith's age, at least, and his position as one of the Emperor's Retainers was mainly ceremonial. The other six were between Mayor Mare's age and the youngest was about Pinkie's age, and Rojin's nephew. They were competent.. in one-on-one combat, nothing more. They understood honor and duels, not open warfare.
General Senshi was wearing the pants to the new uniform of the Imperial Neighponese Army, and his blue/brown kimono on top. My Morgan.. now his.. was in a brown leather holster on his hip, and nearby was his shorter Uchigatana. The larger one was on my hip. Given that it was made for a pony, it was actually more like a short sword. I'd played around with it a few nights ago, and nearly cut my hand off. Gaijin Samurai I was NOT.
Senshi: "Ze training progresses." He nodded. Of the seven Bushi, Senshi was the quickest to take to the training.
Mac: "Brother." He nodded to me as he came pacing up. I gave him a half-hug.
K: "How's things going, Mac?"
Mac: "Mm.. it's going. The villagers're doin' okay. Rifle training's in'trestin', though - I don't have ta tell 'em to get aggressive with the bayonet." He chuckled, nodding to Senshi.
Senshi: "We ah very proud of our warrior spirit. But, after de rast few weeks, I am ashamed to admit, zat spirit is awlr we have." He shrugged.
K: "That spirit is important. Your people, at least, have the concept of courage in the face of death. Ask Mac, it was hell trying to get these ponies mentally prepared to take a life. Or lose a friend." Berry Punch..
Mac: "E'yup.." He seemed to know what I was thinking, and put a hoof on my shoulder.
K: "Alright, have everyone break for lunch." I nodded to the training fields. We were conducting multiple classes at once.
Mac: "E'yup!" That perked him up, and off he went.
Senshi: "So'r.. he accepts you as his brovah.." He got all thoughtful and introspective on me.
K: "He does now. When I first laid with his sister, he broke my arm." I remembered it, still. That arm gave me pains on rainy, damp nights until the Gloom Mountain incident.
Senshi: *Chuckle* "He is.. protective." He trailed off.
K: "Senshi, I've been meaning to ask.. no one has heard or seen the Shogun since the invasion started. And I know he returned to Neighpon after the conference." I shrugged.
Senshi: "Mmh.. his highness has.. his own issues."
Unlike my Japan, things worked a little differently here. The Shogun was both head of the military and functional head of the government. While the Emperor outranked him, and set policy, it was the Shogun that had most of the real power. Most. Not all. What changed was that the title of Shogun went to the Emperor's Heir Apparent and there was only one. They served until the Emperor's death, at which point, they may take the title of Emperor-Shogun until another heir comes of age - theirs or the previous emperor's younger offspring - unless the Emperor designates a successor.
K: "Please, elaborate." I nodded.
Senshi: "I do not wish to speak irl of my sociarl bettahs." He bowed a little.
K: "It might be important." I shrugged.
Senshi: "Ze Emp'rah.. he.. designated his daughtah, ze Princess Yuuki, as his successor to ze throne. Ehm.. he was dispreased." He shrugged, dismissively.
K: "Is there any chance - and understand I ask with no disrespect intended - that the Shogun might have.. had reservations about our alliance and perhaps preferred to side with someone that, on the surface, would have promised to respect Neighpon's traditions in return for its cooperation?"
Rojin Roshi: "He's askin' if zat ritter baka wourld dare oppose da Emp'rah!" He paced up, slowly. Despite his age and apparent phyiscal weaknesses, he was far more than met the eye. I was smart enough to realize this. "He wourld! I'd swear 'dat on my Master's grave." He snorted.
Senshi: "Rojin Roshi.." He bowed, but looked incredulous. As I expected, this was a shocked reaction to his bold and insulting tongue.
K: "Go on, Venerable One." I bid him, respectfully bowing to him.
Rojin Roshi: "Zat ritter baka been a ritter baka since I know'd him as a ritter corlt! He never rear'ry grew up.. too.. mmm.. buried in da stories of da past. He be'rieves dat Equestria is da devirl-"
Senshi: "Rojin Roshi!" He snapped.
Rojin Roshi: "Don't sta't wif me, Boy! Dey have a right to know!" He snorted. Hard. Senshi backed down quickly. "You want to know how we were defeated so easi'ry!? I bet it WAS him!" He pawed his hoof into the ground. "He has aw'rways been jearlous of how de Emperor dotes on Princess Yuuki." He shook his head. "Onrly because of my age, would I be permitted such.. indiscretions." He gazed at Senshi.
K: "Is this true, Senshi? Would the Shogun really defy his father and seek to replace him?" I tilted my head at him.
Senshi: *Long pause*Deep sigh* "I suspected it myserlf. But I have no proof." He lowered his head.
K: "Alright. Well. I'm glad we had this little talk. Let's get some lunch, eh?"
TIME: 13:44 NRWT
LOCATION: Emperor's Temporary Quarters
The Girls and The Three Musketeers (Norfy, Gaze and Comsic) were all here. The Elder's house was being turned into a headquarters building - he was very gracious about it, but we felt bad, so I had Ambrosia and the Engineer Squad of the 1st Royal Rangers work on a new building nearby for this purpose. Lumber was at a premium - Iwo Jima had very few trees - so I settled for whatever was available. It was being made of locally quarried stone. That, they had in abundance.
