The Alliance of Dictators

Sanctuary Point wrote:

Rising snorted at Twinkler’s naïveté or perhaps it was just denial. “You think she’s innocent in all this? You think she’s ignorant of what her top officials and advisors are, what they do behind closed doors?” She asked as she stood up again. “Who was it that introduced this cult to the Equestrian nobility? Who allowed it to spread through out the nation? Who supported it with everything they could? Your Imperatrix is nothing more than another cultist, one who must die for the salvation of all.” The Abbess ignored the scandalised looks from the other Equestrians.

“Did you think that the war would be bloodless just because we took your station without any casualties?” Her gaze swept across all of them as she continued. “Did you believe that we would act the scalpel, cut down those at head positions of the cult and let everyone below go free? We are the fire that will cauterise the weeping sickness infecting your nation, your souls. No-one is to be spared, all will be judged, the guilty will perish and so too shall those they’ve stained. These are the methods that have preserved the Diarchy for five millennia across a thousand thousand worlds and we shall use them again here to save what we can of Equestria.”

Despite the Abbess' borderline blasphemous words (as far as proper Equestrians brought up to believe in the Imperatrix and Her infallibility were concerned), Twinkler managed to remain noticeably calm.

"We are not in the Diarchy now, Abbess," she said in a stern voice, with only a hint of hesitation. "You do not have the support of a thousand thousand worlds anymore... In fact, you do not have the support of even a single world right now. If you win this war, you'll gain control of a single country surrounded by many hostile countries. What do you think will happen if you destroy most of Equestria in your attempts to 'cauterize' the infection? Do you think the rest of the world will just leave you alone and let you rebuild on the ashes of a destroyed civilization? No. They'll sense our (and your) weakness and will come seeking our blood. And remember, the Equestrianic Imperium has faced genocidal foes before, and we all remember what it was like. If you think your cleansing fire is the answer to everything, you'll likely have to fight through not only our military, but through our civilians as well. If you truly want the Equines of this dimension to have a future, you can't afford to use the tactics you've apparently used in your dimension of origin."

"It doesn't have to be like that," Hope said. "I've seen the true face of the High Nobility, and so have you! If only we could somehow show it to everypony, they wouldn't continue to fight for the old system anymore. They would turn against their masters and liberate Equestria themselves!"

Twinkler gave the young Unicorn noblemare a thoughtful nod.

She said, "Perhaps. But how did you plan to make this known to tens of millions of Ponies? I'm inclined to believe you now that I've seen what you've seen, but how will you convince the rest of the Equestrian people to see the truth? Do you even have the means to reach them all and show them the truth?"

Sanctuary Point wrote:

Fire spewed from the barrels of Quick Manoeuvre’s tank as it tore in from the south of the clearing, the shells of its main gun managing to punch one hole into the airship’s hull before the shields activated and blocked any further damage. The sponson-mounted heavy bolters spat out rounds periodically as the loader jumped between firing both of them and doing their actual job as the Salamander Scout following Manoeuvre added its autocannon before a second Ironheart rolled out from the east, the two Cragodiles following it as lasrifles shot out from the firing ports on their sides. “Save your ammo Roundshot, the shields are up. We can’t damage the airship anymore.” Ironsights voxed over to the other Ironheart as it help disperse the free Equestrians. “Hanger’s still open. Few shots there would do some hurt.”
“Yeah but so is that noble, we don’t have time to ID gibs. Let the infantry get him.”

Roundshot grunted as he switched channels. “Sgt. Picatinny, Sgt. Attack Angle, you have your orders. Find that noble, kill and confirm, get back out, any intel is a bonus. We’ll keep them occupied out here.” The boom of his tank’s 120 mm gun punctuated his words as a shell impacted against one of the airship’s point defences mounts. “We’ll do it, just be here when we finish.” Picatinny nodded at one of his soldiers who banged on the wall behind the driver, their Cragodile swerving around Roundshot’s tank and speeding towards the ramp leading into the airship with the other closer behind. Rounds were fired over the heads of Jet Set’s slaves and horns blared to get them out of the path of the APCs. A turret locking onto the second was struck by a shell from the Salamander before the open-top zipped off, tracks kicking up dirt as the beam fired at it instead.

General Jet Set froze only for a couple of seconds before his military training took hold and allowed him to think clearly and analyze the situation unfolding before him. The enemy force was strong, definitely stronger than the limited ground forces under his command. His only real hope for survival was to get aboard the airship as soon as possible and then get if off the ground so that it could use its main weapons to wipe out the attackers.

The problem, of course, was that right now there was no way to get the airship off the ground quickly enough, and ever less of a chance for him to get aboard the ship without being torn to shreds by the powerful weapons wielded by the enemy soldiers and mounted on their monstrous vehicles.

The General was fairly certain that he was the Novumequines' main target. They had no other reason for an attack this direct and bold. For a few seconds, he felt a knot of despair clench at his throat, but then a calm, focused determination took over his thoughts. It almost felt like there were other, invisible Ponies standing around him, lending him their strength and telling him that there was nothing to be afraid of. He was an Equestrian Noble, trained in the Way of the Old Masters. He had taken the very souls of those beneath him... It was not him who should be afraid: his enemies should be afraid of him! These foolish attackers were just Worthless Others to be dominated and destroyed.

"To me, soldiers!" we barked to the nearest Pegasus guards. "Protect me as I deal with them myself!"

Six Pegasi flew over to protect their officer, the others being too busy trying to (unsuccessfully) fend off the attackers. Two were shot down by the Salamanders' autocannons before they could reach Jet Set, but the four remaining ones took defensive positions around him, doing their best to protect him from enemy soldiers.

Jet Set focused on one of the Earth Pony slaves who was desperately trying to flee the carnage and had the misfortune of running just past her old master.

"You there," Jet Set shouted in his most authoritative voice, focusing his magic on the slave. "You have the honor of giving me your life and strength. Give up all you have for one above you!"

