Chapter 95 - My Sore Eye Sore
Part 1: Run-Up
TIME: 07:23 ERST
DATE: War Day 839/9 Octavius 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
Webley: "General.." She nudged me.
I was eating breakfast with Bay Leaf's squad and some of my other staff.
I got up, and grabbed my Grant. I knew why she was pestering me - they'd sighted the potentially-hostile fleet. I followed her, with AJ and Dusty right behind me.
We got to the highest point on the island we could easily get to, and I could see the fleet. Three pre-dreadnaught battleships, six light-weight cruisers, and six escorting destroyers or corvettes. Fifteen ships.. this wasn't some special mission task force. They came expecting a fight.
From what I could tell, they were kinda maneuvering in circles. They were over a dozen kilometers out, and it looked like they couldn't find the islands - the magic of the Glo-Friends was at work. I had no idea how long it would last with that many ships looking. Fortunately, they seemed to be very spread out, and the battleships were sitting still.
I hoped the Roamans would get here soon. It wouldn't take them more than a day to just stumble on to the island by accident. I hoped the Glo-Friends magic would make artillery fire useless.. if so, when they DID find the island, they'd have to try landing troops. That was a fight we could win.
The ships, however, I could tell.. were slow. Coal powered, of course, as all ships generally were. Very outdated looking designs with high hull lines - good seakeeping, bad for fast maneuvering. The battleships had such swooping, clean lines, they looked more like gigantic yachts. The guns looked to be 11-inch or so. The cruiser and destroyer types, though, shared the same type of tiny guns - probably about 4 inchers - and very few of them. What they did have, were torpedoes.
So, the fleet was very "late 19th century" by design. The question was, how long had they been using them, and did they understand fleet tactics? It seemed they didn't - each ship seemed to be doing its own thing.
Webley: "I.. can't get a reading on those. They don't seem to be copied from anything from your world." She shook her head. "Sorry, K."
K: "It's fine. Those battleships are a problem.. but the cruisers and destroyers - corvettes, really - are very simplistic, and based around the torpedo, it seems. Those guns couldn't hold off one of our own Corvettes, much less anything heavier. I don't see machine gun mounts, either, meaning they have no triple-A defense to speak of." I shook my head, studying them through binoculars. "I'll bet they're great seagoing vessels, though - the battleships look especially fat and stable. Also thickly armored, is my guess."
Webley: "What do we do?" She looked at me.
K: "Keep an eye on them. If they seem like they've figured out where we are, we get ready to fight, and hope they can't shell us - the smaller ships might not have the reach to hit the plateau, but if those battleships get range on us, we're going to die. Just that simple. Big, fat trashcans filled with explosives." I shook my head, and handed off the binoculars to one of the Paratroopers.
Webley: "How long do you figure it'll take them to find us?" She already had an estimate, I was sure.
K: "Tomorrow, probably. Maybe a bit later.. noonish, I figure. Just by accident." I rubbed my chin. "Make sure the fighting positions are ready. And make double sure the Unicorn prisoners are secured. I wouldn't put it past them to try a prison break again, if we're busy fighting."
Webley: "On it." She nodded, and we proceeded down the hilltop.
I went to the loose troops.
K: "Enemy's been sighted. Right on schedule. We don't know when they're going to find us, or what they'll do when they do. Make double sure you're ready for a fight. They might try anything from shelling us, to a ground assault. I have no idea who we're dealing with, either." I shrugged. "One of the Arabesque nations, that's all the information I have."
Lt. Hayflower: "Gonna try diplomacy first, sir?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
K: "Of course, but I have no idea if they speak Equestrian, or if they're interested in talking. For all I know, they have orders to simply kill everyone here - Tirek, being the ultimate puppetmaster of this scheme, might want all the loose ends tied up for whatever reason." I shrugged, and gestured. "If they want a fight, we'll give them one. Hopefully, our friends will be here soon."
Lt. Hayflower: "You heard him, Ponies. I want these fighting positions checked and re-checked for overlapping fields of fire. We haven't got any heavy weapons, so we need to make what we do have, count." She dispersed the troops.
I went and found Rarity.
K: "Rarity, darling?" I leaned into the 'darling' in a friendly, slightly flirty manner.
Rarity: "YES, darling!" She returned the light flirtation, leaning over her sniper rifle.
K: "Max range you can hit a target with your 11mm." I went to business.
Rarity: "Ohh.. about a kilometer and a half if I use magic." She tapped her chin, thoughtfuly.
K: "I might need you to pull off an assassination shot." I shrugged. "I can't make a judgment call just yet, since I haven't seen them in action, but if they're an analogue to my world's Arabian culture, they're almost as dependent on leadership as Herdiets are. Take out the highest ranked officer, they lose the ability to coordinate effectively. Herdiets can just freeze up when you off their officers, Arabians will falter for a while until the next in line gets their head together, but it's significant." I gestured towards the ocean. "They compartmentalize, but not because of an enforced culture from the top down, but a desire to elevate themselves at the expense of others."