I walked into the front room, past a tent outside that was being used as a communications center, and bowed to the Emperor where he sat, in front of a low table, covered with maps.
K: "Your Imperial Highness." I stayed in the doorway. "If I may ask.. we need coal to fuel our ships, and lumber to build with. Are there any islands nearby that might have these resources? Food would be a good idea as well - we have enough for about twenty days, but after that, we would be putting a strain on Iwo Jima's already thin resources."
Emperor no Ken: "Hm.." He indicated an island not far from here. "There. There was a coarl mine there, but it was abandoned. The forests are prentifurl with food. Mm.. and there is a rice paddy there. A rlarge one. One of my ancestors once attempted to settrle the isrland.."
K: "What happened?" I asked, quizzically.
Emperor no Ken: "Demons." He shrugged. "Zat's all I know."
K: "Demons." I nodded. "Norfy! Gaze! Cosmic! Get three others and come with me. We're going foraging." I nodded to them.
Norfy: "Oh! Of course, K. Come on, guys." And off they went.
TIME: 19:37 NRWT
LOCATION: Unnamed Island, Reinyuku Island Chain
We took the Alarm and the Unicorn - they had plenty of room for coal, and they needed it the most. There was enough coal left in the fleet's bunkerage for a few trips, if needed. Twilight was running the numbers, but it really didn't look good. If a resupply ship got here in 20 days, it would get here just as we were running out of nearly everything - food, fuel, timbers, things like that. Ammunition and weapons weren't a problem, we actually had more than we had ponies to give them to.
The Three Musketeers (they STILL didn't get that reference) were joined by Ambrosia, Cloud Kicker, and Nurse Redheart. In addition, we had a Work Party ready from Unicorn, and Unicorn and Alarm's Marine Detachments. Setting out on longboats, we made land fall on a small lagoon. Norfy and the Boys scouted it out for depth, to see if we could get the ships in here, while I took a Squad of Unicorn's Marines into the interior of the island with Ambrosia, Cloud Kicker and Redheart.
Ambrosia: "You know, I don't see why this place wasn't settled.." She started, picking a berry off a tree and showing it to Redheart, who examined it to see if it was safe to eat. "..it's gorgeous here. I'd love to build a little house.. oh, and a greenhouse, a garden.." She trailed off.
Redheart: "Seems these berries are just fine.." She had a little chemistry set out, and had checked the berry for known toxins. "..this really is an amazing little place. Looks larger than Iwo Jima, too."
K: "It's the Demons. Or whatever they were. Stay sharp." I had a Bradley over my shoudler and my M-19 on my hip.
Blinda: "I've never seen a forest like this before. The trees are so different.. and this bamboo stuff is amazing.." She looked around, and casually had her Marines fan out for security. "..maybe we should set up another base here, General? You know, to source supplies? All this lumber, and the food.." She spotted a feral hog run by. "..and there's meat here, too. The Griffons would like that."
K: "I'm sure. Kicker?"
Cloud Kicker: "Yes, K?"
K: "Get up a little and give me some aerial recon, eh? Be careful." I made damned sure my Bradley had a round chambered. "Redheart, form a fireteam with half of First Squad and head off to the left, see what you can find that's edible and get samples."
Cloud Kicker: "Right." And off she went.
Redheart: "Of course!" She took three ponies with her. Two stayed with Blinda and myself, along with Ambrosia.
Blinda: "What do you think we'll find here? I mean, this place is so amazing.. untouched.." She stared in wonder, watching the environment, not her feet. All of a sudden, the ground caved beneath her. *AHHH*
L.Sgt. Kiwi Spritz: "LIEUTENANT!" She dove in right after her, trying to grab her hooves.
Pvt. Melon Waters: "SARGE!" And right after her, went him.
Me? I fell off to the side, as the ground collapsed. By the time I was able to pick myself up off the ground, half of Blinda's squad was gone and there was a huge hole in the ground.
K: "REDHEART!" Ambrosia helped me to my feet. I hear cries of surprise in the distance, and the ground cave in. "'Brose, be careful. This ground is probably all unstable."
Ambrosia: "Uh, sir.. I think we're alone." She was right. "KICKER! GET DOWN HERE!" She called up.
Cloud Kicker: "Sure!" And down she came. "Where is everyone?"
K: "They fell into these holes - Kicker, go get Norfy and the Work Party. I want ground probes, ladders, rope, the works."
Cloud Kicker: "Of course!" She wasn't as fast as Dash, but she was still plenty fast - and she zoomed out of the forest as-
*KER-SNAP!*
Cloud Kicker: *AAH!* "IT'S A NET!" I turned and went to make a step towards her. "No, wait! It's a trap! Clear outta here! Get help!"
K: "I'm not leaving you behind! I'm not leaving anyone behind!"
Ambrosia: "We don't have a choice, K. Come on - or they're finished!" Ambrosia had to drag me away.
