Whatever the Black Skulls were looking for, they wouldn’t find it at the MAS Hub. That wouldn’t stop them from continuing to look, however, which was to our advantage. I wondered what conclusions the mercenaries would draw when they returned to their abandoned camp and their dead compatriots. It all depended on what they knew of our little group and what kind of damage we could do even against them. Worst-case, they would think the Crimson Tide had attacked them, but they wouldn’t find any motive to support that since we hadn’t raided their supplies. It may have been a good idea to do so, but we had no way to transport them back to the Strip—not when there were still Black Skull patrols out.

We headed back on a slightly different route than the last time, almost retracing the path I’d taken on my first journey to Burnside. We stopped when we neared the park which held the entrance to Stable 50. There were Black Skulls ahead, milling around the park, and we tried to avoid them. That was easier said than done, since many of the surrounding buildings had been occupied by Black Skulls, filled with equipment and the occasional guard. This was merely a sign of the grim reality facing us here.

The Black Skulls had set up a camp here, well within Crimson Tide territory, and it put the size of the mercenary company into perspective. There were hundreds of ponies here, making the camp in Sorceress Plaza seem small in comparison. If we were spotted, we’d be overwhelmed and have no choice but to run. Retreat would be difficult, thanks to the griffins perched on a building that I’d originally mistaken for gargoyles. Very carefully, we withdrew from the edges of the Black Skull camp and found another way to the Strip.

“What are they planning, do you think?” Ache asked once we were far enough away that we were no longer constantly looking over our shoulders.

“There’s only one reason for them to be here in force,” Sage said, a determined look on her face, “They’re preparing to attack the Crimson Tide.”

“Can you hold out against them on your own?” I asked.

I’d seen one settlement fall to external attack, and another barely survive an earlier one. Sure, the Crimson Tide was far better equipped and better trained than the Sundale militia, but the Black Skulls were also far more dangerous than a gang of raiders, especially in such large numbers. There had never been any threat in the past of the two mercenary companies going head to head, but the NLC had changed that.

“Probably, the Strip is well-fortified against attack. Even if they bring their full force to bear, we’ll likely still be able to repel them,” Sage answered thoughtfully, “The Strip will take significant damage, though, and our casualties will be high as well. If they’re planning to attack us at the Strip, they’ll know where to apply pressure to do the most damage.”

“What if you beat them to it?” Rare suggested, “They’re planning to attack the Strip, so attack them instead; a preemptive strike. That park hasn’t been fortified much other than a few temporary measures.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Sage replied with a nod of her head, “I’m not the one to convince, though. I’m just a pressmare.”

We returned to the Strip as quickly as possible. Despite the fact that nopony here knew about the Black Skull camp over Stable 50, moods were suitably subdued. That was probably due more to the vague threat of the Black Skulls than anything else, though, since ponies did know that the other mercenary company was near or at least within their territory. There were more ponies in Crimson Tide uniforms here than before, likely pulled in from their patrols and outposts by Colonel Jumper as a precaution.

The colonel was exactly who we needed to see, and the same status that gave Sage permission to leave the Strip with us whenever she wanted also allowed her to get us into the skyscraper that served as the Crimson Tide’s headquarters. Within the building was as far as it took us, though. She tried to take us directly to Colonel Jumper’s office, but our path was blocked by a serious-looking guard with an assault rifle battle saddle.

“You can’t go in right now, Sage,” the guard said with a shake of his head, “The colonel’s in an important staff meeting.”

“With who?” Sage asked inquisitively.

“The senior staff,” the guard replied with a frown, “It’s nothing you need to know. If Jumper wishes you to report on the meeting, then she’ll summon you.”

“So, Lieutenant Colonel Claymore and Major Basket Weave, then?” Sage asked.

“And Major Scepter,” the guard replied before catching himself, “Like I said, it’s none of your business.”

