31: Opening Shots
Aboard the airship Harmonious, the three Wastelanders had gathered, in preparation for the upcoming battle. Despite their experience, nothing they had gone through could really match up to what was going to happen.
The Knights were set up within as well, along with a large number of unicorn and earth pony guards. The pegasi and griffins would arrive by commandeering giant cloud formations as mobile, nigh-unassailable aerial bases of operation. The tactic was an ancient one, from the time of the Celestine Junta, designed to deploy wave after wave of hardened fighters in a short timespan, as well as providing somewhere to rest and resupply.
“This is the craziest thing I have ever done,” Thomas muttered, looking over the railing and trying to ignore his fear.
“Yeah,” Dom muttered, uneasily rubbing at her Metal Blaster’s scratched paint-job. “Beats that thing with the aliens hands-down.”
Veronica looked at the ghoul, head tilted in confusion. “Aliens? You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Wish I was,” she muttered. “Getting anal probed ain’t fun.”
Thomas and Veronica turned to each other, both trying to determine if the ghoul was just joking or being deadly serious. “I don’t want to know,” the Courier muttered carefully.
“Yeah, the less said the better. God I need a drink,” Dom rasped, stowing her rifle back in its sling. “There any alcohol on this thing?”
“Only medicinal,” an earth pony replied, walking past with a stack of folded white sheets balanced on her back.
“Shit.”
“Are the chariots ready?” Knight-Commander Shining Armor asked.
“Yes sir, they’re being kept on the cloud bases.”
“Good,” he nodded, glancing at the armoured stallion next to him. “Make sure they’re ready to perform medevac and casevac after the main force has touched ground.”
“I’ll get somepony to relay that, sir.”
“What about weapons?”
“Lances, swords, spears, maces and javelins. The griffins and a number of pegasi are also taking crossbows to provide fire from above.”
“And the Harmonious?” the armoured unicorn asked, glancing at his subordinate.
“The reserve magazines have been cleared out to hold medical supplies, but the main magazine has enough powder and balls for half an hour of sustained fire.”
“Good. Hopefully they won’t need to use any of it.”
Trixie was a proud mare. A little too proud at times, and it had cost her both her home and livelihood in the past. So it was to no-one’s surprise that she tried to hide how scared she was about the upcoming battle. None were fooled, though. So she had holed up in closet in an attempt to calm her nerves and stay hidden.
“Trixie?” a voice called out,
She looked up, almost smacking her head on a mop. How had they found her? She was sure that this hiding place had been a perfect choice!
“Come out, Trix.” The voice belonged to Blink, she knew that. She didn’t want him to see her like this, scared out of her mind. “I’m not mad. Please?” When the voice didn’t get an answer, it sighed. “Shade? Can you make sure she’s in there?”
Trixie let out a squeal as the pale white unicorn poked her head through the still-closed door. “Shade!”
“Yeah, she’s in here!” the seemingly-disembodied head called out.
“Do you have any idea how terrifying that is!?”
“That’s sort of the idea, Trix,” Blink said, opening the door. It phased right through Shade’s body, stopping to a rest when she stuck out a tangible leg.
“Why are you hiding in a closet, anyway? I definitely didn’t see a stallion in there,” Shade commented wryly.
“Shade, be serious about this, would you?” Blink asked, shooting his compatriot a flat stare.
“Just trying to lighten up the mood,” the mare shrugged.
“Why were you two looking for me?”
“It was his idea, I just tagged along because I wanted to scare somepony,” Shade answered, not giving Blink a chance.
“Shade! I am trying to be serious!” Blink yelled. “If you’re just going to be a nuisance, leave!”
“Fine. What’s under here, one of the medical bays?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she stuck her head through the floor. Then she slowly sunk through the deck, eliciting a few screams from whoever was unfortunate enough to see her fall from the ceiling.
Blink just rolled his eyes. “Why were you hiding?” he asked again.
Trixie looked down the corridor, making sure nopony else was there to hear her. “Trixie is... I mean, I’m scared.”
“What, about the battle?” the stallion asked. “That’s natural.”
“I was a performer,” she continued. “I mastered my stage fright when I was a filly. I shouldn’t be so - ”
“Trixie, there is a big difference between performing on a stage and what we’re going to be doing.” Blink eased himself into a lying position before gesturing to the mare to join him. “Fear is the right thing to feel.”