K: "I'll be back! With help! Just hang on, everyone!"
Slowly and carefully exfiltrating from the area, we made a break for it. I was mad - not only had I lost a squad and change, there was nothing I could do about it. This wasn't an accident or something natural - this was a trap. Not only did we manage to walk right into it, we managed to get ourselves almost totally wiped.
I was going to fix that, come hell or high water.
{End of Part 2}
Part 3: Mole People
TIME: 20:33 NWRT
LOCATION: Forest area, Unnamed Island, Reinyuku Island Chain
Ambrosia and I were running through the forest.. trying to get out of the area and back to the beach. But, it was dark - and around here, with no city glow what so ever, dark means DARK. Or, to pay homage to my nephew's favorite show.. this wasn't just normal darkness, this was ADVANCED DARKNESS.
K: "Brose, hold up." I stopped, and took a knee.
Ambrosia: "What is it, K?" She stopped next to me.
K: "We have a problem. First, it's dark as Luna's.. uhm, yeah. I can't see my hand in front of my face. Second, we have no way to signal anyone." I shrugged.
Ambrosia: "Hm.. we could build a fire?" She rubbed her chin with her fetlock.
K: "Yeah.. but we have to be very, very careful. We have no idea if the ground is going to collapse on us or not." I looked around. "I could try.. uhm.." *Ahem* "..Luna and I have, uhm, relations in my dreams, often, when we're apart." I shrugged. "I could try to contact her, and see if she can relay a message to anyone either on the fleet, or on shore, that might be catching a kip."
Ambrosia: "I.. whatever you do with Her Highness in your dreams, is your business, K." *Chuckle* "But that's a good idea, too."
She patted me on the shoulder. Ambrosia was good like that - she wasn't like the girls, she was a tomboy. Rather, she was a guy on the inside, and she had mare's parts on the outside. It's what got her together with her stallion, as I understood it - she chased him down, not the other way around. So, she was treated by stallions like one of their own. She treated me like one of the guys, so I spoke to her more like a guy-buddy.
That aside, the whole Succubus Dream Sex thing wasn't something Luna wanted me telling anyone. Though, this was an emergency.
K: "Alright, I'll cover you while you get some wood. Don't chop any trees, just get some ground cover. I'll sweep out a fire circle. After that, you cover me while I try to sleep." I nodded.
Ambrosia: "No problem." She set about gathering burnables. "K.. you think we'll make it back from this?" She asked, as she gathered.
K: "I can't guarantee anyone's life, Brose." I said, as I cleared a nice wide circle and made a rough circle of stones. "I try. Celestia and God knows I try very, very hard to make sure we do.." I blinked. "Any reason you're asking this now?"
Ambrosia: "Jim and I had a.. a scare." She cleared her throat. "It made me think.. I want to have foals, you know? And not just because of Derpy, no. My sister can't have kids, and my mom wants grandkids some day. So.." She shrugged a little as she brought the wood over. "..I don't know if I want to take maternity leave to do it, or, just wait until the war's over."
K: "Gaze and Lyra are waiting." I said, softly, as I lit the fire. "I've adopted. I.. I don't think I can have kids of my own here. Not.. you know.. naturally."
Ambrosia: "Did you have kids in your world?"
K: "No. My wife and I hadn't.." I shrugged. "You know my life back there wasn't all that great. I didn't want to have kids if they were going to grow up in poverty.." I trailed off.
Ambrosia: "Terrible thing, poverty. We.. we don't really have it, you know. Everyone here has a job. It's enough to make it on, even if you aren't rich." *Chuckle* "But, I have to say, Jim and I are going to be alright when this war is over. We've hardly spent a dime, and we plan on building our own house in Ponyville, so all we'll pay for is materials.."
I got comfortable.
K: "Keep talking, Brose. Tell me the life you want." I nodded and let my mind go.
Ambrosia: "We've got a plot of land picked out, not that far from Harv's place. Harv and I got to talking, and we want to have like, some kind of fraternal organization for veterans after the war. We know the military is going to lay off a bunch of people when the war is over. It's only natural, really. So, we want to kinda keep in touch with people we met, and help the ones that were badly wounded. I know you said something about pensions, but I'm talking like other kinds of help - help around the house, someplace to go every now and then so they're not shut-ins, things like that. Now, for the house, Jim is talking about this design he did out in Baltimare once, with three bedrooms and a huge front area.."
I started dozing off.
Ambrosia: "..e wants three kids, and I told him, he better not mean all at once, because I've only got two..."
Sleep was coming to me, hearing the dreams of peace of my friend..
Ambrosia: "...and his mother, my goodness, what a great cook.. K? You still awake? Good. And any.."
Sleep.
Sleeeeep..
........
......
.....
...
..
.
Luna: "K!"
We were in a field, with flowers. It was daylight. Gorgeous daylight. I could smell the honeysuckle. Luna.. Luna looked like a human. She did this before - I knew she did it for me. To make me feel better.
K: "Luna!" I hugged her. Now, there was some reason I was here..
Luna: "Mm.. my darling one." Her arms around my torso, pulling at my shirt.. her fingers in my hair.. I loved that. She massaged my scalp..
