Chapter 93 - Trials and Tribulations
Part 1: Trial
TIME: 07:00 ERST
DATE: War Day 843/3 Octavius 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Canterlot Royal Courthouse, Erie, Equestria
The Trial would begin for the accused. Unlike a Civil Trial or Military Courts Martial, Royal Trials were show trials. As such, they were rarely done. This was the first one in almost a thousand years.
Verdicts were always guilty, as no Royal Trial was ever commenced without absolute and irrefutable proof of wrongdoing. A three Magistrate panel would oversee the proceedings. Ordinarily, they would vote 2-1 to Convict, unless the re-presentation of the evidence was so damning as to have all three vote guilty.
Guilt was determined by a seven Magistrate panel, and ordinarily, finalized by Princess Celestia. With the incident in the Gardens at the start of the war, Celestia had ceded this power to Luna. Facts were presented, no secondary witness or opinion testimony was permitted - only cold, hard facts. Documents, confessions, photographs, and direct testimony of arresting officers specifically about what they saw when arresting the accused. To proceed with a Royal trial, six of the seven Magistrates, AND the Princess must conclude that the facts provide no other explanation than absolute guilt - even the slightest logical alternative would be grounds to make it a civil trial.
In this case, all seven agreed.
As part of these proceedings, examinations were carried out on each accused Cultist to absolutely ensure no magical influence was placed on them, no mind control, nothing of that nature. Just as with Night Lite, nothing was found. I even demanded that Somnambula "taste" one of them to see if she could detect anything. All she tasted was their hatred (which she found unpalatable).
The proof was absolute, thus, the Royal Trial would proceed.
Lead Magistrate Truth Seeker: "This Royal Trial shall now come to order. The accused stand for the following crimes: High Treason to Princess Celestia. High Treason to the Kingdom of Equestria. 24,567 counts of attempted murder. 124 counts of murder in the first degree, 8 counts of attempted murder of a Royal official, 1,244 counts of Criminal Destruction of Property, 4,233 counts of Criminal Destruction of Governmental Property. 12 counts of destruction of Royal Magical Artifacts, 6 counts of Destruction of Royal Property. 47,890 counts of Criminal Endangerment. One count each of Attempted Coup. One count each of forming a seditious cult with the intent of causing criminal harm. And 78,084 counts of Criminal Abuse of the Gift of Magic. Do any of the accused deny these charges?"
Defense Attorney Hugo Slate: "None of the accused deny their charges, Magistrate. However, all of the accused deny this court's authority to conduct these proceedings and do not recognize the court's validity." He nodded.
L.M. Seeker: "Understood, and may that be enterted into the records."
Royal Prosecutor Lefton Firebird: "The Crown is prepared to present the evidence."
L.M. Seeker: "The Crown may proceed." He nodded.
I was seated in the gallery, along with some of the witnesses the crown was prepared to call for supportive testimony. There was a very large assemblage of Press at the very back, recording and taking pictures.
Starlight's plan was an absolute and inflammatory media blitz. No lies, no stretched truths, only the facts. We worked with Lefton to ensure the Crown would present only this, and that witness testimony would be strictly limited to direct questions about facts, nothing more.
Everyone in North Equus would know the truth, all of it, and only the facts. No opinions, no editorials. We spoke with all the major newspapers, and they agreed - the best way to safeguard the public interest and stop any future cults would be to print only facts, not editorial opinions. With facts, we fight hate.
I sat there for five hours as the Crown presented each piece of physical evidence first - the mirror that Sunset was shoved into as part of her Parents' plan to make her a forced sleeper agent, photographs of their spell sigils, the correspondence with Tirek, the instructions on how to cast the spell for the Great Erie Tornado, their personal diaries, and so on.
Normally, these trials were not public. They would be held in secret, and the Court Transcriber would make the record available for viewing after a certain amount of time.
TIME: 12:00 Noon ERST
L.M. Seeker: "Mares and gentlecolts, it is noon. This court shall recess for lunch. One hour." He knocked his gavel, and everyone got up.
Altern Flash Sentry was in charge of the Royal Guard detail covering the prisoners. Equal in rank to an Army Captain, he'd been with us when we originally captured them. He was careful in getting them all shuffled into the holding area for their own lunch - it would be hay and bread, as I understood it.
I got up with everyone else, and made my way to the Witness Antechamber. Our lunch was waiting for us - cooked oats, salad, a charcuterie board of cheeses and fruits, and a big Salami-like sausage with a sort of bread knife, for Griffons to have meat. And, well, me, of course.
I grabbed up some items, and sliced several chunks of that salami off, and took a seat. No one was really talkative.