“She called Scepter back from the harbor?” Sage asked, “That really is all the senior staff. Perfect timing, though; we need to speak to all of them.”

“You will not be speaking to anypony, nor will any of these outsiders who shouldn’t be here in the first place!” the guard pushed back as Sage tried to step around him, “Step back, Sage, I have my orders.”

“What’s all this commotion about?” a middle-aged earth pony mare with a blue coat and a salt-and-pepper mane asked as she stuck her head out of the room the guard was protecting, “Oh, Sage, I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Actually, colonel,” Sage cut in before the mare could retreat back into the room, “We have some important news for you about the Black Skulls.”

“We?” Colonel Jumper asked quizzically, and sized up Rare, Ache, and me, “Ah, I see. Yes, I suppose you can all come in if it really is urgent.”

Sage trotted triumphantly past the door guard, who had the look of a stallion who’d been bested more than once by this mare. As we expected, three other ponies were in the office we entered, seated behind a low table. They watched us suspiciously as we followed Sage.

“What’s this all about?” a unicorn stallion demanded, “Who are these ponies?”

“Tsk, tsk, lieutenant colonel, don’t you ever listen to the radio?” Sage chided him, “It’s none other than the Wasteland Doctor and his companions, whom I had the pleasure of accompanying to Sorceress Plaza, which, by the way, is a Black Skull camp now.”

The Crimson Tide mercenaries grumbled in concern at that revelation.

“Truly disturbing, but was that worth bringing to our immediate attention?” asked an earth pony mare whose name tag on her armor labeled her as Basket Weave.

“Yes, because that’s not the worst news I have,” Sage said melodramatically, “The Black Skulls have also set up a large camp in Millennium Park, over Stable 50. The majority of their force is encamped there, comprised of several hundred ponies.”

“They plan to attack us,” Colonel Jumper observed matter-of-factly, and Sage nodded.

“That was my assumption as well,” Sage said.

“Let them try,” Major Scepter, a unicorn mare, scoffed, “The Strip has withstood attack for years, even against Steel Rangers. If we abandon all our outposts and garrison everypony here, they will break like waters against the rock.”

“They’re well-trained, just like you, and well-equipped, likely even more so after being hired by the Northern Lights Coalition,” I said, and the mercenary leaders looked puzzled at the mention of the NLC, something they probably weren’t aware of, but they got the gist, “They pose a very real existential threat to you.”

“And not to cut in,” Rare Sparks cut in, “but the Steel Rangers never really tried to assault the Strip. It was considered too costly a venture to attempt, but the Black Skulls have no such concern. They’ve lost whole squads and platoons to us, but they continue to attack us whenever they can.”

“To trust a former—if that’s even true—Steel Ranger would be unwise, colonel,” Claymore advised, “She may very well be trying to draw us out of our fortifications and leave us defenseless for an attack by her compatriots.”

“You can trust me,” Sage said, “These ponies are deserving of your trust as well. Believe me when I say that they are just as dedicated to stamping out the Black Skulls as we are.”

“Launching a major military operation against another mercenary company is no small thing to consider,” Jumper said, “This is as close as you can get to war in the Wasteland, and it can’t be undertaken lightly.”

“We don’t know their intentions,” Scepter said, “If they do intend to attack us, then the safest place to be is behind the walls of the Strip.”

“I don’t think their intentions are in doubt at all,” Basket Weave objected, “Several of our patrols have been attacked, and our scouts report that they waste no time occupying the outposts we pull out of. Now they’ve taken up residence within our territory in force. It’s only a matter of time before they attack us. We must beat them to the punch, to seize the initiative.”

“I agree,” Claymore said, changing his tone, “If the odds really are as even as they seem, then we must take every advantage we can get. The Strip is well-fortified, but Millennium Park is not. They will have less of a chance surviving an assault than we would were they to attack us here. We know Millennium Park, it was our home before the Steel Rangers burned us out of it. We should reclaim it.”