“I’m meant to be a Knight!” she exclaimed. “Fearless and courageous!”
“Courage is not the absence of fear. That’s stupidity,” the purple unicorn explained, sounding a little angry. “Courage is being scared and fighting through it. You can’t be courageous and fearless at the same time. It’s not possible.”
“Well Trixie is still scared!”
“That’s good, though. Fear is the appropriate response.”
The sun’s light seemed subdued upon the dawn, almost as though it was disheartened by what it knew would come. The Harmonious and the numerous cloud bases flew west, where the Diamond Dogs’ native lands were. The Dominion’s borders lay many miles from any Equestrian settlement, nothing but rocks, dirt and barren wastes. The Dominion itself was a rocky, unpleasant place, with very few place to farm or form settlements. Due to that fact, the majority of the Dominion’s population was actually underground, something which suited them just fine. A small number of outposts were maintained above-ground as a mere formality and to keep potential squatters away.
“How much longer?” Shining Armor asked, his golden armour gleaming in the dying sunlight.
“We’re above their lands now,” Captain True Sight replied. “We should be in position within the hour.”
“Sir?” Gambit asked, the mare without her helmet. “Something about this whole thing feels... off.”
Shining glanced at his tactician for a moment. The next second, his horn glowed with an intense light-purple light and the Harmonious was enveloped in a giant bubble. “Sir?” the airship’s captain asked nervously. The rest of the crew looked around, muttering to themselves.
“If she has a bad feeling, then - ” He was cut off by a tremendous boom! and he winced.
“We’re under fire!” somepony shouted out.
“Gambit, get Astral!” Shining shouted, his eyes closed in concentration. “Get him to determine where those shots are coming from!” There was a second explosion, another Diamond Dog shot impacting harmlessly on his shield.
“I’m already here,” the stallion said suddenly, eerily calm compared to the panic around him. Nopony had heard or seen him arrive. “Give me a moment,” he added, his horn glowing.
There was a flash and a bang, and when everybody near them could see again Blink, Trixie and Shade had all appeared in the formerly blank space, each one of them completely armoured. “What the hay is going on!?” he shouted, making himself heard over the explosions.
“The Diamond Dog’s cannon emplacement is to the north, approximately half a mile,” Astral said. “They appear to have a shield of their own around it.”
“Like this wasn’t hard enough already…” Shining groaned.
“It’s primitive, and being sustained by crystals that are outside its protection,” the blind stallion continued. “They didn’t expect us to come from this direction, it seems.”
“Would a full salvo knock it down?” True Sight asked. “My crew can have the guns ready in two minutes.”
“Possibly,” Astral Gaze answered uneasily. “It may take more.”
“Okay, why the hell is the ship shaking, and why is there a giant shield?” The ponies turned to see Thomas striding towards them, frowning as his Pip-Boy ticked away.
“The Dogs are attacking us, and their guns are behind a one-way shield,” Shining hastily explained.
“Aye, but the commander reckons we can punch a hole through it,” True Sight added.
Thomas stood there for a moment before developing a very unsettling smile. “Let me get my high explosives,” he said before he disappeared.
A minute later he had returned with the large, somewhat unwieldy contraption that was the Red Glare, some of the other Knights coming up as well. “What is that?” Martial Glory asked, pointing a hoof at it.
“A pre-War masterpiece.” Thomas calmly loaded a pod full of high-explosive rockets before marching to the side of the airship and putting his eye to the scope. “I think I see it,” he muttered.
“True Sight?” Shining asked, grunting as another blast impacted against his bubble shield.
“Loaded and waiting for the order!” the earth pony responded enthusiastically.
“The moment the shield drops, give the order,” the unicorn calmly commanded. “Astral Gaze?”
“They appear to be reloading,” he replied in his flat, emotionless tone. “They’re firing.”
Another series of blasts slammed into the shield before it vanished. “FIRE!” True Sight roared. He was soon joined by the sounds of a dozen 68-pounder cannons firing in succession. Their payload found their target, the enchanted projectiles exploding spectacularly on impact.
“The shield still holds,” Astral muttered.
“Fire in the hole!” Thomas shouted, pulling the trigger on the Red Glare. Thirteen crimson rockets shot out, soaring at the shield, while the weapon itself glowed an eerie red. Martial Glory took a step back and coughed, having gotten a lungful of rocket exhaust.
