The air conditioning was really due for some proper attention. I admit that my own personal directives have distracted me slightly from my actual programmed duties, but it was certainly much more optimal for me to repair it every now and then, instead of every single day. That left we with so much more time to continue restoring Dr. Redthorn's books before I needed to recharge.

I had fetched a toolbox from the maintenance bay and was soldering a loose wire within the central air conditioning control box. It had come loose due to the extreme heat emitted from the wiring, so hot it melts the adhesive of the tape and the iron. I have not attempted understand how a cooling system like this gets so hot. This particular one had come loose three times now, but I have failed to find a more effective way of fixing it with the resources I have. The best I could do was solder it back into place and seal it with more conductive tape.

I levitated the tape roll, rolling it round the remaining flecks of exposed raw wiring, coating it with two shiny layers. Using more would possibly fix this issue more permanently, but I'm running out of the tape as it is, I have to conserve it as best as I can. It seemed more viable every day that I should go and scavenge for more resources outside of the compound. My spare energy reserves in my pod were getting lower every day. If they become empty, I would not be able to keep myself going as my energy would dry up. As well as that, there are the repair materials, restoring the ammunition supply and not to mention the lack of ink. Without any ink... I would be completely without a function, not even one of my personal making.

With the faulty wire patched I send a jolt of energy through the circuit using the manual switch inside and begin to hear the fans oscillating once again. At least for now I didn’t have to worry about terminals overheating in hear, that would certainly of added to the scavenger list. I back my head out of the maintenance shaft and seal it up with the screwdriver. The A/C Control Box was on the lower of the top floors, above me were three more floors, the one above me containing my pod. Below me was another floor, but the facility went even deeper than that, but beyond my access. Over to my left, I see the secondary exit leading out of Project 17 into the cave. I wonder if it would be that bad if I just take a look around outside. I've done it before to exterminate intruders, so it wouldn't be much different if I went to look for parts. It was doing me and the compound a service. Maybe a there would be new creature to document on the way? I turn back to re-enter the main lab, just to drop off the toolbox and pick up the Dr. Redthorn’s 'A Guide to the Species of Equis'. But after taking only four steps, a loud siren sounds throughout the facility. It's the perimeter alarm, something is outside Project 17. That's awfully quick however, the last alarm only went off last week, and they’re normally months apart. This was extremely unusual.

Dropping the toolbox to the ground, I look up to see the first of the three red warning lights flashing. The alarm was coming from the main door on the topmost floor. That door lead straight outside into the surface above and had been set off only twice in my lifetime, both of which were falsely triggered. Galloping, I depart from the secondary door and control box and take the next tunnel on the right, darting to the uppermost floor. Reaching the final hallway, within the darkness I see a pinprick orange glow coming from the centre of the door, making a precise three hundred and sixty motion. It appeared to be drawing a circle with molten metal. A breach. This was fascinating. Normally invaders get debilitated when falling into the cave or reaching the main door in this case, but never has an invader attempted to take down any of the doors without me first going out there to remove them.

E.F.S Activated

Weapons Array Initialised

I take a decent offensive position around ten meters from the door just behind a ridge in the right wall, obscuring most of me from sight. The glow grew much brighter and parts of the door appeared to be melting in certain places. They must have been using an extremely powerful energy weapon to break down that door, it's made of two foot thick steel. The glow then began to subside as the centre of the door melted away to reveal a perfect circular hole. I open both my side panels and activate my Long Range Energy Beam Rifles. Locking both onto the steaming breech in the door.

"FIRST WAVE, MOVE IN!" shouted a gruff voice from somewhere behind the door.

Okay here we go, take it slow. That's what he said. There was nothing to worry about in this place. According to the brief from Enclave HQ, this place has been abandoned shortly before the bombs fell. They said it was a simple first mission for us, and my other team members and commander have complete faith in that. So why do I get the feeling that something's going to go wrong. I guess it's just my nature with things like this

As the steam clears from our breach attempt, all we see is darkness on the other side. Maybe it was just me being overly dramatic. I duck and traverse through the door, my armour holding off the radiant heat being emitted from the molten steel. This base was certainly well hidden and secure. The laser beam we took with us needed four pegasi to carry, it was enormous. I'm more than certain it was rare or even one of a kind.

