Chapter 106: Fields and Dreams
Part 1: Search and Seed
TIME: 11:53 GKT
DATE: War Day 887/11 Noneus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Rural Griffon Kingdom
We moved to the rough search area. Blizz was flying and rather enjoying the controls of the slower, more stable vehicle. I was seated in the co-pilot seat, watching through the wind screen.
Moon Dancer: "Mm.. I'm not picking up any major magics." She shrugged. "Havoc should be picking up Katrina and Jade from Griffonstone soon."
K: "We'll get radio contact from them when they do." I shrugged.
Dawn: "Well.. you may not be detecting magic, but I'm seeing something." She nodded. "Slow up. Bring us to a hover. I see something down there I don't like."
Blizz slowed down, and got to a hover. We all moved to a position where we could see what Dawn had seen. The fields here had a distinct darkening pattern - a dead section. Like those chemicals were in play.
Moreover, we saw a village not far from it. A proper village, at least a hundred residents or more, judging by the number of structures.
K: "Land us in that open section of dirt, there." I pointed.
Blizz: "No problem, K." She nodded, and we took her down.
Olivine: "I'm wondering what's up here. I mean, they've got another dying field. More chemicals? Something else?" She shrugged.
K: "We'll find out soon enough." I nodded. "Sparky! Lugnut!"
Lugnut: "Yes, Mister K!" He nodded firmly.
K: "Just, K, guys, come on." I shrugged. "When we disembark, bring the XY to a hover at 15 meters and leave it there. Then secure yourselves below decks. Gorcat? Greta? Stay here for the moment. These are Griffons, they can fly." I gestured.
Sparky: "Ya c'n count on us, K!" He beamed a grin.
Gorcat: "You got it, bo- Uh.. K." He blushed a bit. "Sorry. Old habit."
Greta: "I get it - he was your leader for a long time. But, now, you're equals." She nodded. "MY Alpha. MY King."
We disembarked as a team, and made for the village. They should have answers. It was clear, by now, that Tirek and the Storm King had not ONLY gotten here first, they'd started low level tit-for-tat over the Griffon Kingdom.
K: "Welcome to Grylan." I nodded to the sign. "Hey.." I lowered my head.
Dusty: "What's up, K?" She nodded to me.
K: "Gorcat's brother, Gordog, works here." I pointed to the guards at the village gate. "HEY! One of you Gordog!?"
Gordog: "I am Gordog!" He stepped forwards.
I noted his feather pattern was darker than Gorcat's but the same base colors. His head plumage was also slightly more grey at the edges.
K: "I'm General K of Equestria. Your brother, Gorcat, and I are friends. I'm also acquainted with your uncle, Gorton, and your father, Dr. Gormutton." I stuck out my hand.
Gordog looked at my hand, then me, and smiled. He then hugged me.
Gordog: "Welcome to Grylan, then!" And patted me on the back.
Dusty: "Not the greeting I was expecting." She shrugged.
Gordog: "If you can get on well enough with my Pops and Uncle Gorton, that's good enough for me!" He grinned.
Moon Dancer: "Oh, by the by, your brother has become King. He restored the Idol of Boreas." She nodded.
Gordog: "Really!?" He blinked a bit. "HUH!" He shrugged a bit. "I-I always knew he was the smart one of the family.." And he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his left claw.
K: "Still." I patted Gordog on the shoulder. "He's my best friend. I'd like us to be friends, too. And don't down yourself, like that, okay? Confidence!" I nodded firmly to him. "Your brother's back on the Aeroskiff."
Gordog: "Really?" He blinked, and shrugged. "Which way?"
K: "Over there." I pointed back towards the Aeroskiff.
Gordog thought for a moment, his face blank, then he looked up at me and smiled a bit.
Gordog: "You think he'd be happy to see me?"
K: "Sure!" I shrugged. "Warn you, he married Greta Grainsberry." I thumbed back towards the Aeroskiff.
Gordog: "OH!" He flapped his wings a bit. "I gotta go see!" He scooted off, but not at full speed.
Dusty: "He's nice enough, but I can tell he's not a smart one." She shrugged a bit, talking in low tones.
K: "Don't matter. He's friendly and full of love." I shrugged. "He's like a big kitty cat."
Moon Dancer: "Hmm! He IS, isn't he?" She smiled a bit. "I like that..." She started staring off in his direction.
Oh, my. Dancer-Dog? Ohhhh.. what was this war coming to!?
After a few minutes, they came back. Greta was behind them, as Gorcat and Gordog were laughing and carrying on.
Gorcat: "Well, so much for staying behind!" He beamed a grin. "If I'd known we were this close to Grylan, I'd've come down WITH you!"
Gordog: "I'm really proud of my brother." He shrugged. "I-I.. I mean.." He looked at Gorcat. "..I know you're smarter than me, bro.."
Gorcat: "Bahh.. you're the one with the big heart." He was one-arm hugging him. "Sometimes, that's what you need."
Gordog: "Yeah.. yeah!" He smiled.
K: "So.. Gordog. What can you tell us about that browned-out field out there?" I gestured.
Gordog: "OH! Ohh.. you wanna see Klekam about that. He's the leading town guard." He gestured.
K: "Alright, let's go." I nodded.
Moon Dancer: "Ah'so.. uhm.. Gordog?" She blinked at him.
Gordog: "Yes'm?" He gave her a smile.
Moon Dancer: "While my boss is talking with your boss.. uh.. you wanna show me around?" She was blushing just a bit.
Gordog: "SURE!" He beamed a grin.
Yup.. there's something there. I think Moon Dancer was drawn by his big heart. For a former shut-in, meeting a partner that's all about love and friendship is just the medicine the doctor ordered.