Soarin: "..what gets me, is, we still haven't found him or any of the other missing ones." He looked at his food.. and forced himself to eat.
Spitfire: "We'll find him, Soarin." She patted his back a little.. he flinched.
K: "We're all taking this hard. Braeburn was my cousin.. I really liked him." I started eating.. I'm a stress eater, and this stress was the kind of stress that would make me eat far too much.
Applejack: "Not t'mention whut they done t'Ponyville an' Cloudsdale.." She shook her head. "..can y'all even rebuild that?!" She looked at Spitfire.
Spitfire: "It'll take us years to gather the right clouds, again, and anchor them properly. Maybe a decade. The Ancient Cloud City that was destroyed during the old civil war supposedly took a century to build." She snorted in irony. "Funny thing is, Unicorns destroyed that, too." And shook her head.
K: "Awfully poetic they're responsible for that again. Just what Tirek would want, too - racial division right as he's hurting the most, and desperately needs time to consolidate his broken forces and plan his next step." I shook my head.
Flash Sentry came in as well, and made himself a plate before sitting at the table.
Flash: "The prisoners are refusing to eat or drink." He just stated.
K: "Eh. Let 'em." I shrugged. "Fasting or Hunger Strikes were often used in my world as a way to protest ill treatment or some other political angle, by prisoners."
Flash: "Interesting." He nodded. "Have we decided what we're going to do with them, when the trial concludes?"
K: "We all agreed on permanent depowering - surgically removing their horns - and exiling them to the Border Lands between Khyianga and Equestria. Sol and Night Lite were identified as the ring leaders - they'll be executed." I looked at Sunset. "Someone wanted them burnt at the stake. We agreed on a firing squad."
Flash: "I suppose that's the best outcome. What if they have kids and stuff?" He looked at me. "I mean, if they teach a new generation how to hate?"
K: "We're gelding the males." I just looked at my food. "They keep their lives, but they will suffer and be responsible for their own survival. The Khyiangese Government agreed to the security arrangement.. they made it clear they'd be very happy to shoot any trespassers."
Flash: "Harsh, but, I understand." He shook his head. "I never thought I'd see something like this. I mean.. this kind of hate being used aga-"
A powerful explosion shook the building at that moment, sending us all to the floor, and EVERYONE drawing their sidearms.. I could smell smoke.
Prison Break. Fine.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Broken Justice
TIME: 12:07 ERST
DATE: War Day 843/3 Octavius 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Canterlot Royal Courthouse, Erie, Equestria
K: "Stack up at the door!" I ordered.
Everyone complied, with me taking the lead. I could only guess one thing - this was an attempted prison break and-or an attempt to kill the Magistrates and other royal officials. Today would be another bloodbath.
K: "By the numbers. NO unnecessary shooting." Meaning, don't just shoot the suspects if they see them running - armed targets only.
I opened the door, and peeked around the corner with my Glock. There was a tactical team moving into the courthouse that wasn't Canterlot's Gendarmes.. what's more, they were only partially made up of ponies. The rest were Gizmonks.
K: "Move!" I moved forwards, advancing on the four that I saw in the hallway, and opening fire immediately.
Interestingly, the 115-gr 9x19mm I was packing, was actually less powerful than the 130gr 9x23mm NEIGHTO round. Still, it was enough to pierce their vests and hides, downing one Gizmonk and one Pony. Behind me, I could feel Spitfire shoot around me, and take out the other two.
We advanced up the hallways, towards the Magistrate Chambers. The enemy were using Zhukov copies, as expected. Twilight, Toola, Fluttershy, and Spitfire each grabbed one, and their spare magazines.
The hallway in front of the Magistrate Chambers was being defended by Canterlot Gendarmes and Royal Guards. They had some benches and things flipped over and were using them as concealment. Between us and them, were ten more enemy soldiers. As soon as we breached the door, I motioned for half the team to go right, and I led the rest straight up the center.
The Gendarmes and Guards saw us, and adjsuted their fire. We caught the enemy in a three-way crossfire and cut them down. I went over and grabbed their weapons.. I noted, they were now using copied Pattons. But, not the 6.5x30mm I'd designed the Pattons in, and were issuing 20-round mags with them.
I passed these back up the line and met the senior guard.
K: "Report." I asked quickly.
Lance Corporal of the Guard Misty Waters: "General! They just.. came out of nowhere! And charged into the room.. shooting!"
K: "Get the Magistrates out of the building and somewhere safe." I nodded to her.
Misty Waters: "Aye, General!" She motioned to her assembled team, and got into the Magistrate Chambers.