“This could be a trap,” Scepter protested, “If their entire force isn’t there, then the remainder could be preparing for an attack on the Strip while we’re away. We’ll have to take our full force for such an attack, leaving our home unprotected.”

“It’s unlikely that they would employ such a ruse, since they are presumably unaware that we know their location,” Jumper said, “No, our best bet is to bring everything we have to bear on them, hit them hard before they have a chance to attack us or fortify their position. Are we in agreement?”

Claymore and Basket Weave nodded, but Major Scepter still looked unconvinced.

“I still say that we should trust in our defenses instead of striking out and putting the Strip at risk,” she said.

“Noted,” Colonel Jumper acknowledged her dissent, “Claymore, send out the call to pull back all remaining forces to the Strip, except for the outposts between here and Millennium Park. Basket Weave, I want scouts keeping an eye on the enemy camp at all times and reporting back all changes and any movements they make. We need to be ready to respond if they attack before we’re prepared for them. Scepter, see that our heavy ordnance is distributed; I want everything, including the suits of power armor that are still functioning. We can’t afford to sacrifice any possible advantage. You have your orders, now see to them. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

The officers all saluted the colonel and left, followed by Sage and the rest of our group. Whether they wanted to or not, the Crimson Tide was going to war.

“I can’t stop thinking about what I saw in that lab,” Ache confided in me as I made sure all my weapons were in top condition for the upcoming fight.

The Crimson Tide needed time to gather their forces and prepare, so we needed a place to stay until they were ready to leave. We’d booked a room in one of the hotels, with two beds and enough room for Rare to move around in her armor. Our Steel Ranger counterpart was nearby, assembling something out of scrap she’d purchased on our trip through the Strip to stock up on ammo.

“Robots with pony minds; everypony recoiled from the thought, but isn’t that what I am?” Ache continued.

“It’s not the same,” I said, shaking my head, “They were taking living, breathing ponies and stuffing their minds into a machine. Your mind may be synthetic, but it’s all you, right? You were never a pony before you became a pondroid, right? You were just created as a pondroid, and that mind is yours.”

“Sometimes I’m not so sure,” Ache admitted with a sigh, “My memories are still so jumbled that I can’t remember if anything came before my creation or not. Some things I remember learning, others I vaguely remember learning, and others I just seem to have always known. I can’t say for certain whether I learned those vague things as a pony before being transferred into this body, or if I had them programmed into me. Was I somepony else before and I just can’t remember? Why can’t I remember? Is it because of the corruption and I’ll learn eventually, or is it like with the ponies in the lab who had their old memories blocked off forever?”

“I don’t know the answer to that, but you’re not the only one who has questions. Let me give you some advice. You are who you are now, and it doesn’t matter who you used to be,” I said, and Rare Sparks snorted, remembering that it was her who had given that advice to me, “Sure, it would be nice to know, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as much as the pony you are now since you’re no longer the same pony you were. And I wouldn’t worry about being like the robots from that lab either; we already know who you are, and you’re our friend regardless. Nothing is going to change that.”

“Thanks,” Ache said with a weak smile, “I think I’m still going to need some time to think about it, though. I’m … I’m going to go have a look around.”

Ache left our hotel room, and I returned to the task at hoof. The advice I’d given her was the same as the advice Rare had given me, and I wouldn’t have passed it on if I didn’t think it was good advice, but talking about it had brought back the questions about my past. Who had I been and what had happened to me that brought me to the door to Stable 85, on the brink of death? I’d uncovered plenty of answers on the history of Equestria during my time in the Wasteland, but nothing on my own past yet.

“I think it’s ready,” Rare Sparks announced, before trotting over to me with her contraption.

From the odd bits of electronics she’d bought, she’d created a small device that looked almost like a StealthBuck if it had no casing and had sprouted several antennae. It looked like it would slot into my PipBuck, but I had no idea what it was supposed to do after that.

