Fallout Equestria: A Robot’s Lament

Chapter 9: Contact

“Slice through it like melted butter”.

For everypony but myself, the night was short and sweet.

With me being a robot and there being only seven places to sleep, I decided to stay awake for the night. Cyborg took the couch, and after promising not to kill anypony, the rest of the group soon fell asleep.

While I could have put myself into rest mode, I felt that somepony should get the supplies ready for the trip through Raider County. I gathered the supplies that Cyborg and I had gotten from Stable 50 and divided it accordingly.

I decided that Cyborg would have the food and extra ammo. He didn’t have S.A.T.S, and food wasn’t a requirement for robots. I figured he’d have better use for it then myself. That left me with the medical supplies and other miscellaneous items.

Once everything was packed, I spent the rest of the time going through my system. With everything that my system had been in contact with the last few days, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything left over that could corrupt it. Especially after interacting with that Stable system.

After a few hours, I had almost gone through all my system. The only thing that had raised a red flag was a bump in my power systems, which still indicated that I had a “foreign object” lodged in my power source. I’d put off looking at it for a while, but I made a mental note to look into it eventually.

Soon the morning came around and everypony began to get ready for departure. Eastwood went to prepare the cart and get the go-ahead from the guard. Sunny went about getting her and Eastwood’s supplies together, and making sure that the other four ponies were getting theirs ready.

Since I’d gotten our supplies ready the night before, Cyborg had a quick breakfast and helped Eastwood get the cart ready. I decided to help Sunny, who sent me to help the other four ponies.

Once everything was ready, Sunny got hitched to the cart and we headed for the gate out of Buck Crossing. Eastwood and I took the lead, since we had the best aim. Cyborg took up the rear, making sure nothing got past our view. Sunny and the four other ponies took the center, each armed with a small pistol.

The guard (who seemed as nice as he looked) made sure that everything was in order before letting us through. When the gate opened, I got a better view of the bridge that spanned the gap in the dame. It was mostly made of scrap metal, but the center looked to be an old road sign. For a minute, I didn’t know if it would hold the cart.

Thankfully, it only produced a slight creaking noise as the cart rolled over. And once everyone was on the other side, we were finally in Raider County.

If I’m honest with myself, it was even worse than it looked from the other side.

The green mist I’d seen from the hill hung over the ground, casting a green tint over everything. There was little hovering over the actual road, but the green tint covered it as well. But the most disturbing thing about the area was there wasn’t anything around us.

Even in other parts of the wasteland, there were dead trees, old buildings, even smashed carts. But there wasn’t anything around us for miles. Not even a sign or scrub bush.

“This place is creeping me out,” I said as we began to walk along the road.

“Don’t lose your mind now,” said Eastwood. “We’ve just started our journey”.

“Don’t worry, S.A.T.S. can make sure I hit my targets even if I’m a little creeped out”.

“Hm, you shouldn’t always rely on tech to get you out of situations,” replied Eastwood. “If I’ve learned anything from traveling around Equestria, it’s that sometimes even the best tech and fail on you”.

I hoped that wasn’t the case here: it was the one place I wanted to work the most.

We continued walking along the road, with Eastwood and myself keeping a keen eye on the area around us. My E.F.S. didn’t show any hostiles nearby, I just hoped that it would stay that way for the remainder of the journey.

But of course, in a place like this, that wasn’t the case.

After another hour of walking, I noticed something on the horizon. A group of shapes rose further ahead of us: some rectangular, others more abnormal.

“Something’s up ahead,” I told Eastwood.

“I see it,” he replied. “Everypony, keep your eyes peeled. We don’t know what’s up ahead”.

The group slowed their pase, now looking more nervous than when we’d left Buck Crossing. I didn’t blame them: this was the first actual thing we’d come across since then. And in a place named “Raider County”, that meant anything could be deadly.

As we got closer, the green mist started to disperse and the objects became more clear. From a distance, I thought they were rocks. But instead, I saw that they were buildings. Much like the ones I’d seen back in Trotsville. However, most of the ones in Trotsville were mostly intact. The buildings up ahead looked like they could collapse at any moment.

“I don’t like the look of this place,” said Eastwood. “It could be filled with ghouls or other creatures”.

“Or worse,” said Sunny, cleary more nervous than the rest of us.

Unfortunately, I was starting to get more nervous as well. Walking into an unknown location that could possibly be filled with enemies wasn’t the best idea.

“What if we go around it,” I said to Eastwood. “That way we won’t have to worry about what’s in there”.

“We could,” replied Eastwood, “but we don’t know what’s outside the town either. If we go through it, we’ll at least have places to hide or take cover”.