There was a moment of silence as they all waited for something to happen. There were a series of small explosions, barely visible. “Well that was a letdown.”
“His weapon destroyed one of the generator crystals,” Astral said, sounding a little surprised. “The shield is down.”
“Sir, next volley is ready!” an earth pony called up.
“Fire.”
“FIRE!” True Sight yelled, echoing Shining Armor. The guns roared again, and the area they had been aiming at vanished in a pillar of flame.
“Their magazine was hit,” Astral stated, confirming their suspicions. “The emplacement is destroyed.”
“Send a message to the cloud bases,” Shining commanded. “Have them prepare the chariots for landing.”
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Old-style artillery is simply bitching.
Ah, the old cannons were the best, although none compare to the glare
3085424 must agree bro.
3085637 yeah, i kinda gotta ask, is the red glare only effective with a high amount of explosive skill points, or is it just the amo type, because for me it didnt do that much damage.
another interesting chapter, plus it has explosives which makes all chapters better
So many OCs.
What's better, Red Glare, or the experimental Fat Boy?
3085777 It's really only effective at all with High explosives skill. Lower skills can not only not use it to it's full potential but does far reduced damage.
3086169
All the M.I.R.V. is good for is killing yourself and everything around you spectacularly. The Red Glare can actually work as a feasible weapon.
3085637
NO EXPLOSIVE ORDINANCE IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY CAN COMPARE TO THE RED GLARE.
Or maybe except doom guys rocket.
Or The spartan laser
to arms! to arms! cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!
because I'm sure the dogs will put up quite a dogged resistance.
and of course they saw them coming! I'm sure the enemy has watch dogs.
If Thomas and co. can keep casualties low, maybe he'll get out of the doghouse with Luna.
Maybe the dogs will have intel on whose been dogging Thomas.
I certainly hope a lot of dogs die. they must be PUNished for their wanton use of slaves
3086417 Super Missiles and Super Bombs from Super Metroid rank up there I think.
...That's a lot of super...
3086169 The experimental MIRV? In terms of pure firepower nothing compares to the MIRV. But the damn thing fires 8 mini nukes. The red glare is more cost effective (and sane) because there is rarely anything powerful enough to call for 8 mini nukes. (barring mods) Let alone the fact that the MIRV and Red glare are from two different games. Although it would be entertaining to see the MIRV fire off 8 tiny tot mini nukes for ultimate saturation.
3086453 Power bombs.
3086585 hiding from his giant ass cannons?
3085637
Well, when these cannons fire 68 pounds of metal enchanted to explode, I beg to differ.
The mission could be called The Guns of The Diamond Dogs.
But great job to the wastelanders actually being part of a coordinated mission. Steel be with you
3087074
Dom has experience being on a coordinated mission. Not to this scale, sure, but she has some experience at least.
Thomas... well, the Second Battle of Hoover Dam was sorta like this? Only instead of being on the defensive, he's on the offense so...
And Veronica has not got a fucking clue.
Glorious explosions! You certainly know how to please a crowd
The only way this could be better is if we saw a Experimental MIRV at some point
3085424 Agreed
3087049
Meh, it's got nothing on an Iowa-class battleship :P
I see your 12 68-pounders, and raise you 9 16-inch guns, 20 5-inch guns, 80 40mm guns and 49 20mm guns
3087544 You, I like you. Have an upvote!
I still have that off feeling when Ponies use weapons, especially when they have that type of firepower.
Finally
3088532
Especially when they use weapons just copied over from our society. I've only seen a few authors who actually try to come up with weapons that can be feasibly used by sapient horses.
3087544
Well, the next time we're not fighting somewhere tens (if not hundreds) of miles inland, we'll gladly bring a battleship to bear.
I've read a few glorious naval ship encounters and every one of them was awe inspiring when those huge guns let loose hell with a deafening roar and a gout of fire licking from each barrel. Humans, f*ck yeah!
Man thomas shouldve brought the fatman along, Nothing says holocaust like a mirv launcher.
3093004
Meh, the main guns have a maximum range of 23,64 miles, with a bit of luck it'll be in range
Or we can make it a modernised version and fire a Tomahawk or two.