I emerge through the hole and move to the side to allow the rest of my wing to come through. I couldn't see anything down there, it was pitch black. Activating my Night Vision swiftly solved that problem, soon followed by my E.F.S. The radar-like wave passed over my vision but beeped upon finding a red bar. I was just about to warn the others when it began to flicker.

There was faint red light above us that glowed intermittently, most likely a built in alarm system. I waited as the rest of the other wings emerged through the breach and took their positions. Thundercrack jumps through and takes his position next to me.

"How you feeling?" He asks, a little nervousness about him.

"A lot better than before, I was thinking there was going to be turrets pointing at us when we arrived." I explained with a sigh

"That would have been bad, but even that couldn't be worse than obstacle training, were still living to see the day after those." he turns to meet my gaze. I could tell he was smiling at me. I had known Thundercrack since joining the Advanced Division of the Enclave. We helped each other out a lot and both got to this stage. I'm not sure what I would have done without him really.

Sergeant Tropical Drift poked his head through the breech finally and observed the darkness in front of him.

"All clear, Sir!" I announced. I check with the others and they all appear to be nodding in agreement. This looked good, very good.

"Brilliant, first wing stick to me. second wing scout the right, third wing take the left. We're nearly on the homestretch everypony. All Clear!" he commands. I join in as he's met with a loud: "SIR, YES SIR!"

I was lucky enough to be in the first wing with the Sergeant so I stay back and allow the first two wings to advance into the darkness. After some room was made, we formed a diamond formation arround Tropical Drift. I take my position at the rear of the diamond just as Thudercrack bumps his flank to mine on the left.

"We watching each other's flanks then?" he asks cheekily, taking his position behind me.

"I don't think I could resist." I laugh to him. Yeah. We're like that.

"Stop flirting you two and stay on task!" shouted the Mellow Brook, the Second-in-command who took the pole position at the front.

We then set oof down the tunnel. I followed in formation at the back. It was important I covered our flank to ensure we didn't get... well... flanked I guess. Ground manoeuvres are a great weakness for us pegasi and we tend to avoid them unless in situations like this tunnel where it was vital for us to use them for success. However the pitch black surrounding we were attempting to traverse made my job that little bit more stressful. The night vision did allow me to see a great distance, but it sure didn't beat daylight, or even wasteland light. The glow from the alarm at the door faded away, but the other lights alarm lights adorning the rest of the tunnel seemed to either of blown a fuse or had gotten damaged in other ways maybe. However I don't need to worry so much about where I was going. Thundercrack's flank gave me a little support as well as the rest of the wing eliminating or guiding around other obstacles. I just needed to be concerned about what was lurking in the dark, just out of my view...

GULP

E.F.S: Total Entity Confirmation - 36

E.F.S: Total Hostile Confirmation - 36

Okay then, this is more invaders than I anticipated. I am certain I wouldn't be able to take all of them down at once, they appear to be extremely well organised unlike the previous encounters outside. Plus they had me in an enclosed space which has disadvantages also.

They were Equestrian-like from their shape, but their outlining feature was what was attached to their sides. They had bird-like wings. I had seen this before in Dr. Redthorns "Guide to the Species of Equis". There were three common types of 'pony' as the common dialect referred to them as. There was the regular form, Earth. Unicorns who were able to wield the mana using their horns. And then there was the pegasi, being able to fly with their wings. They must be pegasi, I have never seen one myself other than the drawings provided in the guide. That also explained the different armour they were wearing, which had a clear difference from the steel I was used to seeing. It appears from their organisation another faction similar to those of the Steel Rangers is attempting to steal the technology within. I would have to document this further to keep the guide up to date, but I need to eliminate the threat first. I take a slow tactical retreat, analysing their movements and deducing what their action plan was.

They appear to be in three groups, apparently called 'wings'. They appeared to be splitting up to find what they are looking for which gives me an advantage. A 'wing' of twelve was much more manageable than a squadron of thirty six. The plan of action logically appeared to be to pick them off wing by wing, one by one. The other thing to bear in mind is that leader, the one that appeared to be managing the entire operation. He appeared to know exactly what he was looking for, very intriguing. Maybe it would be better to eliminate the squadron, but spare him to get some answers. The plan was set.

