One minute, we were all riding peacefully in a rail car. The next minute, there was an explosion and the train was disabled.
We had been heading directly north to the Crystal Empire for a diplomatic meeting and supposedly, we were going to meet up with yaks(?) to discuss supporting the Equestrian effort. The yaks, despite being a very lightly populated nation, could be an important potential ally due to their nation's resources.
The Day Before
With a light click, the long metal gun case had popped open. It was one of the four that Discord had left behind for the humans and inside it, was nothing. A second after being opened, a KRISS Vector and its magazines were gently placed inside the case. Wilson closed the case and moved it onto the ground where a pile of other equipment had been sitting. Among the pile were his medic's bag and various medical items.
"Yaks?" Wilson asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean those big hairy things that live on arctic mountain tops?"
Rarity nodded. "Yes, but don't say anything like that near them. Yaks have very big tempers and are prone to outbursts." Rarity's horn lit up and she floated over a medium-sized wood crate. "Here's your armor." She opened up the crate and revealed Wilson's IOTV. The burns the armor had earned in the defense of Ponyville were gone, having been freshly repaired.
Wilson picked up his body armor and opened it up, checking the plates and kevlar. They were still there. 'Good', Wilson thought.
Rarity's magic brought in another wooden crate. This one revealed a pair of two armored plates. "These are for your friend. We weren't able to make a ceramic set as he asked but we made a steel counterpart with enchantments to absorb impact and fragmentation. Hopefully, it'll be an adequate substitute."
Wilson took the plates from her. "He'll probably won't complain too much and I'm pretty sure he'd be gracious that he was able to get a replacement set."
-X-X-X-
Tran sat in front of a large table with a map of Equestria on it. Standing there with him was Princess Twilight with a pointer stick held in her magic. "Yakyakistan, the many millennia old home of the yaks located in the far north," Twilight started. "Early on in the war, they adopted a policy of isolationism in regards to military or economic involvement."
'I don't blame them,' Tran thought. "So why are we going there now?" he asked.
Using the glow of her magic, she highlighted the various mountains that Yakyakistan existed on. "Their nation owns these mountains in the northwest and a few decades ago, these very mountains were found to be inundated with coal and iron ore deposits."
Tran blinked. "Again, why are we going there now? You said they don't want anything to do with the war."
Twilight pointed at Ponyville and Manehattan. "Due to recent military victories, the Yaks have decided that they're interested in a trade-focused alliance. They're also interested in meeting you and your friends."
Tran raised an eyebrow. "Out of curiosity's sake, what exactly does Equestria have that Yaks are interested in?"
"The usual items, gold, gemstones, and machine guns," Twilight answered.
"I can understand the first two but machine guns?"
Twilight pointed at Tran's hand cannon of a sidearm. "Typically, yaks prefer their weapons big and loud but they've taken a liking to Equestria machine guns. Apparently, they're amusing to them. Their king has a personal collection that would rival some state arsenals."
"They can't make their own?"
"They're not known for complicated manufacturing capabilities." Using her magic, Twilight lifted up a large wooden crate and placed it down on the table, covering up half the map. She ripped off the crate's lid, revealing a half dozen machine guns. "You'll be giving them these as gifts."
Twilight removed the crate from the table and highlighted a series of railroad tracks. "The route is secured but you'll be passing within a hundred kilometers of Manehattan, a griffon occupied city."
Tran leaned back in his chair. "And I'm assuming this is when you'll be describing our resources?"
She teleported in a color photo and placed it in front of Tran. The photo pictured the side of a train, one that resembled a porcupine considering the number of gun barrels sticking out of it. "That's the Dauntless, one of seven armored trains in Equestria's arsenal. Eighty millimeters of steel protecting every possible angle, five mortars, eight direct fire cannons, thirty-four machine guns, and a crew of one hundred fifteen ponies. You'll also be accompanied by your bodyguards, Rarity, and Prince Blueblood, Equestria's diplomatic representative."
She brought in another photo, this one picturing the entirety of the train from an aerial view. "Her main coal fired-engine moves her at a max speed of fifty kilometers an hour but if they go out, she has an additional two coal-fired engines that can propel her at half speed if used individually and a lightning-powered engine that can propel her at full speed but only for three hours."
"Did you just say lightning powered?" Tran asked.
"Yes, bottled lightning," Twilight answered.
"Lightning in a bottle, as in the electrical discharges that come from the sky during a storm? A bottle filled with that stuff?" Tran further questioned.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I take it, catching lightning in a bottle is not common where you're from?" Tran's deadpan expression was all she needed to answer her question. "Right, I'll make sure the rest of the supplies you need are delivered."
