//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: An Alloyed Hope // by computerneek //------------------------------// I stop at the top of this hill, in clear view of the fort.  Resources are still sparse, but I should be able to harvest enough nutrients for eighteen meals, alongside enough minerals to manufacture replacement parts for a second fusion plant. I am normally vastly overpowered, with eleven fusion plants.  Eight of them are the typical ‘hot’ fusion plants, capable of burning hydrogen.  Just six of these is enough to operate my war hull, when fully repaired, at maximum sustained combat power levels.  Two of the remaining three plants are, despite burning hotter than the ‘hot’ fusion plants, are called ‘cold’ fusion plants.  They’re capable of burning helium as well, for four times the power output of the ‘hot’ plants.  My final power plant is a brand-new, experimental ‘synth’ fusion plant, capable of burning any element to produce any other element, including through fission.  I was its first testbed; by my creators’ thinking, this reactor would allow a Bolo to operate repairs and replenish its munitions, including feeding its passengers, no matter where it found itself.  This one power plant produces five times as much as a ‘cold’ power plant.  All put together, I have enough reactors- once fully repaired- to power myself six times over! At idle, the single ‘hot’ plant I’ve ignited is enough to ensure I never run out of power.  Combined with my power reserves and solar production, it should also provide all the power I require during my battle against this bronze-age opponent.  However, it lacks the manufacturing capability of my damaged synth plant, which I will ignite later.  With it, I can convert useless minerals in the soil around into useful ones, there to support my charge’s nourishment and my own repair & resupply. Three days pass.  At least, she thinks it’s three days; she’s had enough meals for five, though it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.  She’s spent most of her time asleep, to boot.  Tapping her Element still produces no telepathic response, only that same, short surge of magical power.  Her hoofgrip is still confusing her, but she’s recovered much of her physical strength.  It’ll be another couple weeks before her cutie mark returns, or her wings begin generating lift once again. But her physical strength has returned.  She’s spent some time practicing walking on the walls and ceiling, familiarizing herself with the peculiarities of such motion; having seen no ramps or stairs down from this thing, she fully expects to have to walk on a few walls or ceilings to reach the ground. Which, as she trots to the balcony through the strangely self-opening doors, she plans to do today.  It seems to have held position here, not far from Fort Dash.  It’ll take her some time to make the trip, sure- but as near as she can tell, there’s nothing to be afraid of between here and the fort.  She trots up to the railing, looking over towards the fort.  The ground in between looks good and clear; her ride had stopped on the top of the hill it had been climbing when her Element appeared, turning side-on to the fort- and placing it right in the middle of her field of view.  She looks down over the railing at the slanted metal slope beneath her.  It’s not far- so she hops on overtop. She stumbles on the landing, thankful to her weird hoofgrip for refusing to let her hind hooves come flying overtop her head; they had landed and held, rather than bouncing as they normally would have.  She begins her walk down the side of the thing- only to find a ramp extending itself as she nears the vertical cliff at the extreme edge.  She looks back up towards the door she’d come from, guessing those spider things are still looking out for her. “Thank you,” she mutters, before turning to trot down the ramp. I have not opposed the departure of my charge.  She is headed for a fortified base; the defenses should be near impregnable to the enemy, if properly manned- or ‘ponied’, I suppose, and I can cover her approach with energy fire.  I was sorely tempted to manufacture and give her powered armor and pony-portable weaponry before she left, and even to require her to take it.  However, the guards in the base might not take to such an approach; I might end up hurting somepony.  Not likely her, any even ‘light’ armor I manufacture for a pony will stand up to almost any weapon I’ve seen, up to and including most of the catapults, without sustaining damage. I am still worried, though, and have diverted my manufacturing capacity from reactor parts- I have finally acquired the materials, but the fine components this device requires take time to produce- to ammunition.  I do not dig into the resources set aside for the reactor, preferring to disintegrate more armor; not one weapon I have seen can penetrate my combat screens, let alone the “thin” six-meter layer of duralloy armor remaining on my flanks, at the thinnest point.  I manufacture mortar and ring penetrator rounds; unlike energy weapons, I can fire these past her, if need be, without hurting her as well. As for what worries me so, the base staff appears to have been dwindling.  My drone has not detected anything suspicious, save for ponies entering certain buildings- including what appears to be the berthing hall- and never leaving.  As it is, the walls have been almost entirely abandoned and much of the staff has disappeared.  I am aware these ponies appear to have teleportation capability, but I worry the force I eliminated outside its walls, which carried the artifact my Commander carried into the fort, left a party of assassins at the base.  In any case, should harm befall my charge, I will be ready to open fire with hard ammo long before she progresses too far for energy fire to pass her harmlessly. I do not know enough about their teleportation ability. Fluttershy shudders visibly as she approaches the walls.  There’s only a few guards, compared to the multitude there normally are.  She doesn’t recognize any fresh damage, though; they must have either lost the soldiers in an attack or held most of the guards below the walls in an effort to attract an attack.  