Fallout Equestria : Lineage

by SunsetSpecter

Chapter Three: "Symphony of Screaming Terminals"

There’s no such thing as a housecall. Well there is if you count firing syringes out of a pneumatic gun at the patient proper medical procedure. But hey, who said we had to be proper all the time?

I froze as my mind tried to keep up with all the information bombarding it at once. I could make out the standard armaments for Enclave armour, four magical beam weapons two on top of each other on either side of body. However, what really caught my attention was the .50cal MG Anti-Material rifle levelled at my eyes or were they Tes' eyes that I was looking through. Had they stopped in front of me and were they really my eyes staring down the long barrel of that rifle?

This is going to make combat hard.

It will be if you can’t keep you hooves under you. Tes’ voice cutting through the haze covering my mind. I forced myself to stop swaying.

When did I start swaying?

"I am Lieutenant Twister,” The very mare sounding pegasus said standing in the center as her two companions regained their composure, "And by order of Grand Pegasus Enclave you are to turn over any and all pre-war tech into our hooves so we can evenly disperse it to all ponykind.”

Oh now isn't that the largest load of manure. I thought loudly, hoping that my mental volume would hold some weight in convincing Tes that the Enclave really were not going to do anything of the sorts. But that means they're not here looking for me, which means we've got the advantage.

There was a pause. I stood there trying not to succumb to the sensory overload of simultaneously looking at Tes, who was watching the Enclave trio in front of him, whilst also looking at that imposing .50cal MG AM Rifle through his eyes. Even though he was looking around taking in all the details of the Pegasi that was the only thing I was paying attention to since it seemed to be levelled directly at his head.

That is one big fucking rifle...

I felt my heartbeat steadily increase as I thought about how large of a hole a shell like that would tear through my lightly armoured body, and... nothing from Tes other than a slight tingly sensation like from being around too many lightning strikes between cloud layers.

Oh Luna no! He's not actually considering that offer is he? My eyes grew wide as I felt a sinking feeling in my heart.

"Interesting offer, sounds like a good plan."

I felt the adrenaline spike in my own bloodstream as Tes felt my adrenaline spike at his comment as I felt Tes feel my adrenaline spike. My knees went weak at this feedback loop our minds had created.

"However..."

Our line of sight suddenly shifted to the left as both Tes and my eyes moved at the same time to look at the pegasus to the right of Twister, armed with the standard Enclave loadout.

This will feel awkward for a minute or two. Tes speaking silently in my mind once more.

Oh, right, like this wasn't already the single most messed up thing I've ever experienced in my life.

A flash of blurring movement appeared before our eyes. All that could be picked up was a few fleeting images, none really making much sense until... memories. The images suddenly slowed, it was the memories of the stallion we had been looking at before the world spun away.

“So what are we doing down here again?” I asked flying with my squad mates through the lower cloud layer.

Oh no that is not right, I didn’t ask that sure my mouth mov-

“That blast that went off a few days ago four clicks from the Tower. We are going to see what caused it, and see if we can recover whatever device punched that large of a hole in the clouds.” It was Twister's voice. “Command wants to make sure that nopony has that kind of power this close to one of the S.P.P. If we find anypony there, we are to neutralize them.”

“Steel Rangers?” My mouth moving on its own again.

“Might be...” Coming through the comms from the mare trailing both of us.

My mind twisted as I was ripped out of the body of the Enclave buck. My vision was a blur as the memories played out in shards before my eyes, weaving and twisting through the fragments of the stallion’s mind. I could feel that Tes was looking for something specific; however, the only thing I could feel was terror. Seeing the inside of somepony’s mind like this was as close as I could imagine to watching my own consciousness shatter. Finding what he was looking for the memories sped up again passing in front of my eyes, blurred by the speed in which they played back through my mind. When they slowed back to a speed which I could keep up with we started slipping back into the mind of the armoured Pegasus.

I recognized the area the trio was flying over. This was just to the north of where I left to go scout ahead before meeting the wrong end of Mr. Sherly.

“They say that a balefire bomb went off near here, turned everypony in the area into ghouls ‘cause of all the radiation.” The mare that was once behind us said. I already knew that and so did the stallion I was inside who just gave an annoyed huff.