“If Eastwood thinks we should go through it, I think we should,” said Sunny.

The four other ponies nodded in response. I looked back at Cyborg, who I hadn’t paid attention to since we started. He, like me, had an uncertain look on his face. He slowly shook his head: clearly that meant he didn’t like the idea.

Honestly, I was in the same boat. But what were we going to do if we didn’t go with them? We’d be left on our own if something went wrong for them. And we could actually help if something happened.

I nodded my head, letting Cyborg know I wanted to follow the group. As expected, he looked uncertain. But after a minute, he nodded in approval. However his face still showed he wasn’t happy about this. Truefully I wasn’t either, but I didn’t want to split up the group in a place like this.

“Alright,” I said to Eastwood, “let’s go through the town”.

“Okay everypony, be on your guard”.

With an okay from (reluctantly) everpony in the group, we made our way towards the town. And the whole way we did, I was feeling more and more nervous.

As we moved into the town, I looked around at the buildings surrounding us. They actually didn’t look that old: likely built a few years before the bombs fell. This was clear from the architecture. It wasn't like old Equestria, and not like the mixed style that was present for the majority of the war.

That being said, the town was an absolute disaster. Many of the storefront windows were smashed or gone. Some of the two story buildings only had one floor because the second one was gone. The main street was empty: not even a cart or fallen lamp post.

A notice appeared in my vision. My map had just updated: the town had been labeled “Abandoned”. An accurate statement maybe, but not a name that the original inhabitants had chosen.

Still keeping my guard up, our group slowly moved through the town. The four former slaves looked terrified, and Sunny looked like she was trying to keep her wits together. The only ones who didn’t look too worried were me, Cyborg and Eastwood.

However, that didn’t last long.

As we approached the halfway point of the town, my E.F.S. lit up with multiple red dots. I quickly looked around: all together there were at least twelve dots, which meant twelve enemies.

“We’re surrounded,” I yelled, levitating Celestia’s Thunder out in front of me.

Eastwood’s saddle clicked into gear as he spun around to look at the rest. “Take cover”!

But just as everypony was beginning to move, the sound of gunfire rang out. Bullets shot from both sides of the road, filling the air with multiple explosions. The red dots on my E.F.S. were moving quickly, though some were remaining firm.

“SHIT!”

One of the former slaves yelled in pain as a bullet passed through his leg. He fell on his hunches, blood pouring from his wound.

“Let’s move,” yelled Eastwood, taking aim with the saddle. “Garcon, take aim”.

Sunny, Cyborg, and the other ponies ran to a nearby storefront, with Eastwood and myself taking up the rear. More bullets fired in our direction, with most just barely missing. Cyborg and the other ponies ran into the store; Sunny unhooked herself from the cart and ran in after them. Finally Eastwood and myself ran inside.

The store was very deteriorated, but had a lot of old shelves still standing. Cyborg was already turning some onto their said and pushing them against the window. Eastwood looked over the group, taking count to see if everypony was there. But in an instant, he looked around in shock.

“We’re missing one,” he turned towards me, “where’s Axe”?

I remembered the pony who’d been shot in the leg. Quickly I ran to the doorway and looked out in the road. Axe was slowly limping towards the door, bullets just barely missing him. Thinking quickly, I slipped into S.A.T.S.

Instantly, my sights switched from Axe to a building across the street. Now that my artificial senses were enhanced, I noticed two targets behind a broken window. They were ponies with bloodshot eyes, spiked hair, and crude leather armor. They both had crude looking pistols in their mouths. From what I’ve heard, I guessed that these two were raiders.

I selected the head of both raiders and opened fire. The head of the first raider exploded, shooting blood, bone, and brain over the other. This caused him to rear in fear/disgust, and the second bullet passed right past him and into the wall. The raider ducked to the right of the window and out of sight.

“One down,” I said as I waited for S.A.T.S. to recharge.

“Come on Axe,” said Eastwood. He took aim at another nearby raider, making sure Axe had a clear shot to the door. “You can make it”.

Axe started moving a little faster: determination plastered on his face. Blood was still oozing from his leg, and it looked like it was getting worse.

I reloaded Celestia’s Thunder and prepared to take aim again. But as I raised my gun, I saw something on my E.F.S. A red dot was moving fast, going so far to the right that it zoomed out of my field of vision. But just then, it started coming back: this time even faster.

“Something’s incoming,” I yelled over the gunfire.

Eastwood, still focused on the raiders, shouted “cover Axe”.

Cyborg, who had just finished coving the window, ran over to the door. “I’ve got him. Garcon, how much longer till you can use S.A.T.S.”?

