Vice Admiral Day had once again arrived onboard the station, eager to inspect the progress of the Iron Feather program. Stedson however was less than enthusiastic to greet the old stallion. Both his wings were now disabled at Happy’s command. A punishment for destroying product six years ago meant for another client.
Stedson may have even been killed had he not put 522’s remains to good use. She was still young when she died, so her body could still be used to create more clones. Even though Bic’s decision to use two X chromosomes cost the unicorn her life, it was a prudent call. There was absolutely no sign of degradation when using 522’s genetic material to clone another batch. This was indeed the perfect filly. Somewhat for the sake of efficiency, and also in honor of their genetic donor, the second generation kept the exact same make up as 522. Six thousand more fillies were now in basic training, while the first thousand were now in their intermediate stage of training.
Happy noticed Stedson seemed rather displeased to see him today. “You seem upset. Is this over unit 36?”
“She didn’t deserve to be sold off into slavery like that. She showed excellent piloting skills. Even if she wasn’t as physically developed as the others, she would have had a role to play,” argued Stedson.
“She was defective Doctor. She couldn’t keep up with the others. You said so yourself, she was suffering from a very weak heart and was developing more slowly than the others. She probably won’t live past thirty,” replied Happy.
“Her development was only stunted because her pod was damaged. If that requisition for a repair had come in when I asked, she wouldn’t have turned out the way she did,” responded Stedson. Or if you just hadn’t damaged her pod in the first place, he thought to himself.
“One must not live in the past. We still have 997 active IF units remaining. Her presence won’t be missed,” assured Happy.
Not by you perhaps, thought Stedson.
“But enough about the prototype generation. I’m more excited about this next one. It’s good to see you’ve expanded the program Doctor,” complemented Happy. “This next generations looks every bit as promising as the first.”
“Thank you sir. Unlike the prototype generation which was only one thousand infantry units, this 01 series is six thousand IF units, and being trained across a wide variety of skills. From pilots, to infantry, to battlefield commanders. This will be a stand-alone battalion of soldiers. I can assure you the 01 series will perform to your expectations,” replied Stedson. At the moment, roughly fifty or so of the five and a half your old 01 series fillies were currently on a target practice range. Stedson was grateful there simply weren’t enough zerglings available for all of them to go through the same live fire course that had claimed 522's life six years ago.
“That all sounds well and good, but I do however have one concern. The prototypes have proven that they were willing to kill in order to survive. But since we don’t have enough living targets, how do I know the 01’s are as proficient killers as the prototypes?” asked Happy.
Stedson anticipated this, and prepared an alternative test to show their willingness to kill. “Units 818-01, 4283-01 and 99-01 come here,” ordered Stedson.
Immediately, three of the identical fillies rushed to Stedson’s side, eager to prove their worth. “Reporting as ordered sir!” all three of them said in unison. Stedson had made it very clear that in the presence of the admiral, they were to maintain a level of formality.
“Girls, assemble a duty demonstration kit, and report back here immediately,” ordered Stedson.
“Yes sir!” said two of the fillies. 99-01 accidently let slip a “daddy.” She was immediately embarrassed at the blunder, and quickly ran off with the other two.
“I thought you said you were going to take care of that with this next batch,” said Happy shooting Stedson a glare.
“Some habits are harder to kill than other sir,” replied Stedson. The three fillies each returned with a large box. In each box was a bottle of liquid, a long reach lighter, and a caged animal. 818-01 had a caged rabbit, 4283-01 had a kitten, and 99-01 had a puppy.
“Girls, what are these things?” asked Stedson.
“They’re our pets,” said 818-01.
“You allow them to keep pets?” asked Happy. “I’m rather disappointed with you Stedson. How is this going to prepare them for combat?!”
Stedson ignored the comment. “4283-01, how long have you had that kitten?” asked Stedson.
“Four months now sir,” she replied. “I named him whiskers.”
“Do you love whiskers?” asked Stedson.
“More than anything in the world sir!” she replied. She took whiskers out of the cage and rubbed her nose against the kitten’s nose. Both her and her kitten smiled happily.