I turn and position myself in the next room on the left, The Spare Parts Storage.

The first wing had searched through all the scrap equipment on the shelves, in the cabinets and strewn across the floors. It didn't appear as though they found anything they were looking for, if they did, that would be surprising. Soon one of them approached the only room in the Spare Parts Storage Area, one that would make taking out this wing extremely simple.

"Area Clear! Let's get this room done!" shouted the one closest to the door. It appears they also have sub-leaders, how very interesting. The sub-leader entered the room with the rest of the wing following him. Luckily they missed the faded warning sign that said that it was the sterilisation chamber for any irradiated or tainted equipment. More usefully, not designed for decontaminationating live specimens

Walking into the Spare Parts Storage, I slowly approach the open door of the chamber, hearing the sounds of shuffling armour, moving objects and frustrated grunts being emitted by the soldiers. Being deep in their search, they didn't notice me slowly closing the chamber door until the latch clicked and I pulled up the external lock. The entire wing went silent, looking upon the door and my head peeking just through the frosty window. They all then stared upon me, possibly unsure what to make of the sudden development. This soon changed though when I noticed that some of the weapons holstered on their armour began to glow. Those energy weapons, if they were engineered like the one that breeched the front door, would make little work of this one. I quickly yanked the lever next to the door, lighting a rotating amber light above both sides of the door. After, I then dived behind a desk to take cover from the shots that would soon be penetrating the door.

The sterilising chamber uses a special type of chemical that eliminates all kinds of radiation and, from what the lab notes had explained on the matter, was also rather effective on the phenomena known as 'taint'. However, to organic matter, this chemical doubled off as a deadly neurotoxin. It takes only seconds to cause instant heart failure and burn flesh upon exposure to even the tiniest concentration of it. The chemical was aimed to be issued in the form of a wet wipe named a 'RadWipe' that would remove radiation from any object that happened to be exposed, but was sent back to the labs to be rethought due to the consequences upon holding it or even breathing near it. However, it still appeared to be used in cases such as this sterilising chamber.

I began to hear the stray fire of energy weapons inside the chamber along with the wailing and screaming of the soldiers who were firing them. One penetrated the door allowing the gas to escape, making a high pitch whistling sound. The chemical soon began to fill the parts bay at a rapid pace causing me to back out of the room, I couldn't allow harm to befall me now. I had another two wings to deal with to secure Project 17.

The firing began to slow gradually to a stop, after the last shot I heard a loud thump of armor.

E.F.S Total Entity Confirmation - 0

E.F.S Total Hostile Confirmation - 0

With that wing covered, I made my leave to escape the oncoming gas. Two more wings to go.

We had been advancing down the same tunnel for what seemed like an hour. I had my Novasurge Rifle primed and ready for anything that could pop out and surprise us, but I was confident nothing of the sort would happen now after so long. Who was I kidding really?

"You see anything?" whispers Thundercrack behind me.

"Nope, just dark, a little more dark and... Hey wait... I think I see some dark over there." I joke, he nudges back.

"Very funny, stay focused though, we don't want anything to happen." he warned

"Chill, nothing's appeared or looked suspicious so far. I'm pretty sure that we would have had trouble by now, if we were going to get some." I reassure the dark pegasi. He grunts in acknowledgement

"Look alive! Large room ahead!" I hear the second-in-command, Mellow Brook, shout back to us.

This must be it. Apparently the place the Sergeant was looking for was literally a single decent into a central part of the base. What was very bizarre however, or at least I think is bizarre, is how he hasn't informed us of what we are looking for. Not even the slightest hint. It's been wrapped under covers so thick that our departure to this wasteland is apparently completely classified. He just expected the other two wings to look for intel and anything unusual. 'It will be obvious if you find it' I remember him saying, I just rolled my eyes to how absurd that sounded.. Still, I did feel extremely honoured that Thunder and I were picked for such a prestigious mission.

