WAPL-58 Power Station, early-2280
Dom looked out from behind a rock, unable to believe her luck. Months, months of searching that had turned up absolutely nothing, and here they were, practically waiting for someone to stumble across them. The only reason she was even in the area was to pay her respects to the dead of Arefu.
It had been four months since the incident with the Enclave sniper, three since she’d been allowed out of bed. That had not been a pleasant time for her. The years of fighting and travelling had made sitting around doing what amounted to nothing near unbearable, the only thing to break the monotony being assigned to oversee the delivery of several Mark IV laser turrets to Vault 101.
She’d only been back out in the field for two weeks, and she had decided to take the time to walk the wastes. The Elder didn’t like it, but he agreed that she had done enough to deserve a break. Much had changed. There was actual green grass, several trees had actual foliage, and people seemed much healthier. Seeing these things was enough to tell her that all her hard work, her blood and tears, her pain and sacrifices, they had all been for something.
Dominica unslung the Tesla Cannon from her back and took another look. Three of the Enclave soldiers were huddled around a flaming barrel to ward off the chill, while two more seemed to be working on their Vertibird. The Vertibird had clearly seen better days, if the cracked windshield and scorched paint-job was any indication. From what intel the Brotherhood had managed to gather, this group was all that remained. It was a small miracle that they had managed to avoid capture for the past seven weeks as well as they had.
“So fucking cold.” One of the Enclave soldiers rubbed his hands together and held them out in front of the fire.
“Stop your whining.” Another one, this one wearing an officer’s uniform, sat down and unholstered a plasma pistol. As she twiddled with it she spoke again. “All you do is complain.”
“Can you blame me?” the first one asked. “All we do is run. We never fight. We lost Jenson to a scorpion a few weeks back. A fucking scorpion!”
“It was the size of the ‘bird and fast. We’re lucky we got away at all.”
“Speaking of the ‘bird, isn’t the nose-mounted gatling laser useless?”
“The crystal array is damaged, but we can fix that.” One of the soldiers pulled his head out of the Vertibird and looked at them. “What worries me is the engine trouble we’ve been having. I can’t figure it out.”
“We’ve been doing pretty good for not actually being mechanics,” the second soldier said as he stepped out of the aircraft. “Have you seen the smoke coming from the propellor, though? Seriously, this thing is a fucking deathtrap.”
The Enclave soldiers were completely oblivious to their power-armoured audience and her intentions. As they continued to talk and complain, the Lone Wanderer steadied herself and took the shot.
They never saw it coming.
Thomas pulled the trigger of his shotgun and let loose another tongue of fire. Again, the Diamond Dog he had fired at didn’t seem to react, despite its armour becoming scorched. The Dog, which happened to be charging at him, swung its oversized club at him.
“Oh shi - ” was all he managed to say before the great, metal instrument of death slammed into his stomach. He lost his grip on his shotgun and went flying twenty feet back. When he hit the ground, he just lay there in a daze as his brain tried to comprehend just what had happened.
It had taken them five minutes to get to where the school was. When they got there, it was to the sight of close to three dozen heavily-armoured Diamond Dogs with axes and clubs, some of which were as long as Thomas was tall. Dom made a comment about their similarities to Super Mutants in stature and build. They seemed to be standing around as though waiting for orders, as the school building appeared to be completely untouched.
There had been a brief, stunned silence as the four newcomers looked at the sheer number of enemies. Eight of them had detached from the group and engaged them in combat. The only one who hadn’t seemed nervous about being so heavily outnumbered by such large foes was the Paladin.
Speaking of the ghoul, she was standing on a Dog’s chest and plunging the spinning blade of her Auto-Axe through its armour as though it wasn’t even there. “It’s called the Man Opener for a reason!” she yelled in her gravelly voice over the sound of screaming metal and screaming canine.
Veronica was faring much better than Thomas, taking the smart move and firing from a distance with her laser rifle. Then again, faring better than the Courier wasn’t exactly a challenging feat at that point in time. As another emerald beam shot out of the rectangular weapon, she screamed out to Thomas “I could use some help here!”