-X-X-X-
The four humans and company stood in front of a massive rolling fortress. "Holy shit," Logan said.
"No kidding," Eric added, eyeing one of its many artillery pieces.
Tran started walking up to the train. "It's impressive, load up. We can admire it from the inside."
-X-X-X-
The Dauntless slowly screeched to a halt with its front main engine on fire. Her pegasi crew members were quick to put the fire out with various nearby clouds. While everyone else was in full alert status and manning their battle stations, Tran and Rarity had gone to find the senior-most engineer of the Dauntless. It wasn't a difficult search, the pony in question wore a completely charcoal stained version of the Royal Equestria Army uniform while also being stained charcoal black.
"Sabotage?" Rarity asked.
The engineer nodded. He reached into one of his coat pockets, pulling out what appeared to be a lump of coal, and tossing it to Tran. "Coal Torpedo. Fake Coal lump filled with explosives," the engineer explained. "Classic sabotage."
Rarity looked at the main engine of the train. "How bad?"
The pony wiped some of the charcoal off of his face. "The trip was supposed to take two days. Now? I'm not sure. The main engine is dead weight and before we fire up either spare, we have to inspect all of the coal."
"Casualties?" Tran asked.
The engineer shook his head. "Luckily the firebox was closed and vented the blast sideways."
Tran turned around and surveyed their surrounding area. They had only traveled for half a day so far and were in a heavily forested area. To make matters worse, clouds plagued the skies. "Good spot for an ambush or artillery barrage."
Rarity nodded and faced the engineer. "Get the lightning engine ready." She walked over and stood beside Tran. "See anything?"
Tran narrowed his eyes. "Not Yet."
-X-X-X-
A distant voice pierced through the cloud cover. "Fix Bayonets."
Glad to see your back, and I still can't get over how you got ran over and did PT before you thought something was amiss
What the hell? Are you feeling better?
And this is why going to the hospital after being hit by a car is always a good idea. (This is in relation to the authors note)
*reads AN*
Oh joy... sounds lovely
Relating to you injuries and surgery.
How are you feeling?
Read AN: glad to read that you are alive. Good luck doing PT, it is hard even in top condition mostly due to how much damage the body have gone through before PT.
It's amazing how stubborn the human body, brain and all, can be.
*Reads AN*
*Sigh*
I will tell you what I told my former manager at my first job and one of my best friends since. For context we were working in an attic on a day it was around 95-100 OUTSIDE.
I don't care if you feel fine, you should not be coughing up blood. So go back to the van into the AC before I before I call your wife to yell at you to go to the ER. At least I know she can make your life hell more than the office can.
Needless to say we went back to the shop after I got everything back in the van and went home.
What's the moral of this short story? Just because you can semi walk away from whatever tried to kill you DOESN'T mean it didn't yet.
All this aside glad the worst is over for you.
Were you trying to tackle the SUV? Or was that just a random encounter that went pear-shaped?
Great chapter. Always nice to see one of my favorite stories is still going.
Also,
The US will never cease to impress me in how BAD its health system is. A country in which you can even consider not using an ambulance after being freaking ran over because "it's not worth it and you feel fine" definitely has problems, no matter what arguments you can have for it.
10375270
To be fair, doctors (in this case paramedics) can’t tell you what to do. They can advise you, but if you say “no” the best they can do is inform you of the risks in that decision. It’s up to you whether or not you listen to them when they tell you “you will die”. It’s against the law for them to force you. If you choose to die, they by law cannot save your life and have to let you die. They can recommend against it, but they can’t act to prevent it.
The only exception is if you aren’t deemed capable of making said decision. I.e. if you’re too young, mentally impaired a la alcohol/drugs, unconscious, etc.
10375784
their is a loophole, if a change of state happens that endangers your life. So wait until the moron passes out, then fix them. But, refusal of care is kinda stupid.
10375270
before refusal of care was law, men put women in insane asylums for hysteria, men were treated for being gay, and the mentally ill were sterilized. It exists because a persons body is supposed to be sacred. That being said, if you get hit by a car get yourself checked out.
Damn bruh, you are a BAD! ASS!
Get well soon and keep up the good work.(in your career, and your hobbies)
Cry mommy and ask for sick days regardless of actual harm?
