Up in the hangar, Roarke's ship lit up, beeping with the same steady tone of chirping noises. Its thrusters roared to life as the vessel began hovering by remote. While all of the parked vessels around it sparked and sputtered across the rubble-strewn domain, the lone manaship flew off on its lonesome, rocketing out of the gaping mouth of the bay.
Crimson was in the middle of colliding two armor-weighted mares' skulls together when he felt the heated whoosh of the bounty hunter's aircraft exiting speedily. He turned in mid battle, gaping at the ship as it dipped beyond view of the entrance to Searo's Hold.
"Crimson!" Tweak shouted over the cacophony of constant manafire. He ducked under the rifle blasts of his fellow crystal ponies and slid over to the three legged mercenary's side. "They keep charging from the northeast side! If we're to infiltrate the core, we need to make a detour where we won't be butting skulls with droves of metal mares!"
"One of the ships just took off!" Crimson spat, pointing out the mouth of the hangar. "But... how..."
"Better that most of them get knocked out than just a few of them!" Tweak grunted, firing a manarifle over his shoulder to cover the flank. "We've got the plenty of ways to knock out their tech! What we don't have an abundance of is time! Now do you want to find this Rainbow Dash or not?!"
"Right..." Crimson nodded, tensing his muscles as he stood up straight. "And your brother while I'm at it!"
"I'm certainly not here for the gift shop!" Tweak fired a few more shots. "You're more trained in this sort of a thing! You lead the way! I'll be right behind you!"
"What?!" Crimson flashed him a stern look. "No! It's crawling with mare monstrosities down there!"
"You say that like I'm not used to those jerkfaces."
"I'm not letting you get your neck in harm's way! It was my choice to come here!"
"And I'm the one who let you." Tweak fired again and again.
Crimson barked, "You've got a family to return to!"
Tweak flashed him a frown. "And so do you! Look, either we're doing this together like grown stallions or we're not at all!" He fired again and grunted, "Besides, I haven't a mind to leave this place unless I've left it good and crippled!" He reloaded the manarifle with a crystalline aura, wincing slightly. "Erm... no offense..."
"Right..." Crimson took a deep breath and hobbled towards a chunk of rubble. "If you wanna help, lend me your hooves. We need to move some of this rubble out of the way."
"Got it!" Tweak hurried towards Crimson side, shouting towards his fellow Aurum farmhooves. "Stay here and keep a tight perimeter!" Tweak bellowed. "So long as you keep the glow, this place is untouchable! Not once do I want to hear about any single one of you switchin' your shine off!"
"Got it, Tweak!" one of the crystal ponies shouted while focusing fire on the hallway through which the mares were staggering to charge in. "What about regarching the ship to get out of here?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it!" Tweak yelled. "More bounty hunters are coming! Knock 'em out!"
"Hnnnngh!" In the meantime, Crimson was struggling to shove a concrete boulder out of the way.
"Here, lemme help..." Tweak rushed in and pressed his glossy shoulder against the weight. "Nnnngh... all that muscle on your bones, boy, and ya can't chuck a single rock?"
"It's... a little hard..." Crimson muttered through his sweat. "...with you four lit up like friggin' candles... I'm finding it hard to breathe..."
"You can catch your wind downstairs, then," Tweak said as the two finally rolled the boulder away with a relieved gasp. "While knockin' it out of them!"
"What's with you and knocking?"
"In a few seconds, I reckon I'll give you a demonstration." Tweak dashed into the hallway and had to immediately slide on his haunches and blind-fire at a mare stumbling out of a blacksmith's hovel. "Ha!" he shouted victoriously over his collapsed foe. "Caught you with your bridle down, ya cactus humping horse slaver!"
YEAH~
Get 'em, son.
Here, let me show you, ):(. Twenty-five diamond (close-hand) pushups. Knock 'em out!
Get it now?
I love a good insult
How long before Dash gets some crimson courtesy of crimson?
Oh, you.
Also, what the heck is Roarke doing with her ship? Getting ready for a quick getaway? Hopefully that's a sign that she's hoping to get away herself. I don't want Roarke to die.
I will now say, cant wait for RD to run into Crimson on her way out. Hopefully she will have taken off her helmet or she's in for a fight before he realizes its her. I honestly cant believe we haven't been shown another viewpoint, unless you count Crimson and RD separate still. I wonder how Pilate and Floydien are doing?
You see, I knew Roarke wasn't going to blow up. She was just using her cool remote control feature.