Thomas rose to his feet uneasily as he felt his chest. At least two of his ribs were cracked, and a third seemed to be completely broken. He couldn’t be sure until he could check his Pip-Boy. “Fuck...” he muttered, trying to find his shotgun. He found it, laying out of reach. With the Dog charging at him, there was no time to grab it. He unholstered A Light Shining in Darkness and emptied the six-round magazine at it.
Five shots went through the thick metal plating that covered the Dog’s chest, stumbling it with each impact. The last shot, through some miracle, managed to find its way through the visor. The Dog fell forwards like a puppet with its strings cut as the bullet killed the Dog almost immediately. Only for another to replace it on the field of battle.
The only member of their party who was actively giving the invading force trouble seemed to be the pony. Befitting her station as a Knight, Shadow Dancer had already taken down three Dogs and was engaged in a fight with another three.
“Are you gonna hit me?” the mare taunted as she dodged another powerful swing. Her enchanted armour would ensure that it wouldn’t cut, but the sheer force behind the blow would likely cause severe internal hemorrhaging, not to mention the number of broken bones.
Two of the Dogs charged at her, attempting to trap her in a sort of pincer movement. In retaliation, she simply disappeared, leaving the two seven-foot tall brutes to crash into each other with a loud bang. As one of the attackers fell, knocked unconscious from the collision, Shadow quite literally stepped out of its shadow much like one would pull oneself out of a bath. Before the sixth could do anything, the mare grabbed the still-conscious canine and used it as a club, beating them both into submission. “Too easy.”
Thomas just watched this rather terrifying display in silence. “Holy crap.”
“You got that right,” Veronica said, similarly awestruck. The Scribe dropped her rifle when a club slammed into her. Her Power Armour, capable of absorbing 2,500 Joules of kinetic impact, dissipated the blow harmlessly. She looked at where the club had hit her, then back up at the stunned Diamond Dog. “That was a bad idea.” The Dog didn’t know what she said, but the Power Fist slamming into its throat with deadly force got the point across. Veronica had a powerful punch as it was, the pneumatic battering ram strapped to her arm simply turned the blow from ‘crippling’ to ‘lethal’.
Dom let out a startled yelp when a Dog managed to thrust a small blade right through her left arm, causing her to drop the Man Opener she was using to disembowel its comrade. She looked at the dagger sticking out of her upper arm in annoyance. “Do you have any idea how long that’s gonna take to fix?” she asked matter-of-factly. The Dog was simply too stunned by the complete non-reaction that it failed to react when the ghoul spun around and melted a hole through its head, helmet and all, with her Novasurge.
Thomas slid a fresh magazine in his pistol just in time. He managed to get two shots off before he was tackled by a seven-foot tall mass of angry muscle. Unfortunately, the second shot managed to penetrate and rupture the Dog’s heart, leaving him pinned under dead weight. “Help!” he screamed. “Help!”
Veronica was quick to respond, but was cut off by a pair of axe-wielding Dogs. She raised her arms in a fighting pose, ready to punch them, but was stunned when their shadows jumped up and stabbed them both through their throats. As the Dogs fell, she turned to see Shadow Dancer standing there, horn glowing.
“I’ll hold them off,” the Knight said, facing the Dogs. “Go help him.”
At the loss of so many of their own, the Diamond Dogs decided to use a different tactic. It was a simple one, one as old as warfare itself, possibly older. They rushed. All of them. At once. With twelve of their number down, they had been reduced to twenty-two, but they were confident enough that they could simply overwhelm the lone unicorn.
As Veronica rushed to help Thomas, Shadow simply faced the oncoming horde, her smile hidden by her helmet.
“Under the sun, we will never fall
We give our lives, one and all
No matter our foe, we will never sway
By Celestia's will, and light of day!”
The mare shone like a nuclear furnace, temporarily blinding those who were looking at her. When they could see, everyone stared in shock. Her tail had become fire, as had the plume of her helmet. Her armour, already a shining gold, now glowed like a miniature sun. Where she stood, the ground melted.
“What the fuck...?” Veronica asked, slack-jawed. Thomas and Dominica were similarly dumbstruck.
“Leave,” she commanded. It wasn’t just her voice anymore, though. Behind it was a... feeling of immeasurable power. The Dogs backed away, unsure how to deal with this new development. “Leave, and I will spare you.”
The Diamond Dogs seemed to talk amongst themselves for a moment. “Let us take our dead,” one of them said.