“Just a few more seconds. We just ne….”

I stopped. A sound was reverberating through my hearing sensors: a sound of wind. But it wasn’t like the wind that I’ve heard blowing over the wasteland. It was like when a sky carriage was pulled through the clouds, and the wind picked up behind it.

It got louder and louder, until eventually it sounded like it was right on top of us. I looked out towards Axe, ready to yell at him to hurry.

And then it happened.

An orange blur shot past Axe, and in a bloody spray all four of his legs were cut clean off his body. His eyes grew as his body slowly fell towards the ground. But just as he was, the orange blur shot past him again. This time his body itself was sliced in half, spilling organs, guts, and blood over the pavement.

Axe (at least the bits and pieces of him) fell to the ground in a pool of blood and internal organs. His face, one of the few unharmed parts, was stuck in a look of shock.

I couldn’t look away from the sight, no matter how much I wanted to. Behind me, Sunny let out a monstrous scream, and the remaining former slaves started releasing the contents of their stomachs onto the floor.

Cyborg had a lapse in focus, causing his magic to cut out and his gun to drop slightly. I could see the look on his face: shock, anger, and sadness all rolled into one. Even his robotic eye had turned a dark shade of red.

“....They’re dead….”

I looked over at Eastwood. He was standing in the very center of the doorway, staring out at Axe’s cut up body. His face was scrunched in anger: the sense of total loathing radiating from his body. His battle-saddle reloaded, and he turned back towards Cyborg and myself.

“Watch after everypony, I’ve got tartarus to rain down on these assholes”.

“Wait,” said Cyborg, “you can’t just run headlong into a firefight. We need a plan”.

Eastwood didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and ran out the doorway. Cyborg and I ran to the door and looked out into the street after him. He took aim at the store to the right, firing two shots at the second story window. Both penetrated the glass, and two red dots disappeared from my vision.

But not a moment later, the same red dot from earlier rocketed across my screen.

“Eastwood,” I screamed, “take cover, that thing’s coming back around”.

The red dot disappeared for a second before dash across my screen again. The familiar sound of wind kicking up met my sensors. Eastwood, standing in the middle of the road, began running towards the building across from us.

But just before he could reach the smashed front window, the orange blur ran into him.

I waited for the splatter of blood, and for bits and pieces of him to fly into the air. But instead, Eastwood was yanked from the ground and flung further down the street. He rolled across the sidewalk before smashing into a rusted mailbox. I waited for him to get up, but he didn’t move an inch.

The orange blur shot into the sky and out of sight. Even with my enhanced cameras, I couldn’t tell what it was. But if it had the ability to cut ponies into pieces, it must be something horrific.

“Eastwood’s down,” I yelled to Sunny, “but I can’t tell how badly he’s hurt”.

Sunny eyes widened. “Somepony needs to go get him”!

“Easier said than done,” said Cyborg. “With raiders on our side of the street and that orange blur, we won’t be able to get to him”.

Cyborg was right: we were basically boxed in. If we wanted to get out of this alive, we’d need to take out the raiders and that blur. And thank Celestia I had an idea about how to accomplish both.

“Cyborg,” I pointed at the store across from us, “think you can make it to that building?”

“With that blur ready to slice me the moment I step out? Not really”.

“I don’t think it will”. I pointed at my head, “I’ve been tracking it with my E.F.S. It goes in a circular trajectory before going down the street. And both Axe and Eastwood were standing still when they got hit. I think it takes a moment to speed up before it strikes”.

“So?”

“So if you run straight for the building, it won’t have time to circle around and lock on you”.

Cyborg sneered, “and what if you’re wrong?”

“Then we die in here anyway. At least we have a chance to make it out alive this way”.

Cyborg stared at me for a moment, looked out the door, then back at me. He sighed, “alright, but what am I supposed to do when I get over there”?

“Go up to the second floor and cross over to the building next to it. My E.F.S. says there are three raiders up there. Keep them occupied while I do my bit”.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow questionably. “And what are you going to do?”

More bullets rocketed into the makeshift covering: one even managed to pass through and lodge into the wall. Sunny and the others cowered in fear. I turned to them, then looked back at Cyborg with a stern expression.

“I’m going to stop that blur”.

Cyborg waited until the sound of bullets flying died down. Once it was clear, he scanned the road for anything moving. When it was all clear, he ran out the door and made a beeline for the storefront.

Once he was on the other sidewalk, guns began to fire off once more. Cyborg jumped through the broken window just a bullet struck where he was standing a moment before.

Now that Cyborg was out of sight, I had to rely on my E.F.S. to know where he was. Thankfully he was the one green dot on my screen, so it was easy to distinguish him from the raiders.

