//------------------------------// // Part 2, Chapter 18: Prep Time // Story: The Portgate // by Archival //------------------------------// "Biology in Eden was...awfully odd, to say the least. Actually, it was a sort of mixed bag. On the one hand, we found many instances of organisms from Earth like squirrels, grasses, trees, et cetera. Upon closer examination, of course, they were slightly different from Earth species, but that shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the concept of evolution. However...there were a few instances of very, very unusual flora and fauna. I won't go into detail about them - that comes later - but let's just say that this stuff is dangerous on a whole new level. That blue flower...I'm never touching anything again without at least a full hazmat suit.” -Cassel Donaldson, Biologist -Luna- "Heave, gentlecolts!" the lieutenant yelled as his subordinates pulled on the rope. "We have to get three more tents up by sundown, and I'm not impressed!" Luna watched the spectacle as she walked through the encampment's wide, open pathways. Her inspection was almost complete, and from the looks of it nothing was out of place. Everything, from the positioning of the tents to the drilling of the troops, was perfect, just as expected of the Royal Guard. With the enormous influx of reinforcements, a lot of expansion was necessary to shelter and feed her small army. At the moment, the shelter part was being taken care of. And with the new pathway that had been hacked out of the underbrush, a steady stream of supplies would be coming in every day. "Now, Princess," the unicorn to her side remarked, "there's been some hiccups with the supply pathway. For one, there's been reports of timberwolves in the brush along the sides of the path, but that's to be expected in the Everfree. No attacks yet, but the convoys are guarded should they occur. Speaking of which, we've just received the grain carts..." "Yes, yes, very good, Feather Quill. Great," Luna mumbled. She halfheartedly nodded as her assistant rattled off statistics and predictions, the tons and gallons of provisions and supplies becoming mixed up with the morale evaluations. There were other, more important issues for her to consider. Her scouts had reported some very unsettling observations from the foreign encampment - in just a week, they had expanded to over a hundred times their previous size. They had a secure supply line, too; that portal in the middle of their camp couldn't be anything else. And they weren't just taking up space, either. Their tents were clustered tightly together with barely any room to breathe, and the widest pathway through their encampment was constantly clogged with strange carts and wagons that moved without a puller. Or maybe "trackless train" was the proper term? "...and so, our stocks are topped off and your troops are feeling great, even though they'll be stuck in the Everfree Forest for quite a while. We're in good shape," said Feather Quill with a sense of pride. "Of course, they're...trained soldiers, yes. What was next in the itinerary?" "Well, right now your second in command is assessing the strength of our forces with the Mage and Engineer division captains. I would recommend you speak with them." "Of course, of course. Where are they?" she muttered, her eyes pointed down at the dirt and grass. "In front of you, Princess." Luna suddenly froze, then looked up from the ground. They really were in front of her, sitting around a thin, spindly portable table underneath the small pavilion that had been set up for them. The three ponies hardly noticed the alicorn princess standing before them, each one carrying on with their business as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Oh." She walked up to the congregation and pulled a chair out, then sat down as she assessed the others. Commander Saber Parry, a butter-coated unicorn with countless commendations from Canterlot Military Academy, stared at the map in front of her as she conversed with Catapult. Catapult was a strong yet knowledgable stallion whose brown fur was the same shade as the wood of the siege equipment he commanded. And Spellbound, the Second Tier Mage, was happily dozing off in her chair and robes as her old, grey mane flowed over her closed eyes and wrinkled face. The princess waited for the perfect moment to interject between Saber's and Catapult's conversation before speaking. "Hello," greeted Luna in a calm yet demanding voice as the two finished discussing the battle formations they were planning. "Princess Luna! Ma'am!" "Oh, hi Princess," Catapult yawned out. "At ease, Saber. So," she said as she leaned back in her seat, "you've been discussing our ability to counter the invaders?" "Well, I wouldn't call them invaders, Princess. They haven't really done much besides set up camp. And trust me, if the need arises, I can assure you that our cannons and trebuchets will rain havoc upon them," said Catapult with a smile. Luna raised an eyebrow, dubious of the siegemaster's claims. "That is good, Catapult, but how fast are your engineers?" "The fastest and the most accurate in all of Equestria, I assure you. Our payloads always hit their mark," he