“This better be going somewhere Stedson. I’m starting to reconsider your competence in leading this project,” said Happy.
Again, Stedson ignored the Admirals comment. “99-01, what is your puppies name?” asked Stedson.
“Her name is princes. I’ve had her for three months now. She likes to play fetch a lot daddy… I mean sir!” she corrected.
“So all three of you love your pets don’t you?” asked Stedson.
“Yes sir!” they all said together.
“Good. Put them all in the cage,” he ordered. All three fillies complied. “Now dose them in the fluid,” ordered Stedson. Again all three of them complied. “You know what to do next girls.”
As they all picked up their lighters, Happy started to have an idea of where this was going. “Stedson, are they going too-” before he could finish that sentence, all three of the fillies had already used their lighters to lite their “beloved” pets on fire. All of them did so without the slightest hint of hesitation.
They looked up at their surrogate father with a smile and asked, “Did we do good sir?”
“You did very good girls. Put out the pets, throw them in with the others, and return to your training,” ordered Stedson. “You’ve made me very proud today girls. Now get to it.”
“Yes sir!” they shouted. Having received the always appreciated praise of Stedson, the girls performed their orders with great enthusiasm.
Happy was still shocked by what he had seen. “I could have gone my entire life without ever seeing that image and died a happy stallion,” he said.
“I trust they proved their capacity for violence sir?” asked Stedson.
“Yes... I would say those three have. What about the others?” asked Happy. “Have they shown their willingness?”
“Come with me sir,” said Stedson. Stedson lead Happy to a room that the three fillies had just finished running out of. They all shot Stedson a smile as they passed by. Before Happy entered, he noticed an atrocious smell.
“Stedson, what the hell is in that room?” asked Happy.
“Look for yourself sir. I think you’ll be pleased,” said Stedson.
Happy held his breath and entered the room. In it he found a pit filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of dead creatures. Far more than there were active IR units. Some were burnt, others were chopped to pieces, some had missing eyes, but all had one form of mutilation or another. “Why so many?” asked Happy.
“They perform this task multiple times a year. Some of the 01 series have gone through as many as twenty pets already. Many of the prototype series have actually turned it into quite the pass time, usually killing something at least once a week. The record so far is about nine hours,” said Stedson.
“Nine hours? Nine hours of what?” asked Happy.
“That’s how long someone was able to keep an animal alive for as they performed surgery while it was still concious,” replied Stedson.
“Why would they do that?!” asked Happy. “Are they just doing this for fun now?!”
“No sir! I can assure they're not just torturing creatures for fun," Stedson knew that was at least partially a lie. "Part of the first aid training they go through is injuring an animal, and then treating the wound. It helps simulate battlefield type injuries. Nine hours was simply how long a filly was able to continuously open and close a zerg for after she had shot it. Of course the regeneration factor did extend the life span.” Stedson chuckled. “That girls every bit as good with a scalpel as she is with a gun,” he said failing to hide his pride.
“Stedson, you’re taking this too far! I wanted soldiers, not… this!” he said pointing to the pit of dead animals. “How can we expect these things to fight alongside other soldiers?!”
“Sir you wanted fillies instilled with a capacity for violence. I gave you exactly what you asked for. When you finally ask them to kill, they’ll do so without mercy, thought or hesitation. It’ll be just like a game to them,” replied Stedson.
“Doctor… the inspectors said you were going through a psychological decline. I suspected it was just you growing attached to the IF units, but it's obvious you have experienced a mental breakdown. I’m afraid I’m going to have to have to relieve you of your duties,” informed Happy.
Always walking on two legs and wearing his gloves, the Earth Pony stallion reached for his pistol on his holster. Just as he did so, a throwing blade sliced through Happy’s right hoof, impaling it against his side. As Happy let out a shot of pain, another earth pony stallion entered the chamber.
He wore a brown business suit, had a brown fur coat and eyes, with a slightly darker brown mane. Like Happy, he too stood on two legs and wore precision gloves. “You didn’t really think you could embezzle funds from DI for so long and not have anyone notice did you?” asked the stallion.
