"Alright... so, then. What's our first move?"
It was quite a ways after dawn, the sun long risen over the compound. Some of the barracks farther down the hallway were officer's quarters: larger, with only one bed, a computer desk and, most importantly, a shower. The two of us had cleaned up as best we could, united in our thankfulness for the still-intact towels and hot water systems. We had met in the hall, Luna's fur, mane and tail slightly damp, my own hair still shining a bit with water, and we had deliberated on our next step.
Some scouting later, we had returned to and investigated the conference room nearer to the blast door marking the exit to the underground center of the compound. There, we had been enthused to find that each of the chairs was set at a touchscreen mounted into the table in the center, all of which were connected to some sort of crystal SMART board that made up the walls. Some doodles and experimental sketches still decorated the far corners of the room, but the main area had been cleared so that we had some surface to organize our thoughts.
Luna looked thoughtful at my question, tapping the underside of her chin in thought, her eyes slightly narrowed. After seeing it once or twice in the past day or so, I had come to realize that this was her 'thinking face', and some sort of giddy fanboy rose up in me at the realization that I was here with Luna, learning her facial expressions and personality quirks, only to be just as quickly crushed by something more practical.
"First? I imagine that, well... you are hungry, yes? That is... your species does experience hunger?"
I cocked an eyebrow. "is that really something that you've needed to ask in the past?"
She waved her hoof from side to side, almost as if to ward off my comment.
"We never know the customs and requirements of other species! Our- my sister was always the one more concerned with such things, and we had naught to do with it for the most part, unless it was some manner of military meeting of some sort."
I chuckled, leaning back in the chair that I'd chosen. "Well, then, you'll be glad to find that I'm rather normal on the biological side of things, and I've had my culture insulted so many times by the internet that I don't believe further insults would even register."
"Oh! Well, that is a relief, I suppose. Still!" She seemed to rally from her previous uncertainty, sitting up straighter, a serious expression stretched across her muzzle. "Whatever we do, we must secure a supply of provisions."
My first reaction to this was one of amusement, given that the first thing that she thought of was food of all things. However, the more that I considered it, the more my eyebrows came together and the deeper my frown.
It hadn't been something that I'd considered, but it now occured to me that this was a larger problem than even the timer, at this point. While the timer's ending was a week out, that wouldn't make much of a difference if the both of us were too weak from hunger by the end of the time period to actually do anything about it.
"Just considering it... we should find a way to check the water supplies for the entire place. We had plenty of hot water for both of our showers, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that I don't want the supply of fresh, potable water to suddenly die out from under us because we emptied the old storage tank that feeds the compound's plumbing."
She nodded. "given that this is a long-term military research..." her eyes widened, and I gripped the desk, leaning across it towards her and giving her an intense stare.
"What do you mean?"
She blinked rapidly, confused, grasping, trying to pin down that line of memory that had cropped up so suddenly and just as suddenly disappeared. She uttered a frustrated growl and hung her head, bangs from her mane covering her eyes a little.
"A long term military research... what?"
She slumped in her chair, pressed against the back of the cushioned seat. "We... I, do not know. It was a flash of something, and it felt right, just as the description of the... um, tarwolves, as night creatures fit. It was like a puzzle piece that slotted into place, something that I didn't know just a moment before."
I leaned farther forward, patting her shoulder. "Look, don't... don't worry. It's more than we had before- like you said, another piece of the puzzle. Maybe you'll recall something more specific eventually, but we just have to be patient, alright?"
She sighed, raising her muzzle again, her bangs still acting as something of a curtain before her eyes as she nodded. I nodded in return, then dropped back into my chair, the steel supports creaking as my weight settled back on it. She flicked her head, parting her bangs to the sides of her face, then fixing her eyes on the panel in front of her and pulling over a thick stylus designed to work with it. With a few quick motions, she scribbled out the two tasks we had come up with so far. After a moment, tapping the back end of the stylus on the screen in thought, she flipped it over again and used the tip to draw a line down the center of the screen and wrote a single thing on the other side.
Long term military research (?)
The words appeared on the selected portion of the walls, in much larger letters that were clearly visible. Luna leaned back in her chair, matching my position in mine as best as a quadruped could match a biped, tucking the stylus behind her ear and sighing.
"'Tis not much, but still... 'tis a start."
I nodded, tapping a finger on the screen as I mused over the tasks. "You know, I'm not a coward or anything... but I hardly think it's cowardly to say that I'm not particularly eager to attempt either of these on my own."
