Echoes of Resistance: Divergence

by tom117z

Divergence

The raptor detonated with an explosion so blinding that I was forced to avert my eyes, I really wanted to keep those! Still, it didn’t stop me from cheering with everybody else as the metal giant’s hulking carcass hit the ground amidst a splintering of steel and bone.

I mean, holy shit… We were doing this. We were actually doing this!

To my sides, the people of the Equestrian Wasteland rose up against those power armoured bastards who believed they could just swoop in and take control of everything like ‘no biggie!’ How was a griffon supposed to make an honest living with the Enclave pressing ponies under their boots and giving every other species to the firing squad! This guy sure couldn’t, that’s for sure!

It had all started when the Lightbringer went and got herself killed, the stupid horn head. Everything had been going swell since Gawd took over Shattered Hoof Ridge, I was proud to be a talon serving under her. We had those stable ponies coming on in to settle Junction R-7, and we had a whole settlement thing going. And let’s be honest, the caps Gawd was paying us weren’t bad either.

And then the holier-than-thou Grand Pegasus Fuckin’ Enclave just had to fall through the clouds and start setting fires. First, they torched Friendship City, though I heard the Stable Dweller made them suffer for it. Didn’t help the mare much when they next came for New Appleloosa, destroying the town and taking the ponies’ favourite ‘hero’ with it. Huh, and we’d have been lucky for them to stop there.

While we had been able to hold Shattered Hoof Ridge, initially anyway, the posh morons at Tenpony Tower were up shit creek without a paddle. I might have actually laughed if them getting wiped out hadn’t meant the Enclave got their hooves on a roost damned super weapon!

Whatever fight we’d been putting up, Celestia One put an end to it. Red Eye? Dusted. Steel Rangers? Scrap metal. Applejack’s Rangers...? Actually, they’re right here fighting with us.

And I can’t say no to our own power armour support.

Still, we knew we’d have been next. The Boss put Shattered Hoof Ridge and Junction R-7 into full evacuation before we were next to get cooked. Only they didn’t use Celestia One, and Junction R-7 and those ponies from Stable 2 were all taken captive before we could get to them first.

But Gawd doesn’t give in!

I would’ve loved to see those feather brains’ faces when all they found was an empty prison… filled with explosives.

It made for a great fireworks display!

Still, was hard finding a place to settle down. Even Hoofington got taken out, there was nowhere obvious to hide.

Whole damned wasteland. Didn’t even take em’ a year to brush away the bodies and begin asserting their new ‘order’ onto it. They started to build cities where wasteland settlements used to be, even keeping the names. ‘New Appleoosa’ for example, it’s a pegasus themed shithole now.

For non-Enclave, or anyone not an asset to them, there’s nothing but hell to be found there.

And it’s like that everywhere.

And if you’re not a pony? Well, apparently you’ve forfeited the right to breathe.

Yeah, not if you stop breathing first, buddy.

Well, they’re learning now. Anyone who survived Operation: Cauterize went into hiding, rebel cells throwing the occasional bullet the Enclave’s way. But we weren’t getting anywhere fast… so Gawd came up with a plan.

We spent a good long while getting into contact with the other cells, I was even with some of the envoys. And I’m not into ponies or anything, but I wouldn’t mind seeing what’s under Elder Strawberry Lemonade’s armour…

Oh well, plenty of time for rutting if we pull this off. First, we had the rangers set off enough smoke bombs around Tenpony Tower that it looks one cigarette away from cancer. And no sunshine, no Celestia One.

And what came next was truly a work of Gawd.

Simultaneous attacks from all rebel cells around Equestria. Enclave outposts, checkpoints, we hit so many that those power armoured freaks have got to be feeling it where it hurts! And yet all of it paled to where I currently am, watching that raptor crumble into the dirt from my fellow talons’ boarding action.

While smaller groups made their attacks across the board, the rest of us made a direct push for Junction R-7, now one of the Enclave’s biggest military bases on the ground. Magical turret defences, shield doors, power armour units like no tomorrow.

It’ll make a great base for the resistance!

