A/N: in case you didn't figure it out, the Luna is based on the Iowa-class battleship. I just had to include a scene with her monsterous 16-inch death dealers in action!
"Hunter Two-Three" Humvee convoy
Two miles northwest of Seaddle, Equestria
6:00 PM
Sergeant Rambo of the Equestrian Royal Army's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment was manning the roof-mounted M134 Minigun on his Humvee as the convoy traveled towards the city, where the battle was taking place.
The other gunners, like him, were scanning the area for hostiles. Two of the gunners sprayed short bursts of fire at the few stray gryphons that flew towards them. They could hear the jet noise and explosions from the fur-ball above them, as well as the drone of helicopter rotors.
Their mission was to help keep the enemy from overrunning the city.
Suddenly, as the convoy approached a neighborhood, an Akaelian BTR-80 came out from behind a nearby building and started firing at the convoy with its 14.5mm heavy machine gun.
"BTR! Get out of here! Get to cover!" Rambo ordered as several rounds from the BTR's gun went through the Humvee's windshield, narrowly missing the occupants as they rushed out.
Rambo's squad ran towards a nearby alleyway to escape the BTR's gunfire. They immediately encountered a group of enemy infantry.
Rambo quickly gunned down three enemy soldiers with his G36P shoulder-mounted assault rifle.
His squad-mate, Corporal Dumbbell, took out a group of hostiles with his rifle's M203 40mm grenade launcher.
"Tagger, pop some smoke near that BTR! We have to get past it!" Rambo ordered. PFC Tagger grabbed a smoke grenade with his mouth and used his magic to hurl it at the BTR, which had stopped.
As the smoke from the grenade began to shroud the BTR, the infantry that had climbed out rushed for cover, but Dumbbell took one group of them out with his M203.
Tagger used his M249P SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) to lay down suppression fire, most of the enemy soldiers being killed by the hail of bullets.
Rambo bravely rushed up to the BTR and planted a Semtex charge on each end of the vehicle. He rushed to rejoin his squad at a safe distance and clicked the detonator. The charges detonated, destroying the BTR instantly.
Rambo spotted another BTR in the distance on the other side of the parking lot that the squad ended up on after escaping the other BTR behind them.
Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, followed a split-second later by the sound of a rocket motor igniting. Rambo looked towards the noise and saw an Arcadian Army soldier holding an FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile launcher.
Seconds later, the missile which had shot up, dove down and struck the BTR from above, destroying it instantly.
"Nice shot, buddy!" Rambo said to the human soldier.
"Hell yeah, we've got your back, pal! Nice trick with the smoke and the Semtex on that other BTR, by the way!" the Arcadian soldier, PFC Jason Ramirez, of 5th Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment replied.
"Heh heh, I like your style, man!" Rambo replied.
"Back at ya, how about we shoot some hoops after this is all over?" Ramirez asked.
"Hell yeah, I'm down! I'll even bring the whole squad!" Rambo replied. The two squads grouped together and advanced as a single joint human-pony group.
"So, what's the story?" Rambo asked.
"Well, the enemy's primarily arriving by air, but these BTRs must have been deployed by sea, so it's safe to say that there must be some enemy ships not too far off the coast!" Ramirez replied before gunning down four enemy soldiers with his M4 assault rifle, which had a hybrid holographic sight with flip-up scope, tactical laser, flashlight and extendable stock.
"Hunter Two-Three, this is Baseplate, be advised, we have a Leopard 2 dead-in-the-water in a junkyard about two clicks north of your position, call-sign: 'War Horse'. They're holding for now, but if we don't get to them in time, they'll be overrun!" Baseplate called up over the radio.
"Roger, this is Hunter Two-Three, we're on our way with Arcadian reinforcements!" Rambo replied.
"OK, let's go save that tank!" First Lieutenant Valdez, the Arcadian squad leader, said as the two squads moved out.
Half a click from the junkyard, they encountered an enemy Ka-50 Hokum gunship. "Shit, get to cover!" Valdez ordered as the gunship started firing its machine gun in their direction.
Ramirez grabbed a FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS from a nearby supply drop. He activated the seeker and took aim.
Once he had a solid lock, he fired the missile. The missile slammed into the gunship's fuselage and the helicopter went down in flames.
