---Hayari Plaza, Six Hours After Drop---
Fluttershy shut off the video with mixed feelings. On the one hoof, at least two of her friends were alive a few hours ago. On the other hooves, that was six hours ago, she had only seen two of her friends, and Captain Spitfire was dead. She held up the Captain's helmet and traced a hoof over the side of the slash mark. There was really nothing else she could do except wander about the city in hopes that she'd find either her friends or a way home. Home. The word scared her a bit, as going home just wouldn't be the same now. Reluctantly she put the Captain's helmet down and looked out the window at the drop pod, trying to decide her next move. As she did so, a few of the street billboards lit up, changing from advertisements to detour signs. Fluttershy turned to the nearest camera and smiled, remembering she wasn't entirely alone in the city. She turned and cantered down the hallways towards street level.
Despite two Grunt scavengers, the building and the area outside were eerily quiet. As the pegasus trotted down the street, she noticed something off. Earlier when the Superintendent guided her with signs they didn't go away, but now all the signs she saw at the window were adverts again. Fluttershy looked around for some explanation when she spotted another detour sign, this one small and pointing in the direction of the plaza. Well, I guess I don't have anything to lose... she thought, and trudged down the stairs into the plaza. The signs led her to a small alcove off to the left, just off ground level. Keeping a good amount of caution, she lightly stepped inside.
She squealed in terror as the bullet went whizzing by her, inches from her helmet and sending her ducking for cover.
"Okay, you're not Covenant, so are you with the NMPD? You under orders from Kinsler? Answer me!" A pony's voice rang out from around the corner. It was a stallion from the sound of it. Fluttershy made herself as small as possible, pressed up against a pillar. "P-please...d-d-don't shoot..." she squeaked, though if the pony heard her she didn't know. The voice's owner suddenly rounded the corner, a pistol at the ready. He was an earth stallion, with a gray-blue mane and gray coat barely visible under his NMPD jacket and uniform, but his eyes were obscured by a standard marine helmet. Unfortunately for him, Fluttershy's weren't. She had taken her helmet off before coming into the plaza, and her sad eyes almost crushed the stallion's heart. "I uh...um..." he was at a loss for what to say, suddenly filled with the desire to cheer her up. "Hey, I'm sorry..." the stallion tried again, pointing his gun away from the pegasus near tears. "I thought you were someone else. You alright?" Fluttershy nodded frantically, keeping her sad expression constant. "My name's Icy Rain. I'm with..." he sighed before continuing, "I WAS with the New Manebasa Police Department. Guess I kinda got fired yesterday..." The mare, finally having calmed down, tried to speak up. "I...I'm...F-f-f-fluttershy...wha...what do you mean, fired...?"
"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. Well, I was with them till I kinda started poking around where I shouldn't have. I'm a - WAS a - detective, and I was investigating some rumors about a corrupt police commissioner, when who of all people comes up to me and strips me of my rank but the commissioner himself? But that's not really important. What are you doing here? I thought everyone was dead or evacuated?"
"I-I'm an ODSP...I dropped in a few hours ago, but was knocked unconscious..." Fluttershy felt a bit more relaxed around Icy Rain now, despite having just met him. The city really was changing her.
Icy Rain raised an eyebrow. "Why would such a sweet mare like you be an ODSP? You DO know most of them don't come back alive from missions?"
Fluttershy's heart visibly sank. Dash hadn't mentioned that fact when she recruited her, and for obvious reasons. But the thought of not seeing Angel again, or worse, finding her friends' dead bodies, was horrifying. She quickly curled back up, covering her eyes with her hooves
The ex-detective saw her tearing up again and quickly tried to calm her down. "Hey, hey, that doesn't mean you will! Don't worry, I'll help keep you safe!" he said, one hoof on his chest. Fluttershy peeked out from under her hooves and mumbled "R-really...?" Icy Rain nodded and Fluttershy sprang to her hooves, almost smothering the pony in hugs. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!" She suddenly jumped back and hid behind her mane, noticing her sudden clinging. "I, um...I promise I'll do my best so I'm not too much of a burden, Mr. Icy Rain..." He just shook his head. "Please, call me Icy. It's shorter."