“Greyquill, get your ass back into line and fire your weapon!” Gawd shouted into my face, knocking me out of my internal monologuing.

Guess I got a bit carried away with the moment, huh?

Gawd got out of my face and began firing her battle saddle at a couple of Enclave soldiers taking cover behind the entrance we were going for, and I revved up my minigun in compliance.

Oh, I love this part…

“FUCK YOU, METALHEADS!” My beauty of a gun finishing its warm-up cycle and unleashed death upon all who decided it would be a good idea to stick their heads out of cover!

One stupid cunt had taken her helmet off for some reason, and my bullets scrambled her brains across the grown! Our sustained fire was pushing the defenders back into their hole, many retreating past the broken wall and jumping inside the base itself. Me and the other talons never let up our stream of bullets, and there were several ‘thunks’ as the Applejack’s Ranger next to me (one of the ones the Elder had leant us while she, a bunch of the rangers and the Stable Dweller’s old friends hit Tenpony) unloaded with his grenade rifle.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The last soldier at the gate fell, and we had a clear path to move inwards.

“No backing down, get inside that base!” Gawd commanded, standing on her back legs as she showed off the battle saddle on her back and the large .44 calibre magnum in her right claw. “Secure the corridors and move in on the command centre. My daughter died for this, and we will see this through!”

I gladly joined in on the battle cry with my fellow talons, the Applejack’s Rangers just remaining silent as they waited for the charge.

They wanted that charge? Well, we charged!

I opened my wings wide as the others charged forwards, hovering over the group as we bolted straight through the unguarded gate. A few turrets up above turned from their previous targets to fire at us, though that’s what I was waiting for! My minigun revved up, and I let loose a stream of bullets across the magical energy turrets until they blew into molten slag! I only stopped when my barrels ran dry, though I didn’t have time to stop and admire my handiwork. The others had already made it into the courtyard, making sure some of the smaller outer buildings were secure as they headed directly towards the main structure.

And it was about time. But hey, when working with non-fliers you gotta deal with problems like walls and fences. And I guess it’s not like they made landing without getting dusted by their turret defences easy. Seriously, these Enclave weren’t taking any chances.

Luckily, we’re just better than them.

I flew down and joined the other in the protective ring we were forming around Gawd as she approached one of the large steel doors leading into the main base. It was locked up tight, no smartass with a bobby pin was getting it open.

But eh, bobby pins are for chumps. Now, plastic explosives on the other claw…

The doorway caved in on itself as Gawd hit the detonator, and we were in! I was with the Boss as we piled in through the scrapped door, leaving a couple of Applejack’s Rangers to cover our escape if things went bad. A couple of ceiling turrets descended the moment we stepped into the entranceway, though they were quickly scrapped like the others.

There were also a couple of random guys in light combat barding firing at us with some of those small box weapons that shot red lasers. Gawd snatched with of them up in her claw and smashed his head into the metal wall, the other got turned into cheese.

The door leading from the entrance was of a thick metal, a circular blue light in the middle. It was unlocked and slid open when we hit the button. Gawd led the way, the group of us moving our way further inside the base. We would leave a couple of talons behind to form checkpoints, all to keep the area secure and tidy from Enclave soldiers trying to be the big fuckin’ hero.

Oh, and we encountered a few more of those along the way too. Both in power armour, and others in light combat armour. Still, my baby was reloaded and ready for them whenever they appeared.

It was also really nice of them to label each section and point us in the direction of the command centre.

Eventually, we reached a dead end, the direct route to the command centre having been blocked off by a blue coloured shield being projected from hidden emitters in the walls. This meant we had to take a different way to get there.

And it led us straight through a large science lab.

The moment we appeared in the large chamber, five guys in power armour began unloading on us while a few science geeks in white hazmat suits with orange fishbowl helmets hid behind them. The guy next to me was hit by one of the first beams and reduced to ash, the rest of us either diving for cover or taking to the air.

I was definitely one of the latter.