As the archway passed over my head I shifted my position to match our current formation, a 'v' shape, that progressively surrounded the rim. This room was lit somewhat dimly from the centre, much better compared to the pitch black tunnel we had just traversed. It was circular, and didn't seem at all cramped compared to the rest of Project 17 that we had already seen. There appeared to be some sort of pod positioned in the middle of the room which was the source of the faint green light. The insides of it was not visible through the aged, frosty glass. I looked towards the edges of the room to see some terminals. Thinking I could get some credit for ingenuity, I make a move for the closest one to see if there was any intel Icould gather from them. However after turning the corner of the table, I was met with a very different sight to what I wanted.

"HOSTILE!" I scream as I launch back and re-enable my rifle. I received five other teammates behind me within a few seconds to back me up. The ranger didn't appear to move, in fact now that the glow from our rifles lit up the corner better, it looked incapacitated. The armour was laying on its side against the wall in a very peculiar position. The Sergeant then appeared from behind us and approached the armour, revealing a puddle of blood beneath it. I think I was about to follow in suit as the blood drained from my head. Something was down here. I was right all along.

"False alarm, he's dead. As you were," Drift announces, before pointing to me and Thundercrack who moved to stand next to me. "You two on me, we're cracking this pod open."

"Sir!" we salute, following him to face the green pod in the middle of the room. It appeared to be made out of the same steel as the rest of the base, but had fine, circuit-like lines running over its body apparently pulsing the same faint green colour. It looked very spooky in the dim light. The Sergeant looked down to the panel. A green button and a red button, the labels had be worn away by the apparent freeze and thaw of the years, also creating cracks in the rusty iron casing.

"Well, any guess which one?" He turns to look at us.

"Sir, I would say go with the red button, Sir!" suggests Thunder

I was sceptical at the suggestion, I have no idea how this technology works round here, let alone who engineered it. My guess would be M.W.T but some parts resemble early Enclave designs, such as the archways and floor plan from what I could see so far. But I had no clue which button, so I just nodded. Tropical Drift then turned back to face the buttons. He lifted his hoof and tapped the red button. A very unhealthy whirring sound then was emitted from the pod as the face of it began to creak open. The whole wing turned to face the pod as they were mesmerised with what could possibly be within. Steam flowed out of the pod obscuring its contents as the lid slowly reached its peak. Suddenly the radio in the Sergeants helmet crackled:

"SIR! ABORT THE MISSION! UNKNOWN HOSTILE HAS TAKEN OUT BOTH WINGS! ABO-" the speech ends abruptly with static. It's all coming true. My fears and assumptions. Did I make this happen? What will we do?

I swiftly entered the Central Lab without gaining the attention of the remaining wing. They were all gathered around my pod, the leader bellowing out orders. They appeared to have opened my pod oddly, but that could be used to my advantage. I saw an opening as one of the soldiers stepped back out of the peripheral vision of those next to it. Approaching slowly, I quickly place both of my arms around his neck and twist it, breaking the support of his armour and his neck in one motion. I lower him gently to the floor and position myself slightly behind the group, observing the events.

"Okay, there is nothing to panic about everypony! We have a great strategic advantage here. There's only three entrances into this room and no vents or other entry points. Whatever this 'thing' is, we can hold it off and eliminate it easily if we stick to our training and protocols. You hear me!" the leader reassures them.

"SIR, YES SIR!" resonates around me as the ten remaining soldiers stamp their hooves.

But just as planned, when the leader takes a step backwards towards the pod, makes a very loud 'clack' sound. The robotic tentacles then darted out of the pod and seized their leader. They wrapped around his neck, each hoof and waist before beginning to retract, pulling him back inside. All of the soldiers gasp and arm their weapons attached to their armour.

"STOP! Hold you fire! Look be-" he yells but was muffled as a tentacle covers his mouth. The soldiers glance among each other after that cut off warning was delivered to them. I activated my S.A.T.S before one of them notices me and oscillate my rifles to face the soldier to the left and right of me. Upon hearing the sound of my mechanics, the two pegasi turn to face me...