"All right Icy. So what were you doing here? I mean...if it's okay with you, I'd like to know..."
"Sure, I'll tell you. Actually, you might be able to help me."
"How so?"
"Well I found this file on a pay phone terminal nearby, but its encrypted and I don't have the resources for it. Your helmet, however, has a spell built in to decode that kinda stuff. May I?"
Fluttershy gingerly passed it to him, and he removed his own helmet, giving her the chance to see his eyes (gray-blue of course). Icy placed another spell on a small piece of paper between the two helmets, and a line of magic snaked out of his and into the ODSP model. The duo watched as the line weaved into the magic already in Fluttershy's helmet, changed colors multiple times, then came to rest in a ring representing the COMM database. The line had also doubled, sending the second strand back to Icy's helmet and nesting in his COMM as well. He picked up both the helmets, flicked his own onto his head, then passed the ODSP hers.
"So, what's supposed to be in this file? That is, if you don't mind me asking...I mean, you only just met me, so..." She started, then trailed off. Icy just shrugged and replied "Only one way to find out..." His visor tinted, and he was silent. Fluttershy looked into her own helmet before putting it on, opening the VISR database and scrolling to the COMM section. A file had appeared on the side, labeled "Cloud 1, Feather 1". I...guess this is it..., She thought. Then set it to play.
==AUTHOR'S NOTE==
The 2 audio logs I'm putting in are going to be word for word taken from the actual game, minus a few name changes and the use of pony word variants {i.e. somepony, hoof, filly, etc} so feel free to skip these. There will be quick summaries of groups of audio logs in each Manebasa Streets chapters, but they don't really affect the story until the final chapters.
==================
SUPERINTENDENT: HELLO TRAVELER. MANEBASA WELCOMES YOU!
ANXIOUS? STRESSED? PLEASE REMAIN CALM.
CONTROL CURCUITS NOW OPEN -- WITH PRIDE!
[SOUND: Vergil chime.]
[SOUND: Trains whistle as morning commuters crowd the station.]
KIOSK: (from speaker) Hello, traveler! The Manebasa Transit Authority welcomes you to Kikowhinny
Station. How may I serve you?
SADIE: One ticket to Old Mombasa please, here's my card -- no, scrap that. Traceable.
Dang it! Bits, need bits... [Puts bits into kiosk.]
KIOSK: Thank you! What is your final destination?
SADIE: Magongo, if I don't get caught... Tartarus, if I do.
KIOSK: Thank you! Transfer for one to Magongo.
SADIE: Let's go, let's go!
KIOSK: Please collect your ticket.
SADIE: Wait! Hold the doors, please!
[SOUND: train doors slide shut.]
TRAIN: (from speaker) All aboard train number 14.
SADIE: That was close...
TRAIN: (from speaker) City center to Old Manebasa, now departing.
Next stop, Makupa, Neighrobi Road, Hope Station, and Magongo -- end of the line.
SADIE: Almost there... Almost--
[SOUND: Train squeals to a stop.]
SUPERINTENDENT: (from Train) EMERGENCY STOP. PLEASE REMAIN CALM. EMERGENCY STOP-
SADIE: Dang it! He found me!
=============
And just like that, the audio transcript ended. Fluttershy closed the database and removed her helmet, looking over at Icy Rain. "What...what was that...?" she asked. Icy just shrugged and replied, "I'm not entirely sure, though I can tell you a few things." His helmet snapped off to show a pair of sad eyes. "The time stamp on the transcript was earlier today, when the Covenant landed. That girl was Sadie Endesha, Dr. Endesha's daughter." At this Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in confusion. "S-sorry, I'm not from around here...Who's-"
"Dr. Endesha is the one who crafted the Superintendent spell. He's a huge hero here in Manebasa."
"Oh, okay...but...why did the train suddenly stop...?"
"THAT I don't know. but judging by the title, there's probably more of them..."
Fluttershy looked at the floor, then walked over to the low wall between her and the ledge. Spitfire's drop pod sat in its small crater, a final monument to the late Captain. She stood there with her head resting on the wall when a drop of rain dripped onto her nose. She looked up and sure enough, the pitch-black sky was raining down on the bleak city. "Rain..." she whispered, remembering her attempts at weather control with Dash in the good old days.
