//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Honest Work // Story: Fallout Equestria: S.T.A.L.K.E.R // by aegishailstorm //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Honest Work Nikolai awoke to the crack of lighting and the the bands of rain lashing against the glass of the skyscraper. He cracked his back, stood up, swung his arms around. And began packing up his sleeping bag. "You finished?" Mr. White's voice asked in the background. " Da-I mean yes, yes I am. I'll go get your thing now." He scratched his head and headed down the stairs. Paint was crumbling off the walls, and the carpet on the floors between stair flights was... well used. To say the least. At last, he opened the door and entered into the lobby space at ground level. Behind the desk sat a unicorn stallion. He wore a peculiar device around his hoof. It looked somewhat like an old computer monitor bolted to whatever the rest of that gizmo was. "Hello sir, your boss told me that you might be able to assist me with updating my digital map." The pony looked up, clearly surprised by Nikolai's appearance. " Oh, yeah! He told me you'd be coming down. What do you need help with?" Nikolai drew his PDA from his pocket and placed it on the desk. He pressed a button on it's side, booting it up. After a half second, a dark screen appeared, and on it 2 orange dots. One marked, 'start' and the other marked, 'Salt Cube city'. The pony stared at the device in slight bewilderment. "Where did you find this?" Nikolai chuckled. "My friend. I did not find it, I bought it, it's practically a requirement where I'm from. Along with a gun and a Geiger counter. "Doesn't sound any different than this place. The tech is like nothing I've ever seen. There's no noticeable trace of a spell matrix. But this little tab here looks like it might just fit a hard drive. Here, let me try. " He pressed a few buttons on the device attached to his leg, and then pulled a drive out of the side. He took Nikolai's PDA in a levitation field and inserted the drive, a few moments later. He removed it. "There, try starting it up now. " Nikolai pressed the button again, opening the digital map. This time, in addition to the locations, it also provided him with a complete topographical map. "This is great. Thanks' for the assistance. What is that thing, by the way?" "Oh, this?" The stallion pointed to the device on his foreleg. " It's a Pip Buck. Old pre war Stable Tech stuff. I wasn't born in one, never even seen one. But they are pretty useful. I saw one at a trading post one day, and I bought it right then and there. Free advice, never pass up on a good deal at one of those markets. " Nikolai nodded. "I already never do. " He waved the pony goodbye and left the building. He was heading north again. Back towards Route 52 and the cottage. As he passed through the market square, he redonned his mask. Giving it a tug to make sure the seal was tight. "I really do have to read some more of that book. Stable Tech? Pip Bucks?" He shook his head and set his mind on the journey ahead. "...The sun can't hide forever!-" Nikolai turned the knob on his radio so fast he worried that the cold war relic would fall apart. He had taken to absent mindedly searching for something to listen to other than the sound of the sound of the wind across the desolate and empty farmland. The rows of unsown fields and agricultural equipment spoke to the lands past. He tuned the knop on his radio one more time. "To the town of Applelosa came a stranger one fine day..." Nikolai scowled. " Why? Who thought to try to counterfeit genius of Country Music legend Marty Robbins? Ah blyat! Is better than whatever the other channels have on." He came to the roadsign where he had first met those merchants. And the bandit, whose body was still lying there. Being snacked on by a... "Что это такое!?" Nikolai reached for his sidearm, he cross drew it using his non dominant hand, pointing it at the creature. It looked like an overgrown... housefly? "Nyet! That isn't right, you must be abomination that Derpy told me about!" The bloated flying thing hissed at him. Nikolai shot once, and the creature exploded in a shower of putrid gore. It's gut's shimmered with a rainbow colored liquid. Nikolai decided to ignore it, he turned left. And, with just the slightest bit of concern headed for the cottage. "Alright, it should be... there!" He visually cross referenced the map on his PDA with that of the terrain, and a few seconds later. He had found it. He quickly made his way the quarter mile from the gravel road to the cottage. He looked