It felt wrong, no that’s not right, ‘he’ felt wrong. His body was much smaller than mine, leaner too. I really didn’t like the feeling of the Power Armour surrounding every inch of me save for my wings.

“Help!”

There was a panicked voice calling up to us from down below. A mare was running in our direction from what looked like an overturned cart, behind her was six or seven ghouls determined to make the poor earth pony their next meal. The stallion suddenly readied his weapon and was about to pull into a dive to bring the beam gems to bear when Twist interrupted.

“Don't waste your ammo! We don't know what will be defending this place. Aside from the abundance of energy picked up by our initial scans, this location had a vault built under it. At least that’s what our records indicate.”

We flew past the mare that had climbed to the top of a small pile of rubble using what looked from this altitude like a small revolver to try and slow the monster ponies down. The ghouls however took little heed to the low calibre fire and managed to clamber up the fallen debris and overpowered the poor pony.

The Stallion and I both shivered, watching flesh being ripped free from bone as the mare let loose a horrific scream that echoed into my skull even after the sensation of ripping out of his body passed.

All I could feel was rage. I wasn’t even sure that it was just my feelings or if Tes was seething as well. Something about the way Twister wrote off a life because it wasn’t worth the cost of an energy cell rubbed my feathers the wrong way. The stallion whose mind we had just invaded was shaking his head and steadying himself. I had at least had a day to get used to the sensation of sharing my mind but the buck had just experienced it for the first time, and roughly at that.

"However what?" Twister said, becoming impatient taking a half step towards Tes.

"However," Tes said as a faint pinkish hue covered his foreleg, "The sky burns orange."

My mind checked out, I had officially reached the maximum level of weird allowed by my sanity. Two other ponies memories, emotions, experiences along with my own all crammed into one mind had pushed me to the edge, but when I felt components inside my limbs and body rearranging as Tes configured for combat. That was enough for me to see white around the edges of my vision as my limbs gave out. My consciousness snapping back into me when my chin hit the cold floor with an audible thud.

Ohhh that was loud. I thought as I watched through Tes' eyes the mare to the left of Twister started to circle around alerted by my impact with the metal decking.

"Twist?" She said, pointing a hoof directly at me.

Fuck.

E.F.S. why didn't I remember that sooner? Oh no they aren't clearing every room on their way down here though the facility because they're overconfident, no they don't have to just look for the red tick marks at the top of their vision. The fact that their Power Armour had that spell matrix installed in the helmets had been lost in the sea of memories. Even though my physical appearance, due to whatever was in that vial, was nothing more than a faint shimmer in the dim light of the laboratory it didn’t matter to the magic governing those floating red marks. The only reason they didn't see me sooner was because my angry little mark was lined up directly behind Tes'.

Jiggs up now!

Scrambling back to my hooves I fired one armour piercing round from my right gun into what I hoped was center mass of the poor pegasus, but with my head spinning and my blurred vision, it might have been the table next to her. The retort of my machine gun on select fire jolted my brain back to 'hey, fight, pay attention to not dying' just as a slimy sensation that felt like jello peeling off every inch of my body filled my mind.

I'm not sure I could even find my comfort zone on the map anymore. Looking down at my now visible hooves. Beams of magical energy sizzled across the room as the mare I had shot at returned fire, her companions following suit. The bombardment of my senses, as the world lit up with deadly magic coupled with the memories still trying to configure themselves in my mind, broke me. My brain tried desperately to sort out which ones belonged to me, which to Tes and which were the Enclave stallion’s, my mind decided it was just easier to shut down. The white edges of my vision once again creeped across the entirety of what I could see. Then everything faded to black. The last thing I remember was biting down on my left trigger spraying what I thought was the figure of Twister before my body slumped to the floor again.

"Oh dear, there's now wounded in my hospital." I rushed forward, driving my hoof into the neck of the pony firing at Sunset. The metal melted around my leg and the smell of burning flesh filled the room. The mare made an attempt to say something but all that escaped her muzzle was a gargle considering my magically altered hoof had just turned her neck into liquid.

"Too bad I only have time for one." I muttered pulling my hoof out as the pink glow surrounding my limb dispersed.