Cyborg’s dot moved to the far right of my screen before stopping. It stayed there for a moment before moving to the left: he’d made it to the second floor. And just a few seconds later, I heard the sound of gunfire from across the street.

Now I had to do my bit. I turned and looked back at the group.

“Sunny, stay put and watch over everypony. I’ll be back soon”.

Sunny, still looking scared and confused, nodded slightly. The other three ponies huddled behind one of the shelves. Only one of them still had a gun: the others had lost them in the confusion.

I reloaded Celestia’s Thunder and headed out the door. Slipping into S.A.T.S., I looked around for an available target. I saw one raider poking her head out of a second story window on our side of the road. Quickly I selected the head and let out two shots.

The first bullet went clean through her neck, while the second delt a glancing blow to the left side of her face. She fell out of sight, and the red dot slowly faded from my vision.

“Come on, come on, where are you?”

I scanned my screen, and soon saw the red dot I was hoping for. One second it was flying to the right, the next it was coming right back. I stared down the road, and soon I saw something fast approaching.

I positioned my legs to get the most resistance I could, and prepared myself for the impact. The orange blur got closer and closer, until….

BAM!

It slammed into me right at the legs. The momentum send me screeching back along the road. Alerts rang inside my head: cut wires, damage to leg structure, and many more that I didn’t have time to read. Eventually the momentum stopped, and I found myself ten feet further down the road.

Taking a moment to regain my focus, I looked to see what exactly had run into me.

The damage was shocking to say the least. A long blade was embedded into my front legs: sparks shot out of exposed wires and bits of metal poked through the skin. The blade itself was split into two parts: a circular hinge connected them. The sharp edge was in my legs, but the blunt end was attached to what looked like a harness.

The harness was attached to an orange wing….and that orange wing was attached to a pony!

Standing just to my left was an orange pegasus mare with a flowing dirty green mane. She wore crude metal armor around her legs and military-grade combat armor around her middle. She was looking at me with a snarling expression and slightly bloodshot eyes.

“What the fuck are you?”

Her voice wasn’t gruff like I was expecting: it sounded like a normal mare’s voice. In fact it was so normal that it didn’t fit her appearance at all.

In a split second she began tugging her wing; trying to dislodge it from my legs. But likely because of the jagaded metal, it was stuck hard. In fact she was actually pulling me along with it. For a pegasus, she was pretty strong.

But I had to focus on the plan, and now was the perfect time to execute it.

I dug my back legs firmly onto the road, stopping the pegasus from pulling me forward. Her eyes shot towards me before she started flapping her free wing. Half of her body rose from the ground, the other half being held down by my weight.

I glared at her angrily. “Oh no you don’t”.

Quickly, I raised my legs up off the ground, bringing the pegasus with me. Now she was almost weightless, which was just what I wanted.

With all the strength my system could muster, I brought my legs up and over my head. The mare’s eyes widened in shock as she was brought over my head with my legs. And just as quickly, I pushed hard on my back legs and flipped.

My body circled, and the mare was brought along with me. As my legs were coming back towards the ground, the pegasus crashed into the street. Her blade popped out of my leg, allowing me to land safely back on all four of them.

The mare groaned slightly as she rose from the street; dazed and disorientated. But I wasn’t done with her yet. Igniting my horn, I encased her in magic and lifted her off the ground. Then, I flung her sideways into another store window. The glass shattered on impact, and I saw her body crash into old shelves and merchandise. They fell on top of her, blocking her from sight.

I checked my E.F.S., and her red dot had turned yellow.

“Okay, so she’s knocked out. Let’s just hope she stays that way until I finish the others off”.

My screens alerted me to the broken legs, but I didn’t have time to repair them just yet. Instead, I ran as fast as I could to the building Cyborg had run to. I jumped through the window and ran up the stairs to the second floor.

The sound of gunfire still rang out, and two red dots were plastered on my screen. When I reached the second floor, I saw Cyborg kneeling beside a large hole in the wall. He noticed me and waved me over.

I ran to the other side of the hole, keeping Celestia’s Thunder close to my side.

“Give it up cunts, your outnumbered and outgunned!”

“Yeah, what he said”.

It would seem that these raiders (baring that pegasus) were even stupider than I imagined. Even after I just took out their big hitter, they still thought they had the upper hoof.

Well I was ready to end that very soon.

Making sure Celestia’s Thunder was fully loaded, I peeked around the corner and into the building beyond. I spotted two raiders looking at the hole from an overturned table, while the third was standing by the far right corner.

“Too Easy”.