“Fine, but be quick.” The flaming mare turned to the three humans just as Veronica finished pulling the carcass off of Thomas. “Do not harm them. They are only retrieving the bodies.” Under any normal circumstances, the Wastelanders would have protested. But her voice was so commanding that they found themselves doing as she said.
Dom pulled the Man Opener from the Dog she had disemboweled with it from the body with a sickening squelch with her good arm. She glared at the two Dogs who had come to take it away. Thomas clutched at his chest as he took pained breaths. “I think all my ribs are cracked,” he gasped.
“Is that even possible?” Veronica asked as the man collapsed into a sitting position.
“As long as I don’t have a collapsed lung, I don’t care.”
“Let the foals go,” Shadow Dancer commanded once the Dogs had finished their grisly business.
“What foals?” one of the more articulate Dogs asked nervously.
“Do you wish to leave this place alive?” the mare asked. “You will tell me where they are.”
“The school was empty when we arrived.”
There was a tense pause. “Very well then. Now, begone.”
She watched as the Diamond Dogs dig several tunnels and go. As soon as the last one disappeared, she reverted back to her normal state. Then she fell with a crash as consciousness abandoned her.
Author’s Notes:
The TVTropes page needs some loving! Add examples! Feel free to add stuff from this story as well. Just make sure to label them as such.
Anyway, the weapons we’re seeing here:
Dom is using one of the unique variants of the Auto-Axe, the Man Opener. Basically, an automatic Deathclaw Gauntlet.
Veronica has her hands on the AER14 Prototype. Only twelve shots per Microfusion Cell, but it has more base damage and an insanely high crit chance. Also, green lasers.
I’ve expanded on Shadow Dancer’s abilities, as you can see. I thought it only fair to give the ponies a bit of a boost. She would have made a brilliant thief. And remember, the Knight Armour amplifies the wearer’s magical capabilities.
And did I just turn the Diamond Dogs into a mix of Dwarves, Orcs and Super Mutants?
And yep, what Shadow Dancer says to become... whatever she did (still haven’t got a name for that) is based off of something similar written by Aegis Shield for his Lunar Stallions. If anyone says that its overpowered, just let me say that much magical energy flowing through a mortal being is unhealthy. Extremely so.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's like having your DNA re-written for the first time, only you don't get the ability to shoot electricity from your hand.
Rockin bloody fight! I was kinda hoping to see the 3 humans take out a bunch of them and rescue the kids but this is fine too. where ARE the kids?!
As soon as I read the chant, I thought of the Lunar Stallions.
A nuclear furnace on the battlefield? Things like that just fuck up someones day.
-Sturrn
I'm going to guess it's one of those "use too much and you die" kind of things. Or at the very least you get crippled for the rest of your life.
The AER14 Prototype fires emerald lasers? Strange, I don't remember that. I guess I'll have to fire it up again sometime.
Only if Thomas or Dom had a mini gun, would of sorta them out easily.
wow shadow dancers abilities remind me so much of shikamarus abilities with shadow minipulation good update :D
Praise Celestia I didn't turn off my computer for the night, because I wouldn't have found this the time I did.
I'm also on a hunt for the sixteen people who disliked this awesomeness.
Under the sun, we will never fall
We give our lives, one and all
No matter our foe, we will never sway
By Celestia's will, and light of day!
this feels like it belongs in the warhammer 40000 universe.
Nice update. And as far as Shadowdancer and the temporary upgrade spell, there is precedence. The spell just gives a normal unicorn temporary access to something that the Element of Magic can do normally in times of need. Remember....
dl.dropbox.com/u/51891677/Twilight_angry_S1E15.png
Twilight gets to use it with no serious aftereffects besides a short fatigued state. For anypony else, they are courting total collapse and death since the spell burns through every reserve like a magnesium flare.
Although, I can imagine that the radiation counters in the Pip Boys are going nuts while that spell's turned on.
1437918
You may be reading a bit too far into this.
Also, no, it's several levels of magnitude more powerful that Twilight's little outburst. To give perspective, Twilight wearing that armour could only really be reliably stopped by one of the Princesses, if one wants to prevent any deaths. With the armour and that chant, she'd be on an even footing with Celestia, I'd wager.