A loud pair of bangs came from behind me followed by some groans. I turn sharply and gasp at the sight. Two teammates had been shot down, huge punctures to both of their helmets with no sign of them struggling. My E.F.S confirmed they were dead. Looking up I see something in the darkness. There were two green lights floating in the gloom. All of us turned our weapons upon it, lighting it up to reveal what looked like a Steel Ranger, but very different. The Ranger was much more slender than others I had seen before. It had two shotguns on its back, pointing them at each of the corpses. It was made of the same type of steel that I recognised but was bolted much more thoroughly in many more places. The only exception to that was the open hatch from where the shotguns appeared to emerge on each side. It also appeared to be missing the normal ear spaces that their power armour had, instead having long thin attenas. The face was missing any form of breathing implement, just flat steel, no holes at all. It also didn't have the steel equivalent of a mane and tail either. But the most unique part about it was the eyes. The armour had no visor, but instead had bright green glowing eyes. It stood in an upright, stoic posture, examining everything in front of it. The E.F.S attempted to scan the figure revealing a flickering red bar darting around my visor. Either my E.F.S was faulty or it was being jammed or interfered with somehow.

"STAND DOWN!" demanded Mellow Brook

The Ranger did not move one inch, but kept its weapons raised upon the corpses. It appeared to be staring past me at the pod. Turning my head I see the Sergeant being sealed inside it, hidden from our view. I turn back then to the Ranger, who was looking to me now, its head tilted slightly. What did it want? If it was killing us, it would have tried by now.

"By Order of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, you are to surrender your weapons and hand yourself over, Ranger!" the second commander instructed rather brutally. There was indeed some shock in her voice. The Ranger however made no move to follow her commands.

"State your name!" the soldier next to me commanded. It turned its gaze to him but said nothing.

"What do you want?" I tried a different question. But received no better response. It then turned its gaze to the corpse to its left, its armour still intact. It moved a hoof forward slowly but was met with Mellow's charging weapon...

"FREEZE! I SAID DONT MOVE!" repeated Mellow Brook. It ceased movement upon hearing her, but looked up to meet her eyes, now turning amber and rotating the shotguns to face her. They were at a stalemate. But, she then made a grave mistake. She fired her rifle, and upon hearing the click of the trigger, the Ranger's eyes turned a deep red and suddenly shifted to the side, dodging the Ray and leaving all of our fields of view.

"Find it! Watch your flank!" she warned as she pointed her rifle around, attempting to find the ranger.

The Grand Pegasus Enclave. So this was who I was faced with...

Clearly very militarian just like the Steel Rangers from my observations so far. I wonder if the unexplored surface is under some form of military rule. The chances made it highly unlikely, but the probability of anything at the moment was questionable with all this new information.

They clearly wouldn't trust me as a non-hostile. I was evaluating whether it was worth making peace with these intruders so I could identify what they were looking for. But that fell to ruin quickly. I was taking shelter behind a terminal desk, watching as hazy lights drifted across the wall attempting to find me. The darkness appears to be playing a disadvantage to me due to my eye lights. The glowing had always been something I was used to. They allowed me light up where I was going without any other form of artificial light source or night vision. But maybe switching them off is an option in this case. They weren't exactly an essential function, they are really used just to identify my status, such as my hostility.

Shutting down external light sources

It was much darker without their usual guiding light. But I guess the spotlights from the Enclave weaponry would provide me with the illumination I needed right now and my E.F.S should complete the rest of the job. I peeked up to survey the situation. The remaining eight units were scouring the room, looking for any sign of me. They seemed out of formation, at least compared to before. But more to my advantage, they were separated quite sparsely. I ducked quickly out of the range of a rogue light before leaping over the desk sprinting swiftly towards the closest target.

One thing I analysed from these 'Enclave' soldiers armour that differed from the Rangers besides design, is that they appeared to mitigate less physical damage. The energy gems used in powering their armour seemed to use more projectile based damage reduction. This could possibly be due to the fact pegasi seem to be more adept at flying combat than hoof to hoof. Putting distance between them and their threat was a common strategy found in all of their formations and fighting styles.

Utilising this apparent weakness, I use my generated velocity from the leap and dash and channel it into a quick firm blow with my hoof. I landed it just below its ear, denting the armour a few inches deep. I calculated that this particular position would disable the soldier from calling for help, minimising the chance of drawing attention. I was correct, it knocked the soldier out, most likely dealing some skeletal damage and head trauma. The remaining velocity I carried allowed me to push the soldier into a corner behind some cabling before repositioning myself, ready to strike again.