“What is it?” I asked as I took it from her with my magic and examined it.

“A radio plug-in for your PipBuck,” Rare said as she retrieved her helmet and fastened it on, “I got the idea after we were separated in that mall by those power-armored Black Skulls. If we ever get separated again, we should be able to communicate, at least so we can find each other, and I don’t blow you up with a grenade by accident. I have a feeling we’ll need it in the battle tomorrow. Go on, try it out.”

I was a bit wary about plugging something that looked so makeshift into my PipBuck, on the off chance that it damaged the device I relied on so much for survival. This had been made by Rare Sparks, though, and everything she’d tinkered with had turned out well, so this would probably be no exception. I slotted it into my PipBuck, and the screen flashed with different messages in rapid succession, notifying me of the changes it was making to the device faster than I could read them. When the screen returned to normal, a thin static was coming from the speakers.

“Can you hear me now?” Rare’s voice came clearly from the PipBuck’s speakers.

“Yes, I can hear you,” I said, and Rare motioned for me to press a button on the plug-in before repeating myself.

“Excellent,” she said with glee as she removed her helmet, “Now that I know it works, I’ll put a casing on it so it doesn’t get damaged in fights. You seem to get thrown across the ground a lot.”

“Probably because of all the missiles and grenades ponies are firing at you,” I replied snarkily as I returned the plug-in to her, and she shrugged as if to say, ‘well, you’re not wrong.’

“That Sage is quite a mare, isn’t she,” Rare said, changing the subject as she sat down and commenced disassembling a drained StealthBuck.

“She sure is,” I replied automatically, “Why do you mention it?”

“Oh, no reason,” Rare said cryptically with a wry smile, “It was impressive how she stood up to the Crimson Tide leadership.”

“Yeah. I mean, you did the same thing with Sagebrush and the paladins,” I said, “Are you really sure you’re okay with leaving the Steel Rangers?”

“You don’t need to keep asking me,” Rare laughed, “I understood the consequences of my decision when I made it. I chose you and our mission to dismantle the Northern Lights Coalition over my life as a Steel Ranger. You don’t need to worry about me taking off in the future to return to the Steel Rangers; I’m here to stay as long as you’ll have me.”

“I know, and I really appreciate your choice to stick with me,” I said, “The Wasteland’s a cruel place, and it can be hard to find reliable friends.”

“You seem to have done a good job,” Rare said, “You’ve gotten a whole army to fight with you.”

“Yeah, I just hope they’re still around after tomorrow.”

As Colonel Jumper had ordered, the Crimson Tide mercenaries left right away in the morning, without any lollygagging. Through the abandoned streets of Vanhoover they marched, taking care of any irradiated creatures along the way. This was a kind of homecoming for the Crimson Tide; other than when Sage and I had explored Stable 50, no Crimson Tide mercenary had returned there since the Steel Rangers had burned them out of it.

The scouts had reported that the Black Skulls hadn’t made any moves toward the Strip, but the clock was ticking. Interestingly enough, a group of the enemy mercs had been sent south, probably to reinforce their comrades at Sorceress Plaza. Our infiltration there could prove useful to this fight, if it reduced the number of Black Skulls waiting for us.

The Crimson Tide could use all the help they could get. At the last head count, the numbers were almost even. The Black Skulls had a few more suits of power armor and more heavy weapons (courtesy of the Northern Lights Coalition), but the Crimson Tide’s armory was none too shabby itself. They even had an armored sky-chariot, but without pegasi to pull it, it would be confined to the ground and serve as a mobile pillbox, which was useful in its own way.

I fiddled with my PipBuck as we neared the Black Skull camp. There were several new radio stations, each a separate encrypted channel for Crimson Tide communications. Thanks to Rare’s radio plug-in, I was able respond as well as listen in, but I made sure to keep it switched to the channel between the former Steel Ranger and myself whenever I didn’t need to say anything to the Crimson Tide. Amazingly, the plug-in would allow me to communicate not only with Rare Sparks, but also with Ache. After she’d returned to our hotel room, we’d learned that she had transmitters and receivers within her head and could communicate with Rare’s suit radio and the plug-in she’d built. The three of us would be in constant contact during the battle, even if we became physically separated.