I couldn’t help but laugh as the Enclave scrambled to get away from the path of my minigun! One of the soldiers didn’t make it very far before I began to unload into him, my bullets peppering against his power armour as he gave an audible grunt, the internal machine crap sparking as he fell to one knee. He’d brought up his suit’s large stinger tail to try and shield himself, though that’d snapped off quickly enough.

I was just about to peel the rest of the armour away when a bullet went through his visor and into his brain. The reality being, one of my fellow talons had just stolen my kill, and she was giving me that fuckin’ shit eating grin…

Yeah, I still have more kills than you!

I came to a landing by the scientists, giving them my ‘friendliest’ smile. By the smell, at least one of them had shit themselves.

Gawd and the others got done with the other soldiers, coming over to join me.

“What do we do with this lot, Boss?” one of the other talons asked Gawd.

Gawd gave the cowering pegasi a cold glance, before snorting dismissively. “A couple of you can stay here to keep an eye on them. No killing, maiming or raping! We’re not monsters like them, and if you do it anyway I’ll beat it out of you myself!”

Ever the idealist, the Boss. Has big dreams of creating a ‘New Canterlot Republic’ where everyone is going to be welcome. I blame the Lightbringer for that little idea, but where the Boss goes I follow.

The Boss grabbed a couple of talons and started dishing out commands. While that was going on, and the scientists were being secured, I had a better look around the lab and…

Holy fuck this was grim. And I’d seen some shit.

Alicorns and ghouls were the majority of what was held in the giant tubes filled with… I don’t even know what. But a couple of mutated animals were in the bunch, and I could see at least one normal looking wastelander.

I wasn’t even sure if they were dead or not.

A nearby terminal was logged on, and in a moment of curiosity I hopped over and had a peak. A not was displayed on the screen.

Lab, tell Death Scythe the initial samples have been collected, and we await further instructions.

-Lab Assistant A.

Lab Assistant who? Was ‘A’ the first letter of their name…?

Gawd got done with her commands, calling the rest of us to follow on.

Eh, whatever. I’ll leave that for the Applejack’s Rangers’ scribes.

We left the lab behind and continued on into the rest of the buildings. There was gunfire further in, though surprisingly we didn’t encounter any more soldiers in our path until we ascended some stairs that led to the command centre’s doorway. There, we found a couple of soldiers who were standing guard with a single ceiling turret hanging from above. They weren’t even in power armour, and they didn’t last more than a few seconds before we’d shredded them.

And that left us nothing more to do than enter the command centre and…

Find a whole lot of officers with holes in their heads.

What?

I wonder how funny our faces were as we spread out through the command centre, looking at the scene. The room was large and rectangular in shape, a large holographic map dominating the centre of the room showcasing the battle ongoing around the base, various computer consoles lining the outer edges of the room. And looking around, it seemed that all the Enclave who’d been in here had just… killed themselves.

All but one.

There was a single pegasus in an officer’s uniform still alive, sitting on a chair by the map with a bottle of Wild Pegasus held in his wing. The pegasus had an orange coat and brown mane, emerald green Enclave power armour stood discarded to one side with a weird glowing pistol I didn’t recognise sitting on the map near the pegasus.

“What happened here!?” Gawd demanded to know, snatching his gun away before he could reach it. Though, he never even made an attempt. “And… what is this…?”

“Star Blaster…” he muttered in a drunken voice. This guy… The fuck happened? “Don’t matter anymore…”

The Boss was losing her patience, and she grabbed the officer by his collar and slammed him into the table. “What the fuck is happening here?”

“They might have shot themselves, knowing they couldn’t stop us?” I suggested.

The pegasus snorted. “Right… Keep tellin’ yourself that…”

“What. Happened?” Gawd repeated, though the pegasus only slipped another sip of his whiskey. “Grr, Junction R-7 is ours, we’ve overrun your soldiers!”

“Yup!” he agreed. “Gawd, right? Autumn Leaf, nice to meet ya.”

Gawd just looked at the drunk officer in disgust, throwing him onto the floor. “Throw him with the other prisoners.”

I made to comply, but Autumn Leaf just laughed.

