"Well, that's a first for me." You say as you get up and prepare to leave.
Before you get a chance to leave, there's a messenger for you.
"Message for Rex Tremendae." the messenger said as he pulled a piece of paper from a bag.
"That's me. I'll take it." You say as you take the message from him.
"Anon,
Foxhound is having a bit of trouble with a turbine, I'm doing my best to fix it, frankly I don't know what's wrong with it. Sadly I must request your help.
Celestia" the message read
"Well, Princess did Celestia say where she'd be before she sent you?" You ask as Celestia did not give you a location of Foxhound.
"She's out in the old factory buildings that my plane ponies use. Why? Is there something wrong?" Cadence asked.
"Na, she just doesn't know how to troubleshoot a turbine like I do." You say as you head out with Morgan behind you to where Foxhound was being held for the moment for something that was probably a simple repair.
 
1100 hrs. Hangar.
"Well, you figure out the problem yet Celestia?" You ask as you and Morgan move into the hangar.
"Not yet, but it's not painful to Foxhound." Celestia said as her white coat was spotless.
"Mind if I take a look at him?" You ask as you remove your coat and shirt to get down to your base Tshirt.
"Go ahead, you know them better than I do." Celestia said as you looked to see what she had done to alliterative Foxhound's problem.
"Foxhound, what's the issue? Your turbine seems to be ok." You ask as you continue to look at the turbine to check for any damages that aren't obvious.
"It does not start. See? Internal diagnostic show no damage, igniters good. listen." Foxhound said as you could hear the audible clicks of the igniters and the spinning turbine
"Fuel flow?" You ask as you move to inspecting the hoses now.
"Excessive but ok, have not had hot start in long time." Foxhound said as you found the issue, a cut line, with fuel seeping all inside of his body.
"Found the problem Princess, need a fuel hose." You say
Celestia gives you a new fuel hose for Foxhound, while you're inspecting the other one, it's not battle damage, and it's not normal wear and tear.
"Look at this, fuel lines don't burst like this." You say as you toss down the fuel line in Celestia's general direction but not hitting her.
"Then what did this?" Celestia asked as you installed the new fuel hose and attempted to get the fuel out of Foxhound's body so he wouldn't explode when his turbines started.
"It was cut, not by a knife, nor by any cutting instrument I know, but by something attached to a certain species. Must have gotten him when he took a nap. Looks to me like you've been sabotaged." You say as you know Morgan would have woken up if they got anywhere near your hangar, let alone Echo would have told you of interference.
"Why Foxhound?" Celestia asked.
"Because he was alone and isolated from everyone else, easy target. Must have taken a nap, and they pounced on him." You say explaining what probably happened.
"I did fall sleep out on patrol, was not good. Woke up with headache." Foxhound said as he confirmed what happened to him.
"Well, looks like you've got a problem Celestia. What are you going to do about that?" You ask
"Well, if they're trying to kill my subjects, I think it's time that you and I make an agreement." Celestia said as you are confused by it.
"What?" You ask
"Those gryphons are asking for war. I plan to give it to them, but I need a route to them." Celestia said as you know what she's asking for.
"You want to cut through Avalon, well, I hope you're willing to pay the toll for using my land for military purposes." You say with a smile on your face.
"No, we're not cutting through Avalon, I have a favor to ask. My route to them is going to be a clear lane straight to the capitol of Oslo. What I want is for you to keep them on the ground." Celestia said as you laugh a little
She just asked you to bomb the hell out of the gryphons, you're not sure if she's serious about this or if she's seeing if you're willing to go along with this
"I'm going to need three things. First, I have a personal favor, Morgan wants a little brother, I can build the plane, but I can't make it live. Second, You better compensate the ponies I send to the front. Third, Oslo better have already declared war on Avalon." You say giving her your conditions
"I can't make a plane into a pony, let alone make it live. I don't know how it works. Just make the craft and leave it alone, then it should live." Celestia said as you frown a little hearing she couldn't help with the first condition.
"Right, but what about the other two?" You ask
"How much compensation?" Celestia asked.
"Enough to cover damage they may take. Hope Equestria can afford it." You say knowing certain ponies are going to have a huge repair bill if they get hurt
"But there's nothing I can do about the third, unless they've already declared war on you." Celestia said as your phone rings
"Hello?" You say
"Is Brezhnev, Avalon Territory at war with Oslo, they send declaration this morning. We holding our lines where they stand. We wait for you to coordinate counterattack." Brezhnev said.
"Good, hold them outside of the border, I'll be back later today, then we strike." You say as you hang up the phone
"Looks like you've got your support. They've declared war on us. I can control the air, you better control the ground." You say as Celestia got the support she wanted
"I can do that, as long as you grant me the corridor I want." Celestia said.
"Looks like we're both conditional, we better not let eachother down, I'll see you in Avalon's Shadow for planning." You say as you turn to leave
"Morgan, it's time to go home." You say as you leave with her behind you.
"When are we meeting in Avalon's Shadow Anon?" Celestia asked as you walked out.
"Tomorrow. That's when I'll be planning." You say as you continue to walk out.
"Morgan, tell everyone to head back to Avalon." You say
"They already have, Echo intercepted the call and sent everyone but Thunderbolt and I back." Morgan said as you nod as Thunderbolt came out to greet you.
"Time to get you home Commander." Thunderbolt said.
"So it is. Let's get outta here." You say as Thunderbolt assists you up onto Morgan.
"You stay where you're safest and with who needs you." Thunderbolt said understanding the bond between you and Morgan.
"Right, Morgan, cover Thunderbolt." You say as the two of you take off and fly in formation.
 