"Huh?"
Flutters turned to look at the ex-detective and realized why he was confused. She pointed a hoof outside. "It's raining..." she whispered a bit louder. Icy mouthed a quick "oh" and trotted up next to her. "Enjoy it while it lasts...It doesn't usually rain that much in Zebrica." he said matter-of-factly.
They just stood there for a few minutes and watched the rain fall after that. Aside from the occasional car alarm or far-off Phantom engine, it was very serene. Eventually, Icy Rain turned to the ODSP and broke the silence. "So I told you my story, now it's your turn. Why are you in the city? What are you looking for?" Fluttershy looked over at him, then back outside. "Well, we were originally coming here to capture the Covenant cruiser, but an ONI officer..." she paused at this. The rookie still hadn't figured out why Spitfire had done what she did. "...I guess she had a different mission than us, because when we were dropping she changed our squad's trajectory. So...now I guess I'm just trying to figure out what happened...maybe find my friends...and definitely find a way home..." Icy tapped a hoof to his chin. "Well," he began "I guess it's just you and me. Tell you what: You help me look for evidence about the commissioner, and I'll help you find your friends. Deal?" The stallion extended a hoof at the end. Fluttershy looked at it, then at his face, then back to the hoof before finally taking it in her own.
The duo then set off, ascending the stairs as the ads turned back into detour signs leading away from the plaza. As they trotted down the road towards the security door leading to the next district, one thought floated into the stallion's mind: What the buck have I gotten myself into?
--------------------
The next area was the huge plaza Fluttershy had seen Rainbow fight through earlier. Bits of paper blew around their hooves, barely staying airborne in the rain. Plasma burns carved up the walls and road, scars of Gunney's near-suicidal battle with the Covenant. Aside from the crackling fires still burning away at cars, the plaza was absolutely-
"ARRRGH! Hold the creature still!"
The pegasus almost screamed in surprise. Someone else was still in the plaza with them. Icy put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to almost scream again, and pointed towards a balcony, motioning for her to follow him. They snuck across a nearby ledge, leapt to the balcony, then jumped to a second ledge and creeped across it to a pillar. Peering around the pillar and over the ledge revealed the source of the earlier voice: a trio of Brutes, two of which were holding down one of the squid creatures Dash had encountered.
"Place the charge, before I lose my grip!" one of them shouted. The middle Brute stepped toward the squid and squeezed a spiked device that lit up red, before shoving it into the squid's middle. The squid emitted a pained whistling noise that Fluttershy instantly recognized, as well as the single word hidden within it.
HELP
She wasted no time in dropping down and killing the first Brute, snapping its neck in her pure, uncontrollable rage. The other two leapt back in surprise, giving the squid the chance to drift to the other side of the plaza. "HERETIC!!! DIE!!!" They whipped out their weapons and opened fire, just as Fluttershy rocketed away to cover. Crystal needles and beams of plasma went zipping by her head, and throught the fire she could see Icy Rain sneaking across the bridge spanning the plaza. His voice crackled over the helmet radio, "Nice moves, now take out the other ones!" She was about to respond when she became very shaky all of a sudden.
"Shy, snap out of it!"
Fluttershy blinked and realized that she was imagining that whole scene. The Brutes were still alive, and she watched sadly as they tossed the squid to the side. "It's armed!" the not-so-dead Brute said, to which the captain replied "and ready to explode if any stupid horse gets too close." The trio laughed at the thought, and began walking around the plaza, keeping an occasional eye on the squid.
They didn't, however, see the ODSP sneaking across to the center of the footbridge. She positioned herself out of the Brutes' line of sight, Fluttershy peeking out to watch the sad creature nearby. The squid was examining a nearby streetlight then somehow disassembled the light, let all the parts float in front of it, then reassembled the light perfectly, all within the span of a few seconds. It drifted off towards another light to repeat the process. Flutters then shifted her gaze to the Brute passing under the bridge. The gorilla-like alien went to the crosswalk opposite the bridge and looked around for any ponies. The ODST glanced back to the platform and discovered Icy had disappeared. She stood up subconsciously and gasped.