K: "Come on - let's see to the prisoners." I motioned for my team to come with me.
Katrina: "Honestly! A prison break!?" She snorted.
Webley: "What do they think this is? Escape from Alcatraz?!" She growled.
K: "I dunno - but, be on your guard." I said, moving back through the hall, and into the courtroom.
There were a few dead in here - two court reporters, a bailiff, and the Prosecutor. Well, that's one target they managed to get.
Flash moved up next to me, and we got to the Holding Cell Hallway door.
K: "Back up, Altern." I gestured him back - he had far less fighting experience than the rest of us.
Flash: "My prisoners, my Guards, my responsibility. Sir." He nodded to me, and chamber-checked the captured Patton.
K: "Alright.." I shrugged, and breached the door.
Rushing in, we found three of his Guards dead, two wounded, and the rest gone. There was a huge hole in the holding cell wall, and another one to the wall leading outside.
K: "Fluttershy! See to the injured!" I pointed, and grabbed a Guard's Bradley, whipping it to my shoulder, and advancing out the hole in the wall.
I took fire right away from three Gizmonks and two Ponies, at the rear of a stack of troops. I dove to the ground, and returned fire as best I could, with everyone kinda clustered at the hole, putting down some volume.
Spitfire and Soarin took to the air immediately, and got perches on the side of the building, and fired down on the enemy troops. Dash joined them.
Twilight summoned up her Dragon Magic and sent a serpent-like snake of flame into the enemy formation, crushing one Pony, and engulfing two more in flames. Katrina cast Shockwave, and knocked several of them down. Jade flicked flame crystals at all of them, then cast a Gem of Disruption, making their vision blur.
My Bradley was empty, and I switched back to my Glock. We had them on the back foot.
K: "GET EM!" I yelled, coming to a stand and snapping off rounds until I had to reload.
The City's Gendarmes and the remaining Royal Guards from the Courthouse came around the rear side of the building at this time, and cut the enemy off from their escape.
Pinned against the large building across the street, and surrounded on all sides, the remaining 12 or so backed up to the wall..
K: "GIVE UP! YOU'RE DONE!" I ordered.
One of the Gizmonks immediately ate his rifle - barrel in the mouth, trigger pulled, no brain. Another pulled a grenade from his vest and swallowed it after pulling the pin, and he exploded. Two Ponies threw down their arms, and flattened themselves against the ground.
One of the Gizmonks tossed his rifle aside, and pulled his combat knife.. and pointed at me with it.
Rarity put a bullet in his skull.
One of the Ponies committed suicide with their sidearm, as the Gendarmes rushed the rest of them and set upon them with rifle butts and batons.
K: "GET them under arrest!" I ordered.
Twilight: "K.. they escaped with the prisoners." She shook her head.
K: "I see that." I nodded. "Bring our NEW prisoners.. to Gendarmes Headquarters." I motioned to them.
Rainbow Dash: "THOSE HAY SNIFFERS GOT AWAY!?" She yelled. "CELESTIA DAMN IT ALL TO TARTARUS!!!" She stomped the ground.
K: "DASH! CHECK yourself!" I spun around and grabbed her shoulders. "We're professionals." And hugged her. "I know it hurts, but we can't let rage and sadness beat us."
Rainbow Dash: "AHHH! Ahhhh..." She hugged me back.. and started crying.
Tirek.. would pay for this, too.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Perspective
TIME: 17:27 ERST
DATE: War Day 843/27 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Royal Palace, Erie, Equestria
Celestia: "And you say, according to witnesses, they just jumped out of trucks, and attacked the courthouse?" She tilted her head.
Flash Sentry: "Yes, ma'am." He lowered his head. "I'm sorry - security was my responsibility, and I failed." He raised his head and looked to me.
K: "Flash, you're not perfect, none of us are. Moreover, I don't think anyone's playing with a full deck right now, given all that's happened." I leaned against Luna's throne - she was up early.
Luna: "What do we do, then?" She looked between me and her sister.
K: "We hunt them down. They have a head start, but every Militia and Gendarmes unit in radio range has been alerted, and every border crossing to Canida is closed. They really only have one option - the ocean." I shook my head. "Canterlot was a VERY risky proposition. Getting that far from a sea shore without being detected. Really, I bet they did a reverse of what I did in the Herdiet Union. We've got inquiries going out regarding missing personnel and equipment, but a full reporting could take days. And that's not even assuming they're Tirek's troops and they didn't copy uniforms from captured personnel we rescued in Quirtbeck." I paced around a little.
Rarity: "The best I can figure, darlings, is either they have, or will steal, a boat.. or they try and steal a plane, as we did." She nodded to me.
