A man who has traversed many universes - and is willing to write about them.
Sunset Shimmer's life has been turned around. She's been accepted back into the high school community, her friends have her back, and overall, everything is wonderful.
But deep underground, a machine has been awakened, a machine that has been buried for thousands of years...
Author's Note: This is a crossover with the Bolo universe - which is only the third Bolo story published on Fimfiction so far.
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Looks awesome!
5954125 Thanks!
Yes just yes
5963341 Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
MORE...NOW!!!!!!!!
This story gets a Thumbs Up.
Because BOLOs.
This is getting off to a good start...
A couple points of order:
The MKIII-D was never equipped with a Hellrail system, although by the time of it's construction Hellrail systems had been redesigned to allow for lateral firing. (Referencing the dream/vision from chapter 1)
Here's a basic spec set for the BOLO MK XXXIII:
The last and - largest Bolo introduced into service. The Mark XXXIII weighed no less than 32,000 tons and mounted a main armament of three independently-turreted 200cm Hellbores with a secondary armament of sixteen 30cm Hellbore infinite repeaters in two lateral batteries. Equipped with a very sophisticated indirect fire system, (Four 240cm Howitzers, 10 40cm BL mortars, heavy VLS missile system) the sheer firepower of the Mark XXXIII was a reversion to the old siege unit thinking, though it was normally referred to as a planetary siege unit, not merely a continental one. No one knows how many Mark XXXIIIs were actually built, but official planning called for them to be deployed in independent brigades of 24 units each. Despite the increase in weight, speed remained equivalent to the Mark XXXI, and the Mark XXXIII's internal counter-grav could supply the assault landing capability for which the Mark XXXII had required an auxiliary unit.
Also, I saw the reference to Unit LNE, with the underground tunneling sequence. Bolos tend to swivel their turrets backwards, and lock them down for maneuvers like those.
All in all, this is off to a good start, thogh I would suggest offering more details on the status of the BOLOs various systems, such as it's spun beryllium roadwheels, triple-pair double set tracks, and various sensor systems. And once it finds a suitable Commander, It will need to "Request permission to file VSR"
Keep up the good work!
6179887 I know that the Bolo Mark XXXIII doesn't have Hellrails; in that chapter I was describing a Bolo Mark XXXIV. Why? Storyline possibilities.
6182551 Possibilites? AWSOME!
Sorry for the long post!
You’re wrong about how the war started. The Melconians had been observing the Concordiat and planning their invasion for centuries. They even created the Tearse as a slave species and started a proxy war between them and the Concordiat to observe human battle tactics and first contact protocols. The Melconian War supposedly started over a misunderstanding of first contact protocols being seen as signs of hostility. However, humans wouldn’t shoot at you just because you aren’t communicating, just be wary. The Melconians on the other hand were explicitly portrayed as extremely arrogant and very much believing in their superiority over all other life. More to the point, they already knew Concordiat first contact protocols yet got pissy when they encountered it anyway. They were that egotistical.
The Melconians believed that all sapient species were lesser than them and existed to be either slaves or exterminated. They actually orchestrated some of the more damaging wars and invasions the Concordiat suffered to try and weaken humanity for an invasion of their own. You can’t call that a “misunderstanding”. They were just as inhuman as the Deng, almost as xenocidal, and incalculably more arrogant.
As for targeting civilians, that was only because the Melconians did it. Concordiat forces had to target Melconian civilians to reduce their manpower for recruits and industry and economy, etc. That likely wouldn’t have been necessary had their own manpower not been targeted by the Melconians, since they already were suffering from a numerical disadvantage. Honestly, the only real time to target enemy civilians en-mass is if they insurmountably outnumber yours and you are properly prepared for heavy defense against a counter attack and rapid, massed strikes against numerous civilian population centers.
The reason Melconians targeted civilians over (not in addition to) military targets was because their forces were utterly curbstomped every time they came into contact with the Concordiat military. How badly, you ask? Excerpts from Old Man’s War shows Melconian ships being obliterated by a single hellbore shot per ship and the bolts kept going. A Melconian Macross Missle Massacre was intercepted and wiped out by four, Mk. XXVII Bolos
"It's time we showed these Humans how the People make war!" – Melconian Admiral Na-Izhaaran, last words before his battlegroup was annihilated by a heavily outnumbered human force, one hellbore shot per Melconian ship. Both sides had no survivors other than a Bolo. Note that Hellbores and Hellrails fire every other second and the battle took 792.173 seconds according to the Bolo.