K: "My love.." A chuckle. "My other love." I kissed her lips, painted midnight blue, with little moons on them. Soft, plush. Her eyes, deep blue holes..
..holes!
K: "Luna!" I sat up. I could feel the dream shake a little.
Luna: "Not so sudden, my love, or I'll lose my connection to your REM cycle." She was trying to get my shirt open.
K: "No, honey, listen, I'm in terrible danger. My entire unit has been wiped out. Me and Ambrosia are the only ones left and we're lost in the woods.." The dreamscape changed to dark and evil woods - like when she was Nightmare Moon, but tinged with my very real, very human touch for horror.. "..we have no way to find our way out. Please, find someone on Alarm or Unicorn, or Norfy, Gaze or Cosmic and tell them, I need a Search Party. And if Celestia hasn't received Spike's message-"
Luna: "She did. Ships are being prepared to send supplies. They leave in two days. We had to source pre-made ships.. there was a fire at the Naval Yard, and three of our cargo ships were destroyed. It happened a few days after you left. We ordered replacements built.." She shook her head. "The Gendarmerie suspects sabotage." The dreamscape changed to Fillydelphia Naval Yards, and three ships on fire in the distance. We were on the harbourside wall, a full story above them. "My love.." She caressed my chin.
K: "I'll be back." I looked at her human form a little, up and down. "Keep the human form. I like it. Oh, and take this memory.." I focused as hard as I could and displayed the completed schematics for the Ironclads. "Tirek has made things horrible for us. We need to stay ahead of him."
Luna: "I will do my best, my love." She kissed me passionately. "Come back here, with me, we can have a couple hours to ourselves, completely away from the war." Her eyes teared up a little.
I kissed the tears away.
K: "I will be back. Now, wake me." I nodded.
.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
K: "AH!" I sat up, suddenly.
TIME: 23:43 NRWT
Ambrosia: "OH! I didn't realise you nodded off." She shrugged. "You contact Her Highness?"
K: "Yes, yes, I did. I have bad news, though - three of the navy's cargo ships were burned in Fillydelphia Harbor. They managed to locate replacements, but it'll be a couple of days until they even set sail. It could be War Day 290 or later before they get here." I shook my head. "She's going to try and contact someone nearby. We just have to stay ready until they get here." I said, getting up and moving a bit over to a log to take cover behind.
Ambrosia: "..meaning, we need what's here. No options."
K: "Right. We'll run out of rations by War Day 282 or 283. We'll be out of coal in four or five days at our current rate. We have virtually no spare lumber as it is. And we have only a small amount of spare medical supplies, and almost no medicine in quantity - pain killers, mainly, but also things like antibiotics, antiseptic solutions, basic drugs, that sort of thing. Ammunition is the only thing we really have in quantity, and even then.. I'd say we have barely enough supplies to run a single shoe-string operation. We could try to take Neigha, but we'd have to do it quick and we couldn't afford more than 10% casualties or a campaign lasting more than three days." I shrugged.
Ambrosia: "Sounds like you've been giving it a lot of thought." She mused.
K: "Yeah. But if we fail at Neigha, we lose our main striking component. Either way, this island is do-or-die. Of course, if we fail here, I won't have a choice, I'll have to attack, no matter the outcome. I wonder if Tirek knows how bad off we are?" I asked myself, glumly.
Ambrosia: "If he did, he'd hit Iwo Jima with everything he has. Probably would have, already."
K: "That or he's waiting to see what I'm going to do." I shrugged. But I could see something moving in the distance. "Wait.. what's that?" I pointed.
It was hard to see in the darkness, but.. it was walking on two legs. And I was the only thing that walked on to legs that wasn't hostile. Raptorians, Duregars.. they walked on two legs. But this was bigger.. muscled.. tough-looking.. barrel-chested was the term I was thinking of. I made a hand-motion for Ambrosia to get to cover. Just in case.
I watched it for a short time.. I swore it was carrying something. It looked like... a bag or something.. it was so hard to tell, all I could see was an outline. It turned towards the light of the fire for a brief moment. And started walking towards it. I waited until I had a good bead on his head..
K: "You need to stop right there." I warned.
Cloud Kicker: "K?! K!! SHOOT THIS BUCKING FURBALL!"
K: "Cloud Kicker?!"
'Furball': "Oh, I see.. a friend'a yers! I bet'cha he's tasty, too!" *Hyork-Hyork* Male. Large. Deep voice. Sounds very stupid, and aggressive.
K: "I taste like crap, and you're about to be poked full'a holes - now put that pony down, right now, mister." I commanded.
'Furball': *HYROK!* "That's funneh! How'z'a bout I come up thar an' break in yer face!" He started marching towards us. He dropped Cloud Kicker - in the net - to the side. "Ain't no sword made whut c'n beat Moligan Armor, yew li-"
*PA-PA-PAM!* I put a three-point burst in his chest.
'Furball': *Urk* It paused a moment, and felt its chest. "Bleedin'? I'm bleedin'! YEW LI'L-" *Cough* And over it fell.
I kept my aim on the body.