K: "Which would be very difficult - Cloudsdale AFB was our largest Air Force Base in the region. Most of our assets we used in the Navarre campaign are still being transferred back from Agusty.. the next nearest air base with C-1 Buffalos or B-1 LeMay's is Fillydelphia Naval Air Station, Mareguire Air Force Base in New Jersey, or Handscomb Air Force Base in Bedford, Maresechusetts. We've got those bases on alert - Handscomb especially, since that's where most of the assets that.. were.. actually assigned to Cloudsdale that we used in Navarre were being transferred through, and we'd stopped there for inspection and servicing." I made a wide shrug. "If Tirek had waited a week, he could have knocked out the entire Third Air Force. As it is, he destroyed three Squadrons of planes, which is bad but not horrific."
Applejack: "Alright, honey.. ah know yew too well. Yer already thinkin' about where they're really headin' to, ain'cha?" She smirked.
K: "Well.. you have to think about what their objective really is, and who actually sent the rescue team. After seeing the weapons, I'm thinking it wasn't Tirek." I shook my head. "Letting the trial go through would have been the smart move. Letting the air craft get back to Cloudsdale would have been the smart move. Yes, Tirek gave them the means, but someone else has been pulling the strings this whole time. I didn't realize that until I saw our attackers." I moved over to Flash. "You're a smart one. Who benefits the most, here?"
Flash Sentry: "Well.. there's a major distruption in the war effort.. some casualties for people to get mad at.. and the rescue team was entirely Gizmonks and Ponies." He looked up at me. "And Gizmonks can be bought. We know from Zorch, for example, that there's somewhat decent sized expatriate populations of them, if you know where to look. Mostly.. in the southern lands. Cervines, Camels.." He snapped his head over to me. "..it's one of them, isn't it?!"
K: "I have a feeling.. it is." I nodded and wagged my finger at Celestia. "Unless they've been getting it through black markets, their information on firearms and other systems is behind and limited. The captured Pattons? That wasn't Tirek's work, it doesn't bear his usual lack of markings, and it wasn't a direct copy. Tirek only uses direct copies. Someone else re-engineered the Pattons."
Celestia: "Whom, do you think, it is?" She paced over to me.
K: "I can't tell for sure, and I'm absolutely certain they used middle men between themselves and the mooks we caught - they have no idea who their employers really are." I shook my head.
Applejack: "Sooo.. what's th' goal, then?" She tilted her head at me.
K: "To head as far south as possible." I nodded. "The trucks they had, if we assume they fuelled up immediately before the attack, have the range to get to Muleguire or Fillydelphia. The military controls almost all petroleum fuel. There's no point they could get more fuel between those two points. However, they freed fifty powerful mages. It's not impossible to imagine they could use magic to power the trucks.. and that may have been their plan." I walked over to a map of the area. "Let's also assume for some reason that they have air transport."
Spitfire: "You mean, they already stole a plane?" She tilted her head. "How?"
K: "What if they stole a plane right before the Tornado hit?" I gave her a casual finger point.
Rainbow Dash: "Diabolical!" She sneered.
Toola: "Meaning, this whole thing WAS planned from the start!" She hissed.
Flash: "Then all they need is a safe place to launch from.. and a clear route out to sea, if they have a ship waiting a good distance off shore.. the range of a C-1 is.."
K: "Twenty two hundred and fifty kilometers, Flash. Depending on the load. If they ditch everything but themselves, and even strip almost nude to save every gram of weight, have a full fuel load, favorable winds, and conserve fuel consumption once they burn half of it, and get as high in altitude as possible without air tanks.." I did the math on some paper.
Twilight: "Save it. They could cross the Middle Ocean easily." She shook her head. "Depending on where they launch from and everything."
K: "Meaning, they don't need a ship. Or, if they do, it'll be very close to their destination." I tapped the map. "Given the planet's geography, their best launch point is southern New Jersey. They can take advantage of the jet stream if they head south-west, and be in the Middle South (my Earth's 'Middle East') or the Cervine Lands long before they run out of fuel.. or they could ditch in the islands just north of the southern main land and get picked up by a ship. The C-1 can float, after all." I shrugged. "Or, they could be aiming for Destrier (Bermuda). That's a very safe 1200 kilometers from New Jersey."
Celestia: "That should be under Ambelonian control, its a Crown Colony." She shrugged.
K: "It should be. But, if they use that as a ditch point, a ship could sail out from there, recover the crew, and retreat before any local ship - much less an armed one - can be on scene to stop them." I shrugged. "Forest Spirit, do me a favor and alert the Ambleonians about the situation and have them dispatch a warship to the area? Just in case we fail."