Rarity: "Fascinating, Darling. Of course, I shall use my skills to the best of their ability." She gave me flirty eye-bats, and a smirk - she wanted some fun, soon. Not that I minded.
After a bit, I found Fluttershy. She was putting together food parcels for the troops - we likely wouldn't get a chance to cook once we were under siege.
Fluttershy: "I know we have some rations left, K, but not enough to last a week." She sighed. "We did have to compromise somewhere." On weight, she meant, to make the flight.
K "Good thinking, Flutters." I pet her mane a bit.
Fluttershy: "We always seem to be in such dangerous situations.." She sighed. "..I'll be glad when this war is over. It's gotten so scary. It was easier to think about when.." She looked down. "..before bad things started happening to us." She meant her own personal tragedies.. and, now, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale. I knew she had a small home up there that she hardly ever used.
K: "Fluttershy.. your mom survived Cloudsdale, right?" I knew she didn't really care about her dad.
Fluttershy: "I.. think so." She blinked, she hadn't checked.
K: "Make sure you catch up with her, later, when we get back." I nodded to her.
Fluttershy: "That's a good idea." She smiled a bit.
K: "What.." I got into a Slav Squat (remember: heels touch ground when slavs squat around) and looked her in the eyes. "..was your home life like? Really, I mean."
Fluttershy: "My father never.." She looked down. "..really cared about me. He called me names, he.. I mean, I admit it, before the war, I was a weak flyer, and I still am, compared to Dash or Spitfire. He ridiculed me for it. And he said.. I would be better off as.." She blinked.
Dash: "He called her a whore." She strode up, and sat down. "Twice in front of me. First time was when we were about 11." She looked at me. "He was very mean to her. I tried to keep her over at my place as much as I could." She looked disgusted.
K: "And her mom..? Your mom?" I looked between them.
Fluttershy: "She never said anything. She got quiet when he got like that." She focused on assembling the food parcels, she couldn't look at either of us.
Dash: "He hit her. Flutters' dad, I mean, her mom." She looked me square in the eye. "I never saw him do it, but I saw her. She'd have a bruise I could see, every now and then." She looked away a bit. "I tried to tell MY folks.. but.. they couldn't believe it. They.. kinda didn't want me hanging with Fluttershy, anyway.. they were.. are.. focused on me being a winner."
K: "All of you girls pretty much come from broken homes, somehow. Twilight's dad is a traitor. Fluttershy's father is an abuser and her mother an enabler. Your parents are hyper demanding - probably made you diet as a teen to keep you from gaining too much weight. Pinkie.. we know what happened there. Applejack's parents died. Rarity's parents are snobs that thought Sweetie Belle was a whore, too.." I trailed off. "..I wonder what Toola's damage is?" I reached out and caressed Fluttershy's face. "I care about you." I hugged them both. "Know that."
Fluttershy: "I do." She hugged back, softly.
Dash: "Yeah.. I know." She was just as tender.
I got up and made for the HQ area. I knew we wouldn't have to wait that long for them to find us. Trying to find out everything about the girls after four years of knowing them.. it was on my mind.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Enhanced Mood
TIME: 09:12 ERST
DATE: War Day 839/9 Octavius 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
I found Toola using her paints to camouflage the crashed aircraft as best as possible. She'd created more from the things she'd found on the island, and was doing a rather decent job of it - all by herself, she'd done almost the entire top of the plane.
I climbed up to where she was, making sure I stayed on the dry parts. For as long as I'd known her, and fucked her, I realized I didn't really know her all that well. Now that we were away from Equestria, I could feel certain thoughts and wonders creep up in the back of my head, and I attributed it to that "Spell of Carefree" I had long theorized about, having a limited range.
K: "Hey, Toola. Great work." I nodded to her design.
Toola: "Thanks. Gotta keep busy." She said, setting her brush down, and stretching. "What's up?"
K: "Tell me about.. your parents?" I blinked, looking her right in the eye. "All the other Elements came from something resembling a broken home or a bad home life. I want to know about you."
Toola: "Oh.. ah.. heh.. there's not much to say, I guess.." She grew uncomfortable, and scratched at her dreadlocks a bit.
K: "You're being evasive. Come on, Toola.." I gestured. "..we fuck often enough.." We'd done it a couple of days before the Tornado - her, me, and Applejack, out in the edge of the woods. "..we're friends.. I really want to know."
Toola: "Well.. art.. wasn't exactly what they wanted for me." She sighed. "My father was a science professor, and my mother is a librarian. My dad tried to teach me science from a young age, but I wasn't interested in it at all. He ran all kinds of experiments.. he tried to get me to help with them.." She lowered her gaze. "..I-uh.. he.." She sniffled a little.
K: "It's okay, Toola." I put a hand on her shoulder.