K: "Kicker - you okay?"
Cloud Kicker: "I'm alright. He's dead. No breathing. Nothing else around us that I can tell. Can you get me out of this thing? It's impregnated with wire or something - my knife can't cut it."
K: "'Brose, go." I nodded and forward she ran, Chaffee out and up until she got over to Cloud Kicker.
Ambrosia: "Hold still, C-K." She pulled out wire cutters and snipped through the net.
I moved up to the body. It had a sword next to it, which I kicked away. I checked to make sure it wasn't breathing before I nodded to Ambrosia to get a torch from the fire and bring it over. When she did.. well, let's just say I never expected to make enemies of Moligans. Nor did I expect Moligans to actually exist here. But actually seeing one? At this point, it was par for the course.
{End of Part 3}
Part 4: Quietly Underground on an Unnamed Island
TIME: 00:00
DATE: War Day 263 (Local)
LOCATION: Unnamed Island, Reinyuku Island Chain
Ambrosia: "And what the BUCK is THIS?!" She asked, looking at the creature.
K: "A Moligan. And this is Moligan Island - I'm writing that on the sea charts." I noted in a scratch notebook, and put it back in my pocket. It was official. I'd get a translation later.
LOCATION: Moligan Island (Hokuro Ijime Shima), Reinyuku Island Chain
Ambrosia: "And what on Equus is a Moligan?" She tilted her head at me.
Cloud Kicker: "A bucking furball that wanted me for pony stew, that's what!" She kicked the corpse.
K: "What's next? Glow-Worms? Living potatoes?" I gave an exasperated sigh.
Ambrosia: "Care to explain, oh great and fearless leader?" She leaned back a little, bent her arm, and put her right fetlock on her hip.
K: "I'd rather not." *Ahem* "Moligans.. are.. well, mole people. Mole hooligans.. bullies.." I shrugged. "It was another one of those Cartoons.. and it was related to yours. Well, an older version of yours, which, we've established, was your ancient history." I continued. "Moligans come from Molevania. I've.. honestly never seen it. They were only featured in one short-lived side story called The GLO Friends. Each episode was, like, ten minutes long, so.. yeah, story content goes out the window when you make things that short. Anyway, Moligans hunted Glo Worms to use as eternal power sources for their lanterns, so they could... mine..." I trailed off. "..Moligans mined ore or anything of value from the ground. This sword looks like crap, but it's actually decently made. It's just not very refined. It's a very thuggish weapon." I held it up - it was HEAVY. "Iron ore, if I was to guess. Low grade iron weapons and armor.. the armor is probably a response to Neighponese attempts to settle the island.. and it.. well, a Moligan in Armor probably looks a lot like a Demon, wouldn't you say?"
Ambrosia: "Makes sense." She shrugged. "So, what do we do?"
K: "Well, it's pretty clear we can kill them. If they're holding our friends until supper time.. well, they're semi-nocturnal creatures.." I shrugged. "We'd better rescue them in a hurry, or they're going to be on the menu. And I do fully expect Moligans to simply cut parts off of living ponies without killing them. You know, to keep the rest of the meat fresh?" I made a dismissive hand wave. "Given the dark nature of this world once you look past the pretty lights, that's about what I'd expect. And they'd do it not to be particularly cruel - though they probably would taunt the victim - but out of practicality. Meat spoils easily if it's dead and not preserved. So, keeping the meal alive until you need ALL the parts? Yeah. We better hurry."
Cloud Kicker: "What about the rescue party?" She looked back, around.. everywhere.
K: "You can fly. Go get them. I asked Luna in a dream-state to alert everyone that we needed rescue. You go, find the rescue party, and lead them to us. Ambrosia and I are going to go after them. We don't have a choice." I pulled my small field pack off of my back. "And while you're at it, trade weapons. I don't want a shotgun in close quarters underground." And started rummaging through it. "I know I packed them.."
Ambrosia: "Give up Thunder?!" She.. she named her Shotgun, yes. It's really not that unusual for someone to name their weapons.
K: "I have a reason." I kept digging..
Cloud Kicker: "I'll be careful with her." She was phyiscally removing the shotshell bandoliers from Ambrosia, who was protesting, and finally yanked 'Thunder' out of her hands, and pushing her Ridgway on Ambrosia.
K: "AHA!" I pulled out two very similar looking tubes of metal. The inside diameters of them were slightly different. I took the Ridgway and slid it over the barrel, to the barrel jacket, and screwed it in place. I did the same to my Bradley with the other one.
Ambrosia: "And now its heavier and longer!" She snorted.
K: "And quieter." I raised my Bradley, aimed at a tree, and..
*P'ATChooff!*
Yes, not *PAM!* - I'd made exactly two of these, and I had planned to test them while we were in Neighpon, for possible mass production. One was for 7mm rifles, the other was for 9mm pistols - and sub-machine guns.
Suppressors.