Luna raised a single eyebrow. "Truly, we... I do not fault you for that. I am not particularly eager to go anywhere outside of the blast door without you and the rifle watching my back." I snapped my fingers and pointed.
"Ah, that reminds me. We need to pick up another assault rifle." I reached down to my belt, pulling the pistol and its hard plastic holster off of the strip of leather holding up my pants and setting it on the table. "This thing was just an annoyance to that tarwolf... thing. Annoyed it and not much else, but the rifle was much more effective..."
"True. The thing was not much more than bothered by the small rounds, which is more than slightly concerning."
The both of us shivered, almost in unison. Abandoned city, the signs of a war, the back tar splattered between a wall and the wreckage of a jeep... and here was this durable thing, which absorbed pistol rounds like they were BB's and took the majority of an assault rifle's magazine to put down. None of the signs that we had seen were the least bit encouraging, and though I didn't wan to voice it, I had the sneaking suspicion that things would get a lot worse before they ever got better.
"Regardless, our first move should be to locate a steady source of supplies, at least in the short term."
I played with my own stylus, turning it this way and that with my fingers as I stared vacantly at, and through, the literal writing on the wall in thought. Supplies were a good thing to tackle, as it was urgent that we know exactly what was available to us and how much of it.
"Alright. We'll handle food and water now, and maybe check whatever's providing power for this place, see if it's working correctly. Then, I think we need to come back here, write down everything that we know and everything that you can possibly remember. From there..." I trailed off.
"From there," Luna picked up, "we can decide what we need to do, and where we need to go. For now, supplies."
I nodded in agreement. "Supplies."
I put my hands on the armrests of the swivel chair and pushed myself into a standing position, Luna leaping down from her own chair in a way that rather reminded me of a predatory cat. I stepped to the door, wrapped up in my own thoughts, and nearly made it out into the hallway before I realized that Luna wasn't behind me. I glanced back into the room, and realize that she'd stopped to carefully arrange both our chairs under the desk where they'd come from. As I watched, her magic twisted my chair just so that it was matching the ones next to it, her eyes wandering over the room and finally landing on my face. I cocked an eyebrow and she blushed, dipping her head a little and moving to me.
"Sorry, sorry... couldn't leave them like that."
I blinked a bit, not exactly sure what to do with that, and finally decided to drop it and continue on. Luna picked up the rifle from where it was leaning against the wall and slung it over her back between her wings as I took a few steps down the hall to the armoury door. Another swipe of my admin card and the little light on the reader blinked green, the door clicking as the locks that held it shut disengaged. I grasped the handle and turned it, before pulling it open and stepping inside, finding the space already lit.
Racks of small arms lined the walls, low-caliber small arms arranged nearer to the doors and higher-caliber weapons farther down the shelving. Beneath the racks of weapons were olive green steel boxes, stamped with white lettering that defined the size of the round, how many there were per box and where they were manufactured. I picked one off the shelves at random, leaning down to read the lettering.
1000 .5L x 2.5L BALL CARTRIDGE PISTOL/SMG COMP. SISTER ARMS MANUFACTURING #13, MANEHATTEN
Other locations were listed among the different cases: Canterlot, Fillydelphia, the Crystal Empire, and there were even a few boxes marked with Griffonstone, as well as a number of cities that I didn't recognize. I surveyed them for a moment longer, picking out the different sizes of ammunition and the myriad of locations, then stood and shared a glance with Luna. Her eyes traced a few of the names that I hadn't recognized.
"These places... some are in Yakyakistan, a few are Griffon cities- they're from all over the world. But there is... there is not a single canister that states it was manufactured in Minotauria."
"What does that mean?"
She shook her head, frowning. "It might mean nothing at all. Minotauria is practically almost exactly on the other side of the planet, and thus it may be simply that importing manufactured ammunition from the Minotaurs may have simply been too difficult to bother with." She gave the canisters another long look. "But, on the other hoof... Minotauria is perhaps the most industrialized nation on the planet, and possesses the largest logistical network of any nation we are- I am aware of."
"Just another thing to note down... and, like you said, it might mean nothing at all."
Luna nodded, and we turned to examine the rest of the room.
In the center, on a large table lit from below by a crystal surface, where a number of longer rifles with bipods and scopes. Obviously these were meant to be sniper rifles, but what was truly interesting was that the table that was lighting them was not simply just a light as I had previously assumed, but, upon closer inspection, I realized that the table's surface was in fact a giant screen. Each rifle was highlighted by a glowing blue line, with lettering pointing out the attachments of the rifle that appeared to be electronics of one sort or another. It stated that they were all fully charged, and that each rifle was prepared for taking. Luna glanced over the rifles, then moved to one corner of the table where there appeared to be a small control panel, while I crouched to examine the shelves built into the sides of the table itself.