Peeking out once more I noticed the soldiers have inconveniently began to conglomerate upon my vicinity. This would mean I would have to bide my time a little before aiming to eliminate more of them. But productively, I did have some Enclave armour here to analyse. I levitated the weapon upon the corpses back to take a better look at it. It was definitely an energy weapon, but rather unique. It glowed with an orange light I noticed, very irregular from normal energy weapons. I didn't recognise it under the 'M.W.T Weapons Compendium' in the Library either. This must be a custom build, or it might have been engineered by another operator, maybe even by the Enclave themselves. These pegasi really did intrigue me with every passing minute.

"You see anything yet?" I hear one of the male pegasi soldier ask from behind my hiding spot.

"Not a peep, maybe it's left, grouping up with more of them." replied a mare, slight amounts worry towards the end of her answer.

The armour appeared to have a strong resistance to both round ammunition and energy weapons. A shotgun at close range however made little work of their armour apparently. A shard of the armour brandished a familiar logo I had found in a number of books: The Ministry of Awesome. Not much was documented about them however which really didn't tell me much else. But one question then entered my head. I ejected the Orange Crystal Cartridge from the weapon and a whole Blue Crystal from my own matrix and raised it to a shard of the armour. Tipping some of the contents of the cartridge onto the compounded metal, it did appear to heat up upon contact with both. But under the Blue Crystal it retained its shape. The other Enclave Crystal dust bent the shard quite dramatically. It appeared their very strength was their own weakness. I reinsert my crystal back in place and the the remains of the crystal cartridge into the weapon, snapping off the appendage that attached it to the corpse. I have another idea...

Thudercrack slid up beside me, picking a really good moment. I was standing back from the conversation being held by the others, I couldn't cope with what had happened.

"You okay, Sarsaparilla?" he asks, a little sheepish.

"N-Not really." I sniff

Thundercrack sits us both on the floor. He then moves his hoof to the release catch for his helmet.

"No! We don't know if the air is-" I shout under my breath, just before I hear the hiss of his helmet pressurising. It comes off in his hoof and he takes a big breath, revealing his face. Thundercrack had dark black fur with mesmerising golden irises. He exhales before giving me a calm and reassuring look.

"Seems fine to me, quite refreshing actually." he concurred. He then reached to my helmet and released the catch. A flurry of air rushed out of the mask, revealing my bright yellow fur. My teary cyan eyes then met his. He dropped the mask and reached forward to hug me. I might have not felt it through the armour, but it gave me a little comfort.

"I-I just don't know I-if we'll see the clouds... again." I begin to sob

"Of course we will, we have that ranger on the run. I bet he doesn't even have any backup. The door was sealed, maybe he got trapped and they died off like that one next to the terminal?" Thundercrack reassure me, but I gulp at the mention of 'trapped'.

"Thunder?" I ask him. I meet his face again. "If we don't make it out of here, I just want to sa-"

I was about to finish when I hear a very loud energy charging sound behind us. We both turn around as we are met with a blinding orange light.

"TAKE COVEEEERRRR-" Mellow Brook shouted but faded to nothing when we saw five consecutive flashes, only milliseconds between apart. I close my eyes, blinded by the display. I whimpered in Thundercrack's grasp, hoping he wouldn't let go. He was the only thing keeping me from all out panic right now.

About a minute passes with silence when I hear Thunder gasp. I open my eyes, which were still stunned from the flashes. Gaining focus I see the worst thing I could have imagined right now. Mellow Brook and the rest of our team were rendered to ash.

"Oh no, please no!" I scream, pressing further into the stallion’s body. I try to look for the source of the firearms when my question was soon answered. A steel clad hoof stepped out and slammed heavily on the ground, making the floor of the room tremble beneath us. The ranger then fully emerged from behind a large metal tube, wielding a Novasurge Rifle upon its back.