"Nice shooting, Ramirez!" Rambo said. They encountered another enemy squad as they made their way towards the tank.
"War Horse, this is Hunter Two-Three, what's your status?" Rambo asked.
"We're barely holdin' up! Our main gun's down, but we've still got our machine gun! There's only four of our guys left, it's so lucky y'all showed up!" Applebloom said as Lyra rotated the turret to aim the co-axial .50-caliber machine gun.
The tank's position was being swarmed by enemy infantry, some of whom were carrying satchel charges with which they intended to blow up the tank.
Valdez and Rambo's squads took up defensive positions near the tank as they fought off the enemy.
"Dammit, we need air support!" Rambo said as their squads slowly started taking casualties.
"Roger, we have a pair of Apaches on call, just give them the word!" Baseplate replied.
"Hunter Two-Three, this is Echo One with Echo Two standing by to provide close air support!" the Arcadian Apache pilot said, having heard their last transmissions.
"Roger, we're popping green smoke to indicate our position!" Rambo said as he tossed a smoke marker with his magic.
"OK, we see your marker, engaging hostiles!" the Apache pilot said as he and his wingman made their approach.
The human and pony soldiers looked to see a pair of Arcadian AH-64D Longbow Apache gunships approaching quickly at low altitude.
The two squads watched in amazement as the two gunships shredded the enemy forces with their M230 chain cannons.
"Echo One, this is Echo Two, you see any more down there?" the wingman asked.
"Negative, looks like we got them all!" the lead pilot replied as the two gunships circled around, watching for enemy movement.
The two squads set up new defensive positions around the tank while combat engineers were being flown in to get the tank moving again.
After a half-hour, the tank was back in action, supporting the effort to drive the Akaelians out of the city.
Mareami, Equestria, near the downtown area
6:08 PM
Lance Corporal Rarity, a Royal Marine sniper, was in her position in one of the high-rise buildings near the downtown area, her Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, loaded with a full magazine of .50-caliber BMG rounds and fitted with a heavy-duty suppressor, resting on its bi-pod on a window ledge.
Her mission was to eliminate the enemy field commander who was in charge of the force that was invading Equestria.
With this commander gone, the enemy forces will be far less coordinated, and the allied forces will have an easier time clearing out the enemy.
Her spotter, Lance Corporal Moondancer, was using her M49 spotting telescope to locate the target.
She soon spotted the enemy commander near a field tent in the downtown area's main square.
"OK, I think I've spotted him, get ready." Moondancer said. Rarity got in position and readied her rifle.
"Yep, that's him, positive ID on primary target." Moondancer said as she recognized the commander from the intelligence photos shown to them at the mission briefing.
"Target range: one-thousand feet, wind: calm, humidity: ten percent, temperature: eighty degrees, estimated bullet flight time: point-five seconds. You've got a damn good shot from here." Moondancer said as she prepared Rarity with all the information she needed to line up a proper shot.
Rarity flicked off the safety of her rifle with her magic and used her hooves to support the heavy rifle as she took aim.
She carefully positioned the cross-hairs in a spot that would insure that the round would hit the commander dead center in the head.
She also began to carefully control her breathing to minimize the movements of the rifle.
"Elevation and windage set...adjusting for bullet drop and other factors...OK, I'm lined up...taking the shot!" Rarity said as she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. At the bottom of her exhale, she used her magic to pull the trigger.
Poof! The rifle fired silently, sending the bullet flying at high velocity. Half a second later, the bullet reached the commander's position.
Rarity's careful aim paid off, for the bullet went through the commander's helmet, shattering his skull and blasting out the other side.
Rarity watched with a sense of accomplishment as she saw her target go down.
"Target neutralized, let's get out of here!" Rarity said as she used her magic to flick on the rifle's safety and levitated it onto her back-mounted weapons pack.
Rarity and Moondancer then finished packing up their gear and began their egress. They made their way to the extraction point in the nearby park.
Several seconds after they arrived, an ERM CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter landed in the nearby clearing.
"Well, that's our ride!" Rarity said as she and Moondancer got on board the helicopter, which lifted off seconds later.