That's not how you get free time off
Somebody didn't play enough high school sports nor learn to fake injury
10375924
It is. But, humans are stupid. Not much you can do lol
10375270
I think you’re mixing up bad with expensive, as many people tend to do. US healthcare, while expensive, if measured by quality of care, is actually the best on the continent, and one of the best in the world. Even socialized “free” health care like in Canada doesn’t hold a candle to it, evidenced in the fact that many Canadians, who have waited literal months to be treated in their own country’s hospitals, will often get fed up with waiting, will head to the states and get that same procedure in days, with the only drawback being having to pay a little more for it.
Also, what 10375927 said.
10377816
Idk dude, the US is first in only one category and that was in 2009 so I wouldn't call it "best in the world".
Adding to this, an healthcare system where you simply can't heal yourself because you'll be in debt your whole life after it IS bad, it's like saying "yeah we have the best military equipment in the world, but it costs so much we only have 10% of most other country's forces". It simply doesn't work like that, price is definitely a quality factor. Especially for healtcare because contrary to popular US belief, healtcare isn't a privilege, it's a right of the Universal Declaration of Human rights made in 1948 so "quality", even has a flawed argument for reasons stated above, is NOT a valid argument for its exorbitant price.
10377839
That may be true, but still keep in mind when I say it’s one of the best in the world ( I didn’t say THE best in the world, just in North America), I meant that in spite of the cost.
What most people don’t get when it comes to the cost is that it’s because of government having too much control over it. The first troubles we had with high costs coincided with the implementation of Medicaid and Medicare, both of which were ironically made so that the less fortunate could rely less on private charities. They also prevent any sort of competition between medical practitioners and hospitals, and restrict them to providing the same amount of money for their services. This inevitably brings up the cost, as they can set the price however they like (mostly higher than twice what the procedure would cost) with little to no consequences.
The price isn’t what is wrong with Healthcare, the government involvement is. To say that it could be fixed by giving more government control is ludicrous. If you were to expose it to market forces, And let them compete for their clients, then you would see The prices go down, while the quality goes up. Look into retail clinics, as those are realistic examples of that model, and have been able to save people hundreds on hospital bills while maintaining the quality Americans are used to at this point.
Bayonets, god I love bayonets.
Hope you get better brother, please never go full hooah like that again.
Hope your ok, how long until you're fully healed?
Please add a single T-55A tank that would be manned by Tran and the other humans, please!
Cause the T-55A is a one heck of a monster!
T-55A
Type: Medium Tank
ARMOR
Hull (front/sides/back): 100/80/45 mm
Turret (front/sides/back): 200/160/65 mm
MOBILITY
Weight: 36 tonnes
Engine Power: 580 hp
Power-to-Weight Ratio: 16 hp/t
Speed: 50 km/h (forward), 7 km/h (reverse)
PRIMARY ARMAMENT
Main Gun: 100 mm D10T2S cannon
Ammunition: 43 rounds
Vertical Guidance: -5° / 18°
Stabilizer: Two-plane
SECONDARY ARMAMENTS
Machine Gun: 12.7 mm DShK MG
Ammunition: 350 rounds
Vertical Guidance: -10° / 60°
Belt Capacity: 50
Rate of Fire: 600 shots/min
Coaxial MG: 7.62 mm SGMT MG
Ammunition: 3,500 rounds
Belt Capacity: 250 rounds
Rate of Fire: 600 shots/min
Ammunitions for the 100 mm D10T2S cannon
- 3BM-8
Type of Warhead: APDS (Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot)
Shell Velocity: 1,415 m/s
Projectile Mass: 4.13 kg
Fuse Delay: N/A
Fuse Sensitivity: N/A
Explosive Mass (TNT equilvalent): N/A
Richochet:
75° (0%)
78° (50%)
80° (100%)
Penetration at 90° Angle Attack:
299 mm (10 m)
298 mm (100 m)
291 mm (500 m)
272 mm (1,000 m)
253 mm (1,500 m)
249 mm (2,000 m)
- BR-412D
Type of Warhead: APCBC (Armor-Piercing Capped Ballistic Cap)
Shell Velocity: 887 m/s
Projectile Mass: 15.9 kg
Fuse Delay: 1.2 m
Fuse Sensitivity: 19 mm
Explosive Mass (TNT equilvalent): 93.94 g
Richochet:
48° (0%)
63° (50%)
71° (100%)
Penetration at 90° Angle Attack:
234 mm (10 m)
232 mm (100 m)
218 mm (500 m)
203 mm (1,000 m)
188 mm (1,500 m)
174 mm (2,000 m)
- 3BM25
Type of Warhead: APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot)