Forest Spirit: "You got it, K." He nodded to Toola. "You're talking like this was kinda the plan all along, though?"
K: "I am, because I think - to an extent - it was. Cause mayhem, get arrested, get their story out in the papers, go to trial, cause racial division.. Tirek gets what he wants, partially.. then they flee the country and go live among a race they see as lesser than them, anyway, while bringing them plenty of intelligence to even the score between us - even though we really don't want a fight with them. Everyone gets something they want, at our expense." I tapped the table with one finger.
Fluttershy: "Well.. then.. which one of them is involved with Tirek?" She tilted her head.
K: "It's probably an involvement at multiple levels. Tirek needs ponies on his team, even just a few, to cause chaos and sew dissent, not to mention carry out sabotage. At the same time, the Unicorns would need his magical knowledge to fire off the Tornado. Dealing with a middle-man foreign power to get what he needs? I wouldn't put it past him. He probably threw in a non-aggression pact, too, to sweeten the deal. Which he'd break as soon as it was feasible." I shrugged.
Twilight: "This is something like the chicken and the egg." She shrugged, and nodded to Sunset.
Sunset: "We don't know which of the three entities is the mastermind.. and we won't without re-capturing one of the Unicorns." She shook her head.
Dusty: "K's right that the mooks we caught, don't know anything." She came in with some of their tactical gear and put it on the planning table. "We questioned them. The ones that gave up.. well, they heard the Human would eat them." She smirked at me. "I assured them that wouldn't happen - as long as they told us everything." She nodded to Wide and Chemical Lens.
Chemical Lens: "I've analyzed their equipment. It's definitely not made by Tirek. The stitching patterns match Arabesque clothing - a double-double stitch along the reinforced parts, but a thin single line along the parts that bear little stress - Rarity, if you would?" She handed Rarity one of the tactical vests.
Rarity levitated it, and went over it like a true professional - gathering her own kind of intelligence by examining each stitch, each piece of thread.
Rarity: "..you are absolutely correct, Darling. This type of single line stitching is rather durable, but inelegant, and a hallmark of Arabesque clothing." She looked up at me.
Wide Lens: "I went over the weapons. The receivers have no markings on them, but the barrels and bolts do. Pressure testing stamps, I'm pretty sure. Tirek never has any." A nod, here.
He handed me one of the Pattons.. no, I would name these Nasser Rifles, for the Egyptian leader that played a major role in Egypt becoming truly independent of British rule, and worked very hard to ensure general peace among the various Arabic peoples and nations.
K: "For official records, I'm calling these 'Nasser' rifles, not Pattons." I held it up, and then looked at the proof marks. "I saw these when I grabbed one of the Zhukovs."
Wide Lens: "The sub-machine guns aren't in 9mm, General - they're in Herdiet 7.92mm." He cleared his throat a bit. "Though, these Nasser Rifles are in 9x35mm, ballistic testing shows them to have a muzzle velocity much higher than standard 9x35mm loadings.. half of the magazines had Spitzer bullets, the others, rounded bullets like the original 9x35mm Sherman rounds."
K: "What an odd combination!" I remarked, hefting the Nasser. "The re-chambered Zhukov - call it the Abdul." For King Abdullah of Jordan, a massive Star Trek fan, and probably one of Jordan's best Special Operations officers.. and king - dude is an absolute unit.
I named the weapons for people from my Middle East that were worthy of general respect, in the hopes that the manufacturers of such weapons, would one day be our allies and friends. Nasser's funeral was attended by five million mourners. Abdullah made Jordan a powerful nation, and was a strong and intelligent person.
I wasn't shocked at the mimicry. If the tactical vests and uniforms were in Equestrian-pattern camo, then they'd look a lot like what we were issuing, with some local flair. Combat boots, even for the ponies, gloves and hoofcaps, the whole bit. This raid team was well equipped. No wonder they accomplished - by my guess - two thirds of their objectives. That being to assassinate the Royal Prosecutor, and make off with the prisoners.
Now, though, we had to find them.
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: Manhunt
TIME: 19:22 ERST
DATE: War Day 843/27 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Hinterlands of Maresechusetts, Equestria
Most of my remaining staff was with me. Including a new addition - Flash Sentry. He resolutely demanded a chance to make this right, and avenge the three Guards that died under his command. This being his first major assignment, for it to end in failure.. he couldn't tolerate.
So, the more the merrier, I suppose!