The slave hesitated. Her will faltered for a moment, subconsciously recognizing Jet Set as her master, and that was all he needed. Using the forbidden arts of the Old Masters, he reached out with his magic, took a hold of the slave's soul and ripped it out of her body, which fell on the ground like a sack full of sand. Twisting the horrified, struggling soul until all resistance was gone from it, Jet Set shaped it into a weapon of howling pain and despair and then sent it out to clear a path for him to get back aboard the airship. The enslaved soul attacked the nearest Novumequine soldiers, trying to shatter their minds with its own pain and despair.

Jet Set was only partially aware that two of his remaining bodyguards chose to abandon him there and then, clearly horrified by his actions, even if they couldn't fully understand what had just happened.

Sanctuary Point wrote:

Billhook and Lancer entered the medical room, finding a bloody mass on the table with drips and tubes hanging off it loosely as the Waterloosian medics and their Percheron trainees did their best to undo the effects of a grenade on Heedless. “We’re not going to get anything from that.” Lancer dismissed their erstwhile comrade-in-arms as he more closely resembled a load of smashed tomato’s than anything capable of thought and speech.

With that, they turned to the one who brought him in. Corporal Warning Light was sat in the corner of the adjacent room, helmet held in trembling hooves. “Corporal?” She looked up and snapped a salute as the two colonels nodded. “Colonels, what can I do for you?”
“If you don’t mind, would you tell us what happened before Charge ended up like…” Lancer dipped her head towards the medical room. “Right, well. After we left the HQ, Colonel Charge had us gather the saboteurs and marched them back to see the bomb site. He had them dig through the wreckage when one of them tried to rush the colonel who put her down before she could do anything. After that, he just… exploded and I ran to get him to the doctors. I don’t know why the others haven’t come back yet.” Billhook grimaced as he imagined who those saboteurs actually were and Lancer seemed to be of the same mind. “Okay, so Corporal Light, do you know anything about your colonel’s… policies about the town?” The pegasus tensed, looking about ready to take flight. “I… i wouldn’t know. The colonel didn’t exactly explain it to all of us, y’know?” Billhook sighed while Lancer gave Light a small smile. “Of course. Could you say who might know?”
“Captain Riding Crop might know. I… have somewhere I need to go. Sorry, Colonels.”

When Silver Streak next regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a surprisingly comfortable bed in a large cellar room full of unknown Ponies. Most were Earth Ponies, but there were a couple of Unicorns and Pegasi among them as well. His torso was wrapped in bandages, and he gave up trying to sit up after the first attempt sent jolts of pain through his entire body.

"Easy there," an elderly Unicorn mare said. "I am Quiet Grace, the town healer. I spent the last night patching you up. You got lucky, young man... No vital organs or blood vessels were destroyed despite your rather severe injuries. Still, it'll be at least a couple of weeks before you can even think about fighting again."

"J-just who are you?" Silver Streak managed to wheeze. Every word hurt his throat and burned his lungs.

A large Earth Pony stallion stepped forward.

"We are just citizens of Flower Hill," he said. "We've tried to organize a resistance against these occupying monsters, but so far we've had little success. None of us has proper military training, and although we've managed to steal and stash away some weapons, few us know how to properly use them. Please, tell us help is on the way."

"Just... Just what have the invaders done to you?" Silver Streak asked.

"Horrible things," the Earth Pony said. "You've seen some of it yourself. Under the command of Colonel Heedless Charge, who led the initial invasion force, they burned half of the city down and summarily executed anypony they thought was not fully committed to their cause... or who the Colonel felt had looked at him the wrong way. They claim to be our 'liberators'... What a load of horseapples! They're just fiends who want to conquer and kill and then conquer and kill some more!"

"I... I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't expect a full liberation force in the near future," Silver Streak said truthfully. These Ponies had saved his life, it didn't feel right to lie to them and give them false hope. "The Novumequines have landed a lot of forces throughout the Imperium and are obviously trying to occupy the entire nation. Our armies are doing their best to hinder their progress, but they are very strong and their technology is more advanced than ours. I believe we will prevail against them in the end, but it'll be a while before Flower Hill can hope for a liberation."

"Then our fate is sealed," the Earth Pony said sadly.

"Perhaps not," Silver Streak said. "You said you have weapons? And that you lack proper military training? Well, since it looks like I won't be going anywhere soon, perhaps I can teach you a thing or two about guerrilla warfare and sabotage... Everything we can do to tie up the enemy forces here means less pressure on our forces in the North and East."

Sanctuary Point wrote:

The Confessor shoved Ice behind him as he swung his oversized weapon wildly, detonating the chunks and allowing his rosarius to absorb most of the the blasts, ignoring the growing cracks as the colonel shot over the other Earth Pony’s head. “You think us so weak as to falter with the loss of one ship, one tank? The faithful of the Sisters shall fight you to the last breath, the last round, the last blade!” The two charged at their foe, Ice’s bayonet now clipped on as their blades descended on Tilter as the battle mage powered up another spell.

Aboard the crashing transport, the crew of the Twilight Valour strapped themselves into their stations as the Windigos howled outside. “You find no purchase here, daemons. The Twilight Valour’s was sanctified by Deacon Guiding Light himself.” Captain Steel Hide boasted as his tank and what was left of its transport hurtled towards the surface. “Think we’re higher than when we had to drop on Markduun, temperature’s a lot lower though.” The driver and Hide’s trusted second, Lieutenant Spalling, commented as he gently rubbed his hoof over the console. “You can handle that though, can’t ya, old girl?” A shudder traveled through the Starfall and Hide glanced through the sights. “That was the last of the transport falling away. Ground’s coming up fast. Main gun, prepare to fire on my mark.”

The clouds bursted as the building-sized tank plummeted towards the surface, the hilly terrain coming into focus as they neared. Two tremendous booms echoed through the valleys as the Twilight Valour fired its mighty Starfall cannon to leech away some of its velocity before smashing into the ground and digging a great trench besides the crater. The monitors and wiring inside rattled as the tank came to a stop, a hatch in the floor sliding out as the red-robes figure of a tech-priest crawled out. “Enginseer Tension Bar, how is the Valour?” Hide asked as mechadendrites stretched out to correct the loosening bolts. “Despite you dropping her out the sky again, over my explicit instructions not to, she is operational. A third of the Valour’s suspension is misaligned, we’ll be limited to half speed until I am able to finish the rituals.” The tech-priest replied, her voice ringing like glass chimes, one of the few organic things about her still.