Klekam was surprised to see Gorcat walk into his little "office" (really, just a seperate room in his personal house), and stood to greet him.
Klekam: "AH! Y-Your Majesty!" He bowed, slightly, seeing Gorcat wearing the Royal circlet. "I-I wasn't aware.."
Gorcat: "I see word of my ascention to the throne has gotten here." He shrugged. "It's fine, man. I'm just like you - low born." He patted Klekam's chest. "That field out there. This is General K of Equestria, and some Equestrian troops. We're trying to get to the bottom of this."
Klekam: "Yeah. Uh." He shrugged a bit. "We spotted some strange creatures that walked like General K, out there, with some earthen ware jars with holes in them. They had bang sticks, but we outnumbered them. They took a few bangs at us, and ran for it. Left a jar behind, too. The town pharmacist thinks its some kinda alkaline solution, he called it."
K: "They had rifles." I held my Grant up.
Klekam: "Yes, but not like those." He nodded to it.
K: "How many?" I gestured.
Klekam: "Seven total. The whole town came out, when we realized they were going after the barley field." He shrugged.
K: "And how long ago?" I looked out the window in the direction of the field.
Klekam: "Two weeks on the nose, General." He nodded.
K: "Alright." I looked to Blizz. "Blizz, Slapshot, get back to the XY. Get a relay message back to Canida and Equestria - have them send some trainers out here." I up-nodded to Klekam. "How many town guards are there?"
Klekam: "Eight of us? Total?" He shrugged. "But, the safety of the town is everyone's business."
K: "Total fighting-age population?" I was making notes.
Klekam: "Ah.. eighty-seven." He nodded.
K: "Get us eighty Sherman-6's, twenty Ridgways, five Abrams, and five Merrills. Oh, and four Pershing-6's." I wrote this down for Blizz and Slapshot. "Full field loads for each weapon, tripled. 200 Hand Grenades. 5 Gavin or Knox Grenade Launchers. 150 each Impact and Timed. And.. say ten Funstons." I nodded. "Thirty rockets each, plus six sets of trainer rockets." I looked at Klekam. "We're sending ponies to help train the villagers on how to defend themselves."
Klekam: "I can see why we'd need it." He nodded.
Gorcat: "This is about a Company-level assignment, so, I'm installing you as a Captain of the Municipal Guards." He patted Klekam's shoulder.
Klekam: "..isn't your brother Gordog?" He tilted his head.
Gorcat: "Yeah? So? No favoritism." He nodded firmly. "We gotta be tougher than ever before. We don't just have Tirek to worry about - we have the Storm King, too. And the two of them seem to want to duke it out right on top of our territory." He shrugged. "Once the trainers get here, listen to them. These are ponies, yes, but they're ponies that've fought these things."
Klekam: "Yes, My Liege!" He nodded sharply. "After all, we have nests to protect."
K: "Indeed." I nodded, handing off the notes to Blizz. "Get that into the communication pipeline, and make it a priority. See who can spare what - Canida and Equestria are the closest, but if the European powers can spare anything, I'll take it. Get a series of supply dumps going along the border region, wherever we have some kind of transport path - rail, hiking trail, anything. And see if we can get a couple Engineer Companies out here. I want some airfields. Then we can just fly things in."
Blizz: "You got it, K." She nodded, and took off with Slapshot.
Gorcat: "Yeah.. I'm.. getting the idea this is going to be worse than we first thought, too." He frowned.
K: "We have the resources to make this work." I nodded.
And, we did, despite the damages we'd suffered throughout the war. Production of everything was way up, tractors would mean more food next harvest, growing automation aided by Bright Eyes meant fewer ponies could manufacture more things faster..
..as I've said before, every minute that passes, we get stronger. And soon enough, the Griffons would be at our side as full NEIGHTO partners. We just had to help them secure their homes, first.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Seeds of Resistance
TIME: 14:21 GKT
DATE: War Day 887/11 Noneus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Grylan, Griffon Kingdom
We'd decided to scout out the area, just in case, to see what was going on. Sure enough, we found evidence of the sabotage team at work. They'd distributed some caustic potash in the field, and it'd done its job. Without plenty of rain to wash it away, it'd sat and made a big void where nothing could effectively grow.
K: "Mmm." I knelt, examining the soils. "They did thorough work. This whole section of dirt is going to need to be dug up, and dumped somewhere safe." I shrugged. "We need more Engineers."
Dusty: "This is just cruel." She frowned.
Olivine: "It makes sense, though, from a military perspective. Since Griffons can live on both meat-heavy and grain-heavy diets, taking away the grain would make them easier to control." She shrugged and gestured at the dead ground.
K: "She has a point." I nodded. "This was an economic and agricultural attack. Tirek's getting smarter. What's worse, it's not like we have eyes on every centimeter of dirt in the world. These specops teams could be in small cells all over North Equus. Hiding in caves, and striking at night. We should be glad they're keeping to the periphery of NEIGHTO territory."
Slapshot: "General!" She trotted over. "We made the call. The Whinnysota State Militia are the closest forces, along with 3rd Brigade from 2nd Division." She nodded. "They were forward deployed to the Crystal Kingdom."
K: "Alright." I nodded. "The situation is getting more serious. They're thorough. This ground is contaminated with alkalines. I'm thinking the Corps of Engineers is going to be needed out here, to mitigate the enviornmental damage. Anything from Canida?"
Slapshot: "Yes, sir. Forces from Manitou are assembling for the trip out here, along with the 1st Canidan Forces Infantry Regiment, and the rest of the Canidan Rangers Regiment." She shrugged a bit. "They said they'd start mobilizing local units as they could."
K: "Mm.. that's good. Nearest European nations would be Prance and Ambleon." I nodded.