I made the guess that they were headed to the nearest spot where they could launch a plane without being immediately detected, that was also as far off our search radius as possible. I made several major guesses - that they had captured uniforms, falsified ID's, and already had an escape plan in place that subverted the general line of thought - that they would take the actual least likely path, not just the most illogical.
With us was two companies of Royal Guards and the Berkshire-Pittsfield Militia Battalion.. overwhelming force. In addition to the girls and Flash, I had Dusty, Katrina, Jade, The Lads, Webley, Lyra, Dex, Typhoon Surge (who had spent time in this area), Blinda, Coco, and Kiwi.
Ty: "Ovah heah suh!" He raised up in the jeep.
K: "AJ, stop the jeep." I patted her on the shoulder.
The convoy halted behind us.
K: "Ty? Talk to me." I nodded to him.
Ty: "There's a rathah large field just south'a here, suh, towards Tyringham.. and if ya go up north, the lakes have plenty'a flat spots." He nodded.
K: "Alright." I got up and out of the jeep. "Colonel Sharber!"
Colonel Bethel Sharber: "Yes, General..?" She trotted up from the Jeep behind us.
K: "Have your battalion fall out and start an on-hoof comb of the terrain around here, heading in a broad line to the north. Remember your RoE - we try to take them alive, and if they get to their plane and take off, we let them go. Fighter Command will take it from there." I pulled out the map I had and indicated where I wanted her forces to search.
Col. Sharber: "Yes, General." She nodded, and went to disembark her troops.
K: "Flash!" I called for him, as he was already trotting up.
Flash Sentry: "Yes, General." He nodded to me.
K: "Your companies and the General staff will move south." I indicated. "On-hoof search. Every structure, every cave, every back trail, everything. Remember the RoE - we need them alive."
Flash Sentry: "Aye, sir!" He moved off to get his units together.
K: "Alright, everyone.. out of the jeeps. On hoof from here." I looked at Katrina. "Or paw." And Jade. "Or cloven-hoof."
Jade: "Capturing them alive seems like a waste, Uncle." She shook her head. "I'd rather just kill them."
K: "I would, too, but we have to have the intelligence they have.. and we must go through with actual justice, not just revenge." I grabbed my Bradley, and hefted it. "Teams of three, watch your sectors carefully.. they might be expecting this."
We advanced into the woods ahead, and to the south. A few soldiers stayed behind and guarded the trucks - and my soldiers weren't dummies. They posted guards on TOP of the vehicles, with clear lines of sight, and roving patrols at a bracket around the vehicles.
Just in case.
I was trying to get a mental line on whoever was in charge, here. Who'd made these plans, and who was going through with them. I didn't have enough information, yet.
I was on a team with AJ and Fluttershy.
Fluttershy: "I can't believe all of this is happening." She heaved a sigh.
K: "I expected something like this. Hitting me where I live? Classic Villain move." I nodded.
Applejack: "Yeah. I pro'ly should've expected this, too." She gave me a hip nudge. "Married t'you, yer risk's're my risks, sugarcube."
K: C> "Alpha Actual to Alpha One-One." I called for Twilgiht.
Twilight: C> "One-One. Go, actual."
K: C> "Got anything, yet?" I asked, as I moved into a clearing.
Twilight: C> "Nothing. One-One, out."
Fluttershy: "I hope she finds love.." She said, suddenly.
K: "Wh-huh?" I looked at her.
Fluttershy: "She's different, now. Very different. You were accepted.. I hope she is, too." She gave me a small smile.
K: "I'm sure she will be." I nodded. "I also don't want her thinking that just because she's not the Element of Magic any more, that she's useless to the team."
Applejack: "Heck naw." She snorted. "She's our friend! Ah-" She was about to say something else, but dove on both of us, and pushed us to the ground.
Above our head, tracers, magic bolts, the works. We were taking fire.. lots and lots of fire. The sound of gunfire soon drowning out our thoughts.
We got behind some rocks, and I popped smoke.. both on our position, and two others, and then I pushed them both to move to a fourth, then fifth, position. As expected, they blanketed the smoked areas with gunfire and magic. Soon enough, I could hear fire coming from different points in the forest, aiming towards the ones shooting at us.
K: C> "Alpha to Angel One! We found 'em!" I said, rolling over and trying to pick a target.
Fighting at night isn't easy. It's even harder when you're fairly certain the enemy has some magical night vision capability, and you do not. I managed to zero in on a muzzle flash, fire on it, and silence it.. I thought. And we moved again, retreating towards the road.
Angel One: C> "This is Angel One! We copy! ETA three minutes!"
Let's see if my assumptions were correct.