The nearest scouts were replaced with specially trained agents when the time drew close for the attack. A call went out on a special frequency, and they took out the Black Skull sentries they’d been shadowing, using over half the Crimson Tide’s supply of StealthBucks for that purpose. Colonel Jumper had not been exaggerating when she’d called for the Crimson Tide to go all-out on this attack. If this didn’t work, they would be defenseless anyway, so there really wasn’t a choice.

While the main force took up positions to the west of Millennium Park, Major Basket Weave took a third of the mercenaries around to the south. Rare, Ache, and I went with her group, to lend our hooves at trapping the Black Skulls. Sage wouldn’t be coming with us, instead staying behind with the main force, but if things went according to plan, we would meet at Stable 50, where the Black Skull leader was likely to have set up camp.

Gunfire came from up ahead and the Crimson Tide prepared to react, finding cover and searching for who had fired the shots. When no attack was forthcoming, we forged ahead in the direction of the gunfire, coming across a patrol of Black Skulls firing on a group of mutated rats. Only a few of them saw us and shouted out a warning, but it was too late. I fired my magical energy rifle along with the rest of the Crimson Tide mercenaries, and most of the Black Skulls were cut down on the spot. A few managed to make it into a building on the left side of the street, and a couple jumped over the mutated rats into the building they were coming out of.

As the Crimson Tide charged ahead, I pursued the enemies in the rat building, keeping an eye on them with my EFS. One of the mutated rats snarled at me and I swung my ripper around at it, the blades sawing its head off. Another tried to jump at me but was struck by Ache and thrown against the nearby building, breaking its spine. I continued to swing my ripper around at the pack of unusually large rodents until I’d cleared a path to the door. One more waited inside, the rest having fled, and I sliced it apart with my ripper before switching the weapon off.

I drew my combat shotgun as I headed up a flight of stairs, Rare securing the ground floor. A mercenary with a power-hoof struck me in the side as I reached the top of the stairs, throwing me against the opposite wall and cracking my ribs. Ache was close behind me, and she struck the Black Skull in the foreleg, doing just as much damage as he had without the aid of a tool. The mercenary fell to the floor with a painful cry, clutching his broken foreleg, and Ache finished him off with her submachine gun.

A metal apple bounced in from the other room, and Ache ducked down the stairs. I threw it away with my magic, but it missed the doorway and bounced down the hall, tearing up faded carpet and weathered flooring as it went off. Before our attacker threw another explosive our way, I lobbed one of my own through the doorway. The Black Skull scrambled out to escape the explosion, and I finished her off with rapid blasts from my shotgun.

After using a healing potion to restore my ribs, I rejoined the friendly mercenaries on the street. There didn’t seem to have been any response from the Black Skulls to our firefight, but it was still prudent to hurry into position. The main force would be attacking from the west any minute now. We encountered more vermin as we made our way around the park the long way but avoided them or killed them without firing our weapons. We didn’t want to take any chances of the Black Skulls getting suspicious and coming to investigate.

In position at last, we had a view of Millennium Park and the stretch of buildings leading up to it. I observed with my binoculars that the Black Skulls had set up some fortifications on the street, and there were windows along the street that had weapons mounted in them. Those would need to be cleared for us to reach the park itself and our goal, the amphitheater. Concealing the entrance to Stable 50, that was where we hoped to find the Black Skull leader. The concentration of equipment, especially communications antennae, made us hopeful that we were on the right track.

“Prepare to attack on my signal,” Colonel Jumper ordered over the radio, and the Crimson Tide mercs did one last check on their weapons.