"Otus! Lower section doors and send up the RPWS." The intruders had made it here, which was the plan. Now I wanted to make sure the only way out was up. Sunset had placed mines in the chamber’s maintenance shaft, however I had other plans. Quickly moving forward in the direction of the collapsed stallion. I dodged the incoming fire from the remaining two armoured pegasi.

Hot! Hot! Veeerrry Hot! I grabbed the unconscious orange pegasus in my teeth and pulled him into the kitchen.

"You really need to stop fainting every time I play with your mind," I hissed, "And I need to remember that your mind isn't as used to this stuff as I am." Pulling out another vial, I injected the limp pegasus with yet another drug. "Don't worry, just a simple healing potion mixed with a mild anaesthetic." I wasn’t sure if Sunset could even hear me. His mind was in such a state of turmoil that I didn’t want to risk talking to him though the Grid. The rage had I felt before was still seething inside of me. Flames began to leak from between the joints in my plating.

"Otus, bring me Mr. Sherly. Safety, OFF."

“Right away Sir.”

There was not much that I could do until the inter-facility transports plucked the metal cylinder off my workbench and carried it here through the connecting transport tunnels. The two attacking pegasus ponies continued to rain fire through the doorframe. Magical beams striking off the countertop we crouched behind. Finally an access port by the food processor opened up and a familiar metal cylinder was presented to me.

About time... One of the beams hit my leg as I popped Mr. Sherly over the cover and fired off a green arc of energy.

DAMN! The spot the laser hit glowed red, but my plating stayed intact. While it's nice that most of my body is heat-resistant, it does seem that the circuits are beginning to fry. That damn armour of theirs isn't helping any. The green bolt hit one of the ponies in the chest, but simply dispersed around the body. We're going to get slaughtered down here... no, he's going to be slaughtered; I'll simply be paralyzed... I won't let that happen! He's not dying down here!

"Where's my ammo Otus!" I shouted. As I fired another bolt from Mr Sherly, the door behind me hissed open.

“Sorry for the delay Sir, but I found an old friend of yours.”

Before I could turn around to see what had activated the door controls, a shape blurred past me and tackled one of the Enclave, followed by the sound of a mini-gun firing into the armoured pegasi. Unfortunately the ammo that it was loaded with wasn't quite strong enough to do any meaningful damage. The form was quickly thrown off, but it just tackled the mare again. Using the bullet spewing distraction I quickly slid back into the kitchen.

"Are you awake yet?"

Colors, so many colors. Green lines danced across my vision, with pink and red following them.

Those are energy weapons you dolt! Kicked the somewhat coherent part of my brain. I remained in my stupor trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Why is mah side hot?" I slurred around my battle saddles' bit.

{Be Awesome}

My eyes focused, the dull burning pain in my side and right foreleg receding to the back of my mind.

"Help me up," I gasped. Tes bit the back of my barding and effortlessly hauled me to my hooves. My lame leg faltered but my wings caught me.

Flight.

I had a plan, well, ‘plan’. It was a loose idea rattling around hinging on luck, but a plan none-the-less. I pulled out a grenade with two blue bands on it.

"Right, ah don't know the range on this thing, or how well shielded you or Oats are, so ah suggest you get behind something solid until this goes off."

Tes just stood there brimming in green fire, a moment passed before he nodded slowly. I wasn't sure if it was heat or rage radiating off him, but either way it made my skin crawl. With one powerful pump of my wings I shot through the door back into the lab while everything lighter than a small book slammed into the opposite wall with the force of my backwash. I may be slow and clumsy on the ground but once I'm in the air, well there's a reason the Enclave had not caught me yet.

I just have to get them all next to each other, I thought as I scanned the large room. One's laying there, one's... blur with a minigun? Where's the thi- The rest of that thought splintered like my left gun as the fifty calibre round blew most of the rifle’s heart apart littering the floor with broken machine gun bits. A part of my mind wept at the loss of a friend, another callously reminded me that now I only had five rounds loaded.

"Where’s that bi-"

Impact, both of us were now falling towards the ground after she rammed me from above, however I was able to correct my attitude well before her due to not carrying the equivalent of a small cannon on my back.

Rookie mistake. I took the opportunity to place two armour piercing rounds down into her rifle, or at least in the direction of where her rifle was.