Toola: "I appreciate that, K----. But it won't ever be okay. I.. it's my fault he died." She cried a bit, choked at the irony of it. "He was running this experiment with electricity, high voltage stuff, running it through chemicals.. I was there.. he told me.. instructed me to watch the reactions and tell him, like when they changed colors and stuff.. and I was.. I was drawing on the notepad instead.." She started crying harder. "He came in the room..! And.. he screamed at me to get away.. and.. he.. pushed me.. it exploded.." She sobbed. "IF I JUST PAID ATTENTION!" She threw herself on me, almost knocking both of us off the top of the plane.
I held her tightly. She cried for a good ten minutes.
K: "Feel better?" I finally asked, as he sobs subsided.
Toola: "..yeah. Actually." She chuckle-sniffled, her lungs hiccuping. "I haven't thought about that in.. so long." She shook her head. "Right after it happened, while Mom was still at the hospital, I just packed my things and left." She cuddled into me. "I haven't seen her in ten years."
K: "You should. At least let her know you're alive." I pet her dreads.
Toola: "Why bother? If she knew the truth about what happened.." She sniffled.
K: "She doesn't know, exactly?" I asked.
Toola: "No, no.. just that.. it was an experiment and it was an accident, and he pushed me out of the way of the blast." She sniffled some more.
K: "Where were you from?" I asked.
Toola: "Seacattle, Wenatchee." She sighed.
K: "Seattle, Washington, in my world." I nodded. "I kinda expected that. Given your relatively progressive leanings. Seattle is pretty progressive.." I trailed off - having left in 2012, I didn't know what Seattle had been up to (as of this writing, by 2024).
Toola: "My parents are from Porterland, Ouaricon. They moved to Seacattle so dad could teach at the University." She shrugged a bit.
K: "Hm. We should make a point of visiting them. I mean, if your mother has been reading the newspaper, she might know you're involved in the war.." I sighed. "..she might be worried sick."
Toola: "I.. never thought about it." She blinked.
K: "How did you get your Mark, Toola?" I asked, pointedly.
Toola: "I.." She blushed. "..I know the other girls got theirs seeing Rainbow Dash. I.. I did, too. I was.. at a summer camp, and I'd wandered away to find something to draw. I looked up, and there it was.." She smiled broadly.
Dash: "Whoa, really?" She hovered up next to us. "Cool! So, it was, like, FATE that you'd be at our side!" She gave Toola a half-hug.
K: "I think the Rainboom might've had an effect on the Aether." I nodded a bit. "Dash, Toola, file that away under 'things we should address later when we're not about to engage in a ground battle.'"
Dash: "You got it." She gave me half-hug, too. "I never did thank you properly for saving Gilda and our kids. K. Thank you." She gave me a full hug for that.
K: "What are friends for?" I smirked.
Toola: "Maybe I should make peace with my mom. Or.." She lowered her head a bit. "..just admit the truth and let her hate me. I mean, I've faced death every day since Neighpon. I shouldn't be afraid of this."
K: "There's a big difference between beign shot at, and being hated by someone you respect and love." I shrugged, and patted her mane.
The three of us sat up there for a bit longer, just staring into the distance. Heads empty, hearts filled. Even if we were going to face danger, soon. Waiting was often more painful than happenings.
After a while, I climbed down and made my way over to Twilight. I pet her mane - and realized it was softer than it was when she was a full Pony - and leaned over to see what she was doing.
Twilight: "..I'm calculating the magical output of the GloFriends, and seeing just how long they might be able to keep it up." She flexed her draconic wings. "It's strange, I feel.. more in tune with different magic, now."
K: "Well.. you did almost die. Technically, you WERE dead.. just.. you got better." I gave her a one-arm hug.
Twilight: "I never did thank you." She embraced me, tight, warm, gratitude, friendship.
I just kinda cuddled her a moment. I could feel peace returning to her heart. After everything we've all been through since the start of the war, she had lost and suffered so much. I was glad to feel this from her - that she wasn't retreating into her intellectual shell.
K: "I just found out - Toola saw the Rainboom, too, while she was at summer camp, while she was looking for something to do art on." I pet her mane, and let her go, only when she allowed me. "I think, if we look back and start asking questions, a lot of people saw it and it changed them. Every little bit of magic in this world seems to have its own follow-on effects."
Twilight: "Interesting theory!" She smiled a bit, and scooted back over to her work. "I'll have to see about that when I get a chance."
K: "Indeed." I got up, and went to inspect fighting positions.
Webley was hard at work on making sure she had as many possibilities covered as she could. She was also humming the MLP Gen 2 theme song while she did it - which, of course, she wouldn't know without a Connection.
K: "You're doing great work, Webs." I nodded.
Webley: "Thanks." She blushed a little. "K, you've been such a good friend. I mean it. You showed me that I wasn't crazy. You gave me a purpose. You've.." She waved a hand at a Montangnard Crosssbow she erected. "..let me use my talent in ways I never thought I could."