inside, and found the carpet that the safe was hidden under. He set his pack and rifle down on the floor and pulled out the pack of bobby pins. " Как мне- Think Stalker! I can do this!" Nikolai racked his brain again and again, trying to remember how to pick a lock. Had it not been made of high carbon steel. He would've just blown it clean off with a bullet or a grenade. But he needed the contents of the safe intact. He snatched his bayonet, jammed it in the lower half of the safe, and stuck a bobby pin in the top half. Looking closer, he spotted a row of locking pins within the plug. "Oh, this shouldn't be that hard." It was at this point that his radio crackled with static again. It was picking up a station from home. "Hello Stalkers! As always, this is Zone FM. Broadcasting from the Cordon, this one goes out to a few of our Yankee friends! I bring you, Quarantine!" Nikolai was greeted to the sound of galloping hooves, followed by a steady guitar beat. " Went to the grocery store... After the stampede... People fight for toilet paper like the UFC..." He couldn't help but laugh as he slowly but steadily knocked each of the tumbler's out of battery with the bobby pin. The lock began to rattle with effort. He was getting close. But something was wrong, the opening chorus of galloping horse hadn't stopped, even partway through the song. "Oh Blyat! There must be someone here!" He dropped the pin and slid the combat knife back into it's scabbard. With a struggle he threw his rucksack back onto his back and re-slung his rifle. He brought the gun up to low ready and snuck over to the hole in the wall. He tried to turn his radio off to figure out what was going on. Sure enough, he could hear hoof beats coming from the back of the structure. "Hey guy's, I think there's someone in there. I just heard music." One voice said. "It could just be another Spritebot. Damn things nearly scared me out of my hooves a few days ago." "Quiet! Do you want to come away from this with more caps, or holes than you started with?" Nikolai smirked behind his GP-5 gas mask. " These do not sound like professional Gopniks. No four legged бандит is gonna nab me!" He checked the action. And crawled up behind the kitchen counter, which looked like the only solid thing left in the house. He heard one set of hooves trot around to the front door. Nikolai raised his rifle up to his shoulder and put his sights right on the frame about halfway down. The first thing he saw come around the door was a rifle barrel. "I could negotiate with them. But then I would be risking becoming a hostage!" By the time the thought had already passed his mind, he was halfway through the motion of pulling the trigger on his AK 101. The round sailed through the door and struck the target on the other side with a squishing noise. There was a scream, and gunfire erupted from around back, tearing holes in the far wall near, the rear door. He chased the sound of galloping away from the door with 3 more shots from the AK. He heard the scream fall silent. "дурак! Иди к черту! Go to hell!"Nikolai shouted. He shuffled out in an awkward squatting position. By complete accident, he turned the knob of his radio with his elbow. Bandit Radio was on. And it was playing at max volume. The gunfire continued, although it had slowed in intensity, he could hear the familiar sound of weapons being reloaded, and he took this as his chance to strike. He snuck out through the front door, making sure that there was nothing waiting around the corner to ambush him. "There-" The second pony didn't get to finish what she was saying, 2 more rifle rounds flew through her. He could see 2 more, halfway in the process of entering the cottage though the back door. Probably trying to outflank him. Nikolai came around the side of the building and dropped one with a 3 round burst to his neck. He could now see that there were at least four more, and they had all fled to the far side of the building near what looked sort of like an old outhouse. He pressed forward, knowing that if he didn't keep up the momentum they would kill him without a second thought. Crack! Crack! Crack! While the suppressor on the end of his rifle may have masked the sound of the gunshot, the sonic crack of the round was still audible. Another one fell, letting off one errant shot from it's shotgun as the mare fell to the ground. Nikolai got of one more round before he heard his trigger break on empty. He hadn't swapped magazines since his firefight with the Monolith the day prior. "Go go, get it!" Nikolai heard a male voice cry out. He let his AK fall