Fort Dash is one of Equestria’s toughest forts, able to exact ten-to-one death penalties on their attackers, on a bad day.  Most of the attacks in its history offer a fifty-to-one casualty rate, in favor of the attackers- with over eighty percent of the fort-side casualties being treatable injuries, and well over ninety percent of the attackers’ losses being deaths. She does recognize the guards on the walls as being ponies; the fort has not been taken.  This is a relief; the nearest other fort is almost eighty kilometers away, and she doesn’t want to make her spider friends- she thinks she can call them friends, at least- travel that far.  So, she continues on her way.  She knows her brightly colored coat and mane will be clearly visible- and evidently not minotaur.  Finally, she gets a response. “Halt!” A guard calls.  “Who is it that approaches the gate?” Fluttershy shudders.  This is her least favorite part of the whole ordeal- authenticating her entry into the fort without having her friends present to do that part for her.  She struggles to speak up, to make the guard her her.  “It is I, Fluttershy,” she answers.  She winces at the squeak that slid into her voice- but the guard seems to understand her. “Welcome back,” he answers, and the gates swing open. She walks in, the guards closing the gate behind her…  And pauses, turning towards the nearest guard.  No matter how much she hates speaking up in public, even now, it still needs to be done.  “Where is everypony?” she asks. The guard shrugs his shoulders.  “Ponies have been disappearing left and right, to where we don’t know.  The whole base is on high alert right now- we think it’s enemy infiltration.  We’ve got half the remaining guards holed up with the only surviving unicorn in the command building right now.” Fluttershy’s eyes go wide.  “Was…?”  She touches a hoof to her element. The guard shakes his head.  “Rainbow was teleported to Canterlot before this began; none of the others have shown up yet.” Only, Fluttershy’s eyes hadn’t stopped growing wider.  Her touch had triggered Twilight’s communication spell- which had almost come back empty-hooved again. The door slams open as the runner gallops inside.  “Sir!” One of the pegasi holding guard around the unicorn looks up at the earth pony, his raised eyebrow prompting the runner’s message long before a verbal response could. “Kindness has arrived!” The runner informs the lieutenant.  “The Captain wants everypony ready to go in five minutes; she’s- MINOTAUR!” All eight guards react instantly to his alarm, raising their spears at the observed enemy.  Unfortunately, he was not alone; three armored minotaurs burst from the closet together, two brandishing swords- already at striking range- and the third wielding a longbow.  The unicorn- a fairly fresh recruit, probably the most junior surviving soldier- responds slower than the rest but, as the only officer present was the first casualty, makes his own decisions.  Rather than fighting the minotaurs, more parties of which are already exploding from other closets and cabinets, he makes use of the ability only he has:  His horn…  And the teleportation spell.  Two seconds later, the runner finds himself in Canterlot, complete with an arrow sticking out of his flank. The guards outside respond even faster than the ones inside, having already been gathering to support Fluttershy on a rescue mission when they heard the yell from inside.  Then, as minotaurs burst from the entrance, their response changes once again.  The gate is flung open once again, Fluttershy almost thrown out of it.  There’s too many minotaurs for them to have much hope of victory- thus, their goal is to escape- and protect Fluttershy, as their first priority. As Fluttershy stumbles out the gate, she spots the giant, metal thing in the distance, and hope rises in her chest.  If it’s still here…  Whatever weaponry it had used earlier should be able to protect them.  “This way!” she yells, over her shoulder, and takes off with a gallop.  The guards hold their position for a couple seconds more, decide no others could have survived the numbers now spilling out of the buildings, and gallop after her, maintaining formation- and watching behind them for arrows to dodge…  Or absorb, if they’re headed for Fluttershy.  Her Element makes her more important than an entire army- and unlike them, she’s not wearing armor.  They had been going to get her some before they left, but they had been cut off by the attack. The enemy’s arrows are thick.  Fluttershy sees a flash of light in the distance, but fails to register exactly what it was; she’s also watching for arrows to dodge.  One guard down.  Two.  Three.  She can tell they’re protecting her- and they don’t stand a chance.  Not with this many arrows.  She dodges one.  Two guards left.  An arrow gets stuck in her hind leg, and she collapses.  She can’t run- not with that.  One guard lifts her bodily with his earth pony strength and takes off running again- only to get an arrow to the eyeball when he glances back the next time.  One guard left.  What’s that whistle she hears?  She uses her remaining strength to jump on the last guard’s back, and he takes off running again- even using his wings to push them faster.  Dodging is much easier now- but eventually, he takes a hit to his right wing.  The arrow passes all the way through, but he loses control and tumbles.  Fluttershy looks up from where she landed; the minotaur archers are aiming their next shots, having missed their last ones on the ground in front of them. Then, suddenly, the minotaurs aren’t aiming at them.  They aren’t aiming anywhere- and probably never will again.  One had gotten an arrow out before he died with the others in that massive fireball.  What had just happened? The one arrow that had been loosed finds its home in the stumbling guard’s flank, before he can stand up completely; he falls back down on it, snapping off the shaft and driving the head just a little further in.  Fluttershy limps her way to him. “Run!” he gasps, as soon as he sees her.  “Save yourself!” She shakes her head.  “I can’t leave you behind.” He scowls.  “How much weight can you carry on that?”  He indicates her injured leg. “Enough,” she states, wincing as that particular leg touches down once again.  Funny, the pain is fading. His scowl grows more pronounced, but he knows he won’t get her to leave him behind- and forces himself to rise once again.  His left hind leg is useless.  “Then I’ll ride, you run.” My suspicion was correct.  It would appear my fear will not be completely realized; I have managed to save two ponies from the massacre:  My previous charge, and one soldier from the base.  Both are injured; my previous charge’s injuries will likely be healed by the time she returns aboard, but the soldier stands a 13.49% chance of dying before I can treat him.  I have already engaged full throttle towards their position, even as I fired my only three mortars at the minotaurs gathering at the gate.  I release a couple ring penetrators at the remaining hostiles; in 1.39 minutes, I will be close enough to fire energy weapons past the survivors without harming them. Fluttershy’s limp fades, slowly, as she travels away from the base.  She hears several somethings whistle over her head, but fails to see what any of them are.  She continues to glance back for arrows, even as the injured guard on her back watches continuously.  She notices when the shaft of the arrow in her leg falls on the ground behind her- a glance back looks like it was melted off.  Just what she needs- some new kind of poisoned arrow.  She still feels the head inside her muscle, though it seems to be shrinking as well.  Funny, she doesn’t feel the effect of any poison- and the minotaurs aren’t known for their subtlety, especially in poisons. With a sudden thought, she glances back at the guard still shuddering on her back.  “It isn’t poisoned, is it?” she asks. He winces, glancing back forwards at her.  “I don’t think so,” he says.  “Yours?” She hangs her head, pushing forwards.  “I think it is.”  She knows, even without looking back, the expression of horror on his face.  They had put so much effort into protecting her- even he had- only for her to be snatched away by a poison arrow.  “Some new poison…  I don’t feel it, but the shaft melted.” She then stops in her advance.  The ground is shaking slightly- and she sees the giant thing is moving.  It’s moving impossibly fast, directly towards her.  It’s also eerily silent as it approaches. The guard looks up at it.  “Uhh…” he begins. BOOM! Not that the growing earthquake actually made the boom.  Rather, with a blinding beam of light and a boom worthy of the loudest drum she’d ever heard, something had shot out of the metal monster in front of her, passed over their heads…  She looks back where they’d come as her vision clears from the afterimage.  Whatever it was had left a crater half the size of Fort Dash right where the front gate had once stood. Both she and the guard on her back stare open-mouthed for far longer than either wanted to, before finally turning back away from it.  They’re right on time for the earth-shaking monster to twist suddenly- and silently- to the side in front of them, there to stop with its side facing them…  And lower that same ramp she’d used earlier. She looks down at it, up at the massive bulk of the thing, and back down at the ramp before starting up it.  “Thank you,” she mutters, as she first touches the ramp- and again, when the first metal spiders show up, rushing down it to meet her.  The guard is alarmed, but they don’t seem willing to offer him much of a choice as they lift him swiftly off her back and carry him up.  She breaks into a trot behind them, keeping pace; her leg hurt too much to move this quickly with his weight, but without, it’s something she can do.  Even as she does so, she tells the guard they’re okay- that these spider things are her friends.  When he asks if they have any doctors, she informs him she doesn’t know- but that they’re very, very helpful either way. Once she finishes climbing up onto the balcony once again, she stops to glance back towards Fort Dash- and turn back in the direction she’d sensed a friend in earlier, touching her Element…   out of range.  She hopes they’re okay- and stabilizes herself as the metal mountain twists underneath her, rotating to face that same direction before it sets off once again, gliding smoothly over the terrain. Recovery complete.  One tertiary Hellbore round proved effective in elimination of all remaining hostiles; unfortunately, the fort has also been completely destroyed and is no longer safe.  However, I still have much to consider- and someplace to go, at least. She had touched her hoof to her amulet while she was in the base.  Her expression had shown hope, rather than the despair such an act usually brought her.  She had also looked in a southeastern direction- which she has just looked in again, touching the amulet to be met with disappointment again. This amulet must serve as some kind of communication device, currently out of range.  I calculate a 97.31% chance she was in range of something when she was in the base, and a lesser probability of 93.41% that she knows the approximate location of whatever it was.  Still, this heading bears further examination.  I begin traveling, sending my drone ahead.  Once I am even with the remains of the fort on this heading, I will attempt communication again.  If it is a communication device, and if my armor does not interfere with it, she should be able to point me in the right direction. After her failed attempt at communication, she heads inside, and I lock the doors.  Neither one is heading outside again without at least minimal armor and weaponry, until I can verify their safety- and this plate steel stuff the Fort survivor is wearing doesn’t count.  Full-body duralloy armor or inside.  Speaking of which, I begin manufacturing a full set of powered armor, with weapons and ammunition, for each of them; once this finishes, I will return to my work on my fusion plant.  I have only three meals left- make that two, from resources spent replacing missing blood. I estimate 3.91 hours to ignition.