Fallout Equestria: Across The Stars
chapter 2: Found...kind of...
Goldenshine's breathing was heavy as she sprang up with a starteled yelp. She looked around sharply to see that her attackers were gone... next to her was a simple 10 mm pistol and a couple clips... but why? she never collected them...
Wait...that hooded pony... did the hooded pony with the rifle leave it for her? but why?
Finally she'd had a moment to take in her surroundings. a bombed out city loomed around her; charred and bombed out buildings almost seeming to sway around her, like the whole thing could come down at any moment... the sounds of gun fire could be heard in the distance. she couldn't even discern where she'd originally come from in this gigantic forboding labrynth of concrete, metal and rebar.
"...where am I?" she asked, more to herself to anyone else. She looked up; the sky a blotchy swamp of vibrant blue and murky grey. Goldenshine grunted with effort as she hauled herself back to her hooves, and looked ahead of her. the corpses of the desicated ponies littered the otherwise abandoned street.
She'd also noticed spent shell casings from a high powered rifle. A sniper rifle that apparently packed bullets that looked lke they could drop a dragon if the shot was well placed... that hooded pony was carrying some major fire power. "...you're getting sidetracked again, Goldy..." she said to herself.
It felt so sureal, being on the surface. Like in her dreams or premenitions. it just didn't seem real. She conituned to look in all directions. "well...just pick a direction and start walking i guess..." she said glumly as she started walking down a street.
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The clone troopers Bly and Rex had finally managed to pry the escape hatch door open and look outside their grounded ship at the planet they'd crashed on. Around them was a barren waste covered in brown wilting plants; Rex looked through his range finder to see bombed out cities... "...there used to be people here..." he said sadly.
Aayla Secura took a moment to look around herself after tending to Anakin, carefully laying him down on a spot on the ground that didn't look too bad. she was silent for a moment before speaking up. "...and I sense they might still be, Captain..." she said sagely. "we just need to figure out how to find them..." she also sensed that this world was scarred and warped by the dark side, but she held on hope that it wasn't completely consumed by it.
Ashoka rushed to her master's side once more. "Okay, you and the clones go for help, and I'll stay with Anakin." she said a little more harshly that she'd intended.
Aayla shook her head disapprovingly. "No, Padawan Tano, I need you with me so we can cover more ground." she said sternly. "Captain Rex will stay with him."
Ashoka scowled. "I won't just leave him!" she shot defiantly.
Aayla imediately spun on her heel and glared at the young Tegruta. "We aren't just abandoning him Ashoka!" the Ti'lek jedi barked back without missing a beat. "If we don't get him to a doctor of some kind, then He. Will. Die!" Ashoka recoiled from the woman's words as though she'd been slapped in the face. She said nothing, but whimpered softly as she shrank back and her gaze fell to her injured master.
Aayla sighed as she walked over to the pair and knelt next to the girl. "I am sorry, Ashoka..." she said softly as she put a hand on her shoulder. Ashoka flinched at the contact and looked up dejectedly at the Twi'lek woman. "I don't like it any more then you do, but we need to find the people who live on this world and convince them to help us..."
Commander Bly finally broke his silence as he watched the tension continue. "...we also need to figure out a way to contact the republic." he said solemnly. "...if we don't get some kind of signal out, then we're as good as gone and forgotten by the rest of the galaxy..."
"What about Admiral Yularen?" Ashoka asked. "Surely after what happened, he'll come looking for us?"
"I'm sure he will, but he will still have no idea where to look if we don't set up a beacon." Aayla said somberly.
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The remaining clone survivors were filing out of the reckage; five in total. Ace, Lucky, Cruncher, Bishop and Sander had been ordered to try and salvage a distress beacon from their demolished ship. they had salvaged several pieces that, theoretically could be assembled into a transmitter, but they didn't have any of the proper tools to even begin!
"Form up boys!" the voice of Commander Bly rang out. "We're moving out!"
"What's the mission, Sir?" Bishop asked, pieces of machinery still in his arms.
"We're heading out to find whatever passes for locals on this rock." the commander replied.
"...and hope that they will help us." Aayla added.
"Very good sir!" Bishop nodded.
"What have you got there, Bishop?" Rex asked.
"We've collected a few parts, per Commander Bly's orders, that could theoretically be pieced together into a makeshift transmitter, but we couldn't find any tools to properly assemble them..." Cruncher answered.
Rex walked over. "give em' here." he said holding out his arms. "...I'll see if i can do something with em while you boys and the general are scouting."
Bishop did as instructed. "...well, good luck then, Captain; we can't even figure out where to start."
Commander Bly waited as his men...well a couple of them came with General Skywalker and technically answered to Rex rather then him, passed off their salvage to Rex and regrouped in front of their Twilek commander. "Okay, men; we all know our mission, so let's move!" Bly declared.