"Gun for a gun!" I yelled, or at least I think I did. No idea if I had any voice left at all or if I was just screaming within my own mind. Random lead sprayed up from the ground. I wasn’t sure if whatever was wielding that minigun was aiming at us or if it’s shots at the Enclave stallion went wild. Most missed, some passing harmlessly through my feathers, one however lodged itself into my underbelly.

There should have been a plate there... oh, right, that raider with buckshot. It wasn't too painful, hell I'd had worse earlier at lunch, but it was enough of a distraction for me to miss Twister living up to her name as the mare corkscrewed up from under me to level a ramming blow.

Ahnope! I thought as I bit the stem of the EMP grenade tucked into the collar of my barding. All that the mare saw was the stem fly free as I spat the small metal tab free. I didn’t know what she thought belonged at the other end as it would be suicide to use a frag grenade at this range, but it was enough for her to immediately change course as fast as her wings would allow. She shot up for the opening of the skylight. The grenade detonated as a massive crackle filled the chamber. Power Armour spell matrixes all around the room and all of the consoles fried out. I could only hope that Tes and Oats were someplace safe but damned if I was going to let her escape and report back what was down here. She was falling back down the shaft, bouncing off girders and pipes, armour creating paths for green electricity to flow across creating a light show worthy of a Gala as breaker after breaker popped.

I have to catch her! Duty? Chivalry? Idiocy?

I raced upwards to meet her and was about to bite into her harness when I saw the mines.

Oh... fuck...

I brought up my right hoof to shield my face. Time seemed to slow to a dead stop as a bolt of green death arched from the damaged piping to Twister's armour. As if mocking me it broke its grip on the pegasus and shot directly into the pile of hidden munitions. Armed or not, the heat alone from the spark was enough to turn my world into a maelstrom of green and orange fire. The last thing I remember was the sensation of my leg being ripped apart, the very real feeling of flesh being rendered apart, almost as if atom by atom.

My vision corrected itself I tried to stand, my right leg refused to cooperate. I looked around trying to remember what just happened. Dragging myself towards the door that led to the laboratory a small patch of red light washed over me. Then again. Emergency alarms, but I couldn't hear them, I couldn’t hear anything. Something else was wrong, missing. Still dragging myself I finally pushed through the doorway.

"No..." With this one word everything came back to me, the fight, the grenade, the...

“Explosion!” The alarms finally broke through the deadening silence in my mind, silence that I could not fathom why it felt so out of place. Frantically I looked around the laboratory scanning for any signs of life. None of the Enclave pegasi seemed to be moving, however, trapped beneath a pile scrap metal was a familiar orange figure. There was a large amount of blood seeping out from under the crumpled hulks of the two ponies as a thin haze of dust still hung in the ozone laden air.

"No no no! Sun!" I shouted before switching to the grid.

You can't be! You can't! But there was nothing there, the link was down returning nothing by silence. Moving as fast as I could I hobbled over to the wreckage entwined around Sunset and began to pull loose pieces of debris from around him.

"Otus! Emergency room transport now!" I waited for a response, but none came. "Otus?"

Nothing. Moving over to a console on the wall I jump started the spell matrixes using my built in connector. Once the terminal was functioning I brought up a diagnostics report of the facility. The electrical surge emitted from this room had travelled into the main coil in the generator room. Dead.

We're all dead. My right leg began to glow with the same pink hue from before, twisting and deforming the metal from within. I fell against the wall trying to clear my mind, trying to think of any solution I could act upon to save the essential systems.

Damn it all! The alarms whining continued in the background, the constant whining. Shut up, shut up, shut...Whining...The alarm system doesn't whine... Quickly whipping my head around I saw movement from under one of the Enclave bodies. The tattered form was struggling to push the dead weight off of it. But the shape, it seemed so familiar...

"Copper!" I shouted.

Woof!