We Operator Nao! (Shout-Outs to my /k/omrades)
K: "It's called a Suppressor. It suppresses the noise and flash of a fired shot by allowing the gasses to cool as they leave the barrel. It's not perfectly whisper-quiet, but it's a good way to save your hearing and avoid being detected - it's hard to pinpoint where a suppressed shot comes from, especially in the dark. Keep it on Semi-Auto." I nodded to her Ridgway. "These things are totally untested, and it might cause a malfunction if you rock-and-roll on it."
Ambrosia: "Understood."
K: "Take off, Kicker." I nodded. "We'll see what we can do until you can get to us."
Cloud Kicker: "Alright." And off she went.
Ambrosia: "So.. now what?"
K: "We find our way into the underground." I shrugged. "If Vy was here, she'd make a music joke.." I smirked.
Ambrosia: "Something about wubs on the surface being too mainstream?" She snickered.
K: "Something like that!" I chuckled, but we moved.
TIME: 00:20 NRWT
It took us about fifteen minutes of searching to find a hole large enough to sneak in. The Moligan we found was about four and a half feet tall (137 cm). I was just over six foot in these boots and socks (183 cm). So, of course, we had to find a hole that had a tunnel connected to it, that was at least a meter and a half tall, if I was going to fit at all. We found a huge cavern that was easily 2 meters. I fit in perfectly.
We moved quietly, carefully.. Ambrosia was a Ranger, and a veteraned Sergeant of her own squad. She knew how to do this. She moved to my left, floated to my right as I got to a corner, and stayed as close to me as possible. We took turns looking behind us - I stayed crouched over as far as I could, as the ceiling's height fluctuated.
Most of the tunnels were unlit. But we did find one that was illuminated. The lantern was curious - it looked more like a bowl that light was simply coming from. I grabbed one and examined it. Inside was.. well, part of what looked like a caterpillar. The liquid inside was strange.. then it hit me. It was Moon Drops, and I was looking at the corpse of a Glo Worm. Part of it, anyway. The Moligans had won..
I wanted to rip off a Moligan's snout right then.
Ambrosia: "..that's a dead creature in there, isn't it?"
K: "Yes.. it was a Glo Worm. Was. So few lanters.. such a small part.. they must've run out of Glo Worms.. exterminated them." I shook my head. "They must be extinct, now.. or these caverns would be completely lit up." I felt a burning tear go down my cheek.
Ambrosia: "They must've been.. beautiful.." She put a hoof on my shoulder.
K: "They were. Adorable.. too cute for words, really, the whole cartoon was designed for toddlers, foals, I-"
Ambrosia: "CONTACT RIGHT!" I was pushed. *P'ATC*P'ATC*P'ATChooff!*
A Moligan groaned and slumped over, blood pouring from its neck and shoulders from the three chastizing hits. I stumbled against the wall, barely holding my balance, given the roots and rocks on the floor. I managed to keep the lantern from spilling.
K: "Thank you, Brose. If that'd been a Duregar, I would have been shot." I shook my head, getting my mind back in The Game.
Ambrosia: "Any time." She shrugged. "Come on, let's go." She nodded towards the lit passageway where the Moligan came from.
We moved up through the tunnels - and I was glad for opposable thumbs, as I could carry the Lantern and one-hand my Bradley at the same time. I made a mental note to develop a more economical flashlight that was better suited to military operations. Oh, Equestria had flashlights alright, but they were both expensive and fragile, mainly because of the poor state of battery technology (which is why Vy's music players are charged with her magic). I decided they weren't durable enough for front line military use, so, I didn't make them a common part of our every-day kit. The ships had a few, but they were fickle (same reason why the radios were kept partially disassembled).
Finally, we got to a crossroads of sorts.. and I could smell something. Like, something cooking...
Ambrosia: "I hope that's.. not one of our friends." She shook a little.
K: "I can't tell - there's so many spices being used, those could be roasted rutabegas, for all I know." Mm.. Rose's Roasted Rutabegas.. "Come on, it's this way." I said, setting the lantern down. The area ahead was all lit up anyway.
Ambrosia: "Right." She switched to my left, and took the rear security position as we moved up to the edge of the next chamber.
We could hear them talking, cackling, and moving around. They were excited, and riled up. I guessed twenty or more.
K: "Give me a Flash." I accepted a Flash-Bang grenade from her. Interesting note - I didn't make use of hand grenades that often, given how hard it is for most ponies to throw them (as they have no hands). Flash-Bangs were an exception. "Ready to breach." I held the Flash in my off hand, main hand on the Bradley's pistol grip.. stock tucked.. eye down the sights..
Ambrosia: "Ready." She nodded and got to position, Ridgway tucked tight.
I pulled the pin and discarded the spoon. Fingers counting down.. three.. two.. one.. and I threw it in hard, right around the corner.
K: "FLASH OUT!" I called, to warn our friends if they were close by.
I saw the flash of light and the concussive burst rumbled through my body. Ambrosia and I, alone, charged around the corner, into the chamber with all of those Moligans.. sights aligning on enemies, triggers squeezing.. shots firing.. suppressed thuds barking death to each that opposed us, like everything was in slow motion. All I could think of, was helping my friends..