The sudden charge seemed to have caught Tilter off guard, but only for a moment. He had been preparing a combat spell, but quickly cancelled it and put up a shield spell instead, just in time. The Confessor's chainsword and the Colonel's bayonet hit the shield, sending arcane sparks flying in all directions. The sheer force of the dual attack pushed Tilter back several steps, but his shield held. He was clearly a very powerful mage.

"One tank... Ten thousand tanks..." he sneered, although for the first time his voice sounded strained. "It matters not. All of your forces that pollute the Equestrian soil with their presence will be destroyed. You will fail miserably serving your false goddesses who don't even exist in this world anymore. Our Imperatrix is far stronger than they ever were... Why don't you come to the winning side?"

*

The impact of Twilight Valour's landing sent tremors through the entire town and even briefly disturbed the magical shield protecting the battlemages in the central square. The Equestrian soldiers looked in awe and horror at the mechanical beast that had literally fallen from the sky in their midst.

It didn't take long for the Equestrians to recognize the giant tank as the greatest single threat on the battlefield. They brought their heaviest anti-tank weapons to bear against it, although in doing so, they had to abandon many of their defensive positions, allowing the Frostskader soldiers to push further into the town. Any new Windigos summoned by the battlemages began to relentlessly attack the Valour, but the blessings protecting the giant war machine made their efforts all but naught. The three remaining airships of the 5th Imperial Airfleet also abandoned their current targets and began to head towards the Valour's position, powering up their magical beam cannons.

OkoTV News/Oko Online

Today's Date: January 7th, 2023

[HEADLINES] Religious Courts Established, Supreme Leader Begins Appointments

Category: Law & Order

The first law of the new year has been enacted by the Emperor today, with the law, titled the Religious Justice Act, or RJA, officially establishing religious courts within the formerly secular nation. The RJA established 2 religious courts, along with appointments and their authority, one of which being an administrative court with both ordinary and appellate jurisdiction, the Infernal Court of Makko Oko, and the other one, the Absolute Court of Satan, being a constitutional court. The law is a 180 degree turnaround from merely a year ago where all religions and religious affiliations in the nation were effectively banned.

Richard Garst, the appointed Supreme Leader of Satanism, said in a statement to OkoTV News "I spearheaded this creation of legislation, and the Emperor simply wrote and approved. I, for the religion, do greatly appreciate the efforts of the Emperor to strengthen our position as the state's religion, and hopefully this will continue with me in the Law Council."

Appointments to the two courts have already begun, with the Minister Of Justice swearing in the Supreme Leader as the Chief Justice of the Absolute Court of Satan, as defined by law. Meanwhile, the Ministry Of Justice has been planning out the building of courthouse locations for the Infernal Court of Makko Oko, with the first location being in the heavily religious city of Sulas. The Absolute Court of Satan, by authorization of the Emperor, has a single location within the Supreme Court building in Opposh.

In a statement by the Emperor to the press, he stated that "The enactment of the Religious Justice Act has been necessary, for the compliance of the Basic Rights, and for our very following of religious code".

Church Of Makko Oko Founded, Looks Towards Caryton

Category: Government & Politics

Today in a joint announcement by the Supreme Leader Richard Garst and Emperor Conall Solis, it was announced that an official church would be established for Satanism, not only for local churches to also exist, but also for potential expansion internationally. Named the Church of Makko Oko, there are two defacto leaders of it, the Emperor, and the Supreme Leader, with nearly both of them having the same authority, except the Supreme Leader is active, while the Emperor is silent.

During the same announcement, the Supreme Leader announced their intentions to expand the church and the religion internationally to other nations, wherein it may be lacking. Specifically, the Supreme Leader mentioned the Spiritual Republic of Caryton as a place to expand, "regardless of our government's relationship, and therefore to expand access to the unions of homosexuals" they said. The government in an after-announcement statement would not confirm if talks with Caryton were in progress or if other nations were being considered.

The Supreme Leader says that any nation or government interested in the church's presence imminently, may reach for the blood skies and make their way towards it.

HE Government Silent About Legalization, Denounces Caryton's Lack Of Access

Category: Law & Order

His Emperor's Government today in an official statement denounced the Spiritual Republic of Caryton for "blatant violations of religious rights everywhere" regarding their firm stance on continuing to make international homosexual marriage a crime. The government, however silent, did recognize the recent decriminalization of homosexual marriage domestically, but due to the government "falling short on freely available access to perform these unions", couldn't recognize it as a right step.

The government went into lengthy detail regarding the continued stance on sexual relations before marriage, mainly stating it was a violation of religious rights, as before, in relation to Satanism and other religions. The final sentence of the statement fully condemned Carytonic officials and suggested that they "look back over what they're doing before they do something that can't be reversed". OkoTV News reached out to the Ministry Of Diplomatic Affairs asking about potential asylum for Carytonic nationals and a representative responded stating "At present, the ministry has no intentions to grant asylum to nationals of Caryton, for any purpose or reason". The ministry refused to provide more information on the matter.

New MOIS Directive Captures Attention Of Civil Rights Advocates

Category: Law & Order

Civil rights advocates are causing quite a stir on both domestic and international social media today after civil rights advocates within Makko Oko noticed, without any announcement or press briefing, a directive of the Ministry Of Internal Security had been issued by the Emperor themselves, Conall Solis. The directive, referred to as "Directive #1 - On The Topic Of Runaway Slaves", it instructs the ministry and all legally authorized law enforcement bodies, both domestic and foreign, to "find, capture and return" runaway slaves. The directive goes into detail, stipulating that "Shall a report by persons having owned slaves be made, and it shall be lodged against a slave for being missing, law enforcement may enforce the status quo of 'slave' and return them to their rightful person, unless a directive is made by a competent authority on their prosecution".

Civil rights advocates claim that it's a step backwards in the abolition of slavery, and that the directive should be immediately revoked. One rather vocal civil rights advocate, August Thornton, has filed a formal request with the Supreme Court requesting that they decide on the constitutionality and legality of the directive. The court, nor the government, were available for comment on the request.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:

Despite the Abbess' borderline blasphemous words (as far as proper Equestrians brought up to believe in the Imperatrix and Her infallibility were concerned), Twinkler managed to remain noticeably calm.

