((STORY EXTRACT))
 
Bringing the Valkyrie to a hover, I fiddled with the set, tuning it around a bit. Garbled static eventually gave way to the faint whine of a tank’s engine, and… some kind of music, I think. Yep, that’s Mad Jack alright. The tune was abruptly cut short by the sound of Avery’s main gun loosing a massive shell, the top hatch doors clattering against the armor as the stallion let off a gleeful cackle. “Hah! Take that, ya bleedin’ metal monstrosities, that’s what true Equestrian engineering can do! Nngh…” There was some shuffling as his plaid pipe-bag-thing was set aside, the unmistakable sound of a sword being pulled free from a scabbard being heard as he hefted himself up into open air. For my part, I got the Valkyrie moving again. “Come on, lads, it’s a long way to Trotterary and we won’t let these mongrels get in our way! Get me closer, I wanna decapitate one of the clankin’ bastards!”
 
I couldn’t help but let off a small laugh of my own as I flew the Valkyrie closer to the battlefield, soon getting a look down at the sight of the tanks below, and the massively churned and cratered earth - well, guess the HMS Cadence was doing some good work here, after all. Huh, guess that track-truck must’ve been a mortar carrier or something, too… Every so often another small blast would rattle the area the tanks were pushing up towards, Avery flanked on the left by the small blue T-8 while Epine and the Liberty Bell covered their right, both of the smaller tanks’ guns hammering away into the dust cloud. Could just about make out the sight of that crazy stallion waving his sword around outside his tank’s turret. “Jack, I don’t mean to put a damper on your fun, but trust me, these things don’t lose their heads that easy…”
 
“Hah, Valkyrie, about time you showed up, we were just getting to the fun bit! Eheh, do send my apologies on to the Vanhoover Air Base, been a while since I last used my sword in action and the weight of it threw me off, cut down my own arial slightly. This lot’s been an absolute push-over so far, haven’t even been fired upon yet!” Mad Jack let off another laugh as I joined him with a weak chuckle, watching out the canopy and half-expecting a plasma ball or flame spout to erupt from inside the dust cloud. Mercifully, it seemed like dramatic irony was finished for now… “How’re Rheinmetall and Rangefinder getting along with Ironside and Pip in the valley? Sure seemed like they were having a fair bit of fun earlier!”
 
“You could’ve asked zhem yourself if you weren’t such a klutz with your broadsword, Jack!” Epine’s voice chimed in, interspersed with the noise of full brass shells being moved about and a small breech closing shut. Sheesh, she actually is having to run that whole turret herself… thank Celestia we’ve got more advancd stuff in the TOG. Epine grunted for a moment, before speaking again. “Ach, merde, the smoke is too thick to see anything. Ahm, all machine guns, spray it down with tracer fire and see if anything sparks in there. Get a hit, let loose, zese robo-dragons are worse-armored than even the T-8!… Eheh, I mean, um, just… just fire.”