K: C> "Alpha to all callsigns! Advance on the forest to the SOUTH! Alpha is IN CONTACT with the enemy!"
This wasn't actually a call to advance, but withdraw to the road and hold position.
I was making a guess they had access to our coms.
I was proven right when fire slackened from the enemy, and magical strikes ceased. After about thirty seconds, fire ceased almost altogether as we got to the road.
K: "They've got our coms." I nodded to Flash.
Flash: "ETA on air support?" He paced up, having pulled back his Guards to the road as planned.
K: "Six minutes." I gestured. "Halved time on all ETA's, remember?"
Flash: "Right." He cast a quick look to his troops. "Next move?"
K: "We wait. We can't risk radio contact at this stage. We have to hope Fighter Command can tail them." I looked to Dex. "Hey, encode our transmissions - enemy's got our coms."
Dex: "You got it, dude." He set to work on his radio pack.
That would take them a minute to decode. I had to assume they had the ability to use the encoder function as well. All it really did was scramble the signal slightly. One more transmission in the clear..
K: C> "All callsigns, this is Alpha Actual. Contact lost. Withdraw to Point Alpha." I motioned for everyone to get in line.
Again, saying the exact opposite of what was really going on, what my real orders were. I figured I could get one, maybe two encoded transmissions out before they figured them out. We could always change frequencies, but at this stage, I wanted them half listening in on our conversation.
Now, we advanced, double time, in larger clusters that formed almost a solid line, towards the larger fields where a large plane could be hidden and have enough room to take off from. With magical assitance, they might even be able to do a vertical takeoff.
Our goal now became forcing them to do exactly that. We needed to know who was involved. If we'd caught up to them sooner, I would have just fought it out and taken them captive. We hadn't. So, I wanted them to take off and lead us to their bosses...
We had them on the run. Fighter Command was in the area, and waiting for them to take off, so they could tail them. Our forces on the ground were pushing them towards their plane..
I wanted them to take off. I wanted them to get to their escape. I wanted to see who it was that was sending espionage into Equestria, strike teams, the works.
It took us only ten minutes to get to the clearing by the captured plane. As I suspected, they stole a C-1 Bufflao from Cloudsdale - it had the markings of the Third Air Force Logistic Squadron, tail number CD5840. I took note of this on a scratch pad, and motioned for everyone to get down.
They were loading the last few people on board, and as I also suspected, were throwing their weapons off the plane. Everything they could, to save weight.
This also meant they weren't heading for Destrier. They had to be heading south, across the Middle Ocean. The C-1 Buffalo rolled to a flattened field, and lumbered down it, gaining the speed to leave the ground - the pilot was well trained, too.
Once they were well out of range, I grabbed the encoded radio pack.
K: C> "Alpha Actual. Green light. ETA to Hosston is one hour, thirty minutes." Again, times were encoded - it'd be three hours, at least.
Forest Spirit: "Once they're fully out of range, I'll alert the NEIGHTO fleet." He got up.
Blinda: "I'll make sure 1MARDIV is ready to sail from Fillydelphia." She followed.
K: "Alright, everyone. Back to the trucks. We didn't need to encourage them, after all. Colonel, just to be on the safe side, have your Militia police up these weapons and anything else, and comb the woods for a thirty mile radius for signs of anyone they intentionally left behind." I directed.
Col. Shaber: "Yes, General." She nodded sharply.
K: "Let's go." I got up and headed for the trucks.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: Pursuit
TIME: 01:34 ERST
DATE: War Day 844/28 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Off the coast of New Ambleonia, 155km south of Heartford, Cobnecticut
I was back aboard HMS Moonlight once again. We were making full steam to the south. Scout planes from Fighter Command and Bomber Command with lightened loads and maximum fuel were following the captured C-1 Buffalo from several points along the Middle Ocean Coast from Fillydelphia to Sharevanna, Muscogia (Georgia).
We were hot on their trail, though the fleet - being much slower - was far behind them. I had two "A"-Class Corvettes with minimal loads and balanced fuel bunkerages making maximum speed ahead of us (and averaging about 33.5 knots - a full knot and a half faster than their design speed). We would be joining up with the Prench and Roaman fleets soon. The Germane Fleet would be far behind us.
It would be a very drawn-out convoy line that had little way to reinforce itself, but we needed speed. The Canidan Fleet was on their way, too, but they were coming from the far side of Equestria - this Canida/Canada analogue, had no "Atlantic" ocean ports of appreciable size, so, their equivalent of Vancouver - Barkover - was their primary naval base.
At least the Canidans had their own light carrier.