Slapshot: "Word's been put in to them, too, sir." She nodded back.
K: "Alright. It'll be.. let's see.. at least ten days for the forces from Manitou, and a week from Erie. The forces in the Crystal Kingdom can be ferried by airship. Three to five days for them. Gonna take us two weeks to get forces here in numbers." I shrugged and shook my head. "And the Crystal Kingdom itself?"
Slapshot: "Sending two Army Regiments, and an Engineer Regiment. They're going by train to the nearest point to the Griffon Kingdom, then truck from there. Five days." She nodded.
K: "Mmm.." I nodded to Gorcat. "..you know, it's a good thing we got here when we did."
Gorcat: "Mhm!" He smirked. "Much longer, we'd be stepping into the middle of a three way war with the country in ruins. At least this way, we can stop a lot of the damage."
K: "Tirek will get the message the fastest - not to mess with us, once we have superior numbers here. That's his thing. Start trouble, cut-and-run once he causes some damage. Make us spend resources, then never fight a pitched battle. Only time he broke that was Miaco - and only because he let his rage cloud his judgment. We killed his sex toy." I smirked.
Slapshot: "I.. heard Miaco was pretty rough." She lowered her head.
K: "We were supposed to have a lot more forces than we did - hell, the Prench were supposed to land with us, we just didn't have enough time. Then, we got hit from all over, and we ended up fighting seven divisions of troops. It was right after that, that Tirek started playing dirty." I pointed, casually to Gorcat. "I think that's when Tirek figured out a stand-up fight with us is a bad idea. Hence the third party guerilla campaign."
Gorcat: "..in areas not yet aligned with NEIGHTO." He rubbed his lower beak. "Diabolical. Try to keep NEIGHTO small, keep us from having the overwhelming force we need to invade him. Reduce our options, our capability." He gestured to the fields. "Starve us, weaken us, anything he can to erode our defenses."
K: "Mhm. And if we let him erode us far enough, he'll invade. He's probably probed out good spots to put portals - he already tried that in Navarre. He knows the concept is sound." I shrugged.
Blizz: "Which means, sir, he could literally invade anywhere at once." She frowned. "And everywhere."
K: "Yeah." I nodded. "I'm sure he's got his targets pre-planned. Appleloosa, Canterlot, Ponyville, Milan, Springfield, the major military bases." I shrugged. "They already completed the new.. call it a castle.. at Ponyville to give me an HQ and function as a very well defended town library."
Olivine: "With all this, sir.. ehm.. K." She nodded. "Why here?"
K: "Simple. The Griffons are as good a fighters, to a person, as Dragons. They also have a lot of combat experience as a race. Get the outcast warbands back into the flock, give them purpose, arm them, and we have some dangerous troops on our side. The main thing they rely on that's shaky, is food. Knock out the food supply or weaken it much more, they start getting hungry. And a hungry parent with a starving child is a force of nature." I gave a nod. "One push, they'll side with anyone that'll feed their chicks."
Gorcat: "As I said.. diabolical." He looked around. "Ehh.. anyone seen my bro?"
Greta: "He's taking a study in interspecies relations, big guy." She smirked, pacing up. "Him and Moon Dancer are touring the village for the third time."
K: "My Lord.. by Celestia's Mane, I had no idea." I shook my head.
Dusty: "She's been without love and companionship for a long time, babe." She shrugged, giving me a little shoulder bump. "Gordog's a nice guy. So what if he's not the smartest? Brains isn't everything - and she's got some to spare. I think they make a cute couple." She grinned.
Gorcat: *BAHAHAH!* "Well, my bro's always had a big heart! GOOD! I hope he's happy with her!" He beamed a grin.
Dusty: "What's next, K?" She shrugged, looking around.
K: "Eh.. we'll scout out 20 kilometers around the village. Check and see if the Gizmonks left, or if they're just laying low and waiting for reinforcements or something. Gorcat? You know this area?" I gestured to him.
Gorcat: "Nah. My bro should, though." He nodded. "I'll go interrupt the love birds. We'll meet you at the XY."
K: "Alright. Let's go." I gestured in the XY's direction, and off the rest of us went.
I was happy. I mean, despite the war and its horrors, I was seeing a friend find joy. Even if they didn't get serious, I wasn't sure Moon Dancer had ever HAD a boyfriend before. Or a girlfriend. Coltfriend? Marefriend? Whatever.
We got back to the XY and Sparky and Lugnut were both seated on a log. Sparky was looking sheepish. Lugnut was a bit steamed.
Lugnut: "Ah! General!" He looked at his companion. "WELL?" And gestured with his forelegs.
Sparky: "Ah'm sorry, General!" He bowed his head.
K: "What's up, you two?" I shrugged. "Can't be that bad."
Lugnut: "It's not! It's a disaster!" He snorted through his nostrils. "Well, go on!" He gestured to Sparky again.
Sparky: "Ah.. may've.. damaged the engine, suh!" He looked ready to faint.
K: "..okay, what happened?" I nodded to them.
Sparky: "Well, we was performin' maintenance, suh. An'.. well.. there was another wee fiah.." He coughed.
Lugnut: "WEE fire!? That's the SECOND one." He snorted again.. then stood up and revealed that, for the second time, his tail was burnt almost completely off, and his aft end was scorched. "It's a good thing these jumpsuits are fire resistant!" He nodded.
Sparky: "A-a-anyway, suh!" He looked up, then down again. "Ah.. the fiah damaged the intake valves."
K: "Lugnut." I nodded to him. "Damage."
Lugnut: "We'll need a few hours, sir, with the engines cold to assess the damage to the metal. If it's not too bad, we can resolder the valve components. As it is, sir, the lifter fans are unaffected. The propulsion fan shouldn't be run more than one quarter power." He huffed.