K: "Growth is growth, Webs." I leaned in and gave her a hug. "You're stronger than you think." I nodded to her. "You've shown that time and again."
Webley: "I have, huh?" She smirked. "After this war, I want pizza." She nodded. "I know we can't get Domino's or DiGiorno out here, but I want to eat a pizza you made with just.. love and peace!" She struck a pose very similar to Vash the Stampede.. if he was a pony.
K: "Hah-ha! You got it. Provided I'm allowed to remain here." I nodded, reminding her.
Webley: "..yeah." She lowered her head a bit. "That whole 'universal rules' thing. Whether the outsider element is allowed to remain at the conclusion of the story, or not. Or.. maybe your story is longer than you think it is?" She raised and tilted her head. "Remember the Hero Trap of.. if you kill the main villain, does someone worse pop up?"
K: "There's always that chance." I shrugged. "We'll have to see. For now, let's prepare for what's going to happen in the next day or so. If I'm right, the Roamans should be here in perhaps two days."
Webley: "Let's hope Admiral Tortellini can make good time." She smirked. "He's nice. Too flirty, adulterous, but nice."
K: "He's a good friend." I shrugged.
Really, I had the best friends, and as I often say, Friendship is Magic. Especially here. I spent the rest of the day helping improve the positions and make them temporarily livable, and ensuring supplies were pre-positioned.
The worst thing was, we didn't have very much ammo, and nothing but assault rifles. Each Paratrooper had seven magazines, NCO's and Officers had handguns, and each Paratrooper had two Grenades. No Launchers. Lightness was required to make the trip work.
It wouldn't be long before we would be put to the test.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Nub of Resistance
TIME: 07:32 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
We heard them, and we saw them. One of the small torpedo boats ran aground on the island by accident. They had no idea it was there. Just as I was finishing breakfast, too.
Webley: "Sir! They've crashed into the island!" She scooted up. "First Squad, on me."
K: "Yep, I'm going, too." I stood up and moved with her.
We got to the edge of the plateau, and looked down towards the rocky beach. Indeed, one of the Torpedo Boats had run around on what looked like sharp coral, about 5 meters off the actual beach area, in the water.
I could hear them talking, too. In Pashtun.
K: "That's not a language I know, Webs, that's Farsi." I knew what it sounded like, but not how to speak it.
Webley: "A language you don't know? Heh." She smirked, and looked through her binoculars. "Oohh.. those are camels, sir!"
K: "Camels? Hmm. Camel hump is supposed to be delicious." I shrugged, as Katrina came up behind us.
Katrina: "Prayerbug says the veil is pierced, they can't maintain the stealth field much longer." She scratched her chin a bit. "I wonder what it DOES taste like? A week of fruits and fish is fine, but.." She purred a bit. "..I do like meat."
K: "Heh-heh." I smiled. "Stow it, kitty-kitty." I playfully poked her. "Sight in on the deck crew, but hold fire. Let them make the aggressive move first."
Katrina stuck her tongue out at me, as the Paras all got into position and readied themselves to fire. I could see the camels aboard the ship were dressed in very Arabesque clothing - it was rather flowey, while clearly looking like "sailor clothes," in that they were a tunic and pants with a slip around the shoulder, and a kerchief around the neck, were topped with Fez hats for the NCO's, Keffiyeh with decorated Agal for the officers, and the standard sailors wore round Arakhchin-styled hats with a poof on top. Pants were very loose around their rear legs, and blue. The tunics were white. They were secured by various belt types, all some form of wrapped fabric. NCO's carried short swords and pistols. Officers carried pistols and longer swords.
I could make out three officers on the bridge, and at least five NCO's on deck. Everyone was scurrying around, trying to figure out what to do next.
I watched as one of the officers radioed their position to their fleet, and moved to the deck to fire a flare from a Verey pistol. They were bringing help.
I honestly wondered if they spoke Equestrian, the officers. It would make sense if they did, and if they didn't.
K: "Cover me, I'm going to try something." I nodded to them both.
I carefully moved out of cover, and slung my rifle behind me. Let's see how they react - if they think The Human means a curse of some kind, they're not likely to listen to reason. If they're just here to kill everyone, it won't much matter. But! If they're open to talking, they won't just instantly start shooting.
K: "AHOY! ABOARD THE SHIP!" I called out.
Now, to be fair, I'm wearing an Equestrian Woodland/Jungle Camo Pattern uniform with subdued rank insigna on the collar. I have my tactical rig on, in OD green, with two triple rifle magazine pouches. My Glock is on a drop-leg holster with two spare mags. I have my bayonet over my left shoulder, and two grenades in pouches on my hip. I look like a soldier of some kind. Top this off with my baseball cap, and I look like I mean business.
The Camels stopped, and came to the edge of the deck to get a look at me. They became animated, agitated, and one of the NCO's stepped forwards, drawing his pistol.
K: "WEBS! JUST HIM!" I called back.