Tweak sort of reminds me of a level-headed Grinder; cocky, and some what of a smart ass, but a valuable asset when push comes to shove. It'll be interesting to see where his brother comes into play, seeing as how he's another walking EMP. Let's just hope that Dash and Crimson don't fly right by one another and make Crimson's trip all for not.
In other news, name update!
What's the bet that it's Dashie who just came out of the Blacksmith's hovel.
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Do you think she was calling her ship to her? Or is she not on that ship at all?
This is Australia...
Ooooh. Roarke's up to something.
Was so tired when I came home, got all comfortable, had some water, and then suddenly remembered Innavedr.
Thanks for making me get out of bed. Jerk.
Why must you constantly disprove my theories, Scolon? Rrrg...
Anyway, I wonder where Roarke's ship is off to.
And Roarke herself, for that matter. I get the feeling that she won't be sticking around for much longer.
DOM-EE-NATED, ya cactus eatin' egghead!
roarke sent her ship out of the searonese hold perimeter in the event that the crystal ponies actually make it to the hold's core and do something with it, so when that is done, she can call her ship back to rescue RD, Imre, Crimson, Tweak, and the rest of the crystal ponies, and they can sail out of there and into Blue Nova to rescue Bellesmith and Phoenix.
this is a wild guess by the way.
2468086 dash has no helmet right now
I think scolon reads my guesses and actively avoids conferming them. Either that or I am just really dense.
Why was that remote control ship thing Roarke pulled so incredibly badass?
Still confused as hoof as to how Roarke's ship and armor is still working.
It appears Roarke has a plan - a nice change after experiencing Dash 'winging it' for the past 250 chapters.
...Haven't a friggin' clue what said plan is, but meh.
I knew it; Roarke has spent enough time out in the field and gotten savvy enough to have her armor and ship shielded, or perhaps even running with a secondary power source. Oh, and of course she's got the ship slave-circuited with a beacon-call. Brilliant.
She has a separate power supply?
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That quote immediately made me think of you.
MORE CHAOS!!!
"regarching"
Oddly enough, that sounds like a proper word. A recharging oligarchy, maybe? Meh.
2469046 Dat manahardening. It's like radhardening but with magic!
She still going to blow herself up... later... just you wait... I've seen it in my fires... it's all part of the greater plan... it will all be revealed and it will be... GLORIOUS!
How does 'blewn into tiny bits that were then ground into even tinier bits that were than ground into ashes that were then filled into little satchels that were then thrown off the edge of the world into a screaming abyss of madness and chaos' sound to you? Knock that out.
Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse.
Roarke wont kill herself... also I was wondering about the homeless kid in blue Nova. What's she doing?
EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE.
Roarke's been ready for this day for quite a while, it seems. I'm starting to wonder if the plan isn't older than she is, in fact...
Also, what do you suppose are the odds on this "Core" being underground behind the blasted remains of a giant, unopenable door?
2474872 Or an obelisk, perchance. Though my money is on enslaved Crystal Ponies.
Oh, reader references. As soon as I heard "knock 'em out," I instinctually thought of doing push-ups, and I don't even follow his chapter workouts. In other news, either Roarke is firing up her jet thing to help the others, to distract the other Searonese, or to make a mad dash of it herself. Only one way to find out - onward!
IIIIIt's Dashie's Kentucky Derby Special Evaluation Time!
Well, there's nothing new here except for more kickass action scenes. This is seriously turning into a big fight. I wonder what'll go down with Roarke now that know that she lives...perhaps a fight to the death with Terra? These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Alright, six left. I can totally do this.
>What about regarching the ship to get out of here?
That is a typo, ja?
Just some more epic fight scenes. Not much to say
-Spirit
The whole world trembles when a good man goes to war.
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Demons run when a good man goes to war.
Night will fall and drown the sun,
When a good man goes to war.
Friendship dies and true love lies,
Night will fall and the dark will rise,
When a good man goes to war.
Demons run, but count the cost.
The battle's won but the child is lost.
personal experience time: humping a cactus ≠ good idea
4765373
4898762 neeeeeeerds
5635869 seeing as you sad personal experience. I don't wanna know how you know that.
Go get 'em guys
Okay, so I was wrong. Rourke just has a remote start and or control for her ship. It also seems hardened against CMPs (Crystal-magical pulses).
Ahh, so that was what Roarke was up to at the end of the last chapter. So both her armor and her ship are shielded against crystal EMPs? Interesting.
Kinda reminds me of a certain crazed demolitions expert blowing up a door and saying "Knock knock..."
Calling it: That mare is Rainbow.
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I agree. I bet it's Rainbow.