K: "Blizz, coax her into town. Olivine, give her a hand." I shrugged. "We'll go around on foot for a few hours, see if we can see anything, and we'll head back to town after that."
Blizz: "On it, K." She gave a nod, and headed up to the XY's deck with Olivine.
Well.. this is ANOTHER fine mess we've gotten ourselves into.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Field Seeds
TIME: 15:11 GKT
DATE: War Day 887/11 Noneus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Grylan, Griffon Kingdom
We worked our way around to the other side of town. The entire village was surrounded by fields of various grains. Wheat, barley, oat, and some mixed grains. Large fields of sunflowers, too. Mainly, we were looking for evidence of sabotage. Any sabotage.
We were in a loose formation, examining the fields as we could. Olivine and Blizz were occasionally up above, looking around for evidence of any enemies. It was a relaxing walk, really, even if we were fully kitted out. And thinking of potential enemies.
Gordog: "I'll tell ya.. if they're around here anywhere, they'll be in the foothills about.. oh.. an hour that way." He pointed.
K: "Good cover, I'm guessing?" I asked, minding my step along the path.
Gordog: "Yeah. REAL good!" He nodded firmly. "It's where hunters hide during hunting season. Some good caves and things at the tops of the hills, perfect for spotting prey." He shrugged.
K: "We'll have a look, then." I nodded. "Everyone stay focused." I reminded.
I had to remind them. My team was half rookies with no combat experience, two mares that'd seen just one battle, then me, Dusty, and Gorcat with real fighting experience. And Gorcat had a good bit more than Dusty did.
Training only goes so far. We were lucky, at the start of the war, to be facing an enemy as inexperienced and bumbling as we were. We'd grown, since then, but so had they. That meant rookies had a steep learning curve.
It reminded me of World War II, again. How Americans that'd gone through Operation: Torch were in a better spot and better experienced in future operations, as they'd faced a weaker enemy initially, and gained good experience with less threat than, say, if they'd invaded and immediately faced the Axis' most veteraned and best equipped and supplied formations. And, how, Americans who's first taste of combat was D-Day had a harder time.. and the replacements that came later, even harder, until close to the end, as they were constantly facing good troops with combat experience.. until the Axis ran out.
That was a danger. I didn't think Tirek COULD 'run out' of troops. He hadn't really risked any large forces since Neighpon, but, that didn't mean he was running out of them. Tirek was smart. He knew, by now, that NEIGHTO troops were learning the harsh lessons of combat, and his troops were falling by the score, with few returning alive. His best bet would be to reserve his own forces for specific situations, and now that he had Orghuz on his side, use them as a meat shield.
We would have to deal with Orghuz before Tirek. That meant he had even more time to harden his defenses, build more, and conscript more troops. It might even give him enough room to attempt to take the momentum of the war back. These raids and guerilla operations in our home territories were the perfect way to keep us ever-so-slightly off balance.
That was fine. I was already considering this. I was countering his counter moves. Chess, on a grand scale, but whereas he wouldn't care how many pieces he gave way, as he had so many and valued them so little, even the lowliest pawn, to me, was an invaluable life worthy of care and consideration.
It took us an hour, indeed, to get to the foothills. They were pretty clearly carved into the terrain, and the farmland stopped a bit before they started. While this helped us identify them, it left us with little cover.
K: "Alright, get to cover." I motioned. "Whatever you can find. Dusty, on me." I nodded. "I smell a trap."
Gorcat: "Now, the rest of you listen. When the shooting starts, remember your training. Fire only when you have something to fire at. Don't waste ammo. That's my job." He nodded.
Greta: "Mm.. I'll feed your big, automatic machine, big guy." She cocked a brow at him.
Gorcat flushed a bit.. her flirtations were getting to him. And now that they were married, this was her trying to get him to give her eggs, I was sure. She was validating her parking. And the two of them were clearly VERY into each other.
This marriage would last. A long, long time.
K: "Heh.. that was far more lewd than it had to be." I smirked.
Dusty: "Mmm." She shot me a look. "Cover me." She nodded.
I did, knowing she'd likely be okay. If they wanted to shoot someone, I'd be the big target. She scooted from open ground, to a rock just big enough for a pony to hide behind. Once she covered that ground, and set up to cover me, I made sure the rest of the team was in position, and then advanced myself.
I got up to a small berm of dirt that was.. ehh.. a bit small and low, but good enough.
K: "I can see a few cave openings." I nodded ahead.
Radio: "K! LEFT FRONT!" She called out. "LARGE PALE ROCK TO YOUR ONE O'CLOCK!"
I sighted in.. sure enough, there was a Gizmonk there. He'd spotted us, and was trying to get the attention of some others. Since we didn't have a dedicated sniper on our team, I unfolded the Grant's bipod and set up myself. The DMR scope was good enough to hit him at this distance.. 200'ish meters..
I got the dot over his head.. ranged it down a bit.. touch to the left..
*PK'SHMM!*
His head opened up like a ripe melon, and he slumped over. I could hear shouting, now. They were preparing to engage.
K: "AIM CAREFULLY! RANGE IS ABOUT TWO HUNDRED METERS!" I called back.
Dusty: "They're almost outta range of the Gavin!" She called back to me. "Not unless you want a general idea!"
K: "GO AHEAD! GIVE 'EM ONE!" I retorted.
The Gavin Grenades had a maximum range of 350 meters, but really, at anything at 200 or beyond, it wasn't a game of precision, but getting them to land in the general area you intend. Dusty was REAL GOOD with the Gavin, and anything under 200 meters was hers to just about snipe. I watched her set up, get the grenade launching sight set, and returned my attention to our attackers.