Big mistake.
The Brute spotted her and pulled out its carbine, taking aim at the distracted pony's head. Just before the trigger was pulled, however, a barrage of gunfire tore into the alien's shield, throwing its aim off as the shot went off into the sky. Fluttershy looked down in time to see a plasma grenade go flying out from behind a side alley and stick to the Brute's arm. "It's stuck! No!" He cried, trying to run the grenade back to its owner. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO-" The Brute's plasma-burnt corpse went sailing off in a cloud of blue mist, and Fluttershy glided off the bridge towards cover as Icy Rain came around the corner. Up above, a beeping and a loud whining filled the air as the squid creature began rising, seeming to be having multiple muscle spasms. The whining peaked and the armored fins on the creature flared out just before it exploded in a splatter of plasma. The armor shell remained and plunged to the earth, but exploded again as it bounced off the pegasus mare, propelling her into the ground. The fins of the armor rocketed off, bouncing around the plaza before exploding a third time and throwing debris everywhere.
Icy peeked out from his cover behind a ramp once the dust began to settle. The Brutes were still a little jostled from the explosion. He took a step forward and his hoof connected with a roundish metal object: Fluttershy's helmet. Icy glanced up to the spot where the mare had hit the ground. The dust was still settling, but through it he could clearly see her climbing to her hooves.
"Why...?"
The Brutes popped out of their cover behind a few ENSC crates, weapons at the ready. They froze when Fluttershy looked up at them in rage.
"WHY THE BUCK DID YOU DO THAT?! IT WAS AN INNOCENT DEFENSELESS CREATURE AND YOU MURDERED IT!!!"
The Brutes snapped out of their stupor and took aim again, but she didn't give them the chance. An arcane version of her HUD surrounded her face, and the reticle for her pistol turned to each of the Brute's heads in turn.
Pfaff. Pfaff. Pfaff. Pfaff. Pfaff. Pfaff. Pfaff. Click clickclick clickclickclickclickclick.
The first few rounds blew their helmets off. The next two blew their heads off. The last one flew through the space where a head used to be and embedded itself in a far wall. Fluttershy, however, kept firing the empty clip as she marched toward the corpses and once she realized it was empty switched to the assault rifle, channeling her rage into the gunfire. Icy cantered over and grabbed the mare's shoulder causing her to turn and shout, "WHAT?!" Icy was face-to-face-to-barrel with her and the assault rifle and saw the fire in her eyes.
And the tears streaming down her face.
"Fluttershy...?"
"Why did they have to do it...?" she mumbled, lowering the assault rifle. Icy threw a comforting leg over her back and held up her helmet. "C'mon," he replied. "We've spent too much time in this living Tartarus. Let's go find your friends." The pegasus wiped away her tears and nodded, taking her helmet and putting it back on. She checked the map to see what direction to go to the beacon and spotted a red diamond moving towards the intersection.
She quickly shut off the map and gestured for Icy Rain to follow her as she hid behind a large planter. A patrol of Brutes came around the corner, giving the ponies the idea that now would be a very good time to leave and lick their wounds while they still could. The next plaza was a sloping area with wide steps going up the middle, sided by large palm tree planters. A police station stood at the top of the stairs across the road. As they entered, the street's emergency exit lighting opened up, and several signs directed to a pay phone just outside the station. Icy followed with Fluttershy in tow, and downloading the data on the ringing telephone revealed another audio log.
Her friends have been waiting a while. A little longer couldn't hurt.
-------------------
The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, skirting around patrols or silently taking each out and doing their best to keep out of sight. The only trouble they had encountered was a pesky Jackal sniper who almost put a hole in Icy's head and alerted the Covenant in a nearby plaza. They had also collected several more audio logs, giving Fluttershy a better idea of what was going on.
The zebra filly, Sadie Endesha, was trying to leave the city and enlist in the ENSC, but her dad and something named "Vergil" weren't letting her. Vergil was apparently a part of the Superintendent, but why it was so focused on Sadie was beyond her. There was also a nice stallion named Mike who worked for NMPD and had saved Sadie from a police commissioner named Kinsler, who was also the same pony Icy Rain was trying to find accusing evidence of. Unfortunately, Sadie and Mike had started arguing not long after throwing Kinsler out of the car and onto the streets, and so Sadie had left the car, leaving her to walk the rest of the way to the ONI building to try and find her father. Fluttershy was anxiously looking around for another log when Icy stopped her.
