//------------------------------// // ch.1 part 3: echoes of the past/ the dead still walk/ search and rescue // Story: fallout equestria: Paradise // by dquiroga //------------------------------// Echoes of the past (07 save- dino crisis) After going through the hallway, we came across another door. Luckily, it was already unlocked. On the other side was what appeared to be a hub of sorts. There were two floors, each housing a set of doors. Fortunately, they were all labeled with a sign on top of each. The place itself was in ruins. There was debris everywhere, as if people just dropped whatever they were carrying and ran. The doors were rusted, the walls were growing moss on them, and there were more of those horse corpses around. Some seem more recent then others, since they have flesh on them. ‘ugh, that’s just disgusting.’ To cover more ground, we decided to separate into three groups. The Russians were going to check the generator room, the Asians were going to the commons area, and my group was going to the overseer’s office. Remembering the letter from the brief was sent by someone known as the overseer, I had more interest in this room then the others. After we went our separate ways, we made our way to the office. opening the door, we found another hallway that lead to a staircase. Once we got to the top, we found another door. However, it was locked and had a terminal next to it. Nathan and I stood guard while Vincent got to work. Suddenly our radios came to life, giving out a static hum. “leader to wolf pack, requesting status report.” The lieutenant said through the static. “Kazimir to leader, made it to generator room. There are many machineries here. much of them do not work, but there is still power leaking somewhere, what with the sliding doors and computers.” There was a brief pause before the radio came on again. “Hyousuke to leader, within the living quarters, but there isn’t anything alive down here. found lot of pods but they are empty. There are more horse bodies here to.” After another pause, I decided it was my turn. “david to leader, trying to bypass a terminal leading to the overseer’s office.” I said into the radio. “alright, keep me posted and be careful. Something doesn’t feel right. Leader out.” ‘right, if I wasn’t nervous enough.’ Soon after, Vincent bypassed the door. We opened it and started to clear the room. It was just as decayed as the rest, which was not surprising. However, it was unnaturally cold. In the middle of room was a desk with a computer on top, and behind it were multiple monitors attached to the wall. In the back-left corner of the room was a cylinder pod. There were multiple hoses attached to it, spewing out a cold mist, and the accumulation built up many ice pockets around it. ‘that explains why it’s cold in here.’ while I went to investigate it, Nathan continued to search the room, and Vincent checked the computer for anything useful. “a lot of the files seem to be corrupted.” Vincent said as he mashed away on the keys, “hmm… this one seems to be intact.” While listening, I continued to examine the freezing object in front of me. ‘the more I look at it, makes me believe that it’s a containment for something. But… for what?’ “stable zero’s prime objective is the study of dimensional travel, establish communication with other worldly civilizations, and to integrate our current society for a better future… wow almost sounds like what we’re doing.” I could hear more typing as he attempts to dig deeper into the system. Seeing nothing more from the pod, I went over to Vincent to see what else he finds. He was going through file to file, running into corrupted or encrypted ones. After a while, he found an intact one. The file was titled “breakthrough”, and, once it loaded up, he began to read. “for months, we have encountered nothing but setbacks, and the princesses have doubts with my position as overseer and the project itself. With the war effort on the rise, our support had been declining. However, today was different. We have gained the very thing we needed for so long. A breakthrough. We made a connection with a foreign frequency, that is surely not of this world. The data we received was beyond anything anypony could comprehend…” Vincent gave a pause, as he scrunched up in confusion. I knew exactly why as I caught on to the word in question. He quickly went back to reading, leaving it for later, “I had to act fast for I didn’t know how long we could hold this connection. I had passed through one of my prewritten messages, and, just as I sent it, the connection was lost.” “I have the upmost confidence that it made its journey. I only whished one of the princesses were here to witness it, but, with this data, I am sure I can convince them to reconsider and regain the lost funding we desperately need.” After he finished, he went back to digging. I began to ponder what I heard. There was something I didn’t understand. ‘if this breakthrough happened a couple of years ago, why does the place look abandoned for centuries?’ at this point, we know where the message came from. “alright, this is the last file that was made… it looks like an audio recording, thank god. I was getting tired of reading anyways.” He entered a few commands and soon enough we heard a click of a recorder come to life. “my name is overseer cross sight; head researcher for project paradise within stable zero… a few hours ago, we had received a warning of an incoming megaspell attack. Under protocol, we were to seal the stable door before detonation. However, I regret to say… (sigh) not all the personal made it inside. Once we felt the tremors, we knew there was nothing we could do for them. May the goddesses have mercy on them… due to current events, project paradise will be placed on hold. I am unable to contact the surface, which only leads me to assume the worst… in case such events occurred, it is protocol to enter cryo-stasis. We will stay in our pods until the vault’s E.S.D.S. states that its habitable once more, or is overridden via terminal… oh goddesses, how could we have let it come this far?” we then heard another click, marking the end of the recording. We all fell silent, turning our gazes at the pod. ‘well at least we know what’s inside.’ The dead still walk While Vincent tried to find the override protocol within the terminal, I decided to report our findings. “wait, you found the overseer, what’s his status?” I looked at the pod for a moment, piecing together what I should say. “he’s… um… still alive…I think. He’s inside some sort of cryo-tube.” I looked back at Vincent, as he continues his search. “cryo-tube?” the lieutenant asked, wanting me to elaborate. “yeah, we found his computer, and it’s still operational. Although, a lot of the data been corrupted. There are files that are still intact though. The information was vague but I think they’re trying to do the same thing we’re doing.” There was a brief pause before the lieutenant chimed in again. “that doesn’t explain why the place had gone to hell.” I briefly looked at the pod once more, hesitating on what I had to say next. “there was something else… something really bad.” Suddenly, a loud thunk was heard throughout the whole facility. All the lightbulbs began to flicker, as a surge of power went through them. Due to the amount of time it was unused, some of them exploded, including the one above us. We all recoiled from the blast, uttering a curse or two. “what the bloody hell was that, all teams report!” the lieutenant yelled, also sounding shocked from the surge. “this is Kazimir here, I believe I found power switch.” The lieutenant didn’t take kindly to the news, bantering on how dangerous that could have been. I’m just surprised it worked. “well I’ll be damned.” I looked over at Vincent, as he was back on the computer, “it looks like the power surge reconnected the terminal to the pod.” I looked at the screen as he enters “pod analysis”, bringing up information about it and the host inside. Out of all the information, the only one that interested me was “patient’s status: stable”. “well, at least he’s still alive.” I said as Vincent nodded in agreement. The radio switched on again, but what I heard made my blood run cold. Gunfire and screams rang out from the speaker, and I could also hear faint sounds of growls and screeches. “this is Hyousuke, we are under attack! I say again, we are under attack!” (rip and tear- doom) “what is attacking you… report!” the lieutenant asked in alarm. “the bodies! Don’t trust the bodies!” he yelled. “the bodies? What are you talking abo- what the hell… (BANG BANG BANG) everyone back to the portal room, now!” the radio then fell silent once more. We all looked at each other in mild shock from what we heard, but then we immediately pulled out our weapons and switched the safeties off. We piled up in front of the door with our guns at the ready. Once I gave the order to open the door, what we see was a creature of nightmares. The horse body we passed was now standing facing away from us. In true horror movie fashion, it slowly swayed its mutilated head towards us. The face was nothing but decayed flesh and the eyes were glazed over in a grey hue. Its mouth opened, showing missing teeth and flesh, and immitted a small hissing noise that soon turned into a loud screech. At this point, it only felt natural to pull the trigger. I watched as streams of light tear right through the beast, mutilating it. it fell to the ground, as a puddle of its own blood grew around it. it didn’t end there though, more of that screeching could be heard across the hall as two more of those things appeared from the corner. They came sprinting at us with reckless abandon, showing no form of intelligence other than a feral rage. Without hesitation, we all took shots at these creatures. Like their friend, they too could not stand up to our firepower. Once they were down, we began to move up. The sounds of gunfire and screeching got louder as we made our way to the lobby. The first thing I see were bodies. Bodies everywhere. This whole room had turned into a shooting gallery. I was drawn by the sound of gunfire leading to the stairs. The Russians were attempting to make it up to the second level, while a horde of those monsters was chasing behind them. At that point, Kazimir quickly turned around with his machinegun at the ready. With a sweeping motion, he began to mow down vast numbers of them. “come on, they need our help!” I said, as we made our way to the stair case. The other two took positions at the second level, taking shots at whatever they could. We filed in next to them to do the same. We took them down within minutes, leaving nothing but hole riddled bodies. I took this opportunity to get to Kazimir who was still on the first level. “hey, we got to go.” I said with urgency. “I cannot. The others have not returned yet.” He said, remaining in his position. I looked over to the door that lead to the living quarters, contemplating on what to do. I tried to raise them through my radio, but there was no answer. I cursed under my breath, as I decided what we needed to do. “alright, I’m going to take my team and go get them.” I said. “we’ll keep the stairs open.” With that said, I waved my guys to follow. Making our way to the door, I was careful not to trip on any of the corpses that littered the ground. Search and rescue “Hyousuke, this is David, if you can hear this, watch your fire. Friendlies are coming to you, I say again friendlies are coming.” Once Vincent got the door open, we hurriedly made our way through the hallway that banked to the to the right. Peeking, there were multiple doors lining on each side of the p-way. Making our way to the closest door, we opened it to find an empty sleeping quarters. There were bunks that seem to fill up most the room and standing lockers stationed next to each one. Seeing nothing of interest, we moved on to the next one. It was just as empty as the first. ‘where the f#ck are you guys.’ In the next room, we found a promising sight. There were bodies everywhere. Most of them were torn up by gunfire, but there were others that looked like their limbs were sliced off. ‘time to follow the trail of dead bodies.’ As we followed the bloody path, I noticed a bunch of the same cryo-tubes that we found in the overseer’s office. However, all of them were vacant. Some were busted open while others didn’t look like they work at all. ‘of course, the crew didn’t survive.’ I decided to ignore it for now, making the search for the other team a priority. The trail led us to a door that seem to lead to the next room. I was getting a bit nervous, since I haven’t heard a sound throughout our search. Once we opened the door, my concerns were answered with growls and hissing coming from within. Taking a deep breath, we slowly made our way inside. We continued to follow the trail, keeping an eye on the aisles for any surprises. The noises were getting louder, and I could also hear a faint banging sound. Turning the corner, my eyes narrowed, seeing a horde of those things banging against a door. Luckily, they were to occupied with it to notice us. Taking the opportunity, I waved my hand for someone to take the other side. Nathan took the lead while Vincent stayed with me. once he was on the other side, I pulled out one of my grenades, making sure they both see what I was doing. After they nodded in approval, I pulled the pin, hearing the guard ping off the grenade. Then I quickly tossed it towards the horde and took cover behind the wall of racks. There was a brief shriek before the explosion drowned it out. The shockwave sent a gust of air at us, including a few limbs. I quickly peered over, seeing a singed floor surrounded by body parts and blood. To my surprise, there were still some alive. One of them was dragging itself towards us with a single limb, attempting to intimidate us with a hiss. ‘that’s just sad.’ Shaking my head, I pointed my rifle at it and pulled the trigger. Nathan and Vincent decided to join me, as we took out the remaining stragglers. Once that was done, we moved up to the door, keeping an eye down the other isles. I started to bang on it to get whoever’s on the other side attention. “hey, friendlies! Anyone in there!” my response came in a series of what sounds like moving furniture. The door opened, revealing Hyousuke on the other side. “it is good to see you staff Sargent.” He said. “like wise.” I offered him a brief handshake for good measure, “so what’s the sit-rep?” at this point, we were already inside and closed the door, barricading it with what few furniture there was. Instead of telling me, he nodded for me to follow. He took me behind a group of shelves where the rest of his team were. I could already tell that one of them was injured, if the fact that the other was mending his leg was any indicator. “what happened?” I asked upon reflex. “they swarmed us. too many to keep track of. One bit him on the leg. The other had to carry him. We couldn’t move fast enough to get out. Decided to take shelter here.” he stated, giving a brief description. I watched as the gauze began to turn red where the wound is, indicating that he was still bleeding. “Guo, right?” I asked getting his attention, “you good to move?” “yes, staff sergeant.” He said, giving me a firm nod. “alright, Hyousuke and I will take point, Nathan takes rear, and Vincent will assist. Once everyone agreed, we posted ourselves in front of the doors. Once the barricade was removed, Nathan and Vincent opened the doors. Behind it was another one of those things. It began to hiss only to receive a bullet to the head. ‘that sh#t is getting old.’ Hyousuke and I quickly exited and secured the area. Soon after, the rest of the group followed behind. The trip back was met with little resistance, taking on a few loners. ‘I guess we killed most of them?’ as we made it to the lobby, I could see the Russians still manning the stairs. “ah, my Asian comrades, it is good to see you alive.” Kazimir said, with a bit of glee. “I see you’ve been busy.” Hyousuke said, examining the carnage around us. Kazimir began to laugh heartedly, “it’s like shooting fish in very small barrel!” with the teams finally together, we all made our way back to the portal room. The walk was quiet, but we maintained our guard for any surprises. We finally relaxed once we spotted the door. When we got in, we were greeted with a few rifle barrels pointing towards us, but quickly jerked away once those behind them noticed us. “took your bloody sweet time getting here!” the lieutenant barked, “did you shove your sense of direction up your @ss and got lost.” “it took us awhile to regroup, but I think we got them all.” I said as the rest of the team got themselves comfortable. Noticing one of our injured, Barnaby quickly went up to him and got to work. The lieutenant didn’t argue any further and decided to access the situation. Taking a seat on the stairwell, I began to take account of my equipment. “staff sergeant.” I looked up to see professor Hubbard, looking at me expectantly, “if I recall, you said that your team may have found a live specimen?” “yeah I believe he was the overseer.” I said recalling the information I found. The professor then beamed with joy. “excellent, we can still salvage this mess. Lieutenant, I wish to meet this overseer at once.” Everyone looked at both the professor and the lieutenant. “are you sure, there could be others…” the lieutenant argued, but the professor wouldn’t budge. “and that is precisely why we must get to him before anything else does. If the overseer is lost, then this whole mission will be in jeopardy!” the room felt uneasy, as both individuals refuse to submit. As much as I want to sit down and rest, I was getting tired of all the drama. “I’ll go.” I said, gaining the attention of the room, “the office isn’t really that far from here. my team could easily escort him there.” The professor nodded at me in approval. “I will go to. I grow curious of what the overseer looks like.” Kazimir said as well. Everyone looked to the lieutenant for approval, as he looked back at us with uncertainty. “… fine, you can go, but don’t get yourselves killed.” He said, giving into the request. “understood, now we must hurry. The longer we postpone, the greater the chance that we lose him.” We got back up, and went out the door.