Three Gizmonks had come out of the cave, and were taking up position. I sighted in on one of them, and fired two careful taps.. one hit the rock below him, one went over his right shoulder and hit the rock behind him. Either way, his head went down fast.
Slapshot squirmed up to where I was.
Slapshot: "Long range shooting isn't my forte." She frowned, but set up next to me, chipping off a couple shots that hit fairly close. "Just about max range for this thing." She had a Grant Carbine, which had a maximum effective range of 250 meters.
K: "See that target I just popped at? Keep the heads down of the other two." I nodded to Gorcat. "Suppressive Fire! Bursts!" I called out. "Dawn, Radio, try to pick them off!" Then.. "Blizz, Dancer, stay down!"
Since Blizz still had the Buckner shotgun, she was out-ranged. Moon Dancer was, too. She had a Ridgway. Gorcat got off a burst, and another, keeping the Gizmonks off balance.
One of them got a shot off, and it zinged into the ground by Dusty, but she was unfazed. She fired at about the same moment, and the grenade impacted a bit short - but it sent fragments into the face of one of the three Gizmonks, and he went down. Dawn, Radio, and I popped up at about the same time, and we all targeted the two left. I got off four shots, with two hits, and either Radio or Dawn got the last one, with at least three hits.
K: "Dusty, Slap, on me. Rest of you, stay in cover." I instructed, as I got up, and moved.
Gorcat: "Gotcha covered!" He grinned.. he was enjoying his last round-up.
We rushed the 200 meters to the hilly bit. It took me longer than them, since humans are slower creatures. I got there last, and we stopped at the base. The hill was almost straight up to their firing position.
K: "Dusty. I'll boost you. Slap, cover her." I nodded.
Slapshot: "Covering." She nodded.
Dusty: "Ready." She nodded to me as I knelt down.
She climbed up on my shoulders, and I pushed her up the ridge. She rolled over checked, and rolled back, holding her forelegs down to me. I heaved up, grabbed them, and used her to help me climb over. The other two Gizmonks were dead. One had a Nasser. The other one had one of those bolt-action rifles. The last one was armed with an Abdul SMG.
I walked over to the wounded Gizmonk, moaning in agony, as he tried to crawl away. And grabbed his tail.
Gizmonk: "AHH! AHH! NO, NOT YOUUU! NOT YOUUUUU! GAHAHA! NOOOOO!" He squealed as I dragged him closer, and put a knee into his lower back. "NO! NO! PLEASE!"
K: "Hi." I lowered my body over him, drawing out my hunting knife, and gently touching the blade to his injured face. "Numbers, equipment, goals."
Gizmonk: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!" I felt him shit himself.. he started sobbing uncontrollably.
I let him weep. I let him panic. I just held myself over him and waited. After a couple minutes, he calmed down a bit.
K: "Done worrying about how bad this is going to be?" I asked, in low tones, whispering into his ear.
Slapshot (to Dusty): "What's he doing?" She whispered.
Dusty (to Slapshot): "Scaring him." She nodded, with a cruel grin. "He's good at this. Just watch."
K: "Going to tell me? Or do I get to.. play.. with you?" I harshly whispered into his ear. "I'm feeling.. eager.."
Gizmonk: "AHHH-HAAA-HAA!!" He sobbed a bit more. "I don't know! I-I don't know how many there are! At least a few dozen! We got broke up into little groups almost right away! They just gave us stuff! These jars with nasty smelling stuff in them! And told to ruin the crops! That's all I know! PLEASE! PLEASE! DON'T EAT MY SOUL! DON'T.. DON'T MAKE ME SUFFER! PLEASE! I.. I.." *Uncontrollable sobs* "I'VE HEARD WHAT YOU DO! I HEARD, MAN! PLEASE JUST KILL ME NOW!"
Gorcat and the others came up at this time. I saw Gorcat approach, and I got up and moved off of him. Gorcat grabbed him by his scruff, like a kitten.
Gorcat: "These are not his lands. These are mine. I AM KING GORCAT!" He lion-roared in the Gizmonk's face.
The Gizmonk calmed down.
Gizmonk: "Ehh.. just.. just a feather duster.." He was still twitching, but much calmer. "What are YOU going to do to me?!"
Gorcat suddenly looked REAL pissed off.
Gorcat: "Teach you real fear." He said, and rocketed into the sky with the Gizmonk.
A short while later, I could see the Gizmonk fall. Fall. Hundreds of feet. And then Gorcat swoop gracefully down and snatch him before he went splat. He repeated this several times, letting him get closer to the ground each time.
After a bit of playing Yo-Yo with him, he circled back around and basically threw him at my feet. And sat down next to him when he landed.
Gorcat: "Scared?" He smirked.
The Gizmonk was jibbering out indecipherable words and syllables. He couldn't form real words. Scared? Yeah.
Greta: "Mmmm.." She stuck a claw under his chin. "You have no idea how we punish prisoners in this country. Had we not joined NEIGHTO, you'd be hobbled, and then we'd send the chicks out to hunt you down and eat you. Get their first kills." She swayed her tail, almost seductively, swaying her ass almost in Gorcat's face. "That's how -I- learned." She leaned in. "Some outsider Camel came to town one day, sold us broken and toxic things. We cut his hamstrings and sent him out.. we chased him.. I found him. I was too small to go for the neck.. so.. I went for the two orbs. Cut them out of their sac and ate them. I was very hungry. Burrowed into his guts, too, before the other chicks found me.." She leaned back.
Gorcat: "..that's fucking hot.." He was blushing.. and, I could tell, way more aroused than he'd been with Dash and Gilda. And.. AJ and Rarity. After Neighpon.