I stepped into the center of the hole and slipped into S.A.T.S. Instantly the three raiders’ movements slowed to a stop, and I took aim at each. Like always I selected the heads, ended the sequence, and opened fire.

The heads of the two ponies behind the table exploded in a wave of crimson blood and broken skull. Two red dots disappeared from my E.F.S., and I waited for the third to do the same.

But the bullet only grazed the side of his face before striking the corner. The raider turned in my direction; his bloodshot eyes staring right at me. The revolver in his mouth clicked, and he snarled loudly.

“You missed,” he said through a mouth full of gun.

He raised the gun up and fired two shots right at me. My servos sprang to life and I dived to my left. Unfortunately my speed was decreased thanks to the pegasus. One bullet pierced my mid-region. Warnings appeared in my vision once again as drops of oil slowly leaked out the hole.

I was so focused on the warnings and damages that I didn’t see the raider charge at me. He slammed into my side, forcing me down on the ground. I felt his hoof press against my face, keeping me pinned down.

“Time to die fucker,” he said as he pointed the gun at my head. “It’s payback ti…”

His words were cut off as the front of his face was blasted apart. Blood, meat, and bone covered my upper region; including my eyes. The lifeless body fell on top of me, smearing more blood over my body.

“Not if I have anything to say about it”.

I brought my hoof up to my eye and brushed the drying blood off it. When it was gone, I saw Cyborg standing behind the body. His gun spun in midair, and a smile plastered his face.

“You know,” I said as I levitated the body off me, “you could give a little warning before you do something like that”.

“And lose the element of surprise? No thanks. I think I’ll….”

Cyborg stopped talking; his ears perking up. He looked in different directions, like he was trying to get a better listen. I put myself back on my hooves and listened as well.

It sounded like muffled noises: like ponies moving through a crowd with their mouths shut. I hadn’t heard it during the struggle, but now it was more clear.

But one thing was for sure, it was close.

I moved through the hole into the other building and towards one of the broken windows. As I peered out onto the road below, I gasped in shock.

Three raiders were in the center of the road. One was hooked up to Eastwood’s cart, while the other two were forcing Sunny into the back. The other three ponies were already there: tied and gagged. Sunny as trying to fight back, kicking her legs in every direction they could go. The only reason I hadn’t heard her screaming was because of the gag in her mouth.

“Sunny,” I screamed as I took aim with Celestia’s Thunder.

The raiders stopped pushing Sunny and looked up at me. One of them, a unicorn, nodded to the other. He did the same, then turned around, reared his legs, and bucked Sunny hard in the back. The mare flew into the back, crashing into two crates.

I was still waiting for S.A.T.S. to recharge, so I had to aim as best I could. Cyborg ran past me and down the stairs, his gun getting cocked as he did. I aimed and fired two shots at the unicorn and earth pony. One embedded itself into the street, while the other shot through the spiked hair of the earth pony.

The earth pony hopped into the back of the cart, while the unicorn ignited his horn. One of the crates floated out of the cart and flew towards my window. My legs took over and hauled me to the left just as the crate smashed through the wall and landed behind me.

I got up from the floor and heard the sound of gunfire from below. I ran to the window and saw the earth pony firing at the floor below me. The unicorn hopped into the cart and screamed “let’s go”.

The pony hooked to the cart took off running, dragging the cart behind them. Cyborg ran out into the center of the street, firing as many shots as he could at the fleeing raiders.

“CYBORG STOP,” I yelled.

Cyborg stopped firing and looked up at me: confused. I stepped through the hole in the wall and jumped down to the sidewalk. (...What? I didn’t have any bones to break….)

“If you miss you could hit Sunny or the others”.

Cyborg snorted. “And we’re just supposed to let them go! They just took the rest of our group and our supplies! We can’t just let them get away!”

“We’re not,” I said as I holstered my gun, “we’re going to get them back. We just need a plan first”.

I looked over where Eastwood was lying: he hadn’t woken up or even moved during the whole fight.

“And besides, Eastwood needs our help now”.

Cyborg was silent for a second, but soon holstered his gun as well. “Fine. But we still don’t know where those raiders are going. How are we going to figure that out?”

That was a good question. We didn’t know if they were heading to a location along the road or out in the vast stretch of land around us. Not to mention the defenses they would likely have around the location.

But as I was thinking, I noticed something. The yellow dot on my screen was still present. That meant that the pegasus was still unconscious….and therefore still alive.

“Cyborg, I think I have and idea. A really, really stupid idea”.

Footnote:

LEVEL UP!

New Program Added: Hawk Eye - When in an unknown environment, gain +3 to Perception. +1 In bad weather.