bragged boldly. "A boastful claim, for sure, but I don't doubt that you'll do well. And Saber, I've seen your troops train. They are quite formidable, yes?" "They're not the average conscript, Princess Luna. They're professionals," Saber stated in a firm, resolute growl. "But do they have experience?" Luna asked, her lips tightening as she stared at Saber. The pony could beat her chest all she wanted, but it was still up to chance how the Royal Guard would perform in an actual battle. The last time Equestria's forces faced a real threat was four hundred years ago, when a militant Gryphon monarch tried to expand his kingdom by sword. The crushing of his army at Three Claw Plateau marked the beginnings of the Long Peace, a period of stability and prosperity where wars became naught but fanciful tales of valiant battles and brave heroes. Sure, Celestia's ponies had done well in that final battle, but that was in a darker age. War and death were just as commonplace as peace and harmony. But after centuries of peace, her ponies had become soft. She recalled the night of her return, when her subjects cowered at the hooves of Nightmare Moon; how had nopony thought to fight back? A millennium ago, ponies actually stood up for themselves, taking arms against all that would threaten their families. Luna glanced at Catapult, who was absentmindedly carving his name into the table with a switchblade. Training was important, but it could never predict whether a fresh recruit would hold his ground or tuck tail and run. That was a constant in warfare, no matter when or where. The problem was that everypony, from the officers to the grunts, was a fresh recruit. "Hah! Let me tell you, the Royal Guard is trained to stand firm against all that may harm Equestria! Nothing can stop the unstoppable, and that's us!" Luna chuckled, both in appreciation of the pony's bravado and uneasily at the thought of alien weaponry. "Is that so?" "I do say so!" Saber exclaimed. "Well," the Princess sighed, "I suppose you won't mind if I let you in on some facts. Have you not read the intelligence reports?" "Oh please, who would need to? We're unstoppable! I did skim over it though, and our opponent should be easy to tackle. Why wouldn't they?" she asked. Of course she hadn't, Luna thought to herself. If she had, she wouldn't be so gung ho about combat with...them. This is definitely her first battle, too; she's raring for a fight. Maybe when she sees the bloody bodies of both friend and for, she'll reconsider. "Very well. First off, you might as well throw away your armor. It'll be useless against their foe." "...What do you mean?" "I was there when we first encountered them. Three ponies in enchanted blacksteel plate armor dropped like stones within a second. That was against one of them, by the way." "Well...that's no issue! Armor will just weigh-" "There's at least five hundred of them in their camp. That renders your ground forces dead meat." "Then our pegasi-" "Dead as well," Luna bluntly asserted. "Their weapons have no respect for the airborne nor the grounded, I can guarantee that." "But..." "We have to consider defense, too. If we were hit by them, our ponies wouldn't fly or run fast enough to escape. Those who would try to stand with their swords and spears will get a hole punched through their torsos, large enough to stick a hoof through." "I...no, hold on, give me a minute..." "Catapult, how destructive are your trebuchets?" "What? Oh," he quickly replied, "we've developed some mighty fine payloads that I'm willing to try out. There's an especially nasty mixture in there that combines thermal crystals with flash powder, and it'll be effective." He snatched a pile of nearby papers with his teeth and slid it over to Luna. "Great. But you're going to be attacking them, right?" Luna asked. She grabbed the wood-pulp paper and scratched her head, the modern thaumic notation flying just an inch above her head. "Well...that was Saber's idea, to have both offensive and defensive plans. I think the former won't be necessary, but we can't be underprepared. Right, Princess?" "That is true. However..." "Yes?" Catapult straightened up in his chair. "Can you take down a hydra?" "Excuse me, Luna?" he asked, flabbergasted at the odd question. "Are you able to kill or incapacitate a full-grown hydra?" "U-Um," he stuttered, "well, that is...the trebuchets aren't going to be effective against a moving target, and neither is our siege equipment. That leaves our cannons. We have a total of twelve medium general-purpose cannons as well as four heavy siege cannons, and our cannoneer teams are quite skilled. I'd say that we'd be able to take it down, but just barely." "Is that so? Impressive, I have to say." Luna smiled as the words left her lips. "Thank you, Luna. But really, it-" Her smile disappeared in an instant, the warm smirk suddenly replaced by a stern poker face. "Not good enough, unfortunately. You know how many of those beings were present during our first encounter?" she asked. "I...yes, of course," said Catapult, in a much less enthusiastic tone. "Three. And I would like to remind you, siegemaster, that an adult hydra corpse is rotting away just outside of their encampment. Put