"We are not in the Diarchy now, Abbess," she said in a stern voice, with only a hint of hesitation. "You do not have the support of a thousand thousand worlds anymore... In fact, you do not have the support of even a single world right now. If you win this war, you'll gain control of a single country surrounded by many hostile countries. What do you think will happen if you destroy most of Equestria in your attempts to 'cauterize' the infection? Do you think the rest of the world will just leave you alone and let you rebuild on the ashes of a destroyed civilization? No. They'll sense our (and your) weakness and will come seeking our blood. And remember, the Equestrianic Imperium has faced genocidal foes before, and we all remember what it was like. If you think your cleansing fire is the answer to everything, you'll likely have to fight through not only our military, but through our civilians as well. If you truly want the Equines of this dimension to have a future, you can't afford to use the tactics you've apparently used in your dimension of origin."

"It doesn't have to be like that," Hope said. "I've seen the true face of the High Nobility, and so have you! If only we could somehow show it to everypony, they wouldn't continue to fight for the old system anymore. They would turn against their masters and liberate Equestria themselves!"

Twinkler gave the young Unicorn noblemare a thoughtful nod.

She said, "Perhaps. But how did you plan to make this known to tens of millions of Ponies? I'm inclined to believe you now that I've seen what you've seen, but how will you convince the rest of the Equestrian people to see the truth? Do you even have the means to reach them all and show them the truth?"

“Surely your space station, as antiquated as it is, has the ability to connect to the vox casters of your nation?” Admiral Typhoon spoke up for the first time, the ancient pegasus stroking his long beard as he grabbed the portable cogitator which had just beeped with the preliminary report from the tech priests about Twinkler’s station. “Being the crowning space milestone of Equestria, I assume it contains the best of your technology and has the potential to override the securities of your other communications in case of orbital emergencies that you’d need to warn groundside of?”

“That was what we were planning to do with the space station if it survived the attack.” Rising added, sounding calmer after the topic change. “Of course had the assault been too much or if you had caused the station to destroy itself then we would have transmitted from one of the inquisitorial ships. They have a special vox relay that can hijack all signals planetside for exterminatus declarations. Should the station not be able to take over Equestria’s vox system, Lady Lulamoon will use her ship.”

Twilight Sparkle wrote:

General Jet Set froze only for a couple of seconds before his military training took hold and allowed him to think clearly and analyze the situation unfolding before him. The enemy force was strong, definitely stronger than the limited ground forces under his command. His only real hope for survival was to get aboard the airship as soon as possible and then get if off the ground so that it could use its main weapons to wipe out the attackers.

The problem, of course, was that right now there was no way to get the airship off the ground quickly enough, and ever less of a chance for him to get aboard the ship without being torn to shreds by the powerful weapons wielded by the enemy soldiers and mounted on their monstrous vehicles.

The General was fairly certain that he was the Novumequines' main target. They had no other reason for an attack this direct and bold. For a few seconds, he felt a knot of despair clench at his throat, but then a calm, focused determination took over his thoughts. It almost felt like there were other, invisible Ponies standing around him, lending him their strength and telling him that there was nothing to be afraid of. He was an Equestrian Noble, trained in the Way of the Old Masters. He had taken the very souls of those beneath him... It was not him who should be afraid: his enemies should be afraid of him! These foolish attackers were just Worthless Others to be dominated and destroyed.

"To me, soldiers!" He barked to the nearest Pegasus guards. "Protect me as I deal with them myself!"

Six Pegasi flew over to protect their officer, the others being too busy trying to (unsuccessfully) fend off the attackers. Two were shot down by the Salamanders' autocannons before they could reach Jet Set, but the four remaining ones took defensive positions around him, doing their best to protect him from enemy soldiers.

Jet Set focused on one of the Earth Pony slaves who was desperately trying to flee the carnage and had the misfortune of running just past her old master.

"You there," Jet Set shouted in his most authoritative voice, focusing his magic on the slave. "You have the honor of giving me your life and strength. Give up all you have for one above you!"

The slave hesitated. Her will faltered for a moment, subconsciously recognizing Jet Set as her master, and that was all he needed. Using the forbidden arts of the Old Masters, he reached out with his magic, took a hold of the slave's soul and ripped it out of her body, which fell on the ground like a sack full of sand. Twisting the horrified, struggling soul until all resistance was gone from it, Jet Set shaped it into a weapon of howling pain and despair and then sent it out to clear a path for him to get back aboard the airship. The enslaved soul attacked the nearest Novumequine soldiers, trying to shatter their minds with its own pain and despair.

Jet Set was only partially aware that two of his remaining bodyguards chose to abandon him there and then, clearly horrified by his actions, even if they couldn't fully understand what had just happened.

Disgust rose in the Thanatosians as they witnessed the theft of the Earth Pony’s soul and Jet Set’s use of it as a weapon. “Foul sorcerer, you’ll die for your crimes!” One of the soldiers shouted as half of them fired their lasguns at the noble and his guards while the other aimed at the spectre. Fury radiated off them as they assailed the cultist noble, he and his ethereal monstrosity being the only real opposition left in the field as the Ironhearts had killed or ran off the rest of Jet Set’s pegasus guard and none of the airship’s crew had exited to join the battle. Shells launched from the tanks to smash against the shield of the airship, testing and whittling it down bit by bit while the Cragodile APCs idled near the ramp, turrets ready to support the soldiers when they had a clear line of fire.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:

When Silver Streak next regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a surprisingly comfortable bed in a large cellar room full of unknown Ponies. Most were Earth Ponies, but there were a couple of Unicorns and Pegasi among them as well. His torso was wrapped in bandages, and he gave up trying to sit up after the first attempt sent jolts of pain through his entire body.

"Easy there," an elderly Unicorn mare said. "I am Quiet Grace, the town healer. I spent the last night patching you up. You got lucky, young man... No vital organs or blood vessels were destroyed despite your rather severe injuries. Still, it'll be at least a couple of weeks before you can even think about fighting again."