3092855
In my defense, cannons are, well, canon. Obviously Pinkie's Party Cannon follows Pinkie Logic (by which I mean none), but it does prove that artillery of the sort does exist. And the idea of a ball of metal launched by an explosive material isn't particularly impossible.
3088532
That was pretty much the point.
3093121 I see what you mean, but still.
3093121
I'm wasn't targeting you with that remark. You've done reasonably well, so far (that is, if my memory hasn't failed me). Artillery is completely reasonable; I was talking about the weapons actual ponies are armed with (guns, swords, etc).
3093512
Well, we've seen spears.
3093512 Yeah, I have done some thinking on it and the only personal options for modern weapons are crew served machine guns (or other similar crew served weapons), belly/back guns for pegasi (this effectively makes them mini fighter planes), and a modified pistol on the side of a foreleg (which would probably have to be belt fed because ponies cannot really swap magazines efficiently).
Medieval weapons are a bit harder because outside of unicorns your only major weapon is the lance, although you could back it up with smaller blades on the hooves or held in the mouth. You might also be able to fashion some kind of crossbow that is usable with hooves, but that would require multiple hooves to operate so earth ponies would have serious issues with it and unicorns would be better off using their magic directly.
Artillery is mostly unaffected, although the medieval weapons would get an advantage from the increased physical strength of earth ponies. Reloading might also be a bit slower without hands, but I doubt it would be much with appropriate training and having a unicorn in the crew would make even that go away.
3094823
Forget canon. Designers of a children's show about friendship aren't going to put any thought into what weapons can or cannot be used by ponies.
3095781
You could do a hoof pistol with a magazine. I doubt it would be all that difficult to change with your mouth if you got the practice in.
The 'battle saddle' kind of mount is one I don't like. First, how do you aim? It's basically like shooting from the hip unless you angle your head down, and in that case you're pretty much putting your head in between the barrels of two guns, which cannot be good for your ears and will splatter your brain if you turn your head.
My Little Metro uses a bridle-like rig to hold small weapons like SMGs. It would be better to aim, but still leaves the problem of a gun strapped to one side of your head, pretty much right below your ear.
For medieval weapons, I'd take a page from the animal kingdom and stick to blades or spikes that resemble tusks and horns. Small blades held in the mouth could work, but I'd keep them short and double sided (Darth Maul style).
Lances seem to work, and ponies would probably go with a brass knuckle like item to make their bucks all that more devastating.
Pegasus wingblades are a completely stupid idea. You'll definitely want to keep mobility on the appendages that prevent you from falling a thousand feet to your death, and I'm pretty sure that the last thing you want to do with them is get them anywhere near the guy trying to kill you.
I always liked the idea of a retractable blade (Assasin's Creed style), to keep a decent lengthen blade on your hoof that doesn't hinder you when walking. A pair of them could be very useful in aerial combat for a pegasus.
Basically, Unicorn > Everything.
3096645 While you could reload a pistol like that, it would be a slow process that totally destroys situational awareness so it is a bad idea. A better solution is to have a large belt wrapping around the leg (either back and forth or going over the body of the gun to increase capacity) with 100+ shots so you rarely need to reload, especially if you have one on each side.
I am not sure where you are coming from with the "battle saddle", but my thought was a single gun slung directly under the body with a high percentage of tracers so you can walk the rounds onto the target. You would also be able to mount sights on top of the barrel so they line up nicely when the pegasus's head is down. Ammo storage is also easy because you can have a big belt in a drum on the back of the pony with a feed down to the gun, although you would have to be careful of placement to give plenty of clearance for the wings.
The bridle rig you described (which is horribly impractical due to recoil) also reminded me of another, more practical solution I had, although it is much higher tech. You can mount weapons in a turret on the back which tracks a laser pointer on a helmet with a bit-like firing stud to allow grounded ponies to have the rounds simply land where they are looking.
On the medieval weapons, lances in some kind of saddle rig are your best bet in a charge due to their length, and in melee you really want small axe blades on the hooves and dagger blades on the head (either held in the mouth or on the helmet) so we are more or less on the same page there.
Wingblades would definitely be impractical in the air without impractically extensive training, but on the ground they do have a lot of advantages due to the speed, power, and precision pegasi have with their wings, especially given the fact that they have greater reach than the other more conventional blades. One other important thing to remember is that they also serve as armor to some extent so they may be worth fielding just to protect the wings.