Rarity and Moondancer smiled, knowing that their successful mission will greatly help the effort to put a stop to the Akaelian military's incursion into her home country.
Sure enough, without their commander to coordinate them, the enemy forces were forced to fend for themselves, and were quickly crushed in the Mareami and Seahorse City areas quickly.
30 miles off the coast, near Mareami
5:45 PM
The Celestia-class battleship ERNS Luna, along with a flotilla of four Bridle-class frigates and two Unicorn-class destroyers of the 1st Fleet were engaging the enemy invasion fleet.
The destroyers and frigates split off to engage the enemy escort ships while the battleship would take out the enemy amphibious ships.
The enemy ships had already been spotted on radar and the battleship was closing in to engage with her nine massive 16-inch guns.
"Enemy ships spotted, stand by to engage with guns!" the TAO (Tactical Action Officer) said from the ship's CIC (Combat Information Center).
"Mount One-Five-One manned, ready and standing by." the phone talker in the foremost turret said.
"Mount One-Five-Two manned, ready and standing by." the phone talker in the second forward turret said.
"Mount One-Five-Three manned, ready and standing by." the phone talker in the aft turret said. The massive warship got within ten miles of the beach and turned to port, facing her broadside to the beach and bringing all nine of her main guns to bear on the enemy.
The gunners used their targeting computers to input target data and calculate the necessary angles to insure a hit.
"In range and locked in!" the gunner in the forward turret, Gunner's Mate Third-class Blaster said from his gun control console inside the turret.
The other two turret gunners gave similar statements as the first enemy ship was targeted.
"All stations, TAO, kill track 1532 with guns." the TAO said after receiving the go-ahead from the CO (Commanding Officer).
"Roger, kill track 1532 with guns, firing salvo!" the gunners each said. The salvo alarm sounded on the weather decks, warning all hands topside to get inside the skin of the ship.
Seconds later, the gunners pressed the FIRE button on their respective consoles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The forward turret fired one barrel at a time, the other two turrets fired at the same time in the same style.
Nine two-thousand pound armor-piercing shells flew through the air at roughly 2600 feet per second, slamming into the hull of the enemy ship!
The shells penetrated through the hull and exploded deep within the bowels of the ship, causing massive damage.
A massive twenty-foot hole was opened up in the hull, near the waterline. Three more shells from the Luna's next salvo hit the bridge and radar station.
The flooding became uncontrollable and the ship went down in minutes.
"Good kill, targeting next hostile!" the TAO said after the kill had been confirmed. The next enemy amphibious ship was sunk in three salvos, and the last two were sunk in two salvos each.
By this time, all of the enemy escorts had been sunk, and the other allied ships rejoined their flagship.
The group then went to join the newly-formed Task Force 129, a massive provisional battle fleet consisting of three aircraft carrier strike groups: AFS Kestrel, AFS Aquaria, ERNS Harmony and, coming soon, ERNS Friendship.
At the same time, another group was created: Task Force 121, a joint Arcadian-Equestrian amphibious assault group, consisting of AFS Hellspawn, AFS Hellgate, AFS Portal, AFS Stargate, ERNS Barnyard, ERNS Stable, ERNS Canterlot and ERNS Swayback, as well as their escort ships.
AFS Kestrel, twenty miles off the coast from Mareami
6:01 PM
Robert and Vidal's planes were on the catapult, fully loaded, fueled and ready to go. Robert went to full afterburners after receiving the signal from the deck crew.
Seconds later, the catapult fired and the plane was launched. The other planes followed soon afterwards. The four F/A-18Es formed up and began their approach to Canterlot.
Their mission: assist the ERAF in escorting Sun Force One to the safe-zone in the Swayback Mountains. "Watch-horse, Shadow Flight is airborne." Robert said after raising his landing gear and turning towards Canterlot.
"Roger, Wonderbolt Flight will be with you during your mission." Watch-horse, an ERAF E-767 AWACS, replied.
Robert's eyes lit up when he heard this. That's Rainbow's unit! I'm glad I'm getting the chance to fly side-by side with her, and in quite an important mission, too! Robert thought as the flight entered Canterlot airspace.
The Wonderbolt squadron was already on station and Princess Celestia's 747 was already on the runway in its takeoff run.