"J-just who are you?" Silver Streak managed to wheeze. Every word hurt his throat and burned his lungs.

A large Earth Pony stallion stepped forward.

"We are just citizens of Flower Hill," he said. "We've tried to organize a resistance against these occupying monsters, but so far we've had little success. None of us has proper military training, and although we've managed to steal and stash away some weapons, few us know how to properly use them. Please, tell us help is on the way."

"Just... Just what have the invaders done to you?" Silver Streak asked.

"Horrible things," the Earth Pony said. "You've seen some of it yourself. Under the command of Colonel Heedless Charge, who led the initial invasion force, they burned half of the city down and summarily executed anypony they thought was not fully committed to their cause... or who the Colonel felt had looked at him the wrong way. They claim to be our 'liberators'... What a load of horseapples! They're just fiends who want to conquer and kill and then conquer and kill some more!"

"I... I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't expect a full liberation force in the near future," Silver Streak said truthfully. These Ponies had saved his life, it didn't feel right to lie to them and give them false hope. "The Novumequines have landed a lot of forces throughout the Imperium and are obviously trying to occupy the entire nation. Our armies are doing their best to hinder their progress, but they are very strong and their technology is more advanced than ours. I believe we will prevail against them in the end, but it'll be a while before Flower Hill can hope for a liberation."

"Then our fate is sealed," the Earth Pony said sadly.

"Perhaps not," Silver Streak said. "You said you have weapons? And that you lack proper military training? Well, since it looks like I won't be going anywhere soon, perhaps I can teach you a thing or two about guerrilla warfare and sabotage... Everything we can do to tie up the enemy forces here means less pressure on our forces in the North and East."

The colonels gathered in the records room again as the monitor connected to Heedless beep periodically down the hall. “The 2nd Percheron has rotted from the top down. We can’t allow them to stay here and continue to brutalise the common folk.” Billhook started off as Lancer glared at Heedless through the wall. “Agreed, let’s send them to the front. They’ll find redemption in decimation.”
“Who’s going to replace them here on garrison duty though?” Arsenal asked, a small pop of magic by Lancer’s ear getting her to focus on them again. “It can’t be any of our regiments as we’re all tainted by association with the umm… loony sack of guts in the other room.”

“What about the Wulfrun regiment? They haven’t been deployed yet from what I’ve heard.” White Tower of the 1st Shetland suggested to the general agreement of the others. “The terrain’s more hilly than foresty but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Rangers, the Waterloosians said they were some of the Diarchy’s best.” Billhook added, glancing at the door as some hurried steps thundered by. “Plus they should be able to handle any further sabotage by the Equestrians should they make an actual move around here.” With a plan set, the colonels took every related report the 2nd Percheron had about the rampant abuse they’d done to the town, intended to send it all to High Command for the censure.

While the others gathered papers, Lancer snuck away to visit Heedless one final time. The lower ranks saluted her as she passed by them in the hallway, unaware of the betrayal coming to them. She nodded along and saluted back as required while she moved to the infirmary, finding what was left of Heedless and a medicae smoking a lho-stick. “You are… a friend of his?” The other pegasus asked after another drag, his eyes traced down Lancer’s back as the glint of a dagger attracted them. “Guess not. So who are you? Angry villager, avenging widow, Equestrian saboteur?” She raised her eyebrow at the doctor’s blasé attitude towards a possible assailant to his patient before a puff of smoke wafted over her. “Could’ve save me the time and effort if you had come earlier.” The medic flicked his stub at Heedless, not caring as the monitor started beeping faster as the unicorn on the table was agitated. “This lèche-cul is why the town hates us, no? Killing whoever he wants, forcing himself onto mares, he’s a disgrace to the uniform but what do I know? I’m just a doctor. I just have to stitch up whoever’s placed in front of me.” The medicae lit up another lho-stick from his pack, not mentioning the numerous times he and his fellow Waterloosians had slipped out to assist the victims of the 2nd Percheron, when they could get the rightfully suspicious natives to trust them enough. “Try not to make too much of a mess.” He remarked as he left Lancer alone with Heedless.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:

The sudden charge seemed to have caught Tilter off guard, but only for a moment. He had been preparing a combat spell, but quickly cancelled it and put up a shield spell instead, just in time. The Confessor's chainsword and the Colonel's bayonet hit the shield, sending arcane sparks flying in all directions. The sheer force of the dual attack pushed Tilter back several steps, but his shield held. He was clearly a very powerful mage.

"One tank... Ten thousand tanks..." he sneered, although for the first time his voice sounded strained. "It matters not. All of your forces that pollute the Equestrian soil with their presence will be destroyed. You will fail miserably serving your false goddesses who don't even exist in this world anymore. Our Imperatrix is far stronger than they ever were... Why don't you come to the winning side?"

*

The impact of Twilight Valour's landing sent tremors through the entire town and even briefly disturbed the magical shield protecting the battlemages in the central square. The Equestrian soldiers looked in awe and horror at the mechanical beast that had literally fallen from the sky in their midst.

It didn't take long for the Equestrians to recognize the giant tank as the greatest single threat on the battlefield. They brought their heaviest anti-tank weapons to bear against it, although in doing so, they had to abandon many of their defensive positions, allowing the Frostskader soldiers to push further into the town. Any new Windigos summoned by the battlemages began to relentlessly attack the Valour, but the blessings protecting the giant war machine made their efforts all but naught. The three remaining airships of the 5th Imperial Airfleet also abandoned their current targets and began to head towards the Valour's position, powering up their magical beam cannons.

“The Sisters are eternal, whatever world or universe we may find ourselves in. And it is through service to Them that we may grasp immortality ourselves.” Another swing of the chainsword scraped against Tilter’s shield, a shower of sparks erupting from the clash between mage and priest as Ice Flow fired his reloaded weapon. “Monsters like you will never be on the winning side.” The two charged at Tilter again before a great booming voice called out and the entire terminus town shook. “Feel the might of the Valour, heretics!”