K: "Eh.. as far as 'dangerous females' go, that's up there, yeah." I smirked, and put my arm over Dusty's neck.
Dusty: "Mm." She nodded to Gorcat. "You got a good female, there."
Greta: "Hmm!" She struck a pose. "No kidding." And she looked at the Gizmonk. "Be thankful we're part of NEIGHTO, now. As Queen, I will personally enjoy watching you spend the rest of the war on Carousel Island for your crimes - for trying to starve our chicks." She patted her foreclaw on his forehead. "And WHEN.. MY KING.. wins this war. MAYBE.. we'll show mercy and let you go home. If not? Twenty years reparations labor for you." She leaned in. "And if you mess that up.. well.." She leaned her head to the side. "..meat is meat."
She was teasing him, tormenting him.. but she was keeping him off balance and preventing him from thinking straight. Excellent tactic.. keep him from considering escape. Keep him from thinking about resisting by making the concept sound horrific.. this was a Predator chasing Prey in the battlefield.. no the hunting grounds.. of the mind.
Gorcat picked well. She wasn't just tough, she was smart. And she was ruthless in her intention to defend the Nest. I was very happy my best friend would have such a happy life.
Now.. to the rest of them.
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: The Siege of Grylan - Opening Act
TIME: 17:06 GKT
DATE: War Day 887/11 Noneus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Grylan, Griffon Kingdom
It was getting late. Given the mountains, we wouldn't have sunlight much longer. But, that was fine. Reinforcements were already here. And it surprised me.
Ever since the Crystal Kingdom had regained itself, they'd been working to reassert their position as the premier masters of the skies with their huge airships. But, they'd been working on smaller ones as well.
Seeing the utility of the XY's, but noting their flaws, they'd set about making something 'better' in most regards. They made the XZ-series. A bit longer and with greater troop and cargo capability, with a pair of smaller, higher output engines instead of one large, clunky, old fashioned one, the XZ's had the same armament as the XY's - three dual 11mm machine guns.
But, as I saw, they could also be reconfigured into gunships. Four of them were coming from the west, with the Gunship in the lead. In front, in place of the 11mm, was a dual 25mm autocannon. The aft deck had a pair of port-and-starboard 70mm Hydra rocket pods.
They'd made "flying tacticals." Those inadvertent insurgency geniuses!
Behind them were reinforcement troops in three passenger-configured XZ's. I didn't know what was in them, though.
K: C> "Alpha Actual to incoming Crystal Flight. Ident." I called into the radio.
LTjg Opaline Stonecutter: C> "Lieutenant J.G. Opaline Stonecutter, 2nd Mobile Fleet, 3rd Transport Armada. We're sent from Camp Crystal to reinforce you, General. Callsign is Star Ruby One through Four."
K: C> "Star Ruby-1, Alpha copies. Land north of the village. The west side has contaminated dirt." I reported back.
LTjg Opaline: "Star Ruby-1 copies."
I watched them as they made for the north end of the village, and landed gracefully. My team went over to meet them. Unlike the XY's, these new XZ's had proper disembarking doors on the sides, and permanent ladders and winch points to disembark cargo.
I kept watching them as they came in for a landing, and could clearly see one of the reinforcement troops casually steadying himself agaisnt the guard rail, kicked back a bit, with his Grant DMR between his legs, and his helmet down a bit over his eyes.
He was studying the scenery, I could tell, but in such a casual manner that he reminded me of an experienced AirCav sergeant in Vietnam leaning out the side of a Huey, watching for Charlie. No, no, this guy was studying the terrain for different reasons..
He was also the first pony off when they landed. He stepped up, and looked around, frowned a bit, then gave me a nod.
Rapid: "Chief Warrant Officer Rapid Bearing, Corps of Engineers, One-Three-fourteen." That is, 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 14th Company of Engineers.
The Corps of Engineers had been around for some time. Originally raised as one Battalion-sized formation with informal attachments of specialized companies, it was expanded to a full Brigade fairly recently. Their only job was engineering. While they could fight, their real weapons were shovels, theodolites, plumbobs, and hammers.
Speaking of, I didn't know it, but Rapid's mark was literally a theodolite.
He was a thicker-looking average-size pegasus stallion of perhaps 28 years. His coat was safety orange, but his feathers were safety yellow. Interesting. I stuck out my hand.
K: "Just K." I nodded to the others. "Gorcat, Greta, Dusty, Blizz, Olivine, Slapshot, Moon Dancer, Radio Active, and Dawn Earlylight."
Rapid: "Pleasure." He nodded firmly, and pulled out a cigarette case.
Odd habit for a pony.
K: "What'cha got with you?" I nodded to the others getting off the XZ's.
Rapid: "My unit. Platoons Bravo and Charlie. Bravo does mainly surveying work, Charlie does the heavy lifting." He shrugged a bit, and lit up from a rather nice silver lighter. "Mainly. This IS a war. I've dug my own trench lines." And gestured to the others. "Couple more from your command team, sir. Vigilance and Colgate. They're here to train the Griffons."
They both plodded up. Vigilance was wearing QMS stripes, now.
Vig: "Good to see you, sir." He nodded. "Dusty."
Colgate: "We brought some weapons. 50 rifles, 10 subguns, and a Walker crate." She shrugged. "Plus ammo and combat medical gear."
K: "Good. Get it unloaded." I gestured to Gordog. "He's part of the Town Guard. He'll show you where to stack it."
Vigilance's family was one of those where a Stallion had two Mares. As I commented some time ago, his first wife was.. "extra thicc." Colgate wasn't. Their marriage had been a bit more recent, but still before the war. Perfectly acceptable since Vigilance by all measure, was an Alpha Stallion.