"Jackal at 11 o'clock." he whispered, then motioned for her to sneak over and kill it. Seconds later, the Jackal hit the floor with a dull thump. The duo traversed the balcony and took cover behind a Covenant crate, Icy peering around at the next bend in the street. "Okay, they've got at least three Grunts, a turret, and a Brute watching them. Any ideas or just go guns blazing?"
Fluttershy looked over the top of the box and scanned the area before spotting a door closer to them. "That door there," she said, pointing as she checked her map to see where it lead. "It goes to two more doors, one of which opens up right behind the turret. I can sneak that way and you can give me covering fire when i take out the gunner. I mean, if you think that'll work..."
Icy nodded. "Sneak around to the sidewalk, your boosters are too noisy." The pegasus did as she was told, hugging the wall across the street. The doors slid open as she ducked inside, scooping up the firebomb grenades within and being careful not to tip over the plasma batteries. She crouched down next to the turret door and waited for all the red dots on the NAV map to go behind objects. As soon as they did she opened the door and cantered over to the turret gunner, violently snapping its neck and bucking the turret off its stand before turning her attention to the surprised enemies. Three shots rang out from her pistol quickly followed by a spray of bullets from down the street. After they finished off the group and began the trot down the last street, a few more billboards lit up pointing towards a small shopping plaza. Unfortunately, a dressmaker's shop brought Fluttershy's thoughts of her friends' corpses back, so she bade the ex-detective to find the audio log quickly. She waited outside the plaza as he scavenged, getting a bit of food as well. The rest of the walk consisted the pegasus continued watching the story of Sadie Endesha.
--------------------
The Uplift Nature Reserve's entrance plaza looked a bit worse for wear than Hayari Plaza had, or even the entire city. A fighter plane had embedded itself in the sculpture fountain in the center, its pilot flung through the Nature Reserve's front doors. Fluttershy wordlessly moved the body off of the glass door and onto the street, laying a sheet over it and saying a few short words. The sound of moving machinery echoed through the plaza, breaking the pegasus's mourning with a fearful squeak.
"Hey Fluttershy, come and see this!!" Icy Rain's voice called from the other end of the plaza. She quickly glided over to her teammate, who was looking about a small room with the Superintendent avatar on the back wall. Several other odd markings were scattered about, and leaned up against the back wall was a pair of sniper rifles. Icy was swapping his pistol for one of them when she arrived. "These storage caches are dotted around the city. I'm amazed that there's one still unlocked! Go ahead and take a weapon, they're just for us." Fluttershy trotted over to one of the weapon racks and grabbed some fresh ammo, while asking "Were you able to find anything about my friends?" Icy shook his head.
"Nothing yet. Is the beacon still active?"
"Yes, I think so..."
"Try looking around the plaza with your VISR active. Maybe you'll find something that way."
"A-Alright..."
The pegasus walked out of the room, snapped her helmet on and willed VISR mode active. The city lit up again, orange lines covering the whole city. The HUD's edges were tinted blue, indicating the beacon was indeed still active. The plaza was just a mess of orange and bright lights, excluding the green outline of Icy walking past her. She flew up to the roof of the storage cache building for a better vantage point, and that's when she saw it.
On the far side of the plaza was a small dot of yellow, overlooked by the duo earlier. Fluttershy quickly glided over to it, calling the ex-detective over. The yellow dot was the optics of the fighter plane in the fountain which had somehow dislodged itself and made its way over here. The pegasus tapped on the lens, then picked it up cautiously as her teammate approached. The camera twitched slightly as it was lifted. Another window of static covered her HUD, showing the camera's cracked lens looking at the two ponies. Once again, the words of her friends flowed out of the recesses of her mind...
"Any word from AJ and Rarity?"
"Negative..."
"Darn...We need to get out of this fog, link up with the B-net. Maybe one of our birds saw where they crashed."
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