1500 hrs Avalon's Shadow.
"Is good that you back. We have been holding them outside border, Rugido is forward base. They are forced to be on ground, our AA net keep them down." Brezhnev said as you were walking to your shop for the giant map you had.
"Good, so how about the injuries?" You say as you're concerned about casualties.
"Superficial damage to many ponies, mostly scratches and small dents." Brezhnev said as you nodded.
"Brezh, bring me a list of all the attack and bomber ponies in Avalon." You say as you're staring at the map now.
"All ponies?"
"Yea, all of them, even the old ones." You say bringing the old adversaries back on the same team to fight for their home.
"Da, is going to be big list. You sure all?" Brezhnev asked again.
"Yes, Everyone's fighting for their home, even me." you say as you plan to build another ADFX for yourself.
"Da, will make list." Brezhnev said as he left to go and make that list for you.
You look at the map and try to figure out where Celestia was planning on cutting into Oslo.
"So we're at war?" Thunderbolt asked with worry filling her voice.
"Yea, but for right now, we're playing it safe holding them off until support arrives. Celestia is going to help out a little as long as we smash her a corridor to the capitol." You say pointing to it on the map.
"How? We can't be on the ground, that's where we're the most vulnerable." Thunderbolt asked
"Close air support and heavy bombing of their cities. Plan is for me to do something I know will work. I just need to get Celestia behind it." You say thinking of the gulf war tactic of overwhelming the enemy with airpower and then moving ground troops in fast during the shock of it all.
"So what are we going to do right now?" Thunderbolt asked.
"Right now, we're defending our borders. You want to help me assemble Morgan's little brother? I've got the list of materials. Should be here in the shop." You say as you start to find pieces of similar airframes to the ADF-01 to create Falken.
"Sure how long is it going to take?" Thunderbolt asked.
"Days, unless you and I can hammer this out. When I built Morgan it took me months to get her to where she was able to complete herself." You say as you're slowly creating the main body of Falken.
"Alright, but Brezhnev said you were going to fight too. How?" Thunderbolt asked.
"I'm going to build another Morgan, but this time, I'm going to fly it, and it's not going to be a pony." You say knowing another Morgan is going to scare the hell out of the gryphons.
"How are you going to have the time to do that?" Thunderbolt asked.
"I'm not going to do anything else but build eat and sleep until I have them done." You say as you finish a small part of Falken, after finding the same turbines that are inside of Morgan.
"But what about those of us fighting? What if we get hurt?" Thunderbolt asked.
"I'll stop and patch you up. Wouldn't be any good if I didn't." You say as she's doing some of the heavy lifting for you.
 
2200 hrs. your home.
Morgan was very excited to hear that you were working on her little brother all day. You managed to frame him out around his engines, and that's where you stopped, there's still a ton of internal work to do on him before you can even think of putting the skin on.
"So what's his name?" Morgan asked as she was standing on the couch as you were rummaging in the kitchen.
"Falken. Designation ADF-01 Falken. The production model of you Morgan, but you're still superior to him, except his laser is better than yours." You say as you find one of the rare steaks and cook it
"Wait, if he's the production version of me, then why isn't he better?" Morgan asked as you heard her thud against the ground as she went to see what you were doing
"Because it's only his laser that's better, he has no ECM and can't carry burst missiles." You say as you're cooking the steak to perfection.
"Oh, because making a whole bunch of me would be expensive?" Morgan said as you nod, but there was one key difference, Falken did not have a conventional cockpit, his was completely enclosed and the pilot relied on cameras all over the traditional area to see outside
"Oh, alright. So when is he going to be done?" Morgan asked forcing you to stare up at her.
"When he's done. I've got him about 25% done now. Still have to do all the internal work before I cover him up." You say hoping that will stop her curiosity.
"So he'll be done sometime soon?" Morgan asked still very excitable
"Yes, just like I'll also have a plane for myself, that you'll like." You say giving her a slight nod towards the fact that you were building another one of her.
"One for you?" Morgan asked.
"I'm not letting you all fight alone, I'll be out there with you. If there's anything I understand, it's that you all shouldn't have to listen to someone who's not willing to go with you." You say
"Why would you want to?" Morgan asked confused to your motive to fight.
"I have my reasons to fight Morgan. Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?" You say as you now begin to eat.
"No, it's only ten." Morgan said as you roll your eyes at her.
"Right, and I've got one hell of a day tomorrow. I hope Sully and Mulder got images of their radar network." You say thinking aloud.
"Their radar network? Brezhnev hacks into that all the time. It's practically non existent, their AA network has so many holes in it the old bombers could fly undetected into Oslo." Morgan said as you're wondering how she knew this.
"How?" You ask as she cuts you off
"I'm capable of intercepting a lot of radio communications. That and when Brezhnev hacks into their network, it's not very subtle. Kinda forces his way in." Morgan said explaining something you already knew.
"Right, that was built into your ECM. Forgot you could do that." You say with a weak smile.
You look around and see that Thunderbolt's passed out on the couch, and you're very close to doing the same.
"So what are we going to do tomorrow daddy?" Morgan asked.
"I've got to plan and build your brother still. Then I've got to build my own wings." You say as you move over to Thunderbolt and climb up onto the couch.
"Oh ok. But what about me?" Morgan asked.
"You'll be staying here, with me, we've got an important guest coming tomorrow, and our skies and land must be clear of all gryphons." You say as you're leaning against Thunderbolt.
"Right, sounds important." Morgan said as you nod
"It is important sweetie, if they manage to break through which I doubt they will, our AA defences will turn towards the ground, and you fighters have to keep them on the ground." you say as you're starting to black out.
"Right, keep gryphons on the ground. Easy enough." Morgan said as you pass out.
 