There was also a small rumor going around that he and Mrs. Cake had a thing on the side where Mr. Cake watched, but that.. that was NOT my thing, so.. eh. At least Vigilance understood what it was like to be admired by more than one Mare. It was part of the reason I liked having him around.
After our first load of equipment, we were all heading back to the XZ's..
..when a rocket out of nowhere fired into them, and hit the Gunboat!
We ALL hit the deck, and went for our weapons! After a moment, another rocket hit one of the troop transports.
K: "ELL-TEE! GET AIRBORNE! GET OUT OF HERE! COVERING FIRE, RIDGE TO THE NORTH WEST! HOSE IT!" I directed fire.
LTjg Opaline: "AYE-AYE! PILOTS, MAKE A RUN FOR IT!" She scrambled to her hooves, and led the air crews towards the XZ's.
Gorcat: "GOTTA SET'A TARGETS! INFANTRY IN THE OPEN, RIDGE, NORTH-WEST, ONE-THIRTY! RANGE TWO FIFTY!" He rolled over and braced the Abrams on its bipod, and started opening up with the grip almost on the ground.
Vigilance: "SECOND TARGET, RIDGE, NORTH EAST, ELEVEN! RANGE THREE HUNDRED!" I watched as he rolled over with his DMR Bradley and started trying to pick them off.
K: "KEEP THEM SUPPRESSED!" I called out, choosing to take the targets on my right (north-west), and using the Grant's bipod to steady my shots.. I started picking fire at anything that moved.
One more rocket came from the north, and hit the second Troop Transport just as its crew got to it, but the rocket hit the wind screen and failed to detonate. The crews scrambled up the ladders, and immediately took off. Opaline and her co-pilot grabbed the XY and, despite the engine damage, made best possible speed, with their heavy machine guns hosing down the cliff face.
The Transport crews heaved several cases over the sides as they escaped.
K: "BLIZZ, OL, CHIEF, DUSTY, VIG, ON ME! REST'A YOU, COVER US!" I yelled out.
Rapid Bearing: "Chief, huh? Heh. LET'S GET SOME!" He heaved himself off the ground, and took the lead, knowing I was going for the cases the Transports had heaved over the side.
What I didn't expect was his total disregard for incoming sniper fire, and him pulling out a paint dabber. He ran past each one of the crates, marking only certain ones as we got close.
Rapid Bearing: "GET THE MARKED CRATES! OTHER STUFF'S USELESS!"
He heaved one crate I knew contained a Funston over his back, and pivoted. I raised my Grant and fired a few shots to cover him as he retreated towards the village.
I provided close cover as Vigilance, Dusty, Blizzardly and Olivine grabbed crates and cases. I ran forward and grabbed one as well, one-arming my rifle and firing a string on full auto at the cliff.
K: "FALL BACK TO THE VILLAGE! GO-GO-GO!" I ordered, as we withdrew.
The incoming fire ceased after we were about 500 meters from the ridge line.. interesting. We all got to the village's store house, and started heaving gear into it.
Gordog: "What's going on!?" He was looking out the window, but keeping low.
Klekam: "General K! My King..! What.. what do we do!?" He flapped his wings in frustration.
K: "We kill those sons'za'Diamond Dogs." I nodded sliding down the wall to my butt. "First. A plan." I smirked.
Lure in the enemy, fix them in place, and destroy them. They thought they had us fixed in place.. in reality, I already had a plan on how to get us out of this. I just needed a bit of time.. and luck.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: The Siege of Grylan - Fix the Enemy
TIME: 17:26 GKT
DATE: War Day 887/11 Noneus, 1004 C.S.
LOCATION: Grylan, Griffon Kingdom
I sat on the floor of the store house. Caught my breath a bit, then nodded to Dusty as she handed me the radio.
K: C> "Star Ruby One, this is Alpha. Come in." I called to Opaline.
LTjg Opaline: "Star Ruby One, copy."
K: C> "Go get the air fleet, please. Bring back the other XY teams as well. This may not be the portal, but I get the sneaking suspicion the main body of the enemy is here, and they've been directed to kill us. Casualties?"
LTjg Opaline: C> "Seven wounded, two Zeds destroyed, two Zeds and one XY evacuated from the area. We still have over half our cargo, though. Are you going to be okay, Alpha?"
K: C> "Okay enough until you get back, Star Ruby." I glanced around the room. "Step on it, eh? Alpha, out."
LTjg Opaline: C> "Star Ruby One, Roger, Wilco."
Vigilance: "..well, this is another fine mess we've gotten into." He smirked. "Been a bit since Konzas. And Marelin." He slid a foreleg around Colgate.
Colgate: "Oh, hun, we just seem to be there when K needs us the most." She smirked.
Rapid Bearing: "I'm going to check on my team." He nodded to me. "We don't have our own Medics." He shrugged.
Colgate: "I'll come with." She got up and followed.
K: "Get me a full status report. Ammo, weapons, food, water, casualties." I nodded, and looked to Dusty. "Romantic date?"
Dusty: "Eh.. good enough." She smirked and nodded to Vigilance. "Vig."
Vigilance: "Dusty." He looked at Moon Dancer. "Miss Dancer."
Moon Dancer: "Vigilance." She nodded back, though she was sticking close to Gordog.
Vigilance: "What's the plan, K?" He was good and familiar with me.. he'd been one of the first soldiers, so..
K: "Get a count of heads, arms, and ammo. The enemy has probably figured out Gorcat and Greta are here, and they, and me, are targets. That's fine. We'll be bait. We draw Tirek or the Orghuzian forces in, and we destroy them. We've got heavy RF coming in a few hours, and there's NO WAY the enemy has very much, here. With luck, we can eradicate most of their forces in the Griffon Kingdom in one fell swoop. Other than that - standard infantry action. Shoot them, kill them, or take them prisoner. These aren't Raptorians, Porcine, or Goblins. These are mainly Gizmonks, Zebras, and other Ponies. We have a chance to take prisoners." I shrugged.