Velocity: 1,430 m/s
Projectile Mass: 3.4 kg
Fuse Delay: N/A
Fuse Sensitivity: N/A
Explosive Mass (TNT equilvalent): N/A
Richochet:
76° (0%)
77° (50%)
78° (100%)
Penetration at 90° Angle Attack:
335 mm (10 m)
330 mm (100 m)
307 mm (500 m)
290 mm (1,000 m)
275 mm (1,500 m)
260 mm (2,000 m)
- 3BK17M
Type of Warhead: HEAT FS (High-Explosive Anti-Tank)
Velocity: 1,085 m/s
Projectile Mass: 9.96 kg
Fuse Delay: 0.0 m
Fuse Sensitivity: 0.1 mm
Explosive Mass (TNT equilvalent): 935 g
Richochet:
65° (0%)
72° (50%)
75° (100%)
Penetration at 90° Angle Attack:
390 mm (10 m - 2,000 m)
- OF-412
Type of Warhead: HE (High-Explosive)
Shell Velocity: 880 m/s
Projectile Mass: 15.2 kg
Fuse Delay: 0.1 m
Fuse Sensitivity: 0.5 mm
Explosive Mass (TNT equilvalent): 1.46 g
Richochet:
79° (0%)
80° (50%)
81° (100%)
Penetration at 0° Angle Attack:
20 mm (10 m - 100 m)
19 mm (500 m - 2,000 m)
10466136
Hmm, here’s the thing, you would want a tank with a short barrel and that our four would be familiar with. T-55 is a russian tank so I don’t know if they would have the experience to use it. A Bradly IFV would probably be a good bet but there are better light tanks and IFVs. Pentagon Wars is close to what really happened to the Bradly.
10467611
Hmmm... The M2A3 Bradley IFV seems really good, but I was thinking that they might encounter WW1-era tanks like the Griffon versions of the Mark I Landships, Mark IV Landships, FTs Light Tanks, and/or A7V Moving Fortress.
10467664
well the 25mm on the Bradly can pen even modern armor but it’s not the best Light Tank/IFV out there. I’d also not recommend the T-55 as the gun barrel is exceedingly long and you’d probably want something with a short barreled gun.
10467671
Short-barreled gun... Hmmm... Ahah! If shorter barrel is recommended, maybe the Kampfwagen Panzer 70 (or known as the MBT 70) would do the trick. But the problem is that it only can fit 3 Crew members inside. But maybe I can think of another Light Tank or Recon Vehicle with short barrels... The the British FV101 Scorpion...
10467729
yea, lot o’ options and each one has advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion look for one that the manual would be in english for. British, American, or one made/used in partnership with an english speaking nation.
10467732
That sounds like a good idea, but finding a suitable vehicle is tricky. A vehicle that has good armor protection, fire power, short barrelled gun, speed and manoeuvrability.
10467749
Well you don’t need much more armor that what is required to stop an AT rifle and that leads to a faster vehicle. Add the reduced weight of a shorter gun and you get a fast bugger.Then it’s just finds things you think would be useful for the situation.
Also I’m suggesting a short barreled gun because you want something that can be rotated 360 in a tight street or in dense forest while still giving good firepower.
10467767
I know its crazy to add a SPAAG (Self-Propelled Anti-Air Guns) or SPAD (Self-Propelled Air Defense), but the Russian SPAAG, the 2S6 Tunguska can mow down Infantry on both in the air and ground, plus its ATGM can blow a tank into pieces.
10467786
SPAA is an idea but we also want firepower... Bradlys are a good option in this case as they have the 25mm Bushmaster which I think has AA shells and you have the TOW AT missiles to go with it... So many ideas for what would be good. Maybe something with multiple interchangeable turrets? but then how would you set that up... So many options and Ideas.
10467795
Hmm... The Kampfwagen Panzer 70 (or MBT 70) is an American-German Tank that serve as the prototype of the M1 Abrams... Lets see...
Kampfwagen Panzer 70 (MBT 70 or Main Battle Tank 70)
Type: Medium Tank
ARMOR
Hull (front/sides/back): 80/46/25 mm
Turret (front/sides/back): 168/168/35 mm
MOBILITY
Weight: 51.7 tonnes
Engine: Daimler Benz V12 Diesel Engine
Engine Power: 1,500 hp
Power-to-Weight Ratio: 29hp/t
Speed: 63 kp/h (both forward & reverse)
PRIMARY ARMAMENT
Main Gun: 152 mm XM150E5 cannon
Ammunition: 43 rounds
Vertical Guidance: -10° / 20°
Stabilizer: Two-plane
SECONDARY ARMAMENTS
Machine Gun: 20 mm Rh202 cannon
Ammunition: 750 rounds
Vertical Guidance: -9° / 65°
Belt Capacity: 750 rounds
Rate of Fire: 900 shots/min
Coaxial MG: 7.62 mm MG3A1 MG
Ammunition: 6,000 rounds
Belt Capacity: 1,000 rounds
Rate of Fire: 1,2000 shots/min
Yeah. It got a shit-ton of rounds. The 20 mm Auto-Cannon is capable of shooting down a helicopter, its Coaxial MG is like a Buzzsaw. I guess its an okay tank. If that's not enough, then we can stick to the M48A2 C or M60 Patton, but the two tanks has longer barrels than the KPz 70 or MBT 70.