By the way, the Bolo story covering the Melconian World Burner attacking the Sol system says it destroyed the Dinochrome Headquarters on Luna but was destroyed between Luna and Terra. This right there causes all sorts of monkey wrenching plot-holes in the short stories that come after, since that means there is no reason for the Concordiat to no longer have communication and stuff or to think Terra was destroyed since the thing gunning for it was destroyed before reaching Terra.
I feel the need to point out how stupid the mass casualties among civilians is for the Concordiat. The Melconians dying in vast numbers I can understand since they’re so arrogant they probably thought they couldn’t be touched and refused to acknowledge their vulnerability even when they were being massacred. But the Concordiat in reality would have had orbital defenses both in space and on the ground and protected the population centers with armored shelters and battlescreens considering just being on the same continent as a Concordiat battlefield could wipe out cities.
6183123 Your point is well taken about how the war started. I have deliberately stated the common perception, as this would have been far more likely to survive the Long Night.
As for how much the Melconian's military tech sucked... I feel that you are overestimating. The Melconian's technology was approximately half as good as the Concordiat's, mostly due to their hatred of computers. Their actual strength in terms of weaponry/ships was only slightly less than that of the Concordiat, and they had a 2-to-1 numerical advantage, meaning that their approximate strengths were equal.
This story is good but where can find the original work on bolos
6211312
They are published stories by Keith Laumer. I believe that the first book is "Bolo Rising", but I may be wrong. Here is a listing of the names of the books, if you're interested.
...short chapter much?
Not that that's a disaster, but, well, this is so far on the short side that it's just unsatisfying. I believe the cool kids say 'MOAR'.
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/35429974/images/1412967371610.jpg
I just did something I should have done long ago and put this into my favorites.
P.S. This story may be coming in a little slow but all stories do at first so please take your time and keep up the good work.
6183123 My guess is that the author is going by the short story BOLO!, written by David Weber along with Keith Laumer in the book of the same name.
In that, it cites the source of the misunderstanding that ultimately led to war as the Concordiat's burning desire to open new trade routs and markets vs the Melconian standard practice of putting in a "non-intercourse edict". A combination referred to as a "confluence of misjudgments on the cosmic scale".
That's the only book I have on-hand to confirm things in, but it does state that Earth was glassed along with the moon (might have been at separate times though, although it seems likely they went together).
But as for the amount of specifics you mention, I'd actually really like to know which books those are from, since you can never have enough Bolo, but they can be hard to find stuff for.
While this is a......bit of a fringe case, it seems like Bolos accept new commanders with frightening ease. Seeing as some CANON stories have not-dissimilar events.
Take all the time you need.
P.S. I sense mass mane 6 mayhem may be near.
More!
Very interesting. Really looking forward to the interactions between Thunder (that is the Bolo's name, right?) and Sunset (and the Rainbooms).
I wonder if Sunset will faint when she realizes that now a machine that probably is able to destroy all life on the planet thinks that she is its commander... And how she will hide it from the authorities...
At the beginning, there is the implication that the Bolo will go to Equestria (in a probable rampage)... that would be interesting... in the Chinese sense...
Maybe by stopping it, Sunset becomes an hero in Equestria too...
Looking forward for more!
6182551 why not a mark 35 like Unit CSRD Crusader from the story: Legacy?
In Legacy, a group of Dragon Tanks actually ran over a group of enemies. The tanks apparently were also capable of carrying ponies inside them much like a regular tank. Are they able to have their movement systems reconfigured? Also they had a limited AI alowing them to function autonomously and had external speakers alowing them to speak. The simple AIs in the tanks referred to Crusader as the "overriding intelligence" and were still able to be remote controlled by Crusader. Is there a difference between these Dragon tanks and those of a MK. XXXV Bolo?
6561084 Because I venerate the Bolos too much to just randomly make stuff up for no reason other than convenience.
6608716 so those are a different model of Dragon Tank I presume.
Also, MORE!