Vigilance: "Sounds perfect." He nodded with a small grin. "What's the range you figure they have?"
K: "Roughly five hundred meters. I'd say 300 with their assault rifles, maybe a bit more with their sniper weapons." I nodded back. "Good weapons, too. Very precise. They might have a max range of 600 or so meters, maybe more, but I don't think they have anyone good enough to take a shot more than four hundred meters with any real accuracy." I gestured to the window. "Unfortunately, neither do we, really. We don't have a Sniper." I nodded to Dawn and Radio. "Good riflesponies within the effective range of the 7mm, though." I pointed to his Bradley DMR. "And you could probably fill in well enough."
Radio: "Mmm.." She frowned a bit. "..wish my Stallion was here. But, we'll be fine." She gave a small nod.
At that point, Rapid showed back up, with a small chart and clipboard.
Rapid: "All my ponies are in fighting shape. We have one Grant DMR - that's mine - one Bradley/Gavin, twenty Ridgway or Ridgway-II's, two Chaffees, and one Knox. In the crates, we have ten Sherman-6's, ten Bradleys, 3600 rounds of 7mm ammunition, 60 magazines with bandoliers, one Funston, six rockets. My troops have a full ammo load. We have 220 litres of water in 11 20-litre containers. We have 40 litres of distillate petroleum, and 80 litres of kerosene. There are 48 hand grenades, and 18 kilograms of explosive composition B." He read this off. "We also have two crates of field rations, both of them contain four sets of 12-Pony Platoon Field Meals. For our troops, that's enough for eight days."
K: "We won't be here that long." I nodded. "One way or another."
Gorcat: "The Town Guard wants weapons, K." He side-nodded to Klekam.
Klekam: "The enemy is at our gates." He snorted. "We want the means to kill them."
K: "Right. Vig? Get the Town Guard familiar with how to shoot. Train them on the Bradleys." I nodded.
Vigilance: "You got it." He got up. "Come on. I'm Vigilance." He patted Klekam on the back and took him out.
K: "Rapid, get your Engineers organized by Squad, I want the village patrolled carefully. Try to get the civilians towards the center of town somewhere, so they'll be out of the line of fire. And build me a pillbox or two, or.. some kind of field fortification. A strong point, to draw their attention." I looked at Blizz. "Go with him, use anyone you need. Like it or not, you're next most senior."
Blizz: "C-Command?!" She blinked, surprised. "Ah.."
K: "Come on, Blizz. You're part of my staff, you have to learn all four branches." I patted her shoulder. "Listen to Dusty, she's been with me a long time."
I got up, and moved off, to have a good look at the environs. Indeed, through binoculars, I could see the enemy was working its way around us, as best they could. The ridges to the north gave them good cover, but they'd have problems trying to cross east or west - we'd see them. So, they had us on one side, and I was betting the forest to the south was where they'd try to get their reinforcements to come.
Either way, they were swarming the area. Someone got wise to what was going on - they changed plans on the fly. However or why ever, didn't matter. What mattered was destroying them once they got here.
After about an hour of basic rifle instruction, I went and inspected the troops.
Vigilance: "We really need to make sure we get them Griffon versions. The Bradleys we have are all Pony versions. And no Sherman-6 was ever made with a finger trigger. BUT!" He nodded to them. "Gordog is Sniper-quality." He pointed to the target sheets.
Indeed, Gordog was scoring in the 90%'s. Most of the others were in the 80's, and only one was lower.
K: "Get this one a sub-machine gun and start them over. Have one of the Engineers trade out for a 7mm." I nodded to Vig. "The accuracy is low, but it's patterned in the center very well - they'll do good with an SMG."
Klekam: "Thank you, sir." He tapped the paper. "That one's me."
I pointed to Klekam, then Vigilance, then motioned for one of the Engineers to come over.
K: "Give Klekam your Ridgway." I motioned. "Take a Bradley or a Sherman."
Engineer Pony: "You got it, General."
They made the switch over, and Vigilance set to teaching Klekam how to use the weapon. Klekam held it leaned a bit back, and fired from the hip. He was good.. very good. Both eyes on the target, perfect sense of where the bullets would go.. yeah. He was made for Sub-Guns and probably be a good Machine Gunner like Gorcat.
Stepping away form this, I grabbed Dusty and Dawn.
K: "We're going to have a quick peek on the area. I want to know how surrounded we are." I nodded to Dawn. "Think you can still keep up?"
Dawn: "Damn straight, K." She nodded with a grin.
We set off to the south and east-ish, and we did a careful circuit around the south edge of town. The forest down there was filled with large rocks and things.. which gave potential attackers good cover until the last 100 meters before the edge of town.
I stared through my binoculars, and caught sight of at least one Gizmonk about 600 meters from town, in the forest, in a defensive position by a log and a few large rocks.
K: "Got one. Six hundred meters to our eleven." I nodded at him. "They're working around us."
Dawn: "Should we.. give him an idea, sir?" She smiled a bit.
K: "Go for it. Try not to hit him, though." I shrugged.
Dawn got down and braced her Grant on its bipod. Adjusting the diopter sight to its maximum range and adding a bit of Kentucky Windage, she put one round down range. I watched it hit the rock next to him.
K: "Good shot. He ducked. Let's fall back." I said, leading the way.
So, they were going to surround us. Not my first time. And with heavy reinforcements on the way, all we needed to do was wait.
One fell swoop. So I hoped.
{End of Chapter 106}