10467831
Definitely not a bad tank, just have to see what the author thinks.
10467845
Sure, and also wait for the new chapter. I'm getting Battlefield 1 vibes right now.
10467851
ww1 ere we come.
10468362
I think the M3 Bradley suits the job. But the one with alot of spaced armor on the front and sides, and have no less than 26 mm of armor. The Tank Gewehr M1918 AT Rifle can penetrate up to 26 mm of flat armor within 100 yards, but when a 20 mm plate is angled... The AT rifle's bullet would ricochet.
10477545
10477594
The M3 Bradley is a Cavalry Fighting Vehicle or CFV. Unlike the IFV M2A3 Bradley, the M3 one specialized Scouting and Reacon. But, the M3 series of the Bradley are like the enhanced versions of M2.
The M3A2 incorporated enhanced armor upgrades, such as the ability to mount explosive reactive armor from the M2A2 Bradley. After live fire testing, seating and ammunition stowage arrangements were also changed, with the observers moved to a bench on the left side of the vehicle and the missile stowage rearranged to enhance safety. After the Gulf War, other improvements including an eye-safe carbon dioxide laser rangefinder, GPS (this might be useless in Equestria) and compass, and compass, missile countermeasure device, combat identification system, and thermal viewer for the driver were incorporated into the M3A2-ODS.
The M3A3 model of the Bradley uses enhanced information and communication equipment, a central processing unit, and information displays for the vehicle commander and squad leader. The M3A3 is compatible with the inter-vehicular communication system of the M1A2 Abrams tank and AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. The commander has an independent thermal viewer and a new integrated sight unit called the Improved Bradley Acquisition System (IBAS), which allows automatic gun adjustments, automatic boresighting, and tracking of dual targets. The roof is reinforced with titanium. Many M3A3s were converted from M3A2s.
10478217
very well.
10478302
I ain’t gonna stop ya. It’s just I don’t like people assuming that the Automatat Kalishnakov 47 is an amazing gun. It was terrible and replaced in a few years with the AKM, and the rest is history. But there are better guns and there are worse guns. The M16 is not a good weapon, the M14 was better.
Update pwees
10715470
ok. 1.
why are you responding to a 2 year old comment lol. Necromancy of the page?
2.
where the Hell did you get that BS info? the Nazis were only "nice" to a very specific type of POW. and that is to say, White, Blond Haired Blue Eyed, Men. Usually, Americans, and Brits. Everyone else, sent to POW Camps to be used as forced labor. hell, even the afore mentioned "Good POWs" were sent to those camps if they didn't comply! Everyone from, Slavs on Both Fronts (Russians, Poles, Chezks, Slovaks, ect, from both the USSR And the USA) The French, African-Americans and African-Canadians, Native African Conscripts from North, and south Africa, Native American/First Nations Soldiers in both the Canadian and American Armies, Indians from the Raj, and Asians off all types, when captured by the Germans, were Sent to POW camps.
And yes, Jews were certainly treated worse by the Germans than other groups (I should know, I am Jewish). But we can't say that the Nazis were "typically humane with thier POWs". Because, news flash. THEY MOST CERTAINLY, WERE NOT.
It doesn't matter if it was the SS, or the Wermacht running a camp (it was usually the SS either way.) Nazis were horrible, to EVERYONE they captured, unless you bent the knee, to the Fascist monster.
10702072
I repeat, update please.
10478307
First time I saw an M16, I thought it was a toy. It was small & was the first rifle I ever saw without a wooden stock.
11248994
Ah, yes. The dreaded Mattel 16.
Personally, I like the M14 better. Just has a nicer aesthetic in my eyes.
way late to the party, but...
pm1.narvii.com/6371/7cdb287ae88473b823c415f44d9af8f5ee2fe7c2_hq.jpg
And slightly to the left from behind some boulders:
Reminds me of the Battleship Express story that I finished reading before I started reading this story.