The first shelf appeared to be devoted to a range of attachments of all shapes and kinds, some even having to do with infrared or something called 'target identification'. A second shelf was devoted to a number of larger telescopes with tripods... for spotters, perhaps? The third and final shelf was ammunition. I checked the description of one box...
100 1.5L ANTI-MATERIAL
I raised my eyebrows at that, grasping the canister by its handle and dragging it out, setting it on the floor and popping the clasp. Luna spared a glance for what I was doing, then returned to the controls that she had been operating with her hoof, frowning in concentration at it while I swung the lid of the box open.
I'd seen fifty caliber rounds before, though I'd never laid eyes on an antimaterial rifle. These were most definitely just as large, and as I picked one out of the can and held it in my hand, noting how heavy it was, I realized that they might even be a bit bigger than fifty caliber. The rounds were, quite frankly, huge. I placed it back in the can and sealed it again, noting that there had been rubber seals around the edges that had kept the box airtight. That done, I replaced the canister back on the shelf, then stepped over to get a look at what Luna was doing.
The control panel now had a thick blue line coming off of it and leading to one of the rifles, a bullpup design with the magazine behind the trigger and a barrel that looked as if it was meant to recess into the weapon in order to deal with recoil. Luna was reading over the text in the box itself which, at a glance, appeared to be a full description of the rifle itself.
"Matt..."
The way she said my name, whispered, not even looking at me, made me immediately look to her face. Her eyes were widened, the corners of her mouth stretched. Her hoof raised and pointed to a piece of text at the top, and I leaned over her to read it.
SISTER ARMS MARK VII ANTI MATERIAL MEDIUM RIFLE (RESERVED AS PROPERTY OF PRINCESS LUNA)
I inhaled a little at that, then glanced up and gave the rifle a once-over again. This time, I noted something about it that I hadn't before: there, on the stock of the weapon, was emblazoned Luna's cutie mark. I leaned closer and ran my hand across the black and white sigil, surrounded with a circle of blue, and realized that it was engraved into the stock of the weapon itself.
"I don't remember anything more about this place than what I have already stated, but I would suppose this means that I was stationed here, or perhaps that I was visiting at some juncture..."
I leaned back, thinking.
"Well, it does make sense. After all, you ended up in the stasis tube, after all."
"Yes, we suppose..." she whispered in reply.
After a few more moments of staring at the words, she shook her head, levitating the rifle off of the table and slinging it over her back with the assault rifle.
"We had best get a move on."
She was purposefully avoiding looking at the table anymore, and trotted out into the hallway, the expression on her muzzle conflicted. I selected another assault rifle at random, rooting among the cases until I found one that contained magazines and not just rounds, taking two of them and quickly walking towards the door. Just as I was about to leave, I facepalmed, turning around and searching through the shelves until I located a taclight in a charging port. I detached the thing, slotted it onto the rails of my rifle, and followed Luna out the door.
Luna had been standing in the center of the hallway, examining the sniper rifle that she'd picked up, it floating in her magic as she stared at her own cutie mark emblazoned on the polymer. As I exited, her eyes flicked in my direction and she returned the rifle to where it had been on her back, drawing the assault rifle instead.
The two of us made our way back to the elevator, Luna pressing the button to call it this time. As with every time before, the doors opened instantly, and we stepped inside the small space.
"So, what's your thinking?" I gestured to the list of three subbasements.
She considered it for a moment, then reached a hoof up and tapped the first subbasment. "We may as well begin at the top, and work our way down."
I shrugged. "Seems reasonable."
We only had to wait ten or fifteen seconds for the elevator to reach its destination, and for the doors to open. I took the time to load one of the magazine into my rifle and chamber a round, slipping the other into the pocket of my cargo pants, the both of us pointing our rifles at the elevator doors.
As they slid open, yellow fluorescent lights in steel wall mounts flickered on, lighting a concrete space with pipes running along the walls and ceiling. Luna and I exchanged an uneasy look before continuing into the room, rifles still held at the ready.