At last report, the captured C-1 had quite a lead on us. They would be close to their fuel limit. The Equestrian fleet was travelling at about one QUARTER of the speed of that plane, and the plane had a three hour head start.
By my estimation - and Twilight's math - if they conserved at every step, got enough altitude to surf the wind currents, and had favorable winds, they might get about 3500km range out of the aircraft. Neutral bouyancy and all. With the way Equus was shaped, that would get them to the Eyesore Islands (Azores), which was considered part of the Southern Continent. This is where the equivalent of Africa and the Middle East were, as well as South-East Asia.
In short, they were leading us to where they were going to roost. The only problem is that it would take the fleet several days to get there. Which wasn't that big of a problem.. considering I packed two C-1 Buffalo on the HMS Cloudsdale, and Webley hand-picked paratroopers to fill them.
We could have flown them from some point south of Canterlot, but the flight would have been both long and very difficult to achieve with the combat loadouts the Paratroopers would need. Plus, the delay involved.
My plan was to drop Paras on their heads, take and hold whatever ground there was to take, force their handlers out of hiding if possible, and when the fleet arrived, negotiate.
CDRE Sargasso Sea: "Sir, Coms reports that the enemy is definitely making for the Eyesores. It's the only land in the area, and it's technically foreign territory." She nodded to me, and handed me a communications transcript.
K: "Alright. Have the Cloudsdale prepare to make maximum speed. I'm transferring over. Get the Fleet to the Eyesores at the best speed you can, and prepare to come in shooting. Tell our allies the same thing." I nodded to her.
Sargasso: "Please, General. Be careful." She put a hoof on my shoulder.
K: "As careful as I can be." I nodded. "Toola, get the rest of our gear."
Toola Roola: "You got it, K!" She took off.
The downside is, we'd only covered about 150-ish kilometers. To get the C-1's within Ferry Range, or about 2800 kilometers, we wouldn't be able to launch for about ten hours. No matter what, they had a head start.. but we still had tricks up our sleeve. I may have set this up on a shoestring, but I knew what I was doing.
If someone arrived to pick them up, one of the scout aircraft would spot them. We projected their fuel loads and endurance to give them a few hours of loiter time over the area, but they would have to crash land in the ocean and be picked up by the fleet. I was willing to trade a few airframes for this.
TIME: 11:40 ERST
LOCATION: Flight Deck, HMS Cloudsdale
K: "Alright, listen up! Everyone coming along is a volunteer! Pilots included! We are about to try something really stupid - we are going to take these Aircraft to the absolute limit of their range. We will then make a drop - we get ONE shot at a clean drop, no go-arounds! We will then capture the criminals, and the enemy, and find out who's calling the shots! This intelligence is vital! We know Tirek set this up, but if Equestria has enemies we don't know about, we NEED to STOP them BEFORE they get us again!" I looked at all of them. "We will likely be outmanned and outgunned - but we are NOT outclassed. WHAT ARE YOU!?"
Crowd: "AIRBORNE!"
K: "Get in your planes, Mares and Gentlecolts. And good luck."
I mounted into Plane #1. Twilight volunteered to pilot it. I would be sitting in as her co-pilot, with Spike as Navigator. I had them, Sunset, Rarity, Fluttershy, Dash, Applejack, and Toola along with. Gaze, Norfy, and Cosmic would be with the Marines that would come rescue us. Dusty, Katrina, Jade, Flash, and Gorcat were along as well. Without Gilda, we were short an experienced flyer, but we'd make do. Webley and Coconut Cream rounded out my staff. On board with us were 34 other Paratroopers.
The plan was to fly over the area, put the plane on auto-pilot for its last few minutes of fuel, and parachute out - aircrew and paratroopers together.
Twilight: "I hope this plan works.. I think it's your craziest idea, yet." She sighed.
K: "It has to work.. or whatever peace we forge after Tirek's defeat will be shadowed with possible enemies on all sides. We need to make sure this is handled." I shook my head a bit. "I'm hoping.. with negotiation."
Spike: "Well.. it DOES work sometimes!" He grinned. "Ready here."
Twilight: "Ops gives us clearance.. I hope this flight deck is long enough." She snorted a bit. "What am I saying? Of course it is - we have seven and a half feet of overage!" She grinned a bit.
K: "Strong winds.. we should be able to get altitude fast. Go." I nodded.
We were off. A seventeen hour flight. The fleet behind us was scraping together 28 knots. We wouldn't see them for up to nine days, though the Roaman fleet was coming from the other direction at a faster pace, and expected to be there in one week.
Still.. this was going to be about endurance, guile, and hopefully.. a peaceful negotiation.
{End of Chapter 93}