6608716 sorry, I thought that you were commenting on my recollection of a dragon tank
Well, at last it appears that Sunset and Thunder will not be considered an enemy at the moment... I wonder how Twilight will react to Sunset's new friend... And Sci-Twilight's reaction to the news!
I confess that I would like to see more interactions between Sunset, Angela and Thunder and of them with the Human5.
I didn't see Nike coming!
Dis gon b gud.
6858731
The idea just came out of left field to me. It suddenly reignited my inner drive.
Keep your eyes peeled for more surprises.
I thought this fic died (or I forgot about it), I'm glad I rediscovered it!
6185465
If we are outnumbered by an enemy enough that they roughly break even with us but die to one shot from our weapons, wouldn't we just mass produce countless, small satellites each equipped with a hellbore of the smallest size effective against enemy ships? Then they would simply be incapable of getting to us at all while our fleets raid their logistics and planets with impunity.
At that point, producing Golems would be more effective than Bolos for defenses, but Bolos would still be needed for the most intense battlefields. The only way we could draw in the Final War is if we actively tried to. Even if we tried to lose we couldn't without literally shooting ourselves.
By the way, did I read that 16,000 year part right? I guess the Concordiat will have fully recovered by now thanks to the Concordiat military being active and organized even after the destruction of the Melconian home world.
I thought Dragons had a 20mm hellbore, not centimeter. Probably wrong, but since they were meant to work with infantry the small hellbore would make sense given their secondary and tertiary weapons.
Aborigine does not mean local inhabitant. They are a specific people on Earth.
Everyone thinks Sunset is kidnapped despite her obviously holding onto the Dragon herself. Looks more like a failed hijacking than a kidnapping. Dang, does this mean the people here have the moronic and infantile mentalities of the ponies?
Meh, Concordiat can terraform, don't think Melconians can, we still win.
6960731
That statement is inaccurate. I don't know where you found that piece of art, but it clearly is fanmade, not official cover art. As to the incident that you referred to, that was a special situation where the Melconians were surprised by the ability of the human ships to synchronize their fire on one tiny spot, which overloaded the battlescreens. However, despite that it still took many shots to destroy a Melconian ship, and the Melconians took all the Human ships down with them.
As to saying that the lack of Human defenses is unrealistic, no one has an unlimited budget and unlimited resources, and fixed defenses are inherently more vulnerable than spaceships. Plus, one can simply rain thermonuclear warheads on the planet, which can both bypass and/or destroy orbital defenses in sufficient numbers.
In addition, by the time of the Final War, Golems don't exist anymore, as Bolos are far more intelligent than they were back then, and are more effective than Golems in any situation.
And I'm sticking with Bolo canon, in which both the Concordiat and the Melconian Empire annihilated each other. There were scattered pockets of survivors on both sides, but it took hundreds of years before they began to rebuild to interstellar technological levels.
6961157 Dragon tanks have 20cm Hellbores. I posses all the Bolo books, so I'm able to speak with authority, as I've combed through every single story looking for data.
6961340 More that they're paranoid when it comes to anything remotely impinging upon magic.
More! Now! Do it! And please make the chapters 1,000 words long at least.
Stupidity in office strikes again.
Can these bolos launch a {pinpoint} strike?? like say an AoE of about 5 yards diameter ??
HINT, HINT.
I am happy to see you are continuing this intriguing story.
Keep up the good work!!
The intelligence of those in office is amazing, no.
Nice chapter but it's cannon bolo history
8311803 Maybe so, but it's useful to those of us who otherwise wouldn't have a clue how the story arose.
More an Iron Sky Metal Hydrogen slug version of Hellebore, instead of Kamchatka Nuclear Pumped Paricle Cannon version of Hellebore?
At least one should be in a lot better state than the graveyard buried one in The Last Command.
6961165
It kinda does though. It specifically refers to the earliest known inhabitants of a region, such as the Australians you mention. Basically the Bolo is assuming the inhabitants of the city are a native population from pre-human contact, or at least their descendants.
hmmm... Interesting
Kim Jong Un.
Where is the next chapter?
Huh. No fair with the cliffhanger.
Plan on updating?
Didn't this story used to be longer?
8762150
No, if anything, the story's done nothing but get longer.