Equestria Divided: Episode 2, Crimson Dawn.

@Toffee
 
@neutralgrey  
shortly after the giant cloudfront parted, revealing the lights and furnace fires of a massive flying structure.
 
Engineer: “Introducing the cruel beauty, the most apparent sign of the emperor’s might, Black tortoise.”
 
(for the mood)
 
it was a monster in just about every sense of the word, grand armor and what looked to be entire shipyards on the surface, baubles one could only assume to be bombs or drop pods under the belly, and cannons around the rim, finalized by the “head” of the beast holding two massive glowing crystals, too exposed to be the power source so probably an arcane weapon.

@Cerebrate19  
The hidden Whitegold forces stare in shock and horror at the colossal size of the airship

@neutralgrey  
Colt of fortune: “they built this fortress while we were busy ribbing on each other?”

@Cerebrate19  
Dragoon: Still…how could they have amassed that much resources to make such a monstrosity

@neutralgrey  
Colt of fortune: “Japony has the army and the emperor, but the admiral commanding it is from Cornea and i think the archer maidens we liberated were chineighse. it’s probably the whole hemisphere.”

@Cerebrate19  
Dragoon: So we’re actually facing a proper Empire? Shit…

@neutralgrey  
“i’m reasonably sure that if we weren’t they wouldn’t come all the way here.”

@Cerebrate19  
(Wanna focus on the ground battle and evacuation until Toffee gets back?

@neutralgrey  
(yup.)
 
of course the earthborn forces under Caramel had noticed the beast as well.
 
Caramel: “well cover me in chocolate and call me toffee… that is a BIG ship.”

@Cerebrate19  
Clive: Hopefully it’ll also be slow, we still need to focus on the evacuation.

@neutralgrey  
Caramel: “better inform the people in the city to point every AA gun at it, that should at least keep the attention off the road.”

@Cerebrate19  
He nods and sends a runner to inform all remaining gun crews to open fire on the large ship  
“Should buy us time at least, but we have to at least force that thing to retreat. This evacuation is going too slow.”

@Cerebrate19  
Toffee stares at the behemoth, his jaw hanging slack. “Holy…. Sweet Celestia.” He looks at it for a few more seconds before snapping himself out of his trance. “We need to get on that thing. Think of the intel!”

@neutralgrey  
Caramel: “that ain’t in our power, we lack airforce. we need toffee.”
 
 
@Toffee  
Engineer: “with all due respect, getting by a passing glance is possible, but you need a much more convincing spy to infiltrate the crew… do you see the four big smokestacks? those are radiators, any one of them ceases to function and the admiral will have to retreat in order to keep the tortoise flying.”

@Cerebrate19  
“Then for all our sakes I hope he succeeds…”
 
@Cerebrate19
 
@Toffee  
“Did someone say spy?”  
A Nighthoof mare said as she emerged from the shafows

(Hello?

@neutralgrey  
(hello.)
 
 
@neutralgrey  
Caramel: “shame we ain’t got time ta pray, look, more party guests.”

@Cerebrate19  
He looks at their new guests

@neutralgrey  
infantry and giga armors were parachuting down, this may in fact get dicey.

@Cerebrate19  
“I think I got this…”  
He goes to get the help of some troops and wing dragoons, he then ordered the wing dragoons to attack the troops while they’re parachuting by cutting their strings and letting gravity do the rest

@neutralgrey  
the giga armors slammed down hard, losing some of the plates, which was a good thing, intact these monsters were unstoppable.

@Cerebrate19  
He then orders the hand gunners to shoot the gigas in their exposed regions

@neutralgrey  
they shoot for effect and in fact manage to damage the machines, but it wasan umbrella in a rainstorm.

@Cerebrate19  
It was time for the big guns, he orders a few fancy pants mortars to fire upon the gigas

@neutralgrey  
the thundering of heavy cannons soon rings out all around, apparently the road out had now landed in the pincer, imperial siege forces that had encircled the city before had now rallied and were pushing.