0800 hrs. Your home.
You wake up to a "normal" day, but it's going to be far from "normal". You've got an air invasion to plan
To you the whole plan hinges on Celestia coming through with ground support. Its a frightening thought for you. That thought stays with you during the short walk to your shop
You arrive to Brezhnev waiting outside with the list of all capable attack and bomber ponies.
"I make you list. Took all night, but contains number and designation of all fight worthy ponies." Brezhnev said as he gave you the list, which was tiny in his hooves
"Thank you Brezhnev." You say as you push the shop doors wide open for the moment as you read through the list.
Attack Ponies:
A-10's: 15, you were told there was once thirty
F-4: 15
F-117: 5
Su-32: 10
Su-25: 10
IL-2: 20
A-20: 9
Total attack ponies: 69
Bomber Ponies
B-17: 7
B-24: 3
B-29: 4
Lancaster: 8
B-1B Lancer: 13
Tu-160: 12
B-2: 9
Tu-95: 21
Tu-4: 2
B-52: 37
Total Bomber ponies: 107
Total attack and bomber ponies: 176
"Is list what you want?" Brezhnev asked as he stood outside of your hangar
"Yes, thank you for giving me the designations and number instead of the names. Would have made this list hellishly long." You say as you think you have more than enough ponies to cause havoc or level the entirety of Oslo, if that's what Celestia wants by a "clear path in"
 
0900 hrs. Your shop
You were working on building Falken's guts when Celestia walked into your hangar.
"This is not what I was expecting." Celestia said as she went over to the map that was now placed on a table
"Were you expecting a dirty shop?" you say as you stop construction and go to talk to her.
"I was honestly expecting something bigger." Celestia said as you stare at her in a bit of disbelief
"Right, you want a clear corridor? Show me what corridor you want opened up and where your troops are moving." you say as you stand beside her as she moves around the map.
"We're coming from here, this station on the border of the Crystal empire. We would follow the train into the capitol, but it takes a very windy path.' Celestia started
"This road here is much more direct, and it has adequate cover for my ponies. It's a two hundred mile road. It's going to take us time to make it, my war industry is ramping up as we speak, you shall have a surplus of munitions for your ponies Anon. What is your plan of attack to keep my ponies safe from the air?" Celestia asked as it's now your turn to explain what you were going to do.
"I have 69 attack ponies that will rush in and destroy any AA and radar installation throughout Oslo, once they finish that task, they will be on call for close air support. I have a total of 107 bombers that will hit their cities to spread out all of their troops. Making them fear that we could strike anywhere at any time. The bomber ponies will be released in waves to attack mission specific targets, first we strike their production facilities, then we go after food supply, and then morale bombings. Total of 176 heavy attack ponies are at my disposal, some of them are old, but they'll get the job done just as good as the new ones." You say as there's only a few cities that have large factories that need to be destroyed.
"Right, but who's going to cover the bombers?" Celestia asked.
"Well the number of fighters I've got far outnumber the bombers, so they'll have adequate top cover. Then again, the old bombers are covered in machineguns. Some of them can hold their own. But I'm not leaving them unattended if that's what you're asking." you say.
"What are their squadron names?" Celestia asked.
"You asking for what branches of the air force they're part of?" you say
"Yes." Celestia asked.
"They're all 15th AF, the bombers are part of the 463rd bomb group. Fighter bombers are the 75th Fighter bomber wing. The fighters are of three squadrons. 118th, 108th, and 66th." You say you say giving Celestia the designations of your groups, which will be the simple way of keeping track of the ponies.
"Wonderful, that simplifies keeping track of them. So when do you attack?" Celestia asked