the puzzle pieces together. Three of them managed to do what you can only do with an entire platoon," she chastised, "and there's four thousand of us against...who knows how many? Five hundred? Perhaps a thousand, more likely. This goes for you too, Saber, what I'm about to say." The mare and stallion both looked at her with equal amounts of shock, uncertainty, and remorse. "We know that we are outmatched. But I do not know to what extent. Perhaps we can defeat them on the offensive, perhaps we will reach a bloody stalemate, perhaps they can slaughter us all without losses. This is not the time for blind assaults; we have to hold our cards in reserve." "What do you mean, Princess Luna?" Catapult asked. "Wait until we can assess their intentions, their powers and abilities, and their strengths and weaknesses. Then, and only then, can we properly formulate a plan." "I don't know if that'll help...they seem so impossible to fight now," Saber Parry sighed. "Oh, please," a high, croaky voice called put from the other side of the table. "But Spellbound," Saber exasperatedly yelled, "didn't you hear Princess Luna? One of theirs is worth ten of ours." "And I read the stupid report," the unicorn mage sighed. She barely moved as she spoke, as if she was a statue raveled in the rags and cloth of a Royal Magician. "I've been reading for my entire life, and my eyes still work as well as the day I was born. And I say that we have nothing to be concerned about." "Oh, we don't?" Luna asked. Something about the words the mage spoke seemed different, like they were more definite. Spellbound's eyes widened. "Of course not!" she suddenly cackled, her open maw revealing two sets of bare gums. "Who do you think won all those wars? Us! We ponies have the power of magic on our side, and we've used it in every battle since the beginning of time!" "So that's our solution, then?" Catapult asked. "They can't use magic. We can. And I've yet to see magic fail us on the open fields of battle," said Spellbound. "Very well," Luna smiled. "I suppose that's another rule of war I forgot about; playing to our strengths. But..." "What is it, Princess?" Saber asked. "...we still haven't seen the full extent of their powers." Luna frowned, then rested her head on the table. "I suppose we will find out soon enough." -Andrew- "Andrew? Andrew Martinez? Are you present?" Andrew looked up, searching out the voice from among the eternal bustle of the Portgate operations floor. He let go of the cart handle as he looked around amongst the mass of personnel, the shout just barely detectable through the din and noise. "Martinez! We need you!" The technician pulled another blue-clothed worker away from his work and asked him to take care of his cart, then jogged over towards the call. "I'm here! Andrew, over here!" Someone in a dress shirt and khakis turned towards Andrew, then raised his hand and began to walk towards him. "Martinez," he greeted Andrew as the two shook hands, "we have an assignment for you. And it's much more interesting than manual labor." "Oh really?" he asked. "Yes sir. Right through the portal, follow me." The man led the way as he and Andrew walked towards the Portgate. "So," Andrew asked, what am I going to be doing?" "Well, a few hours ago we just received some...very interesting packages from, um...what was it? That one company...oh well. Anyways," he said as the pure white of fluorescent lighting was replaced by the warm glow of sunlight, "we found quite a cache of weaponry inside the boxes." "Woah, isn't that security's job to be handling things like that?" "Yes, but..." he sighed, "it's a bit different. These weapons are brand new models, much different from our standard gear. There's a huge variety, too. And frankly, security is having a hard time making heads or tails of their new equipment." "Still," Andrew asked as the two made way for a cargo truck, "they really couldn't figure it out?" "Well...you'll just have to see. Right this way, to the right. I'm serious, this is stuff I don't think anyone but a skilled technician could handle." "Alright, I guess." Andrew shrugged. "Better than lifting boxes, I guess." "Great. In here, please," the man gestured as he waved towards the tent to the left. It was twice as large as the ones, and if Andrew recalled correctly it was security's territory. He stared at the pile of boxes in front of the tent, then walked through the entrance...and almost tripped over another box. All of the tables in the room were occupied by cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes, with security personnel fiddling away at the contents of each one. Their confused faces spoke volumes as they squinted at what Andrew assumed to be instruction manuals, although each one was almost as big as a phone book. Alongside the boxes and manuals lay a smorgasbord of tools and parts, strewn across the tabletop in a cluttered mess. "...s-so, what do I do now?" Andrew meekly asked. "Help figure out what exactly's going on." Andrew slowly walked over to the nearest table slack-jawed as he picked up a manual. "Lockheed-Martin Experimental CR-22.18 Caseless Modular Rifle, this manual not for use by any persons other than