The retractable blades sound like a nice idea at first, but they run into serious problems when you start thinking about how to use them. Pegasi could keep them extended as aerial weapons (in fact, they would probably be fixed blades for simplicity), but earth ponies have no good way to extend and retract them as needed which renders them useless.
Also, while unicorns do have definite advantages, pegasus weather magic and mobility could more than make up for it with a competent commander. The ones that are screwed are the earth ponies because they have absolutely nothing going for them (incidentally, this is why my own headcanon has the Changelings living amongst the earth ponies to give them some much needed firepower in a fight).
3096806
My head-canon is that unicorns use magical assisted weapons, including telekinesis to just swing a weapon. Also stuff like charging a gem so its a primitive grenade.
Pegasi are close-quarters brawlers whose armour is as much a weapon as it is protection. That and weaponised weather. Lightning strikes and hail the size of bowling balls.
Earth ponies would be masters of the siege weapon. And they would be a fuckton more durable.
3096806
I'm skeptical about the use of wingblades. I don't think it would be worth it to sacrifice the advantages of wings to protect them in ground combat. I'm no expert, but any sort of armour or weapons that were heavy enough to cause significant damage/protect against heavier attacks would disrupt flight. There would be situations where weapons and armour could be useful (underground fights, but god knows why you'd send pegasi down there), but in my opinion, flight and weather manipulation far outweigh them.
Earth ponies would work better as your brawlers. They don't have the weak points of the other two races (Wings and horns in my head-canon. C'mon, unicorns have to have some weaknesses) and they've got their strength and durability. Imagine an Earth pony charging you in full spiked armour.
Back to the modern weapons for a moment. With the gun slung under the body, how is recoil handled? Again, I'm no expert, but to my understanding guns kick back when fired. Our's are designed to do it back into our shoulders, but there's nothing to brace it against if its attached to the saddle above it (unless you're really well endowed).
3097731
Yeah, pegasi work better with hit-and-run tactics. And like I said, bowling ball-sized hailstones.
And that mental image of the earth pony in spiked armour, reminds me of an idea I had to stick them in several inches of enchanted metal to turn them into living battering rams/siege weapons. Get enough speed going and the bastard's torn through twenty houses with no sign of slowing down.
As for the weapon slung under the body: Are you aware of recoil-less weapons? That would work better mounted a la battle saddle, though, less chance of burning anything important... After all, that falls into the domain of anti-tank weaponry.
3098283
If the pictures on the Wikipedia page are anything to go by, I'd rather have a gun the shoot all over the place under me over one that will roast the family jewels.
3097731 *Hand held weapons like most: Rifles, Shotguns, and Pistols work by using the 'Kickback' when fired to cycle the next round. The Kickback is caused when the round is hit and the gunpowder explodes sending the actual bullet forward. Their are recoil minimizers, and even newer firearms with barely any recoil at all.
So in short, recoil doesn't affect much.
*I'm talking about Automatic and Semi-Automatic weapons. Break, Bolt, Lever and Pump Use manual power to cycle next round. Also the first round most be put in the chamber manually, this is usually done by a 'Charging Handle'.
PS No I'm not some idiot that plays to much 'COD'. Also you must respect your weapons, they are not toys. They were made for a purpose. So don't go being an idiot the first time somebody gives you a weapon. Unless it is a toy then go ham.
Too bad it doesn't seem like Thomas have Mercy(as in the 40mm grenade machine gun) with him. Throw in plasma rounds, or incendiary
it is a shame there isn't any HE version of the 40mm rounds, though it is already over kill to most.
3097731 Wingblades would not cost you the ability to fly, and the protection would be absolutely critical in the air where a minor hit to the wing could send a pegasus plummeting to her death. The wingblade is also the optimal shape for armor because you want it to come to an edge in front to stiffen the plate and deflect attacks, so sharpening it to serve as a secondary weapon costs you almost nothing. Now, while I would agree that earth ponies are better suited to brawling, the early pegasi would not have been able to rely on their support so they would have to consider options for dealing with them and what to do when they cannot avoid a brawl.
Also, I am intimately familiar with historical plate armor and I can say with absolute confidence that it does not affect mobility in any appreciable way. The weight is evenly distributed against the body so it follows the body's movement which greatly reduces the apparent load. The only other major consideration is the absolute lift capacity of a pegasus, but we have seen pegasi carrying other ponies on multiple occasions so this is clearly not a problem.