A series of pangs, tinks and the occasional thwump assailed the ears of the Twilight Valour’s crew who were working with Tension Bar to restore everything that had been knocked loose in their suborbital drop. “Small arms fire, physical munitions for the most part.” The enginseer identified the weapons purely based off the sounds of their ricochets. “Autoguns, heavy stubbers and…” She paused for another thwump. “Autocannons of moderate calibre. 57… no, 60mm?”
“They’re scratching the paint, about all they can do.” Hide moved back to his command seat just as the Equestrian airships raked their beam cannons over the Valour, the super-heavy armour shrugging off the blows until they cut across the left sponson’s twin-linked heavy bolters, striking the ammunition belts and leading to a disastrous implosion that destroyed the two guns and caused a small chink in the armour.

An alarm blared as lights blinked on Hide’s console before he slammed his hoof on it. “What happened? Station 3, report!” He shouted into the mic as the enginseer slipped back into her hatch and traversed the inner mechanics of the Valour. “Catastrophic gun failure, Loader’s dead. We’ve lost the heavy bolters over here and that blast must have wrapped the lascannon’s ring, it’s grinding when I try turning it back more than a third of the way.” The news angered Hide greatly as he slammed his console. “These savages dare to damage one of the Sisters’ mightiest tanks? Starfall cannon, prepare to return fire.”

The massive turret of the Twilight Valour stirred to life as the Equestrians continued to fire what weapons they had at the metal monstrosity, wasting their ammo as their shots bounced off layers of ceramite and plasteel. “Feel the might of the Valour, heretics!” The cannon fired with a tremendous boom, the shockwave collapsing the two closest buildings and sending cracks throughout the others around the Valour. A shell the size of a pony shot out from its barrel and rocketed towards the closest of the three airships, shattering the shield around it like so much plate glass before punching through the hull of the airship and detonating.

Sanctuary Point wrote:

“Surely your space station, as antiquated as it is, has the ability to connect to the vox casters of your nation?” Admiral Typhoon spoke up for the first time, the ancient pegasus stroking his long beard as he grabbed the portable cogitator which had just beeped with the preliminary report from the tech priests about Twinkler’s station. “Being the crowning space milestone of Equestria, I assume it contains the best of your technology and has the potential to override the securities of your other communications in case of orbital emergencies that you’d need to warn groundside of?”

“That was what we were planning to do with the space station if it survived the attack.” Rising added, sounding calmer after the topic change. “Of course had the assault been too much or if you had caused the station to destroy itself then we would have transmitted from one of the inquisitorial ships. They have a special vox relay that can hijack all signals planetside for exterminatus declarations. Should the station not be able to take over Equestria’s vox system, Lady Lulamoon will use her ship.”

That gave Twinkler a pause.

After a couple of seconds she gave the Admiral a small nod.

"Yes," she said. "I think we could do it. I'm reasonably confident we could reach most of the Equestrianic Imperium with the comms equipment aboard the ESS Twilight Star. As an added bonus of using our space station, the people will probably be more inclined to trust a signal coming from an Equestrian source instead of one of your ships."

"It's settled then?" Bulwark asked. "Hope and I can go public with our experiences and let the entire Imperium know that they're being controlled by a bunch of self-serving cultists with a penchant for Equine sacrifice?"

"I don't see why not," Twinkler said, "I doubt everypony will instantly believe your words, but some will. Perhaps that will help end this war sooner and with less bloodshed on both sides."

"Your father will not be happy to learn you're still alive," Bulwark said to Hope.

The Unicorn glanced at the Abbess and the Admiral.

"Hah! I'd like to see him try to do anything aboubt it. He can't get at me up here. We've already neutralized practically 100% of the Imperium's orbital capabilities."

Sanctuary Point wrote:

Disgust rose in the Thanatosians as they witnessed the theft of the Earth Pony’s soul and Jet Set’s use of it as a weapon. “Foul sorcerer, you’ll die for your crimes!” One of the soldiers shouted as half of them fired their lasguns at the noble and his guards while the other aimed at the spectre. Fury radiated off them as they assailed the cultist noble, he and his ethereal monstrosity being the only real opposition left in the field as the Ironhearts had killed or ran off the rest of Jet Set’s pegasus guard and none of the airship’s crew had exited to join the battle. Shells launched from the tanks to smash against the shield of the airship, testing and whittling it down bit by bit while the Cragodile APCs idled near the ramp, turrets ready to support the soldiers when they had a clear line of fire.

Suddenly, the airship jerked. The ramp leading up into the cargo bay retracted and the doors slid shut. Then the airship began to take off the ground. Its remaining crew had clearly decided to make a run for it without their commander.

"No! You traitors!" Jet Set screamed even as his two remaining guards were killed by enemy fire. "You can't leave without me! I am your master! You can't abandon me!"

He turned his wrath on the airship, firing a series of unnaturally powerful magical bolts against its already failing shield, further weakening it. His enslaved wraith continued to attack the Thanatosians. It seemed almost unaffected by the incoming fire that phased through it without doing much harm. Whatever little damage was inflicted was almost instantly healed. Jet Set himself was protected by a shield of his own, and a swirling magical vortex had formed around him, consuming or deflecting projectiles aimed at him.

There was no doubt about it now: Jet Set and the twisted monstrosity he had turned the unfortunate Earth Pony's soul into were not fighting alone. Although they couldn't exactly see them, the nearest Thanatosians could feel the presence of other... entities around the Equestrian General. They walked by his side and lent him their strength, making him stronger than a Unicorn of his caliber should be.

And as Jet Set drew on their strength, he began to change.

It was subtle at first, but it became increasingly noticeable every second. It was almost like looking at one of those optical illusion where one could see a face or an animal in a completely unrelated image by squinting. Jet Set remained the same gray middle-aged Unicorn he was, but at the same time, he became something wicked and ugly and old and evil that wasn't really a Pony at all. Not anymore.

And he was becoming stronger.

Sanctuary Point wrote:

The colonels gathered in the records room again as the monitor connected to Heedless beep periodically down the hall. “The 2nd Percheron has rotted from the top down. We can’t allow them to stay here and continue to brutalise the common folk.” Billhook started off as Lancer glared at Heedless through the wall. “Agreed, let’s send them to the front. They’ll find redemption in decimation.”
“Who’s going to replace them here on garrison duty though?” Arsenal asked, a small pop of magic by Lancer’s ear getting her to focus on them again. “It can’t be any of our regiments as we’re all tainted by association with the umm… loony sack of guts in the other room.”