And so, they set off down the seemingly abandoned road, unaware that their crashed vessel would soon garner attention...
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Good bye looming city ruins, hello, bleak and desolate fields. The grass, if you could call it that, was tall, but brown and prickley. The trees on either side of the road were gnarled and dead, and the road itself was overgrown, riddled with potholes, and lined with what probably passed for vehicles back in the day. Wagons and-is that a tank?! was this the site of some kind of battle?
Goldenshine trotted uneasily through the graveyard of wagons and transports that cluttered the road, many of them still carried the remains of their occupants. The dry, withered bones of ponies sat in the seats and scattered about the wagons.
That's when images started flashing in her mind. Everything was intact the wagons aroound her had living ponies in and around them. Ponies in what looked like military uniforms stood by the tanks stopping every group that went down that road... No, not a battle; this was... a millitary checkpoint?
That feeling of approaching danger had returned, but it more subtle; easy to miss if you weren't actively alert. With only the sounds of her breath and heart beat to keep her company, she took a deep breath to try and releive the tension that wracked her whole body.
A shiver ran up her spine as she exhaled. She levitated the pistol out of her bag and looked at it, realising that she'd never shot a gun before...
She pointed the pistol at a near by wagon and pulled the trigger... or she tried to. It seemed to be stuck. "Huh?" the trigger wouldn't budge. She pulled again, a little harder; still nothing... "Is it broken?"
<...CHECK THE SAFETY...> a metallic voice stated from just behind her, making her jump and shreik in terror.
"Hyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!" the young unicorn wailed as she spun on one hoof to see who or what had snuck up on her. In her panic, she dropped the pistol and it clattered to the ground.
the sight that greeted her was a strange looking...robot? a spherical metal machine that looked more like a flying radio hovered before her silently with insect like wings. <SORRY, DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU.> it spoke again in its matallic monotone.
"What are you?" Goldenshine asked shakily. "and...where am I?"
The strange machine hovered silently for a moment. <HM...HOW SHOULD I ANSWER THAT?> it asked aloud. <FOR YOUR FIRST QUESTION, YOU CAN CALL ME WATCHER...> Watcher, as it had called itself turned back to the ruins behind them. <AS FOR WHERE YOU ARE, YOU ARE IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE VANHOOVER RUINS.> it turned back to her. <FRESH OUT OF THE STABLE, HUH?>
"Uh...yeah."she said awkwardly. The reason for leaving the stable resurfaced in her memory. "...I was...banished from the stable..." she said, her somber gaze falling to the crumbled pavement.
Watcher was silent once more. <...I SEE...> the two sat in uncomfortable silence for a while before it spoke again. <...WELL , I WON'T PRY FOR DETAILS THEN, BUT I CAN HELP YOU LEARN HOW TO USE A GUN.> It looked down at the dropped pistol. <...PICK IT UP, ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RECEIVER, THERE'S A LITTLE SWITCH BY THE GRIP. THAT'S WHAT'S CALLED A SAFETY...>
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Aayla, Ashoka and their clone troopers continued down the path. It wasn't long before unfamiliar sounds could be heard ringing out in the distance. the sounds of explosions were peppered through those other sounds however. "...The sounds of battle..." Master Secura mused.
"Then there ARE lifeforms on this planet..." Ashoka confirmed.
"The twilek looked at her; a slightly amused expression on her face. "You cannot sense them?"
the young padawan averted her eyes awkwardly. "well, this planet..." she stammered. "...it's like Nar Shadaa; alive with the force, and yet, dead to it at the same time..."
Aayla nodded approvingly. "Indeed, Padawan. like trying to see through a thick fog; but if your senses are keen enough, then you can peer through the interference for brief moments." she returned her gaze to the road ahead of them. "This is an opportunity for us both to better hone our senses and adapt to the inherent chaos of this world..."
One of the clones, Cruncher looked through his range finder. "General, there appears to be some kind of camp ahead." he offered the device to the commanding jedi, who took it and peered through it herself. "I could see glimpses of a fire, and you can see the smoke from here..."
Aayla nodded. "...yes, Cruncher. Well done." She herself had caught a glimps of movement in between what appeared to be a series of crude barricades. As she lowered the range finder, something tugged at her senses. her eyes whent cold and focused as she quickly turned to look out into the desolate wasteland. An anomally in her senses. she could feel it was somewhere near by, but... it was as though it could activly conceal itself from the force... that was a disconserting thought...
"Is something wrong, General?" Sander asked.
"Yeah, you trailed off a bit." Ashoka observed. Everyone was now looking at her expectantly.
The twilek jedi leveled a serious look at her comrades. "We are being watched..." she said quietly, earning nervous looks from the clones and Ashoka. "Everyone, don't let your guard down, we could find ourselves in the midst of some less then desirable company..."