{End of Part 4}
Part 5: Rescue Underground
TIME: 00:33 NRWT
DATE: War Day 263 (Local)
LOCATION: Underground Cavern, Moligan Island
It seemed to move slowly - time, that is, or my perception of it - as I rounded the corner with Ambrosia, and began the slaughter. The 7mm NEIGHTO round more than did its job. It ripped through the dense bodies of the Moligans like a starving mountain lion through a screaming toddler. The mess was about equal to that, too. Anything I saw that looked mole-faced, died. Quickly. I didn't even think about Ambrosia over to my left as we entered, I only focued on the right side of the room, and clearing it.
I killed eight of them before I started to 'get back' to 'normal' time perception - I had to, my magazine was empty. My finger reached forward, pressed the magazine release, letting the magazine drop free as I pulled another from the bandolier around my torso. I slid it home, and slapped the bolt release lever on the side of the receiver. The Bradley came down as the round chambered, and I fired again..
The Moligans had been around a large stew pot. They'd just finished singing a song about cooking. The echoes of the last bars of the song still hung in the air when the Flash-Bang had gone off. The groans and screams as they died.. they echoed through the underground, through my bones.. soon, though, the slaughter was over. And that's what it was - a slaughter. They had no chance at all. No modern weapons, and they were caught at a distance, plus disoriented by the Flash-Bang grenade.
I stopped moving once I realized there were no moving targets left.
K: *Panting* "Blinda! Redheart!? CALL OUT!" I yelled. Because fuck noise at the moment.
Redheart: "K!? OVER HERE! HURRY!"
Was I too late..? I ran over to the source of the voice, hopping over a small cliff that led to the central cookery area, past a bloodied stone butcher's block, and over to a small side area with cages. Sergeant Kiwi Spritz was laying on the ground, in Redheart's forelegs, across her lap. Her wings were missing. Bloodied stumps remained.
K: "..fuck. FUCK!" I had been too slow. "Where's your kit?!"
Redheart: "Over there, with our stuff."
K: "BROSE! GET THIS CAGE OPEN, NOW!"
I called as I lunged at the equiment and pulled out Redheart's medical bag. Ambrosia came over and pulled out a large crowbar. She jammed it in the slot between the locking mechanism and the frame, then shattered the lock with a kick. I heaved Redheart's bag to her. Sickened look on my face, I turned to Blinda.
K: "Report."
In the background, Redheart was pulling out her first aid equipment, and trying to soothe Spritz with her voice.
Blinda: *Flatly* "They captured us, General. Upon bringing us to this holding area, they proceeded to forcibly amputate Sergeant Spritz's wings to see if we tasted good. She.." *Hard swallow* "..volunteered. Threw herself at them. To protect us.." She turned to Kiwi, tears in her eyes. "..to protect me." *Ahem* "The enemy psychologically tortured us by roasting the wings over there in plain sight and eating them in front of us. I believe the fat one noted that we tasted better than roasted bunnies." Her face screwed up into anger. "Sergeant Spritz.. had.. Nurse Redheart perform the amputation.. she.. didn't want them using the butcher knives on her. She.. thought.. you'd get here before they.." *Sniff* "..and she.."
K: "I was late. I got lost." I failed. "Worse news. Resupply won't be here until longer than we expected. Collect your Marines. We must sweep the island for enemy forces."
Blinda: "Orders, General?" She looked at me. In anger.
K: "Any that surrender will be taken prisoner. I will not stoop to their level. They have already exterminated one species of creature - I will not have the extermination of another, no matter how possibly deserving, on our war record. We are Equestria's Armed Forces. What we do, reflects on our Kingdom." Yes. Our Kingdom. I was one of them, now. "And Equestria will not be known as a nation of murderers. Is that clear, Lieutenant?"
Blinda: *Darkly* "Aye-Aye, General."
K: "Stow that hatred, Marine." I snapped. "You fight with a clear head, or not at all."
Blinda: "Aye-Aye, General. Come on, guys." She stepped out of the cage, and with the rest of the squad, collected their equipment.
I moved over to Spritz.
K: "You've done a very brave thing.." I started. Her eyes were like pinholes.
Redheart: "She can't hear you. She's.." *Sigh* "..when a Pegasus loses their wings, well.." She shrugged, finishing applying the bandage. "The nearest thing I could imagine for you, is if someone cut off both your thumbs." She nodded to my hands. "Or maybe an arm. I don't know. We had a case of this happen once, when I started being a Nurse at the hospital. A Pegasus got her wings crushed in a rock slide. It took her a while to.. well, to come out of it. She was never quite the same after that."
K: "You.." I patted Redheart on the shoulder.
Redheart: "I've had to do some pretty nasty things since this war started, K. About half of them involving patching your human ass up. I'll.. get over.. what I had to do. I just.. I need my stallion right now. I'll be alright." She helped Spritz up. Spritz looked.. off.. without her wings.
Blinda: "Sergeant." She paced over and offered Spritz her rifle.
Kiwi Spritz wordlessly took her rifle, and assumed her place in formation. Her eyes got a little larger, I could see the irises now. But she was still out of it.
K: "Blinda.."
Blinda: "We walk out of here like Marines." She insisted.
And they did.