In the distance, I saw something fall from a skyscraper on the far side of the park. Remembering the griffins I’d seen earlier, I raised my binoculars to take a closer look. It was no griffin, but Colonel Jumper herself, wearing a suit with wings stretching between her hindlegs and forelegs, slowing her descent. As she neared the ground, she fired the weapon in her mouth at the unsuspecting Black Skulls, clearing a landing space.

“That’s our colonel,” one of the mercenaries laughed, and the assault began.

Colonel Jumper’s attack was the signal, and the mercenaries surged forward, covered by missile fire from power armor and rocket launcher battle saddles. I stuck with Rare and Ache as we attacked, watching my EFS light up with so many dots that it no longer helped. A Black Skull fired at me from a nearby doorway, her shots bouncing off my foreleg armor but cutting through my clothing, and I cast SATS. Time slowed, and I moved out of her way, firing my magical energy rifle at her as I traveled in an arc toward her. She looked stunned as time returned to normal, and I shoved my rifle under her chin before pulling the trigger and firing an energy beam through her brain.

I tossed a metal apple through the doorway as I leaned against the wall to rest for a moment. There were bullets in me, but I had no time to pull them out and repair my wounds, as shots from further down the street pinged around me. I entered the building and searched for any Black Skulls that had survived the metal apple, locking onto one with a magical energy rifle in her battle saddle. Beams streaked back and forth, but mine were victorious, turning the pony to ash.

I sat down and extracted the bullets from my body, firing my magical energy rifle up the stairs as a Black Skull tried to come down, forcing them to retreat back up. As a healing potion knitted my wounds, Crimson Tide mercenaries joined me and rushed up the stairs with Ache in their company. I peeked out the door at where Rare Sparks was firing grenades at a minigun emplacement before heading up the stairs myself.

Thankfully, it was easy to tell who was who, since the Black Skulls tended to either paint their armor black or leave it its original military green, and the Crimson Tide colored theirs either dark red or left it light gray. Their equipment was similar, but the Black Skulls had gotten theirs from an Equestrian Army base, and the Crimson Tide’s came from an urban military outpost or Stable 50. It made it easy to differentiate as I moved through the buildings, which had become connected by ponies blowing out the walls, and I never had to hesitate before firing.

To clear the buildings, the group that had entered had to split up, and soon I was more or less on my own, firing at any Black Skull that showed their face. I was several stories up now and stopped myself as I came to a ledge. The next building wasn’t directly next to the one I was in, and a board had been laid across the gap to serve as a bridge. A Black Skull stood on the other side, and I hid around the corner as she fired her submachine gun at me. I fired back with my magical energy rifle, forcing her to retreat for safety, and threw a metal apple across.

“Here, take these,” a Crimson Tide merc said as she tapped me on the shoulder and passed me a cluster of metal pears, “They had a whole buncha them here.”

I immediately knew what I was going to do with these ultra-powerful explosives that the Northern Lights Coalition was handing out. A group of Black Skulls in power armor were on the street behind a barrier, holding off the Crimson Tide advance. I stepped out onto the makeshift bridge to where I could see them and used SATS to aim my throws. As the metal pears went off, the power armor was turned to slag and one of the Black Skulls even disintegrated. One survived the attack, though, and turned their minigun on me, firing at the bridge. I jumped across to the next building before it splintered and snapped, and pulled myself inside.

“Go on, I’ll find a way down!” I called back to the Crimson Tide mercs assembling in the building I’d come from, Ache among them.

I threw a metal apple inside for good measure before heading into the hostile building. So far as I could tell, there was no way into this building except the way I’d come or from the street level, which was still under Black Skull control, so I was on my own and didn’t relish the thought. My metal apple hadn’t killed anything in this room, but it had attracted the attention of Black Skulls elsewhere in the building, and I fired my magical energy rifle at one as he came up the stairs.