authorized..." "Oh, that's not what we're having serious trouble with. Over here," said the man from the other side of the room. "What exactly is all this?" "That's for you to find out, Mr. Martinez. I think this is the one that's been the most perplexing." Andrew sighed as he looked at the strange assortment of unassembled parts on the table. "What is this?" "Here's the manual," he replied as he handed Andrew what seemed to be an encyclopedia at first glance. "Can't they put this on a tablet?" he asked as he read the title of the hefty manual. "Lockheed-Martin BX-LR Prototype #2983-03, wait...automated railgun sentry?! Are you serious?!" Andrew lifted his head to ask the man just what was going on, but he was nowhere to be found. He set the manual on the table with a solid thud and quickly tiptoed through the mess of boxes on the plywood floor towards the entrance, poking his head through the flaps when he reached it. The man had vanished into thin air, right when Andrew had needed him the most. "Well," he sighed, "I wouldn't expect him to be anything but intimidated. God, are we for real?" The technician shuffled through the tent back to his table, staring at the cardboard boxes piled up to the ceiling on it. He grabbed one out of the stack and cut the top open with his multi-tool, hooking it back onto his belt loop as he opened the top flaps. Inside was a jumble of parts and fasteners set in packing foam, the collection so massive that Andrew's head almost swam as he stared at it. Rows upon rows of metal tubes, plastic plates, and copper coils lay tightly packed next to an enormous array of circuit boards and wires and plastic baggies of bolts and fasteners. The largest item that Andrew saw as he pulled out piece after piece was a white plastic frame for what he assumed would be the body of the turret, which he set down next to the tripod legs and the camera. Some of the parts, he noticed, had warning labels on them - warning labels that made Andrew more than a little nervous. As the last extra screw was dumped out of the empty cardboard box, Andrew threw the packaging on the ground and stared at the assortment of parts before him. With a sigh, he grabbed the manual and flipped through the pages, setting it back down when he had found the assembly instructions. Assembling the turret would be fun, he told himself as he scanned the table for the first part he needed. Just like Legos. A minute later, he frowned as he looked over the table a second, then a third and fourth time. It didn't take long for him to remember the reason he had never liked Lego sets as a child. -Cavern- Warmth. She had not left for so long, content in lying in her resting place and feeling the blissful warmth in her body. Perhaps the occasional foray outside the cave for food, but nothing too flashy. Just enough to live by. Hundreds of years had passed since the last time she had expanded her hoard, millennia since her birth. That day of carnage, that brief yet unimaginably intense moment of red fire and golden bounty, was long passed, forgotten to those who had suffered her wrath and their descendants. Distant memories, to reminisce about in her early retirement. She couldn't have done it again anyways, at least not now. It was becoming harder and harder to find wealth without being struck down by the ponies or the gryphons, their attacks fiercer then ever before. Her wings and scales bore testament to that fact, the scars and punctures still sore after centuries. Adult dragons in the middle of their lives will find a point at which their hoard becomes substantial, when the fruits they reap are to be consumed in comfort. They will then search the land for a suitable mate, combining their hoards and raising up to three children in a new, larger cavern that they "feel out" with their magic. "But what dragon would want to birth young into such a cruel and unforgiving world?" she asked herself. "There is no wealth for them to seek out, no jewels or precious metals to find. The ponies have taken it all," she lamented as she stroked her red, scaly wings. They had taken it all, and there would be none for her children. Flames shot out of her nostrils as she snorted, the orange trickles of heat making the air shimmer and wave. This was a troubling idea, but it could wait. She would think about it later, perhaps in a few months. There was no need to concern herself...at least, not for the moment... Something suddenly stirred within her, a sort of yearning that she had almost forgotten dozing off in her cave. She rolled over on her bed of gold and silver, suddenly unable to relax in her domain. Not since her younger years had she felt this strange sensation, as if there was something out there to add to her collection. And that smell...that faint yet unmistakable smell that was in the air... Perhaps she would find her answer sooner rather than later. For the first time in almost a decade, the dragon rose from her fiery nest and surveyed her surroundings. The cave had seemed fine just a day ago, but now it seemed too empty and barren to her scrupulous eyes. Her wings stretched out from her sides, the enormous leathery flaps nearly touching the stone ceiling. It was time to fly again.