That's all it took?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought laser rifles shot red energy.
The chainsaw's psychotic uncle? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire_rape.png
1437501
Looks like he's just had his cherry popped!
C´mon Thomas, dont Dissapoint us!
1437959
Author's Notes, I explicitly say that Veronica is using the unique variant found in New Vegas, the AER14 Prototype.
And I used that term because the Man Opener completely ignores armour. It'll go through a power-armoured Enclave soldier as easily as it'll go through a Raider wearing spikes and scrap metal.
Ei Veronica~~~~ look what i found~ *shows a dress* GLOMPED
1437931
Ah, so Armor ~= Aegis' Lunar Amulet. Add incantation for unlocking the power channeling aspect, and since this version of the armor's already linked to the wearer's magic for boosting purposes, when you engage the power tap it floods in and you run the risk of burnout, probably the maximum safe time is a factor of how much magic the unicorn wearing the armor normally can channel. Somepony like Shining Armor or Twilight has a longer safe use time, since they are already able to sustain relatively heavy magic flow through their bodies. I'm guessing that anyone who has been assigned Armor has had mandatory training in using the incantation, simply so they know what to expect when that power burst hits in an actual combat condition. Looks like a pretty good Last Strike option, all things considered.
dl.dropbox.com/u/51891677/princess_luna_approved_by_ambris-d4r3ibw.png
1438159
Exactly, last strike option. If you're gonna go down take as many as you can with you. Also, could be used to fuel a teleport to prevent the soldier or their armour from falling into enemy hands. Not as messy as a self-destruct and you can give the poor guy a proper funeral.
Technically, it's more like being given a chunk of foreign magic. Not a problem in and of itself, but when that magic is practically divine in nature, things get... messy.
Holy shit........
Lol I'm guessing when Somebody gets a laser well.... IMMA FIRIN MAY LAZOR, SHWOOPING DA HOOP,!
You know I been thinking about something. We killed Dr. Whitley, the creator of ED-E. He was station at Adams Air Force Base and was probably one of the scientists who was running around scare out of his wits, till the Lone Wander shot him. ....just a random thought.
1438219
Oh yeah. A good number of the Enclave Scientists on board the Mobile Crawler didn't even attack. That could be looked at as murder, even if the Lone Wanderer only killed the security and soldiers. She still dropped a few dozen small nuclear warheads on the damn thing.
Huh. I wonder if one of the bastards got ghoulified, in that case.
I'm kinda dissapointed to see that the Thomas' so weak compared to the rest of them. I mean, sure the weapons and armor in the Mojave aren't exatly on par with BoS occupied DC, but the NCR still beat them back from Helios One, so maybe the Courier should have some interesting tricks up his hypothetical sleeves that our Lone Wanderer doesn't? I guess i just like the Courier idea more than the Lone Wanderer. Though I would like to hear Thomas' reaction to Three Dog. I've forgotten if they can still use the Pip-Boy's radio.
1438234
Dom has experience, lots of it, fighting Super Mutants. I even said that she compared the Dogs to the Frankensteins. True, it's not a perfect comparison, but it's a knowledge base she can use. Thomas has almost nothing of the sort, what with most FEV subjects in the west being rather civilised. The exception being Nightkin, but they're ten different kinds of nucking futs. The normal FEV subjects that are hostile are rather few and far between, especially if we go by number fought.
Very nice I've got to say that I love Dom's nonchalant reaction to being stabbed in the arm
1438239
With all she's been through, she would be.
There's another reason, though.
1438244
I'm guessing it's the whole radiation heals ghouls thing right?
1438250
Last chapter's flashback-thingy might provide an answer.
1438256
Oh right I forgot about that, carry on then
Coming in only the courier duster is looking like a worse and worse decision on Thomas's part every chapter.
1438238
I believe that's because most of the Mojave's FEV are "First" and "Second" gen. They don't start getting overly stupid until the "Third" gen, and I would probably put the ones in DC somewhere along the lines of "Fourth", seeing as they have been manufacturing themselves.
assets.diylol.com/hfs/f4e/de9/41a/resized/philosoraptor-meme-generator-well-hmmm-aa5004.jpg
hardcore man and again another good chapter
Wow, the Courier took a serious does of comparative Estrogen this time around. He's a bloody pansy! At least in comparison to the OP status of literally everyone else.