“What about the Wulfrun regiment? They haven’t been deployed yet from what I’ve heard.” White Tower of the 1st Shetland suggested to the general agreement of the others. “The terrain’s more hilly than foresty but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the Rangers, the Waterloosians said they were some of the Diarchy’s best.” Billhook added, glancing at the door as some hurried steps thundered by. “Plus they should be able to handle any further sabotage by the Equestrians should they make an actual move around here.” With a plan set, the colonels took every related report the 2nd Percheron had about the rampant abuse they’d done to the town, intended to send it all to High Command for the censure.

While the others gathered papers, Lancer snuck away to visit Heedless one final time. The lower ranks saluted her as she passed by them in the hallway, unaware of the betrayal coming to them. She nodded along and saluted back as required while she moved to the infirmary, finding what was left of Heedless and a medicae smoking a lho-stick. “You are… a friend of his?” The other pegasus asked after another drag, his eyes traced down Lancer’s back as the glint of a dagger attracted them. “Guess not. So who are you? Angry villager, avenging widow, Equestrian saboteur?” She raised her eyebrow at the doctor’s blasé attitude towards a possible assailant to his patient before a puff of smoke wafted over her. “Could’ve save me the time and effort if you had come earlier.” The medic flicked his stub at Heedless, not caring as the monitor started beeping faster as the unicorn on the table was agitated. “This lèche-cul is why the town hates us, no? Killing whoever he wants, forcing himself onto mares, he’s a disgrace to the uniform but what do I know? I’m just a doctor. I just have to stitch up whoever’s placed in front of me.” The medicae lit up another lho-stick from his pack, not mentioning the numerous times he and his fellow Waterloosians had slipped out to assist the victims of the 2nd Percheron, when they could get the rightfully suspicious natives to trust them enough. “Try not to make too much of a mess.” He remarked as he left Lancer alone with Heedless.

As soon as Silver Streak was strong enough to walk, he found himself training the abused, disgruntled civilians of Flower Hill as partisans and saboteurs. The townsponies had managed to steal and hide away an impressive amount of weapons, from assault rifles to bombs and grenades and anti-personnel mines. Taking advantage of the townsponies' intimate knowledge of their ruined hometown, Silver Streak set up a number of secret training grounds in the most devastated districts. He and his would be civilian militia gathered in them during late evenings, away from the prying eyes of the occupiers, to train in the arts of war. After placing sentinels to watch for enemy patrols, Silver Streak taught his eager students everything he knew about sabotage, small unit tactics and urban warfare. Nearly everypony he talked to had lost someone they knew or loved to the occupiers: in his insanity, Colonel Heedless Charge had not known mercy in his campaign to rid Flower Hill of "saboteus". Ironically, his actions had now created the very thing he had tried to eliminate.

In time, the partisans trained by Silver Streak would begin their campaign against the occupying forces, and while they would never be major players in the war at large, their actions would be the end of many remaining Percheron soldiers as well as soldiers from the Wulfrun regiment sent to take the former's place...

Sanctuary Point wrote:

“The Sisters are eternal, whatever world or universe we may find ourselves in. And it is through service to Them that we may grasp immortality ourselves.” Another swing of the chainsword scraped against Tilter’s shield, a shower of sparks erupting from the clash between mage and priest as Ice Flow fired his reloaded weapon. “Monsters like you will never be on the winning side.” The two charged at Tilter again before a great booming voice called out and the entire terminus town shook. “Feel the might of the Valour, heretics!”

A series of pangs, tinks and the occasional thwump assailed the ears of the Twilight Valour’s crew who were working with Tension Bar to restore everything that had been knocked loose in their suborbital drop. “Small arms fire, physical munitions for the most part.” The enginseer identified the weapons purely based off the sounds of their ricochets. “Autoguns, heavy stubbers and…” She paused for another thwump. “Autocannons of moderate calibre. 57… no, 60mm?”
“They’re scratching the paint, about all they can do.” Hide moved back to his command seat just as the Equestrian airships raked their beam cannons over the Valour, the super-heavy armour shrugging off the blows until they cut across the left sponson’s twin-linked heavy bolters, striking the ammunition belts and leading to a disastrous implosion that destroyed the two guns and caused a small chink in the armour.

An alarm blared as lights blinked on Hide’s console before he slammed his hoof on it. “What happened? Station 3, report!” He shouted into the mic as the enginseer slipped back into her hatch and traversed the inner mechanics of the Valour. “Catastrophic gun failure, Loader’s dead. We’ve lost the heavy bolters over here and that blast must have wrapped the lascannon’s ring, it’s grinding when I try turning it back more than a third of the way.” The news angered Hide greatly as he slammed his console. “These savages dare to damage one of the Sisters’ mightiest tanks? Starfall cannon, prepare to return fire.”

The massive turret of the Twilight Valour stirred to life as the Equestrians continued to fire what weapons they had at the metal monstrosity, wasting their ammo as their shots bounced off layers of ceramite and plasteel. “Feel the might of the Valour, heretics!” The cannon fired with a tremendous boom, the shockwave collapsing the two closest buildings and sending cracks throughout the others around the Valour. A shell the size of a pony shot out from its barrel and rocketed towards the closest of the three airships, shattering the shield around it like so much plate glass before punching through the hull of the airship and detonating.

Tilter, Meteor and Ice Flow's battle came to a full stop for a few moments of stunned silence as they watched the airship go down in flames like a dying whale slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The few surviving Pegasi of the crew hastily evacuated the ship just before it crashed behind some ruined buildings to the Northwest with enough force to send tremors through the small town. A series of small secondary explosions that faded into a bright orange glow and a thick plume of black smoke marked the final resting place of the once-mighty ship.

"So," Tilter said when a hot gust of wind snapped the trio back to the present, "is that your trump card? An impressive engine of destruction, I'll give you that, but it won't save you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Perhaps we'll meet again and finish our business some other day... provided you can make it out of this town alive. I wouldn't count on that, though!"