For the airborne machine gun, that would have to be strapped on tight so recoil and weapon vibration would be transmitted directly into the body of the pegasus, although without the ridged connections of fighter aircraft they would loose a lot of effective range to vibrations.
3098283 A recoilless weapon is a terrible choice for anti-armor work on an aircraft. They are slow to reload at the best of times, and you need a partner to do it so they would just be a waste of mass in the air. A rocket rack would at least solve that problem, but with pegasus flight geometry the backblast of either option would be too dangerous. You could overcome this the same way modern air launched missiles work by dropping off the aircraft before igniting, but without a guidance system your accuracy would be so poor that you would be better off with gravity bombs and WWII-style dive bomber tactics.
3105874
I was talking about mounting a weapon on any pony, not just pegasi.
3105896 That mount is useless for non-pegasi because they cannot really aim it. They would be using crew served weapons instead, and a crew served recoilless rifle would indeed be a viable weapon type.
3086417 or a MAC cannon or a Covenant Cleansing Beam... Or the Halo Array
The experimental MIRV that thing is crazy, although the design is bad and it doesn't make sense. Now that I think about it in real life it would be a crappy weapon its only good attributes would be damage and explotion radius. The design that would let the mirv shoot more than one mini nuke would be too bulky and it woud take a long time to reload. Unless you have a time of two to reload the weapon but that would be too inconveniet. Rocket launcher has the same problem for different reasons. Granade machine gun is good but not that accurate in long distances.so yes red glare is best explosive weapon because It's well balanced.
3105913>>3087049>>3093512
Ok i can't help but to think about fire power here with guns, so am going to put my 2 cent in here now.
To me a gun is a powerful tool in the right hands but ponitless in a nood ( you know the people that just ponit and shot and never have any tarining with the gun what so ever )
Also there are people that made weapons for ponies here are the links to them they met be good but in turn am not too sure myself, If you think about it Magic have to be laern to do a spell for all we know some my have spell that are too weak to be use in combat at all.
Guns for ponies:
http://vombavr.deviantart.com/art/Pony-revolver-319613280?q=favby%3Azsewq55912%2F8544198&qo=296
http://madhotaru.deviantart.com/art/Classic-style-329958227?q=favby%3Azsewq55912%2F8544198&qo=180
http://madhotaru.deviantart.com/art/Why-don-t-they-retreat-353900237
i think thos guns will work best for ponies but i could be dead worge here.
3219499 Ok, time for me to go over these.
First, the mouth gun. This would be workable with small, light guns, but power, range and accuracy would be severely limited so it is not really a great idea. It would honestly probably be better suited to use as a personal defensive weapon because it can be carried elsewhere and drawn quickly which is good for a general carry weapon, and the limited performance is less important when fending off a criminal. I also feel like that would cause dental problems, but pony teeth seem to defy logic so I am not willing to call this a problem.
Second, the leg gun. This is sort of like what I was describing earlier, but the fact that it projects out in front of the hoof makes it useless for earth ponies because it would make walking difficult/impossible (just look at AJ). A better solution for a sidearm would be to have the weapon set back along the side of the leg where it will not get in the way when walking, although it would definitely restrict you to a shorter weapon like modern sidearms.
Third, the Gatling gun. This is exactly what I was talking about with crew served weapons. It is perfectly functional as a support weapon, but has limited mobility due to the required setup time. This makes it just like any real-world crew served weapon which is not surprising given that it is essentially the same thing, however it would likely be easier to transport because ponies seem to be able to carry proportionally larger loads than humans.
You ALWAYS need more Dakka.
fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/251/1/e/dakka_lad_by_lgliang-d2ya40k.jpg
stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs3/2152663_o.gif
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/093/d/1/battleship_by_diatomicdnb-d4uw587.gif
In which the last two examples aren't even dakka, but are satisfactory overkill worthy of note.
Being you never stated what the courier did with Ulysses, such as convince him not to nuke the Mojave, or just killed him and stopped the nukes,, you could somehow get the courier to bring him into this as either a soldier with the power to kill lots of people with a flagpole, or as a tactical adviser.
That's a big gun...At least the Red Glare got it's time to shine!
The joke of Luna carrying Thomas's unborn child made me laugh so hard!
3686696 point taken