He went down with a shot to the head. I held my arms out, as if to say, let's not do anything else stupid. One of the officers - the ship's captain, I figured, came forwards at this point, shoving his personnel out of the way.
Captain: "WHAT WANT YOU!?" He yelled at me, angrily.
K: "Peace! Your NCO didn't give me much choice! Can we talk about this!?" I called up to him, my arms still away from my body.
Captain: "YOU. HUMEN! SURRENDER TO MOST GRACIOUS IMPERIAL SULTAN!" He snorted, but looked up towards the edge of the plateau, and waved at his sailors to get back.
K: "NO! COME DOWN AND TALK TO ME! WE CAN WORK A DEAL, IF WE TRY!" I yelled back at him.
Captain: "NO DEAL! HUMEN SURRENDER, OR HUMEN DIE! STANDING ORDER!" He bellowed back.
K: "If that's how you feel about it.."
I shrugged, and immediately dove behind a rock, pulling a grenade out, and yanking the pin. The paratroopers on the plateau ridge started shooting at the ship. The gun crew on the forward cannon grabbed shells and tried to get to the gun, but my Paratroopers were good enough shots, that this wasn't possible. I hucked the grenade towards the ship, and it landed short of the bridge, exploding, and killing several.
I slipped my rifle back around, and got a firing position, but there was little movement.
K: "WEBS!" I called for her.
She zoomed down, and the two of us advanced on the ship, out into the water, and once we got to the coral reef that had torn it open, I noted it did have a metal hull. I motioned for Webs to give me a boost, and she slid her forelegs under my arms, and flapped HARD.. getting just enough of a rise for me to grab the edge of the deck and pull myself up.
Once up, I counted 34 bodies, including the Captain.
K: "Webs, get the squad down here, and have them dismount this gun." I moved over to it, and fingered the bore. "Sub-three inch. I think 100mm or so." I shrugged. "It's worth stealing."
I slithered up towards the round bridge structure, and took a quick peek inside, leading my Grant around the corner. One of the bridge officers was trying to crawl away. I put a round in the back of his head and pulled myself in. Checking the.. lack of corners.. I made a quick assessment of the bridge and its controls. Besides the radio, everything was very "late 19th century" in style, design, and use.
This told me the enemy faction, whoever they are, had started at the same technology level as the rest of Equus, more or less, and however they managed to find or steal the technology for guns and artillery, they adapted what they currently had to what they obtained. Adaptability, but not improvement or advancement. Either they lacked people studying this type of hard science in numbers, or they simply had a 19th century style non-centralized industry.
I noted that the bridge had a covered stairwell that led directly to the deck below. I moved to the door, and seeing as it was still shut, I secured the hatch levers with a fire axe handle. If anyone was down there, they weren't getting up THIS way.
I looked out at the deck, and Webley's squad were swarming up the sides, and starting to loot the enemy. We'd need whatever they had, if we hoped to defend the island at all. I went over to the radio, and sat down, checking it over. It was a wide band radio, able to singal on multiple channels, and despite the local embellishments, looked almost exactly like the RNIM-3 Radio Set used aboard "A" Class corvettes.
Fine. Let's see who's listening.
I switched to the NEIGHTO frequency, and keyed the mic. I then sent out a message in Pony Morse Code (which is the same as ours). "A-L-P-H-A. A-N-Y. R-S-V-P."
After about three minutes, I got some kind of response back, but they were so far out of range, I couldn't make out the message. I could hear faint dots and dashes, but the static made it impossible to get the pattern.
Either way, someone was in the area, and they now knew we needed help.
I moved back out on to the deck, noting that you were either ON the bridge, or down on the deck, there was no walkway or anything - a few small steps that seemed like a bit of an after thought, though. I surmised the intended way to get on the Bridge was from the rear.
Webely: "We've got the gun taken off its mount, and we got four cases of shells." She nodded.
K: "I'll grab a couple myself. Come on, let's get away from this thing." I nodded back towards the island.
The Paras had grabbed some pieces of the ship to use as floating bits for the gun parts. We got the ship gun back on shore, and up on to the plateau. A couple Paras and Applejack got busy dismantling part of the plane to give the gun some skids, so we could slide it around.
Twilight: "How's it look?" She paced up.
K: "We damaged and partially stripped a.. corvette-sized torpedo boat, and stole its gun. Looks like about 100mm or so." I shrugged a bit. "We managed to grab six cases of shells, that's 36 shells for it. They're kinda small, and they don't seem to have an AP cap on them, so, they're probably not a true AP round. Probably a shaped charge, though." I set the cases I took, down. "Also, they just want me dead or captured, they're not willing to talk."
Twilight: "Unfortunate." She furrowed her brow.
K: "But, plus side, I sent a signal from that thing in Morse Code on the NEIGHTO channel, and I got a response. Unreadable, but I got a response." I looked in the direction of the ship. "That means someone who likes us, is merely hours away, and they got our signal. Hopefully, they got a fix on its exact location."
Twilight: "Good!" She nodded smartly.