onto it's sling, he cross-drew his Makarov with his left hand, and swiftly wounded one of the 3 remaining attackers in a leg. He heard hooves clamor around the far side of the house. Then come up behind him. " дурак- Oh blyat!" He bunny hopped out of the way of a spear wielded by a mare with an insane look in her eyes. He could almost pity her. That is, if she wasn't trying to run him though. Nikolai ran out from his cover behind the cottage wall, and made for the backside of the structure. He saw more muzzle flashes, and felt something smack him in the stomach. He didn't have time to think about it. He stumbled back into the cottage and peaked out behind the door frame. He looked through the collapsed portion of the house. And waited for the mare with the spear to pass by. He put a bullet right through her right ear. Then whipped back around, just in time to see the last 2 flee in panic. "Da. That would be the smart move." Nikolai reached into a pouch and reloaded his AK 101. Stuffing the empty magazine into an improvised dump pouch. He did the same with his Makarov. And, just as things quieted down, so did Bandit Radio. "Дякую! Thank you! Zone FM, for musical assistance." He praised the device on his chest rig. The Stalker's eyes drifted to the tear in his vest. The ballistic plate had stopped the round, and that was all that mattered. He could fix the tear at a later date. With the gunfight over, he went back to trying to pick the lock on the safe. After about 2 minutes, he had finally gotten the last tumbler out of battery. Nikolai slid his knife clockwise, and the safe door popped open. Nikolai inspected the contents inside. Within he found one loaded revolver, a box of .38 Special ammunition. A gas mask that looked like it was designed for an equine, and a sealed bag. He unloaded the revolver and placed the items into the lesser pouch in his rucksack. With all that done, he closed the safe, and began to examine the bodies around the house. They had much better stuff on them than the bandit that had tried to rob him the first time around. "Now, what would most valuable thing here?" He looked them over. It was a bit saddening to him that he had had to kill them. But if he hadn't they likely would have done far worse things to him had they captured him. It was obvious that he should take the bottlecaps that they had on them. Between the 5 bodies he scrounged up 72 bottle caps. "That brings it to 309 in total." He patted the side of his pack. "Що ще? What else?" Nikolai walked out to the back porch. A piece of black metal caught his eye. Even in it's equine form. He could recognize a good quality rifle. Though the design was foreign to him. Trigger and grip assembly aside, it looked a bit like a slimmer AR- 180. Just with a modified charging handle and a stock which, if he were to attempt shouldering. Would put the sights just above his head. It was clear designed for pony use. "Ah, blyat... How do you fold this- Huzah!" With some fiddling, he was able to drop the magazine and collapse the stock. He racked the charging handle and sent a 5.56 caliber round tumbling to the ground. He picked it up and looked it over. "Extra ammunition." He found spare magazine's for the carbine in a bandolier. Which he stuffed into his pack along with the firearm. As far as weapons go, there was nothing that looked like it was worth taking among the other bodies. The 10 MM pistol had taken one of his shots to it's slide and rendered it unusable. And the 20 gauge bolt action shotgun had a rusted barrel and was too large to stick in his pack. All edged and blunt weapons were the same. He took magazines and ammunition. As well as a set of binoculars, a deck of odd playing cards, and a few other odds and ends that were small enough to take without hindering himself too much. With everything of value that he could take with him packed up. Nikolai set off back towards Salt Cube city. "Why am I helping that Mr. White? ты дурак!" He facepalmed as he left the gravel road and set off back down Route 52. "I need to find myself a purpose after I deliver this stuff. I have all this money and nothing to spend it on." Nikolai continued to mutter to himself all the way to Downtown Salt Cube City. "Hello again Nikolai!" Thrifty Goldenhoof's voice called out. Nikolai waved to the mare as she passed him by. She was the only face that appeared welcoming to him. All the other's eyed him with the same mixture of concern, curiosity, and even slight animosity. He ignored them, and continued on into the White Apple's tower. " Did the map work?" The secretary at the front