"Un-be-lievable." exclaimed Thundercrack under his breath. Amazed at the sight of the ranger wielding the Enclave Novasurge Rifle. But that sound was enough to alert it of our position. Upon hearing him, its neck snaps round to face us, its eyes turning that haunting amber once more. I close my eyes again. I think this is the end...

Two life forms remain. They were disarmed already, and had their faces exposed making their extermination simple. I rotated the temporary clamp I had on the Enclave rifle to face the smaller of the two, the mare. She wasn't looking making the death more ethical. The blast would also most likely disintegrate both of them in one hit also.

Warning, Crystal Energy Inducer - Integrity Low

It appears overcharging the rifle had an impact, the weapon must have experienced a lot of damage. However it did make removing those other five soldiers very quick. Maybe it would be best to switch to another so I could study the weapon at a later point. I was about to release the clamp on the weapon when the stallion shoved aside the mare and leaped at me.

"Run!" he shouted in the middle of his leap

Emergency Vicinity Intrusion Protocol - Initiated

The protocol forced me to fire the energy rifle at the stallion that was quickly encroaching upon me. The rifle made a weak charging sound before firing a bright orange flash. I heard the gun cracking as the light dissipated, signalling the destruction of its energy inducer. But looking across the room, I see a rather gruesome sight. The shot from the rifle, which was not aided by S.A.T.S, had appeared to miss rather dramatically. The shot appeared to blast him a few meters away but also disintegrated only half of his body. The low power of the weapon upon firing didn't have enough energy to completely disintegrate him from the looks of things. His heart was still intact and visibly beating inside his chest. The Enclave armour he was wearing was completely obliterated on the other hoof, but left the upper half of his body, one hoof and his head intact. A lot of his fur had been singed, his mane also missing. One of his wings had become separated from him, the other most likely turned to ash. I hear a scream as the mare gets up from her daze and looks upon him with shock. She launches up from the ground and gallops to his side, appearing to cry over him.

I approach the pair of them quietly, beginning to hear some voices.

"Thunder, Thundercrack! Are you okay?!" She shouted at the corpse, but soon realised that the stallion was still conscious. I enabled my E.F.S to see that the corpse was highlighted amber now, but was fading fast. It was only a matter of time.

"Sasp... G-get o-out... O-ou.?" replied the stallion. He was extremely croaky, his eyes wide open, pupils minuscule in size from shock staring into the ceiling.

"No! No I'm not leaving you here!" she refuses before grasping him and beginning to flap upwards with her wings. She managed to lift him about a foot in the air before his remaining hoof crumbled out of her desperate grasp, landing back on the floor again. He coughs weakly from the impact, spitting up some blood.

"Y-you have to. Ssssave y-yours-elf." he struggles to get out his words, the disintegration process must still be working on his body. It was only a matter of moments before his central nervous system would be turned to ash.

"Never! I love you, Thunder! I would never leave your side! Just like you would never leave mine!" she smothers he face in his dry, still burning fur, blocking out most of her words after. I reached the corpse, just out of her sight. He had closed his eyes now, the E.F.S signalling him to be deceased as his amber bar disappeared. The mare cried there for the next five minutes while I watched her. I had already dropped the enclave weapon and primed my Incinerator when I reached her. But something was wrong. I couldn't fire it due to something arguing with the process. A glitch? No, it didn't display the same sort of problems as glitches in the past. Maybe some form of loose circuit again? Those rats did some serious damage to my internals, but it seemed too coincidental for a problem to arise now.

My attention was diverted back to the mare as she lifts her head, tears streaming from her face before turning to me. Her face strangely neutral in expression despite the flow of apparent emotion coming from her eyes. She carried on staring at me as she got up and slowly approached me, trembling upon each hoof step. The E.F.S identified her as not-hostile but I kept the Incinerator angled at her in case it changed. The last pegasus soldier arrived just in front of me, the Incinerator right in front of her, pointed at her face. I couldn't figure out what her goal was at defeating me by doing this. At this range, it just made the Incinerator eliminate her much more quickly and with little effort. But I answered my own question when she sighed and lay her head against the large barrel of my weapon.

"Do it." she asked, tears still running down her face. Her voice carried the same emotion as her face did upon approaching me. She asked me to assist her in suicide. I couldn't do that. My protocols instructed me that doing so is against my purpose of creation. I was no longer under threat or on the brink of death.