K: "Bad thing is, the enemy will get a fix on us, too - they sent out a message before we managed to kill them. Guaranteed, they'll find us first. They're also Arab of some kind and speak Farsi. This tells me that this specific Arabesque nation is a mish-mash of more than one culture from Earth. Which is what I'd expect - think about it, and think about those Universal Laws things." I nodded to her.
Twilight: "It would make the most sense that at least one Arabesque culture would be a sort of combination of multiple ones from your world, reflecting how your world 'knows' about us - just like how the Zebra work. It's not one of your cultures, but many all at once." This made her think.
K: "It also tells me this isn't Saddle Arabia. From what contact North Equus has had with South Equus, you've told me that Saddle Arabia is a Pony nation. They're likely a very direct reflection of pure Arabic culture.. from my perspective." I wagged a finger at her.
Rarity: "Really, darlings, besides some basic trade for clothing, spices, and some jewelry and things, we don't have a lot of contact with these cultures. We.. sort of stuck to our own paddocks, as it were." She suddenly seemed perturbed by this realization. "I wonder, darling, K.. would that Spell of Carefree we keep thinking about, have something to do with it?"
K: "It would make sense. Stick to your own herds and herd-allies, compatible cultures as much as possible, so you don't start conflicts.. isolationism as a survival instinct." I gestured.
Webley: "Sir!" She trotted over. "Two more of those Corvettes are headed this way. They seem to be coming at us piecemeal." She shrugged.
K: "Prepare to resist an assault. Sneak that cannon around to whatever side of the island they approach from, and get ready to take a few shots at their ships. Maybe we can sink one and get the other one to back off." I nodded to her.
Webley: "Got it." And off she took.
Battle was joined.. now, how would it play out?
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: Corrected Metrics
TIME: 08:14 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
Webely and her picked crew had the ship cannon around to the side of the island the Corvettes were approaching from. They were waiting for my order to open fire. I wanted to see what the Corvettes would do, actually. They were likely responding to the radio message from the first one.. but, what did that mean?
Webley: C> "Sir, I see landing troops on the Corvettes' decks."
K: C> "Range?"
Webley: C> "One-one double oh. I don't think these things have that kind of range."
K: C> "Wait until they're almost to shore and slow down. I didn't see any rafts or small boats on the ship we shot up, they'll have to get close to shore and land the troops manually."
Webley: C> "You got it."
K: "PLACES!" I called out, and everyone got to disguised fighting positions.. now, the waiting game.
About eight minutes later, I heard Webley's cannon open up, and I could tell by the sounds being made, these were semi-auotmatic naval guns - they kicked the shells out automatically and left the feed tray open. This was unlike our own designs, telling me they DID do some advancements. I heard her fire off five rounds.
Webley: C> "Corvette sunk. The other one is coming in at high speed - they're trying to beach!"
K: C> "Pepper them." I ordered.
Webley's gun fired again, but this time, the enemy fired back. Their crew had more practice on the weapon, and could fire a bit faster. One of the shells overshot and landed near the plane, but caused no injuries.
Webley: C> "The've got troops ashore, pulling back. Second Corvette is in sinking condition, but she's beached and at an angle she can't use her deck gun on us."
K: C> "Gotcha." I looked up to everyone, and pointed at the beach the enemy soldiers would be coming from.
After another two minutes, I could hear the enemy soldiers cursing to themselves, trying to hack their way through the brush.
K: "Steady.." I patted the ones in my fighting position - Dusty, AJ, Fluttershy, and Gorcat.
Gorcat: "Heh.. time for fun." He leaned into his suppressed Gale carbine.
The troops came into the clearing, and saw the plane. An NCO pointed to it, and said something in Farsi that sounded like they were surprised it was 'right there' or something..
K: "OPEN FIRE!"
Suppressed gunfire flooded the jungle.. poofs and swooshes, quieter than normal gunshots, but not totally silent. The enemy, confused about where the shooting was coming from, started firing in every direction - the few able to get off some shots. The rest just died.
After a bit of shooting, it was all over.
K: "Get out there and grab their guns! Make darn sure they're dead, first!" I ordered.
I covered as some Paras, Gorcat, and Jade snatched up the enemy weapons, and distributed the ammo, before getting back into their fighting positions.
Sunset: "The other ship's crew is getting up this way, K! From the other side!" She pointed.
K: "Cover!" I got down, and we waited.
This group was more strung out. There were clearly some kind of Ground Force troops mixed in with surviving sailors. The officers from the ship were in the lead. I couldn't readily identify the Ground Force officers, but the NCO's were somewhat easy to distinguish - their helmets had a red string around them, and they had some kind of boxy chevrons on their sleeves.
Once more, we waited, drew them in, and once they were near-ish the plane, inspecting the bodies of their fallen comrades, we ambushed them, opened fire, and dropped them all quickly - they reacted even slower than the first group.