The concrete was stained with moisture and dirt, making a very faint crunching sound as we stepped across it. The sounds of dripping water echoed through the concrete tunnels, condensation dripping from pipes, rust flowing down the walls to the floor. Coloured lines were painted on the walls, listing out where they led, white arrows pointing in various directions. Carts covered in parts, pipes and tools, some rusted and some nearly untouched, were pushed up against the walls. The both of us made our way to a wall of signs pointing in various directions, a rainbow of colours leading into the various tunnels that led off of this central room.
POWER CENTER
WATER MANAGEMENT
WASTE MANAGEMENT
PARTS STORAGE
WORKSHOP & METAL SHOP
STAIRS
"What do you think? Power center, then hit water management?"
Luna considered, then nodded. "Lead the way."
I nodded, then walked down the corridor next to the sign wall, following the yellow stripe of colour that indicated the directions to the power center. Luna followed shortly behind, keeping watch behind us as we made our way along. Hisses of steam, mechanical clanking and a low humming that suffused the very air put us slightly on edge, and I hurried along the corridor with Luna right on my heels. It was an understatement to say that we were eager to get out of this entire floor as soon as we possibly could.
Fortunately, only five minutes of walking led us to our destination. Here another blast door, covered in black and yellow hazard striping, blocked our way forward, with a card reader placed on the wall next to it. I ran the admin card through the reader and pressed the red button beneath it as Luna kept watch, stepping back and bringing my rifle up as the door jerked and slid open with the sound of grinding gears.
The room beyond was the size of a good warehouse, concrete shored up with steel forming the walls and the arched roof above our heads, with several high-power lamps in it. As I looked over the room, one of the lamps sputtered and died, but the light level in the room didn't really go down, primarily due to what the room contained.
The small glowing crystal that I'd found serving as a battery in the taclight had been a surprise, but this was frankly a little bit of a shock. Huge glowing blocks of crystal, wrapped with large wires and glowing a bright blue, were arranged in a grid-like pattern throughout the room. The cables all lead from the blocks themselves and into bundles tied on small catwalks running above the city of crystal blocks, to a large console in the center of the room, where they shot up as one massive winding cable into the ceiling.
"Whoa..."
"Thou dost not jest-" Luna clamped her muzzle closed, looking annoyed. "I-I mean... you are not kidding."
I walked up to one of the blocks of crystal, tapping it with a knuckle. It rang clear like a bell, the patterns of light shifting lazily in its interior, swirls and zig zags and all sorts of strange things.
"It's kinda beautiful, actually. What do you think this is all for?"
Luna indicated the center console with a flick of her muzzle. "Perhaps that will give us the answer."
This time she led, glancing among the rows and being on guard, while I just took in the sight of all of these glowing monoliths with some sense of awe. All of this was in a maintenance sector in a military base? It looked like an expensive art installation that you'd see on a billionare's property...
Luna made it to the console, and I glanced over, observing her magic pressing the keys on the keyboard in rapid succession. She seemed to be trying out search queries in a dialogue box to extract information from the system, but the console wasn't cooperating, insisting that it wasn't linked with the network of the compound at large. Luna made a frustrated sound, bashing the thing with a hoof.
"Worthless... it just keeps coming up with the same timer that we saw in the stasis chamber room."
I gestured to the room at large. "Any ideas what these are for? Any clues in the system itself?"
"None! It won't give me anything, just brings up the timer to every query I make." She huffed, giving the console a glare and trotting away from it a few hoofsteps, examining one of the closer crystals. "These have SOMETHING to do with power management, if the name of the room itself is anything to go by, but I do not have a single clue what that something might be. They could be transformers, they could be relays or part of a larger power generation system- Tartarus, they could just be gigantic circuit breakers for all I know. Whatever they are, it seems that the entirety of facility power comes through here, judging by the cables."
While she took a closer look at one of the crystals, muttering to herself, I took a closer look at the console. It seemed to be pretty normal, a steel casing supporting a keyboard and mousepad of some sort, and a large screen that displayed the self-same timer that I had first seen when I freed Luna from the stasis pod. Underneath the keyboard, however, was something a bit odd: a hole in the steel, perfectly circular. I crouched down, attempting to peer in, but all I could see was that it appeared almost to be a tube in the console itself. After a moment of hesitation, I poked a finger into the hole, feeling the inside and realizing that it seemed to narrow towards the back, as far as I could reach.
"Huh. Weird."
Luna half-turned in my direction, pausing her inaudible monologue. "Did you say something?"
I stood, taking my rifle in both hands and shaking my head. "No, nothing." I glanced around the room one last time. "Well, it appears that whatever this place is, it's functioning just fine. You want to move on to the water management center?"
"Very well. This bright light is giving me a headache in any case."