With noticeable effort, he powered up his magical shield with enough force to push Meteor and Ice back several feet. Before they could attack him again, his horn glowed and he teleported away, leaving the priest and the colonel alone.

*

Throughout the now ruined town, Equestrian forces were retreating towards the train terminus where four large trains were waiting to evacuate them further north to the Crystal Empire proper. The two remaining airships ceased their attack against the Twilight Valour and began to retreat as well. As the giant tank approached the central square, the battlemages there seemed to snap out of their trance. The arcane shield protecting them was dispelled and the mages began to scatter from the square, leaving it empty.

Empty, save for the twisted remains of the soldiers killed by the magical fire summoned by Zircon and her assistants.

Just as Twilight Valour entered the central square, a magically amplified voice rang from the roof of a nearby building. Steel Hide and his crew could see a tall, red-robed Unicorn mare standing atop the building, the blackened, smoke filled sky behind the figure making it particularly distinct.

"A fascinating toy," Archmage Zircon said. "We'll try to capture it reasonably intact so that the Institute of Practical Applications of Enchanted Technology can properly study it."

The Archmage was alone, with neither Tilter nor the other masked Unicorn previously seen accompanying her anywhere to be seen. She teleported away just as some of the smaller cannons on the giant tank came alive and fired a salvo at her. Moments later she appeared on the ground near another building.

"While you were making your way here, I prepared a surprise for you. Let's see how you deal with your former comrades!"

Her horn glowed as she cast a spell that made several magical symbols drawn on the ground around the central square to light up. And as they did so, the twisted bodies lying all around began to stir, then slowly get up. The ground began to crack and splinter, and more undead Equine corpses emerged from the depths, most likely belonging to the ancient victims of King Sombra's bloody reign. Some of them were skeletal, others little more than vaguely Pony-shaped dirt animated by dark magicks. Most of the walking dead began to swarm towards the Twilight Valour, trying to climb on it to attack its weapons or to find a way inside through the most damaged sections. The rest scattered throughout the town at alarming speed to attack the other Frostskader soldiers.

With one last melodic but sinister laugh, Zircon teleported away.

Supreme Court Of Makko Oko

HEARING ARGUMENTS ON GOVERNMENT DIRECTIVE'S CONSTITUTIONALITY

January 22nd, 2022

The time was running out for the government, as their recess had now elapsed and everybody was back in the courtroom, only the government reps were nowhere to be seen, and right as Chief Justice Kimberly Giddens was going to the backroom to make a phone call about it, the doors burst open and a whole team of lawyers, over 10 people, entered the room, over half of them dressed in the most expensive suits money can buy. "Here your honor" one of the MOJ officials say, "Co-representing the government per the Minister's authorization, our client, Harvey & Richter". Kramer Evans looked dumbfounded and confused by what had just happened, and tried to object sounding confused, "Your honor...I don't think you can have 10 people against 1 in a trial".

Justices Frances Sparks and Edgar Gerlach jointly overrule them, "Overruled. Firstly, this isn't a trial, and secondly, while highly unorthodox, is not illegal per codified law, regardless of the fairness of such an event." Kramer then mostly keeps his mouth shut, muttering under his breath on the "unfairness and political show of the government". "Alright, let's begin before lunch hour passes, I skipped breakfast for this" Chief Justice Giddens says, "Last we stood, the government had requested additional time to prepare. Are you prepared to begin Counselor?" "Mr. Miller for the government your honor, and yes, we're fully prepared to continue this discussion."

"Alright, where were we?" Chief Justice Giddens says looking through papers, "We were on the affair of Section 6", Justice Donald Aponte says, "Ah yes...and does the government have a response?" Chief Justice Giddens responds dead-eyeing the government reps. Mr. Miller with the private law firm responds, "We do your honor. You are correct about Section 6, Mr. Evans, however, the article you're referring to does not specifically capitulate and state therein that rights are to be applied equally. While the law is to be applied equally, you must understand, the equal protection clause only applies hereto, 'race, color, sex, ethnicity or disability', per Article 22 of that Section. In addition, within that very section, the exact article in which you quote, Article 23, is a directed misquote to confuse and guide an invalid ruling. Article 23 only..." he then gets cut off by Justice Aponte, who says in a deep and directed tone, "Mr. Miller...we will not excuse an insinuation of our judgement being misguided. I'd choose your next words carefully, before you say something we cannot allow."

"Understood your honor, may I continue?" Mr. Miller replies rather insincerely, to the acceptance of the justices. "Article 23 only enforces equal protection for those protected statuses and identities classified under Article 22, therefore not applying to this directive for not only not qualifying as 'not protecting those classes' but also due to it not technically being a law." "So you're trying to exploit a loophole then?" Kramer asks smirking ever so slightly. "Call it what you may, but the law doesn't lie Kramer." Justice Richard Sullivan, rather quiet and docile until now, says with his hands leaning on the bench, "Let's take a quick look at actual law then, shall we? The Civil Rights Act is quite important, and may even decide the fate of this case for all." he then takes out a huge book, and flips to that specific law, puts on his reading glasses, and quotes the act in full.

Thereafter, one of the MOJ officials starts speaking, "What you've quoted, your honor, is only further proof to the instability of this case brought forth by Mr. Evans and his 'groupies'. Under Section 2, Article 7, you said and I quote, 'All individuals, who are classified as citizens of the state, shall have the utmost right to be protected from becoming, or from, crime victims and criminals respectively, as long as the below requisites defined are met'. How does this play into here? Because thereafter the enactment of the law, it became constitutionally enforced. Both under the Constitution and of that Section, are of the 'right to protection'. You've already defined it, we have already defined it."

Kramer then begins looking very worried, almost defeated as if the case had already ended, and brought up the shaky nerves to ask the justices for a recess, "Your honor, given this...new information, may I...have more...time?" The justices took a moment to think on it, and then Chief Justice Kimberly Giddens said "Your request has been denied. I'd like to wrap this up, and I think we already have about everything we need. Court is adjourned, the court will announce its ruling by the end of this week." Everybody walks out except Kramer, almost looking like he's going to collapse physically, and then a bailiff forces him out of the courtroom.