K: "All clear!" I called, and got up, moving out to have a look at them. "Twilight! Anyone injured?"
Twilight: "No one." She moved out with me. "Hm. I don't think these landing troops had any officers leading them, here. Or they died when the ship sank." She picked through the bodies. "Actually, this naval officer here has tan pants on. I think they send naval officers ashore with their landing troops, instead of the landing troops having their own officers!"
K: "Kinda fits." I shrugged. "If they're Arabesque, a cultural thing of theirs is self-compartmentalization. To them, information and skill represents the ability to gain power and authority. They DON'T SHARE what they have, or know, with their comrades. Leadership is one such thing. If they arranged it so these Ground Troops are just grunts, it makes sense that Navy officers would lead them - it maintains a limited pool of officers and gives Naval officers more than one avenue for advancement."
Sunset: "Isn't that really detrimental to smooth operation?" She cocked a brow.
K: "Very. But it keeps the number of Elites small, the club more exclusive. This is just how they are.. to them, sharing means giving up power, authority, and prestige. In my world, Arab armies have huge problems with logistics and maintenance of complex systems that require significant education and instruction. The standard Western method is to train a few specialists, who then go on to train others. In Arab armies, those specialists become officers, if they aren't so already, and hoard all the educational materials to themselves, so no one can show them up. They don't train the maintenance crews, then complain when complex systems break, and call them fragile.. when they're the ones not doing proper maintenance." I gestured. "Just an example. But, that's part of my point - the difference between Arabesque Camel and Herdiet Ponies is that the lower ranks are actively discouraged from taking the initative, as if they fail, they're severely punished. Arabesque lower ranks see losing a superior in combat as a chance to excel - they might falter initially, but they'll have the guts to keep trying.. though each effort will be with less skill and tact, as the lower in the ranks you go, the less skilled and trained they are."
Sunset: "How confusing!" She snorted. "I mean, even on.. uh.. Not-Earth? Yeah. We teamed up when we had to, to get the work done and share the load."
K: "Elitism is a major part of their culture. Someone's got to be Number One, and every Arab is convinced they have to get there, even at the expense of others. It makes them dangerous, as the less skilled they are, the more willing they are to try something crazy." I smirked. "It also makes them a real nightmare to face in any kind of battle, if they have their dander up and are really eager to fight or die. To them, death in battle against the right enemy, is a blessing." I shrugged. "Against me and my forces? Oh, they're probably very convinced they're going to Camel Heaven."
And, really, that analysis of how Arab armies work is based on a report made to the US DOD about why Arab forces prefer Soviet/Russian gear to Western gear. Western gear has the bestest and newest stuff, even if it's a bit fragile. Soviet/Russian stuff is built to be idiot proof (as possible). This toughness means Soviet/Russian stuff can survive a great deal longer with less maintenance, and doesn't take a particularly skilled machinist to maintain or repair.
As with all things human, this represents another "strengths-and-weaknesses" of the cultures involved.
K: C> "Webs. Talk to me."
Webley: C> "We're down to 18 shells, but no one's injured. We've sunk two of their torpedo boats. I can see the other ships slowly coming towards us, or making turns to come this way. The battleships are still just sitting there."
K: C> "Alright.. can you get out there and salvage another gun?" I asked, thinking about what we might have as options.
Webley: C> "..yes, but I'll need some help. Send up third squad."
K: "Third Squad! Regroup with Webley." I pointed in her direction.
Off they went. And.. despite having little to start with, careful theft of enemy gear, has me sitting pretty with one naval gun, and acquiring a second.
We just needed to hold them off.. just a while longer..
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: From the North
TIME: 09:04 ERST
DATE: War Day 840/24 Septimus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Flower Island, Eyesore Islands
Radio: C> "This is RCS Manitou! Equestrian Task Force, do you read us?!"
K: "Over here!" I reached for the radio pack. C> "Manitou! This is Alpha Actual! How copy, over?"
Manitou Radiopup: C> "This is Manitou. Read you four by five. We are enroute. ETA is three hours.. air support is available, ETA thirty minutes from launch! What'cha need, Alpha?"
K: C> "Load for Anti-Ship, I have three Battleships and some Torpedo Cruisers and Torpedo Corvettes hanging around with landing troops that we can see. Strike the enemy fleet. Do you read, Manitou?"
Manitou Radiopup: C> "We read'ya Alpha. ETA forty minutes."
K: C> "We look forward to the assistance, Manitou. Alpha, out."
Webley: "HEY! Reinforcements! Yahoo!" She raised her right leg. "Ya hear that, Airborne!? Canida's coming!"
They cheered. Friends were coming. The kinds of friends that EAT our enemies. About twenty five minutes later, we saw something in the skies, too.
Flash Sentry: "General! Aircraft overhead!" He pointed up.
Above us, uniquely-designed neutral bouyancy aircraft - ten of them - were circling the area. I'd never seen them before, but they had Canidan markings - the red maple leaf. After a bit, they got into a straight line formation, and each one released three parachuters.