7.asset.soup.io/asset/2986/9559_cf46.gif
I guess I missed out on some serious shit in Fallout 3, because I've only played New Vegas. Apparently, if Equestria leaked about 30 D-Dogs into the Mojave, nothing would remain of the NCR or Caesar's Legion. While the Capital Wasteland would tear those 30 Dogs into tiny bite-size pieces and feed them to their children.
Is it odd that I actually sympathize with the Enclave?
And Thomas killing a Dog, only for it to collapse on top of him and trap him...
Sounds familiar...
I was half expecting Dom to pull out a Fatman for some reason.
1438975 Bad metaphor. After all, he's outclassed completely by women. Oestrogen logically shouldn't factor in.
What the FUCK JUST HAPPEND?
1439502
Good point, I was going for he was emasculated but the fact the people(and horse) that did it were entirely female does kind of kill that logic.
Hmmm..... Can't think of suitable substitute for it. I'll just leave it. The point is still made, albeit weakened.
1437997
Oops, missed that last little bit about the laser.
I love the Luna story series. Go Stalwart Hide and AegisSheild.
Hmm... I wonder if Thomas could use Euclid's C-Finder to pick a target for Celestia to fire a beam from the sun at. Interesting thought.
I started to read the vow, and immediately thought of the Lunar Stallions' vow from Aegis Shield's stories. Nice little touch there.
1440481
Huh. Never thought of it that way, would heat up the battlefield in a hurry though. (i know, that was horrible) Probably a second or two blast would do enough damage though, and gotta watch out for the possible splash, that'd... *puts on sunglasses*, be a scorcher. (*YEEAAAH* oh god, i did it again. Why did i have to do that?)
1437931
That... kinda scares me a little bit. Not sure if want to see that or not. Seriously.
So shadow basically channels raw amplified magical power through her body to temporary gain a status that is kinda that of a Demi-god?
1. I call that she will be the last boss in this story or that she will die in the story
2. Thomas is so fucking weak in this battle that it makes me want to cry but for what I gather he is more of a sniper so it is understandable
3. Aww shit son you have gone and done that pony so OP that it isn't even funny. I mean come on, if shadow is that powerful then shining needs to be even more so and that just flips the scale entirely of how powerful celestia and Luna are. What I mean is that if shadow can do that then shining could probably easily have handeled all of those dogs in one spell, it becomes unrealistic (realistic in the sence of power not anything else, this is a story about humans that came from a world that never got over the fifties that blew itself up who are visiting a world of talking ponies. Realism was thrown out the window a long time ago)
Well anyway good chapter, please lay down with the OP ponies and I look forward to the next chapter
1438588
Technically, it's a different strain. Also, anyone who has been exposed to airborne FEV (which will let them build up a resistance) don't tend to transform as well as those with otherwise pure blood. That's why the Enclave took everyone from Vault 13 to use as test subjects, along with the population of Arroyo.
1439006
If so, I'm doing my job right. After all, most of the Enclave soldiers you encountered were rank and file, with no malicious intent. They were just following orders.
1438526
Indeed.
1440773
Like I said, it was for balance issues. You haven't seen what I have planned for the Dogs, nor the consequences for what Shadow did.
1440822
You are most certainly doing your job right. I can really picture all the Enclave troopers in the Capital Wasteland as young recruits fresh out of boot camp, with no actual battlefield experience. The kind of guys who have no idea what they just got themselves into.
As compared to the bunker full of geriatrics that the Enclave was in the Mojave. I was surprised that any of them could walk without their power armour.
I desperately need to finish New Vegas.
1438526
Thomas should've brought ED-E along. Nothing can go wrong when you have ED-E around. (Expect if you are in the Divide then a crazy black man wants him so he can unleash some nukes).
1440924
That does raise a valid point. Why doesn't Thomas have a robotic companion this time around? You'd think he would bring either ED-E ( to totally blow Twilight's mind if for nothing else dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png ) or Rex ( can you imagin the look on Fluttershy's face if she saw him??? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Fluttershy.png )
1441240
I can just see it now. ED-E vaporizing D-Dogs left and right and Rex ripping their throats out.