A chance, there might be some hope after all! Dragging myself from the terminal I tried to move towards Copper, but something had pinned my foreleg. Looking down at my right hoof I saw that the metal comprising the skeletal structure had fused to the metal plating of the wall. This was it. This was the final straw. I was not going to let such a simple thing as a malfunctioning component stop me, not when help was so close. My rage built and so did my internal flames, spreading throughout my body lapping between the joints. I forced my anger into my foreleg and the conflagration began to move to my will. The heat began to build with in my limb. I could feel the metal of my leg warping and twisting in protest. The small box buried deep with the workings of my leg began to buckle. Then metallic casing was now glowing cherry red and in an instant it cracked. A rippling pink explosion sent shards of gemstone and steel limb flying to every corner of the chamber. The blast sent me hurtling backwards as the wall I was fused to began to crumble. Struggling to what hooves remained attached to my body I stumbled over to Copper, shoving the body off of him.

"Hey, Copper. Are you still alive, are you hurt boy?" There was a small whine as the lights across his casing flickered.

Copper nodded. Pain surged through my body as the telepathic link was re-established. I had installed an independent signal into Copper a long time ago when the Grid had gone down and left me alone with no way of communicating to anyone on the outside. Not wanting to be alone proved to be a most useful source of inspiration. However, that feeling was starting to once again to overtake my brain.

"Can you walk?" I asked, having trouble standing on just three legs.

Copper gingerly raised himself onto all fours and moved to my side. Using the cyberdog as support I walked over the body of Sunset lying half buried under the weight of the twisted pegasus armour.

“Copper, give me vital sign readings.” A small panel on his side smoothly slid open revealing a small screen. Sunset was alive, but only just. I hobbled forward. That was a huge relief. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The moment I started to move towards Sunset the lights on the screen started flashing wildly.

“Oh no, he’s too weak. He won’t make it to the emergency room,” The weight crashed back onto me tenfold.

Why! Why him!? I tried to lift my hoof realizing that it wasn't there anymore. Everything around me was dying or in pain and I had all the necessary tools to fix it, but I couldn't access any of them. Sunset’s foreleg was in tatters. I had to do something or he would not survive. That would leave me alone once again.

I looked down to Copper, knowing what I had to do.

“I’m sorry old friend.”

Reaching down to the panel on his back I released the catch. Inside was a single unassuming button; such an inconspicuous switch that held such painful ramifications.

I think... I think it's time you took a rest...

As Copper powered down, I stood there above his motionless form comprehending what I had just done. I had killed an old friend, to save a new one.

"Lets prepare you for surgery, this is a hospital after all," I whispered.

I was flying, low, skimming over the landscape and I felt the warm sunlight on my wings. Sunlight, I had to be dreaming. Unlike what I'm told by my flightless brethren, that they have a feeling of overwhelming freedom when they dream of flight, I was not quite comfortable as I flew just above the terrain. Still it was a nice feeling all the same. What did strike me was rather than the corpse ridden wastes stretching out before me, its twisted ruins of a once lush landscape, it ‘was’ that colorful and beautiful landscape. As I continued to fly, I passed above a small town some of its residents looked up from between the buildings and waved, smiles across their faces.

"N-no... not this, I..."

This was a world I tried so hard not to remember. All the things that once were, the happy uncorrupted versions of places I'd seen in my memory. I continued to fly over hay covered roofs sheltering the pastel colored buildings. Looking about, watching the town scrolling by under me continuing on in ignorant bliss. No raiders coming to ravage the town looking for their next meal. No slavers sneaking in to take everypony away and sell them off to Luna knows what fate. No Enclave diving down from above the cloud layer hot on my tail. This was peaceful. I flexed my legs starting to enjoy the peaceful surroundings noticing not an ounce of pain from my foreleg. Light-hearted glee built up inside me as I felt a smile creep across my face. Looking back over my hide I noticed that I was free of scars, well at least the ones I could steal a glance at whilst airborne. As my gaze returned forward a cyan mare's magenta eyes locked with mine as she flew up alongside me. I couldn't say a word even though I desperately wanted to. My mind screamed at my mouth to form words and my lungs to push them from my lips, but not a single syllable could be uttered. The mare smile as she banked hard and pumped her wings, my world exploding in a spectrum of color.

"Shit he's waking up, Oats!"

“On it sir.”

"You!"

Green eyes, so cool...

"Hang in there."

I was falling, okay this is unsettling. I pumped my wings in a futile attempt to grab what little air there was in this narrow space. Nothing. I hit the ground hard, landing with a sickening crunch audible over the echoing thud of my impact. White hot agony rushing into my nervous system did a wonderful job blocking out any rational thought.