Commander Bly hefted his blaster. "From the look on your face, general, I'd imagine that's barely the half of it..."
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Not far away, they were indeed being watched. Next to a large gnarled tree, a shape shimmered in the light, and seemed to slowly materialize out of thin air. The shape of a pony was obscured by a dark cloak that billowed in the wind. A leather mask covered her muzzle and a pair of reflective goggles covered her eyes. strapped across her back was a worn but well maintained sniper rifle.
she raised one armored hoof to push the goggles up to her forhead. Her cold crimson eyes locked on the bizarre new wanderers that were slowly approaching a raider camp. She'd made a mental note that the blue skinned one almost seemed to sense that she was watching them, and would not be easy to sneak up on them and discern their purpose if they were ready for her.
something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. she leveled her rifle in it's direction and looked through the scope.
She smirked as the figure of one of the most enygmatic ponies in the wasteland slowly made his way toward them from the opposite end of the road. The stallion wore an armored trenchcoat, millitary grade combat gear and heavy breather helmet with a hole in the front to accomadate his battered horn. She could even see the red glow of his optic lenses.
Her smirk turned into a grin. It was possible that she was in for quite a show, depending on how they reacted to eachother. she would continue to watch them for a while longer...
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Goldenshine's talk with Watcher had been informative, to say the least. She now had a basic rundown of the great war two hundred years ago, the Baalfire bombs used by both sides, the lingering side effects of said bombs which included all manner of mutated abbarations, he'd also informed her that those horrific dessicated pones that had attacked her before were refered to as 'feral gouls'.
then was an abridged version of more current events. The "Light Bringer" who was named Little Pip who had orchestrated the defeat of and earth pony warlord by the name of Red Eye, and the grand pegasus enclave both, only to sacrifice herself for some kind of wheather control machine.
Another pony named Blackjack, who'd been dubbed "Security" by the local surface ponies who had taken down a criminal syndicate run by somepony named Sanguine and then merged with the spirit of Princess Luna? it got very convoluted after a while. she was starting to think that half of those stories were embelishent.
Lastly, he told her to stay clear of the Smokey mountains as apparently both a murderous revenant and a crazy raider cult were lurking around there...
Goldenshine continued along the abandoned road until a she neared a massive structure that was dotted with small fires that trailed smoke into the air. could this be...? she remembered her vision. The large metal thing that had fallen from the sky; this was it!
It was getting dark now, if she didn't find shelter soon, then she'd be poking around in total darkness. it was this big thing or she was screwed.
As she got closer and closer, she had to squint her golden yellow eyes to see the darkening road. finally she'd reached it. "Holy shit!" she whispered to herself. "this thing is HUGE!"
She marveled at the massive structure's utter enormity as it towered over her. She took a moment to look it over from side to side. This thing had to be twice the size of the stable, maybe even bigger! "...now, to find an opening while there's still enough light to see..."
She trotted and trotted for what felt like an eternity just to get around the blasted heap of scrap. hunger and exhaustion made her whole body weak as she became more and more aware that she hadn't eaten anything since her exile... her stomach growled loudly.
Cold, hungry, and tired, the young unicorn whimpered softly. "I'm beginning to think that there is no way in there..." she whined as she stumbled through tall grass trying to find the road again. "...and I'm gonna die out here..." she sobbed quietly to herself.
She'd managed to make her way around one end of the massive object as she continued through the tall brush. "If I could just find the road again..." she grumbled before she finally found a break in the tall grass that seemed to coincide with a... slight dropoff... "Hwaaaahhh!!!- Ooouughh!!"
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Captain Rex was fiddling with a spare blaster that had been found in the wreckage, when he heard something approaching through the tall grass that surrounded his makeshift camp. A small group of hideous insect like creatures had attacked them already. They were easy enough to dispatch, of course, but he couldn't help but feel that those were hardly alpha predators on this planet.
He readied his blaster and scanned the surrounding area until he could see the grass shifting almost directly across from him. with no time to pich up his helmet, which had been on the ground next to him, he focused down the sights of his weapon with his naked eye. Closer and closer it got. wait... a voice? "...if I could just find the road again...". A female voice. Not much older then Commander Tano, he'd guess. then it came out of the brush.
An odd pink quadroped had stumbled out of the bushes only to slip down the drop off and faceplant into the dirt. It had a Mane and tail of firy yellow with pink streaks through them and It seemed to be wearing a blue jacket of somekind. But a distinguishing feature that caught his eye was the mark on its flank. the image looked like a child's drawing of a galaxy map.
The pink quadroped uttered a pained groan as it slowly hauled itself to its hooves. that female voice from before...came from this creature? was this the native species of this planet? "...Ugh..." she shook her head and took a moment to brush the dirt from her muzzle before she saw him and froze.
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