As Happy tried to reach for his pistol with his other glove, the other stallion reached for a blade hidden away in his suit. He swiftly threw it at Happy, stabbing through his left hoof, effectively disabling him. “Who are you?!” asked Happy after letting out a shout of pain.
“I am Mr. Penny Pincher. El contador for the Diamond Dog security firm. I’m sure you’ve heard of us,” replied Penny Pincher.
Happy looked over to Stedson in shock. “You’re working with mercenaries now?!” Stedson simply shrugged, not bothering to give a real response. Happy could hear the sound of gun fire going off throughout the station, they were under attack.
“I have to admit, you did a pretty good job hiding your funds each year. I myself almost didn’t find the discrepancies. It’s easy to see how you kept this station hidden for so long admiral. But the Prophet doesn’t just let anyone be her personal accountant. Never underestimate the power an annual budget portfolio,” said Penny Pincher as he pulled the dagger out of Happy's right hoof.
Happy had no idea how a mere mercenary could even get his hands on that kind of information in the first place. “How… how did you-”
“Get my hoofs on a Dominion Intelligence budget report? It wasn’t easy, but it helps when you have someone on the inside,” said Penny Pincher as he pulled out the second blade. Again Happy shouted in pain. “Twilight Sparkle sends her regards.” Two Diamond Dog stallions in power armor entered the room and pointed their rifles at Happy.
“Wait!” shouted Stedson.
Happy looked over towards Stedson and said, “Stedson, when the Dominion finds out mercenaries captured a top secret facility, they’ll come after you. I can get you out of this.”
“This station doesn’t exist,” replied Stedson. “You can’t get me out of this, you killed me twelve years ago remember? I’m just waiting for a certain someone to show. Speak of the devil, there she is!” he said as one of the Iron Feather units entered. She was a prototype generation judging by her obvious age. “This is 588. She was a very close friend of 522. I told her what really happened to her sister. Fun fact, she also holds that nine hour record I mentioned earlier. She’s been looking forward to this for a while.”
“I plan to break that record today,” she replied with a smile.
Happy’s eyes widened. “Stedson don’t do this!” he shouted.
“Guards do us a favor and break his remaining legs. Then take him to medical. 588 needs to practice her first aid,” requested Stedson. "You broke my wings Happy. But you also let me live out my dream, so I can let that go. But what you forced me to do to 522... I'm afraid I just can't look the other way on that one."
The two armored ponies looked towards Penny Pincher who gave an affirmative nod. Wearing power armor, they had no problem snapping each rear leg with a kick. As Happy screamed in pain, they picked him up by his injured two front hoofs and dragged him off, with 588 following behind.
“I trust the guards didn’t give your men too much trouble?” asked Stedson.
“Resoc’s rarely ever do,” said Penny Pincher. “But your soldiers however, they're something else. They show much promise judging from the stolen inspector reports Miss Sparkle has sent our way. The Prophet is very interested in acquiring your IF units. In fact, she is already requesting production for ten-thousand more IF units be grown immediately.”
“I can get started right away. Unfortunately none of the staff here has the knowledge to re-create or maintain the Dominion cloning technology. They keep these machines in a delicate state for a reason. They'll eventually start to break down, and only the Dominion has the means to repair these machines when they do,” informed Stedson.
“Worry not. We are confident our source within Dominion intelligence will come through with the technology. You're working for the greater good now Doctor. Begin work on the 02 series immediately. Diamond Dog will provide you with all the resources you ask for,” assured Penny Pincher.
“And I’ll have near complete control over operations from now on? No more red tape and annoying inspectors?” asked Stedson.
“No more red tape,” promised Penny Pincher. “Our inspectors will try to keep their annoyance to a minimum. Do whatever you need to do. The only thing the Prophet ask for is good soldiers. We don’t care what methods you use,” assured Penny PIncher. The sound of Happy’s screams began to fill the hall way as 588 began to practice her “first aid” skills on the still conscious stallion. “Even those methods.”
Stedson smiled at the news. “Good. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”