Action Denied - Breach of Protocol 1

"I said do it!" she pleaded, bashing her head against the weapon with a hoof either side of it. "I'm done, Please don't let me suffer any longer."

I was broken inside. My squad, my wing and... my Thunder. They were all gone because this Ranger killed them. I give it the perfect chance to kill me easily, and it doesn't. It wants to make me suffer even more after what I've been through. I just want it all to end. They didn't lie when they said these savages were ruthless. Stories of how they ripped through the stables, killing everything that fought back, and leaving the rest to the wastes, these monsters had no hearts. Suddenly the weapon withdrew, dropping my body to the floor. I look back up to see its hoof pointing, his green eyes gazing upon me. In the direction he was indicating, I saw the door, the door back to the surface. He wanted me to leave? Shouldn't it be leaving itself? Maybe I was being held hostage? But I did as it instructed, beginning a slow, weak trot towards what I hoped was my final destination.

Advancing back up towards the breech, the ranger following behind me, no weapon armed at all. I don't understand what it planned on doing to me. Maybe it was going to take me to be imprisoned somewhere in one of their compounds, tortured for intelligence. Maybe stripped of my armour and sold away, possibly to one of those slaver convoys I had seen before. Whatever it was, they could do it, I had lost all will in my life now. There was no way the Enclave would accept me back, I would just be labelled as a deserter and exiled anyway. My life was over as an Enclave soldier, and a pegasus.

The smoke had cleared completely from the main door now, revealing the Bale-land storm outside. I stood in front of the circular incision, remembering how not long ago we came in a team, now I walk alone. I look back to see the ranger once again. He was unarmed, with green eyes yet again, those eyes that seemed even more soulless than a regular visor. But those eyes were not staring at me, but past me. Looking into the dusty storm that raged on outside. The counter on the right leg my right leg had begun to tick slowly as I approached the breach, indicating the radiation level rising. We managed to control how many rads we were exposed to by flying just below the clouds and diving at the end. I had lost all the strength I would need to fly, maybe the radiation would dull the pain I had as well.

I had just put one hoof upon the breach in the door when the cold touch of steel softly pressed upon my neck. My face was then met with my enclave helmet that floated down in front of my vision. I don't know how it got there, or why the ranger seemed to be supporting me, but all that helmet reminded me of... was my failure. I whacked it to the side out of my sight and shrugged of the cold touch on my neck and advanced to my hopeful oblivion.

Calculating chances of survival

Average RAD intake over body mass - 259 Rads/day
Concentration of poison gas - High
Possible encounters with carnivorous or hostile life forms - 63% Likely
Hydration state - Poor
Starvation level - High

Estimated length of survival - 1 day

If she took the helmet, that would have eliminated the gas poisoning and some of the RAD intake, but she didn't. It looked like survival was the last thing on her mind. Normally a concern for an intruders survival was never considered in my protocol or my personal interests, but added with this new fault I was developing, I was ready to adapt to anything right now.

She emerged from the other side of the door and began to walk off into the storm. It was a slow constant pace, one that showed her exhaustion and possible other feelings. Staring at the fading view of the Enclave soldier left me thinking about how I could have handled this situation better. The soldier took five more paces before stopping abruptly, looking back confused.

"Why are you just waiting there? Haven't you got to take me to your headquarters?" she asked, her voice breaking, sniffling at the same time. She coughed a few times also from the dust being thrown at her. I slowly shake my head from side to side before backing away and pulling the lever to close the emergency hatch over the door. She carries on looking at me, stunned at my response.

"You’re not a ranger, are you?" she concluded with no change in her expression. But before I could give her a nod she turned back out into the storm. Her chest expanded as she took a deep breath before she continued her decent into the flurry of the irradiated desert. Just as her body began to be obscured by its dark brown grasp, the shutter fell over the breach, securing Project 17 from its first intrusion under my watch. I was left in darkness once again, with only the glow of my eyes to keep me company. As well as the trapped Enclave leader in my pod, but this feeling in my chest didn't leave me in a good position to interrogate him. I settled down in front of the door and began to rest, I needed to think upon things a little.