“Ah… you’ve doomed us all.”

Huh?

Gawd turned to give the pegasus a glare. “What?”

“I tried to get 'em ta call it off…” he slurred. “But you’ve got the whole fuckin’ resistance here, haven’t ya? Now, our glorious leader wants to use it as a test, and wipe you out… Us along with it so… yeah, they shot themselves.”

“Test…?” Gawd asked, looking increasingly alarmed.

Autumn Leaf stood up, looking around at the dead officers while raising his bottle in a mock salute. “Here’s to 'em. But I’ll wait it out. I was meant to lead this army after Maripony, ya know. But then that… bitch convinced 'em otherwise. And now she’s the head of the whole damned Enclave. The Grand General. Hoo fuckin’ rah.”

I just gave Autumn Leaf a blank stare, every hair and feather on my body beginning to stand on end as a pit opened in my stomach. And from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one with that feeling of dread.

“I was supposed to be the one to WIN!” he shouted, smashing the now empty Wild Pegasus bottle on the ground and approaching the map. The blips I assumed showed our forces had routed all of the Enclave. The battle was over, we’d won… “Not Pride. Not Windsheer. Certainly not that fuck up Calamity! But now… Now I get to die in a balefire blast.”

Gawd took a sudden step backwards. “WHAT!?”

We all felt it the moment it hit, a shock that spread through over every surface and straight through our bodies.

And then the burning began.

It probably happened in less than a second, but it all seemed to go in slow motion, the green fire ripping through the wall like it was tissue paper. It reached Gawd first, and I saw the flames lick around her body as her feathery wings caught alight. They burned away first, and then her flesh began to fall away as well, revealing the bare muscles beneath. That was next, her eyes turning into soup as it and the rest of her organs liquified until but a skeleton remained. Even that was then vaporized by the explosion.

It took a nanosecond.

Autumn Leaf was next, and just like with Gawdyna Grimfeathers he was melted and boiled until nothing remained.

And then it hit me.

It was a nanosecond. But the pain… THE PAIN! It spread for eternity, far beyond anything I could even comprehend! The feeling as my eyes bubbled and melted, their juices rolling down my now skinless cheeks… My insides were roasting and disintegrating within me, all while I was painfully still alive and aware. It was… oh… stop…. Just stop... I couldn’t even scream, there wasn’t time, or… or...

PLEASE! PLEASE LET ME DIE!

And then I felt my brain begin to burn, and-

…

Neighvarro

“The bombing was a complete success,” an Enclave officer reported, saluting before the mare behind the desk. “The detonation went flawlessly, and the complete annihilation of Junction R-7 and the surrounding landscape took but a second to accomplish. We have proved our capability to not just produce balefire bombs, but also improved their destructive capabilities.”

The mare leaned back in her chair, grinning. “And Gawdyna Grimfeathers?”

“Deceased, General,” the officer reported. “Along with most of the resistance. The remaining cells have returned to their holes, and the Applejack’s Rangers have withdrawn from Tenpony Tower. Their attack on us was a complete and utter failure, and we will surely have the last of them in custody shortly.”

“It’s a good thing I had our major research moved to a new location shortly before all of this,” the General remarked, getting up from her chair and looking out a window showing a clear view of the distant mushroom cloud emerging from the cloud layer where Junction R-7 once was. “And Autumn Leaf?”

“Declared KIA.”

“Good,” the General declared as the window and other objects rattle a bit from the shockwave. “Our projects can go ahead, and we still need to find a way into that Single Pegasus Project. In the meantime, have the public told that Junction R-7 was destroyed in a terrorist attack by elements with a recovered pre-war balefire bomb, and Autumn Leaf died valiantly fighting the attackers. That should placate his father.”

“We’ll see to it,” the officer reported. “I think the council is going to be happy with this outcome.”

“I should think so,” the General confirmed. “We have megaspell capabilities, the Lightbringer is dead, the resistance and its leader are resting in a radioactive crater…”

Death Scythe grinned at her own reflection in the window, the outside darkening as the sun settled into the horizon.

“Equestria is mine.”