As the Black Skull fell, I advanced toward the stairs and threw another metal apple down to clear my path. Normally, I’d use the explosives sparingly, but the Black Skulls were more dangerous than any other enemy in the Wasteland besides Steel Rangers or alicorns. Also, the Strip had had a large supply of metal apples, and I’d been offered a discount for helping out that I hadn’t wanted to waste.

Following the explosion, I headed down the stairs and fired energy beams around the room, taking out the surviving Black Skulls. I repeated this process until I reached the second floor, taking only so much damage that I had to use a single healing potion and a few magical bandages. When I headed down to the street level, though, I immediately retreated back up. There were far too many Black Skulls for me to handle, even with the aid of SATS. I climbed onto a cabinet that had fallen over for protection as they began firing up through the floor at me, and looked for a way out. The window wasn’t far, and I could probably jump to the street below.

“Doc, where are you?” Rare’s voice came from my PipBuck.

“Trapped on the second floor of what looks like a bookstore,” I answered, pressing down the button on the plug-in she’d built.

“Okay, hold on,” came her reply, followed by silence.

The building suddenly seemed to jump into the air as explosions came from down below. When they stopped, I tentatively headed toward the stairs, trying to decipher from my EFS if any Black Skulls below me had survived. The ground floor was a mess when I reached it, and I lowered my weapon; nothing could have survived that bombardment. Rare and a couple Crimson Tide mercenaries in power armor stood outside, and she motioned to me as I spotted her. I began to trot toward her, then picked up the pace as the building creaked alarmingly. The ceiling came crashing down just as I made it outside.

“Um, thanks for the help,” I said as I brushed rubble off my doctor’s coat.

“Don’t mention it,” Rare said cheekily before heading toward the park.

The Black Skulls were in retreat now, trying to fall back to the safety of their park defenses. The Crimson Tide relentlessly pursued them, and I could tell the fortifications the Black Skulls had set up wouldn’t hold them long. Griffins swooped down from the sky, trying to protect their fleeing earthbound comrades, but they weren’t as effective as they’d hoped. The Crimson Tide fired up at them, and I saw one merc in a set of power armor fire a weapon much like the anti-pegasus guns I’d seen in the Flankorage simulation, shredding a griffin to bits.

Fortifications were blown away while the Black Skulls were still taking up their positions, and they were forced to decide whether to retreat farther or stand their ground. Those that stood were taken out quickly, but at least they had the chance to harm their foes before they were killed. I found myself swept along in the Crimson Tide, entering Millennium Park and moving toward the amphitheater while ponies rushed around me.

It was utter chaos in the park. The Crimson Tide had broken through the Black Skull defenses on both ends of the park and the mercenaries were now all intermixed, firing at each other or fighting in other ways to avoid hitting their comrades. Ponies shouted orders seconds before being cut down and explosions rang out everywhere from heavy weapons. It was a battlefield well and truly, just like during the War that had destroyed the world as we knew it.

Nearby, the Crimson Tide’s armored sky-chariot sat idly by, a wheel blown off and both the ponies pulling it and its crew dead. Also nearby were a group of power-armored Black Skulls tearing apart the makeshift defenses their enemies were using as cover while tossing metal apples at them. The Black Skulls’ backs were turned to me, so I galloped to the sky-chariot and climbed on the back, pushing the gunner out of the way. The heavy magical energy minigun mounted on the sky-chariot roared like a dragon as I fired it, intense beams of magical energy evaporating the grass and sending up clouds of dirt while I adjusted it to fire on the Black Skulls. Their power armor was melted as the minigun cut through them and their grenades and missiles went off with subdued pops as they boiled.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!” somepony was yelling, their voice magnified by a megaphone, “Cease fire! We surrender!”