"Shadow Flight, this is Spectrum, your objective is to engage any enemy aircraft before they get too close, we''ll handle the leakers!" Rainbow said once she spotted Robert's unit. "Roger that, Spectrum, standing by to take escort positions!" Robert replied.
Seconds later, the 747 was airborne and climbing fast. "Sun Force One is airborne!" Rainbow said.
The Wonderbolts swooped in and took up their escort positions near the aircraft. Once the group passed 3,000 feet, Robert and his flight took up their positions a bit further from the 747, but still close enough to provide quick response to enemy threats.
The Wonderbolts formed an octagon around the 747 while Shadow Flight took up positions at each end: Robert in front, Vidal on the port side, Angelo on the starboard side, and Megan covering the aircraft's six o'clock.
A flight of Typhoons were already engaging the enemy fighters, but the escort force was ready to respond if necessary.
Only one MiG-29 made it through and made an attempt to attack Sun Force One. "Shadow flight, be advised, we have a single leaker inbound on Sun Force One, protect that bird at all costs!" Watch-horse ordered after detecting the single bandit.
Megan was quick to respond. "I've got tone!" she called out as she locked up the bandit.
"Shadow Four, Fox three!" she called out as she fired an AMRAAM at the MiG.
The missile streaked towards the MiG at mach 4 and impacted seconds after launch, shattering the MiG, which went down in flames.
Megan rejoined the formation as they got closer to the safe-zone.
Once they reached the mountain range and closed in on the airstrip twenty minutes later, the escorts split off and set up CAP stations above the area.
The 747 lined up and began its approach. "This is Sun Force One, beginning approach to land!" the pilot said as he lowered the landing gear and flaps.
"Roger, approach looks good!" Robert replied.
After three minutes, Sun Force One landed safely. "Stardust, this is Shadow One, good landing confirmed on Sun Force One." Robert said.
"Roger, mission is complete, return to home plate." Watch-horse said. "Roger, Shadow Flight is RTB!" Robert replied as his flight split off and headed back towards the Kestrel.
"All allied forces, be advised, the enemy has been pushed out of Mareami and Seahorse City, only Seaddle remains, I say again, the enemy has been pushed out of Mareami and Seahorse City, and now only Seaddle remains." Watch-horse said after receiving a sit-rep from the Equestrian military HQ.
Robert closed in on the carrier, for he was the first to land. Robert lined his plane up for the approach. He lowered the landing gear, tail hook, and full flaps.
He also switched the aircraft's HUD to ILS mode. "Strike, Shadow 1 to land." Robert said.
"Shadow 1, fly the bull's-eye." The air boss said. "Strike, Shadow 1 checking in, flight of four, good fuel state." Robert replied.
"Shadow 1, this is Strike, descend and maintain Angels 2 for approach, maintain 175kt, final heading 320, switch Marshall." The air boss said.
"Strike, Shadow 1 copies all." Robert replied.
"Shadow 1, this is Marshall, mother is case 1, expect CV1 approach." the LSO (Landing Signal Officer) said. Robert was on a three-mile final at this point.
"Shadow 1, on course, on glide-slope, begin descent." The LSO said. A few slow minutes passed as Robert closed in on the carrier.
"Shadow 1, you're at three-quarters of a mile, call the ball." The LSO said.
"Roger, Shadow 1 has the ball." Robert replied. "Roger ball, roger ball." the LSO replied.
Ten seconds later, the plane touched down on the deck and the tail hook snagged the #3 wire. As it hit, Robert went to full military power as a precaution.
"Trap, 3 wire, red deck!" the LSO said as the plane touched down. Robert grunted as the plane came to a quick stop!
Two seconds after touchdown, the plane was at a stand-still. "Shadow 1, raise your hook and taxi to parking." The air boss said.
Robert raised the hook and flaps and folded the plane's outer wings and taxied off of the runway.
"Deck is green, Shadow 2 cleared to land." The air boss said. Vidal then lined up and carried out his landing, followed by Angelo and finally, Megan.
Over the next four hours, the two militaries, now joined together as the Arcadia-Equestrian Joint Strike Force (AEJSF), managed to push the enemy out of Seaddle, that had been attacked by Akaelian forces.