"I thought in dreams you never hit the ground... or feel pain," I muttered thought my ragged breath as my body tried to sort out the stabbing razors my hoof was sending to my brain. Looking around I suddenly realized where I was. I was lying once again at the bottom of a broken elevator shaft in the basement of some nameless high rise near Manehatten. I knew what needed to be done, even knowing this will hurt like hell. I removed a vivid purple healing potion and a jerry-rigged beer bottle filled with hydra and the other chemicals needed for it to interact with my biology. I could not even remember where I had picked the drug up at. Most likely found it scavenging the high rise and thought I could sell it from some caps. That was the only reason I even entered the building after all. Though in the end I guess it didn’t really matter, it was the only viable option at this point.

"Seven years ago..."

Popping the stopper on the potion with my tongue I readied the hydra in my hoof.

"Drink, then activate the Hydra, ignore the pain, run. My plans suck!" Thinking back to the EMP grenade and just how I had expected that to work out. No time to waste, flying was not really an option down here. The pony who designed this place was definitely not a pegasus, hallways not quite wide enough for my wingspan and hanging lighting.

"If I ever meet the pony that designed 'bulbs on a chain', I'm going to buck him right in the teeth."

A crash and a yell from the shaft snapped my attention back to what I was doing. Knowing full well that the Enclave who had been chasing me were moments from descending down the shaft to where I was laying.

"It's just a dream..."

I threw back my head and chugged the bittersweet potion at the same time crushing the blister packs on the side of the beer bottle to force the chemicals into the Hydra. Having finished off the healing medicine and already feeling its magic starting to affect my lesser injuries, I brought the other bottle to my lips. My teeth ripped the stopper off the top and I gulped down the milky, foul smelling liquid inside. It didn’t take long for the sickening sound of bones magically aligning themselves to echo through my skull. The jagged shards of bone scraping against each other and cutting through my muscle on their journey to their proper place. The pain of my mutilated limb twisting around itself as the bones fused was almost enough for me to wish the armoured pegasus above would finish the job. It only took a few minutes for my once mangled limb to reconfigure roughly back to what it once was, but those fleeting moments felt like a century.

"Now... I have," Panting through the pain, "To run..."

"Sweet Tesla's AC he's waking up again, Oats another dose of-"

“I don't think that's wise.”

"We don't really have a choice here now do we?"

There are those green eyes again, sparkling like the stars...

I usually have quite a good tolerance for pain. The kind of pain you get from a hangover or getting shot by something low caliber. Sure I'll boast that nothing can hurt the ‘Stallion Stud Sunset’, but throw enough lead into my hide and I'll whimper in a corner like anypony would. Tes' mind games aside, my pain threshold is pretty up there, walking for years on a lame leg tends to dull your senses in that regard. However what I was experiencing right now was like nothing I had ever felt before.

Burning pain coursing through every fiber of my being. All I could do was scream, the feeling was so intense that I could have been skinned alive at that moment and I wouldn't have noticed. I writhed in perfect agony for what seemed like an eternity. My body creating new and spiteful ways to hurt my brain further for what past grievance I had no clue. I could not think, all I could do was feel. Then everything stopped, no warning, no explanation. The immense pain ravaging every cell in my body just melted away and a feeling of tranquility entered my mind. I opened my eyes slowly, tears rolling uncontrolled down my cheeks as my vision tried to focus. What I saw was most assuredly an angel, white face with soft eyes looking at me kindly.

"I'm dead right?" I wheezed.

He just smiled as his face faded into the murky blackness.

Sheets, smelling of lavender.

Footnote: Maximum Level Reached.

((Authors note: There we are. This chapter is more on par of what I’m hoping to have throughout the series. As always my undying love for Kkat for creating this universe and to Somber for showing me it’s possible to add to a universe without everything falling to s**t. Huge thanks to my co-writer The Wiseless Stallion for adding to the creativity of this project. To my editors and pre-readers; frozenpyro71, Dawn-Fade, Istalir, KaraSkakalac, and That Awesome Brony Guy for helping this poor writer produce something resembling polished work. As always many many thanks to my readers, Ring-a-Ding folks!))