I just smirked.
The first three landed in the clearing by the plane, the others were a bit strung out. I ran over to the first three, and very un-General-y hugged him.
K: "HAVOC! Who's a good boy?!" I pet him, ruffled him, and got licked in the face. "Ack! Not the face!"
Havoc: "Didja miss me!?" He laughed.
Bella: "We're here!" She disengaged from her 'chute.
Lt. Barker: "Good t'see ya, friends!" He got untangled as well. "We brought more ammo."
Sunset: "Ah.. hello." She bowed a little to them. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, the new Element of Magic."
Twilight: "Hi, Havoc." She shrugged her wings.
Havoc: "OH! Twilight! Ah.. new.. new haircut?" He cocked a brow.
Twilight: "Hah!" She smiled.
Bella: "HAVOC!" She nudged him. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Sunset, nice to meet you." She bowed. "I'm Master Sergeant Bella Donna. Havoc's mate. Havoc is the commander of the 1st Canidan Rangers."
Lt. Barker: "Yeah. We were Timberwolves, until K rescued us." He nodded to me, as Sgt. O'Fang came up with the rest of the team.
K: "Hey, O'Fang!" He got pettings, too.
Sgt. O'Fang: "Hey, K!" He nodded to everyone. "Nice t'see'ya!"
K: "Long story short, Twilight was killed by Tirek, but I made Tiamat revive her. This.. turned her into a half-dragon." I gestured to Sunset. "This is Sunset, she used to be Celestia's student, and Twilight's match. We rescued her from a version of the human world, killed Tirek's shadow clone, and she took over as the Element of Magic."
Lt. Barker: "Any friend'a K's is a friend'a ours." He stuck out his paw to Sunset.
She shook with a broad grin.
K: "Talk to me, Havoc." I wanted a bird's eye SitRep.
Havoc: "The entire Canidan fleet is almost here." He beamed a grin. "We're the fastest, most modern fleet afloat. Even our Carrier does 32 knots."
K: "Well..!" I blinked. "What're we facing?"
Havoc: "There's two more Battleships hanging around where you can't see them, with smaller task forces attached. I had to redirect our strikes to one of them. Sorry." He shrugged. "Each of our Cruisers carries the CS-1 Hound Scout Plane. Heavies carry five, Lights carry three."
K: "It's fine. Does your carrier have enough ordnance to sink the enemy fleet?" I moved up with him, watching the Hounds in the sky.
Havoc: "Not by a long shot. It only has 12 CFA-1 Firefox fighter-bombers. It has enough ordnance stores for.. five, maybe six strikes of anti-ship, and another two for anti-ground." He sighed.
K: "It's fine. This is a lot more than I was expecting." I shrugged at him.
Havoc: "We might be able to get one of the Task Forces with aircraft. Those cruisers are VERY light.. I think even our Frigates could take them. The problem is.. well.." He shrugged. "Admiral Labrador is a little reluctant to engage such a large force. She doesn't have any combat experience, none of the fleet does. We've trained, but.. not any real force-on-force or anything."
K: "Well, our goal isn't a naval battle. We will if we have to. Do you know where the Roaman fleet is?" I tilted my head, looking to the north-east.
Havoc: "They're almost here, too. They're about the same distance away as we are, but they're moving slower. Look, I had an idea.." He pawed my hip a bit.
K: "Anything." I nodded.
Havoc: "Our frigates do 39 knots, and they have a shallow displacement. We can get them on in close to the island and evacuate you, and get out of here." He snorted.
K: "YES! Yes, we do that." I patted his head. "Panters!" He usually had the Comms.
Panters: "Hey, General!" He beamed. "Good to see you!" He had been talking with Appeljack. "When we get some peaceful time, my family's got these wild apple trees on our property.. I offered ta give yer wife some saplings." He handed me the Comm mic.
K: C> "This is Alpha Actual to.." I looked at Havoc.
Havoc: "Sea Dog Actual."
K: C> "..Sea Dog Actual. Do you read me, over?"
Adm. Labrador: C> "This is Sea Dog Actual. Go ahead."
K: C> "Hunter Actual's plan. I want to try it. Approach south-by-southwest. There's a small sand beach, there. I'll need at least three ships. I have 149 ponies to evacuate, plus Hunter Team."
Adm. Labrador: C> "You'll have it! ETA two hours."
K: C> "Roger." I nodded to Webley. "Get everoyne together and get the prisoners ready to move to the south-west beach. We're getting out of here."
Webley: "Right!" She tapped a few Canids and moved off.
Applejack: "Welp. Seems like we pulled this'un off, too, hun." She nuzzled me a bit.
K: "Yeah." I nodded firmly.
We'd be out of here before the enemy could try landing troops again. Toola, at my direction, quickly painted the enemy soldiers and their uniforms. We took samples of their weapons and ammo. Intelligence, all of it.
Now.. we just needed to escape.
{End of Chapter 95}