It took a few minutes, but eventually the firing stopped. Black Skulls begrudgingly laid down their weapons and were escorted to the amphitheater, where the surrender order had been given. I followed, anxious to see what the Crimson Tide would do now with their defeated foes. Of the hundreds who’d been encamped here, only eighteen had been captured, though others had undoubtedly fled and would join up with the smaller camps and outposts in the city. It wouldn’t be enough to attack the Strip and fight the Crimson Tide, though, even with the casualties on our side.

I rejoined Rare and Ache as the crowd of Crimson Tide mercenaries began to gather around their foe. Sage trotted over after she spotted us, and Colonel Jumper arrived soon after. The Black Skull leader trotted forward and frowned as guns were raised to point at him. He unfastened his helmet as Jumper walked toward him.

“Well, well, well, Lieutenant Colonel Scarlet Harvest, right?” Jumper asked, and the Black Skull nodded, “I’ve heard stories about you. I wonder how many are true. Not that it matters much, now. You will order the remaining Black Skulls in our territory to leave.”

“I don’t have the authority for that,” Scarlet Harvest said defiantly.

“I find that very hard to believe, since you’re the highest-ranking officer to survive this attack,” Jumper said, “I tried to be nice, but my order was not a suggestion.”

“Colonel Splint is commander of the Black Skulls, I am merely his second-in-command,” Scarlet Harvest said matter-of-factly.

“And where is this Colonel Splint then?” Jumper asked.

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to share our plans with the enemy,” Scarlet Harvest said with a grimace.

“I want to give you some advice,” Jumper said, shaking her head, “You will tell us what you know, and it will be much more pleasant for you if you’re cooperative.”

“We’ve gotten all we can out of Scarlet Harvest, and I’m afraid he doesn’t know where the Vanhoover headquarters of the NLC is,” Sage announced to us later that night.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Crimson Tide had set to work cleaning up the battlefield. Patrols would diligently guard the route between it and the Strip while the bodies of the fallen were transported back along with surviving Black Skull equipment. The weapons that the Northern Lights Coalition had meant to be used to destroy the Crimson Tide were now in their hooves, and they weren’t going to let the Black Skulls take them back. The prisoners had been transported back first, so that they could be questioned in the Strip, and Rare, Ache, and I had to wait around to find out if they knew anything that was of interest to us.

“The Black Skulls are even larger than we thought,” Sage said worriedly, “That was only half their force; the rest have headed to Stalliongrad. They’re supposed to meet up with the NLC forces there, at the LuxuriMane shampoo factory on the east side of the city. That’s where the NLC is headquartered in Stalliongrad.”

“That’s just as good as finding the headquarters in Vanhoover,” Rare Sparks said, “Even if we do have to travel all the way back to Stalliongrad.”

“Anything that helps us get closer to the heart of the NLC is good news at this point,” I added, “If the Black Skulls are going to be there in Stalliongrad, we’re going to need help facing them, though. I don’t expect the Crimson Tide to go all the way to Stalliongrad to help out.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Sage said, brightening up, “In the meantime, I’ll push the senior staff to work here on stamping out the Black Skulls and finding the NLC in Vanhoover.”

“Thanks,” I said, “Hopefully we’ll see each other again, even if it isn’t for another month or more.”

“I’ll count on it,” Sage said with a wink, “You’re the Wasteland Doctor; what can keep you down?”

Level Up
New Perk: Fortunate Pony – When it comes to close calls, you almost always come out on top. +1 to Luck.
Unique Item added: Radio Plug-in – Rare Sparks has built a device for your PipBuck that will allow you to communicate on the same frequencies as Steel Rangers, mercenaries, pondroids, and plenty else still to be discovered. Cannot be used the same time as other PipBuck plug-ins.
New Quest: Hunting Trouble – Travel to the NLC headquarters in Stalliongrad.
Luck +1 (4)
Barter +1 (41)
Big Guns +2 (31)
Explosives +7 (75)
Medicine +1 (62)
Melee Weapons +4 (67)
Repair +6^* (45)
Speech +3 (73)

^{*The Tinkerer}