TIME: 01:49 NRWT
LOCATION: Beach Landing Zone/Temporary Operations HQ, Moligan Island
We met up with the rescue party near the cave exit and marched back to the beach landing zone quietly. No, in respectful silence. Redheart collected the bones from Spritz's wings and brought them with. Once we arrived back at the beach, Redheart and Ambrosia dug a grave for them. And Blinda insisted we have a proper funeral for them. Complete with salute.
Right at the end of the morbid affair, Spritz busted out laughing. I briefly considered her insane, but she shook her head and hugged her friends.
Spritz: "Okay. I don't have wings. I can still walk, right? I'm still a Marine, right, Lieutenant?" Kiwi Spritz, nominated for Badflank of the Year.
Blinda: "Yes, Lance Sergeant. Are you sure you're alright..?"
I walked over to where Norfy and the Boys were.
K: "Report, guys."
Norfy: "Her Royal Highness looks.. strange.. as a human." He tilted his head. "At least I didn't have nightmares tonight. Well, not really. I didn't realize human lips were so soft.." He smirked as he trailed off.
Cosmic: "Oh, really!?" He gave him a surprised look.
Gaze: "D'aww.. th' Princess!? Really, Norf!?"
Norfy: "She kissed my snout, nothing more." The pony equivalent to a peck on the cheek - familiar, but not necessarily flirtatious.
K: "Uh-huh." I shrugged. "I mean about the foraging expedition."
Norfy: "We've found significant quantities of coal here, as well as iron deposits and some copper. All the trees look like they're very dense wood, excellent for building. Plenty of resources. And the Lagoon can be entered by large ships - it's much deeper than it looks, K. Plus, I think there's an under water cave system." He shrugged. "If we had some way to explore it.."
K: "Pinkie has SUCBA gear." I nodded. "I have no idea how, but she does."
Norfy: "I don't see that very often." He paused, thinking about it.
K: "I think Deep Blue and Sea Swirl have been diving before."
Norfy: "Have you?"
K: "Nope! Never lived close enough to the ocean to justify learning. I know nothing about SCUBA diving, except that its a really bad idea to fire guns under water. We'll have to find some way to seal them properly - I'll ask Pinkie if she has some really large balloons." I shrugged. "I never designed the Bradley to be truly water tight - but there's an emergency procedure for it."
Gaze: "An' whut's that, suh?"
K: "Seal the chamber with wax from a candle, and put a balloon over the muzzle. Sealing the chamber is tricky, and it has to be done carefully, or the wax will partially melt when you fire it, and sieze the weapon up. You're supposed to do it with sealing wax or gummy wax - not common candle wax. It's too soft when melted, and too.. well.. waxy when it's solid. Gummy wax can be pulled off in one go, and sealing wax breaks off in nice chunks." Gummy wax was a component in soft candies - Pinkie had tons of it. "Still, I'd rather just throw the whole rifle into a large balloon and be done with it. I'll have to see about developing a proper bag for the weapons."
Norfy: "Well, the work crew is setting up a base camp. What's our next step?"
K: "Bring in any spare naval personnel from Alarm, and the Ranger Engineer Squad, then send Alarm back for more workers and some more Marines. I want this island swept and cleared of Moligans. The ones that surrender will be put to work."
Cosmic: "As Prisoners-of-War, sir?"
K: "No. As paid workers." I shrugged. "We'll pay them in room and board at first. If they want to stay loyal to NEIGHTO, I'll see about setting up an actual pay scale for them. Prime importance will be building a school for any children we capture - that'll be on Cheerilee to get something set up there. This island is going to be our resource base. The lagoon is large enough for a small shipyard - Crafty has some shipwright experience, as does the Commodore and some of the other Griffons. Tap them. Once everything is set up and the pacification of the natives is complete, we'll build a small shipyard here and see about constructing small cargo ships."
Gaze: "'N wha'bout the Island itself, suh?"
K: "Well, if we can get enough Moligans to play ball with us, this island will be theirs - a NEIGHTO protectorate administered by Neighpon, until they're ready to form their own society, government, and join NEIGHTO on their own. There's plenty of uninhabited islands in the Reinyuku Chain they can earn the rights to settle." I shrugged. "So they're violent savages? Big deal - humans were violent savages, once. Some still are, and that's what we have jails for." That was a dig at no one in particular and the species in general. "Intelligent creatures can be educated and brought into society. It's possible. I've seen it done - but they have to want it. If they don't care, that's something we can't do anything about. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink." I shrugged. "Old Earth saying - you can't force someone to do something they don't want to do."
Norfy: "I think I understand, K."
K: "I figured you would." I patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, Major, this is your guys' project - get to it." I nodded.
Cosmic: "Oh! My area of expertise, eh? Right, then, come on, guys, I have a fantastic plan..!"
Off they went. The plan was in place, and the forces would be here to handle it. This was a small victory, but it was a start. Once we had what we needed, we would be able to plan actually fighting Tirek's conquest of Neighpon. And if he's managed to subdjugate Cowrea already, then the combined might of our forces and the Neighponse Armed Forces would liberate them.
We just needed time..
{End of Chapter 29}