asked him. "Da. It worked well. I thank you for your assistance. " The stallion smiled. " No problem... Friend?" Nikolai gave him a thumbs up. And left for the many flights of stairs. "Made it back alive, that's a shocker." The guard standing post at Mr. White's office sounded jaded. Bored was more like it. Nikolai removed his mask and headed past the rows dilapidated cubicles, and into the office. " My courier has returned. And with the stuff, I hope?" Nikolai set his rucksack down on the table between himself and his 'employer.' "Yes, I have. Now, I ask only one thing, how much will you pay me for what I am about to give you?" Mr. White furrowed his fuzzy brow and pulled a cigar from the a cabinet within the desk. He threw his back legs up onto the table and lit the cigar with a match. Nikolai chuckled. "Little horse smoking. This, this is comedy. " Nikolai left his personal opinion that the smoke smelled like a burning tire doused in vinegar in his head. " I'll tell ya when I see it." Nikolai groaned and withdrew the things which he had collected from the safe from his pack and set it onto the table. "There." Mr. White merely glanced over most of it, but stopped to look at the sealed package. He picked it up, and sliced it open with a knife that had been laying on the desk. Contained within it was set of papers. Nikolai glanced over at it. The document stack was titled; "The C.A.R.E Project: Addendum #4, Balefire Warheads." Well, he didn't know what the acronym 'C.A.R.E' referred to. But he recognized Balefire, and he recognized the bold red letters which were stamped on over the back of the document. "Top Secret." Nikolai could put 2 and 2 together. "Are those instructions on how to acquire a Nuclear bomb?" Mr. White didn't look up from the papers. "Oh ye- Take your shit and leave. Now!" The all white stallion was turning red with anger. Given the way the guards outside were looking at him. He figured that if if he didn't do as told they would drag him out of here. "What about my pay?" Nikolai watched as Mr. White's hoof reached across the desk. He realized that he was reaching for the revolver which Nikolai had acquired. "Blyat! You dishonest-" Nikolai snatched the papers out of his hoof and whacked Mr. White in the muzzle whilst punching him at the same time. The document tore, Nikolai let it fall from his hand. He grabbed his pack, stuffed the revolver into a side pocket, and dashed out of the room. "Stop him!" Mr. White shouted behind him. Nikolai bounded over the 2 armored guards. He could hear shotguns being racked. He quickly unslung his AK 101. He looked over at the stairwell, but it was blocked off. He ducked behind a support pillar and prepared to fight his way out, when he accidently backed into the guard from before. "Hey, it's you. What did I tell you about Mr. Salt? You better get out of here before he has you thrown from the top of the building. Nikolai winced, but he had noticed that there was an elevator, just a short sprint away. "Eh, I may have punched him." The guard groaned. "You should really get the buck out of here." "Da, thanks'. He bounded from his hiding spot to the metal doors, with effort, he was able to pry them apart. "I really should have looked for an alternate escape route!" Nikolai cried. He heard hooves galloping in his direction. He was about to step out, when he realized that the elevator was way down at the bottom. He crossed himself, and jumped out into the shaft. Grabbing a greased cable like a firefighter. He descended all the way to the bottom in just under 9 seconds. He jumped off into a pile of rusted rubble at the bottom, stopping only to redon his gas mask, he pried the doors at the bottom apart and took off out out of the lobby and into the street. He could hear hooves clamoring around inside. Nikolai made for the market. "Nikolai, what's the rush?" Thrifty asked as Nikolai barged into the tent. "White's goons are after me." "Oh no, what happened?" "I think he was trying to build a bomb. A big bomb, Balefire- You say? he refused to pay me. I punched him, took this, and ran. " She groaned and shook her head. "Derpy's already on the way back to New Appleosa. You wouldn't be able to catch up even if you had wings yourself. You're gonna have to hide. But there's no place that you can hide in the city that trumped up stallion's mercenaries can't reach. Except..." She picked up 2 packets of Rad-away. "Have you seen the Glow?" Nikolai scratched his head. " The what?" "The Giant metal dome on the eastern side of the city? It's heavy with Balefire radiation and infested with feral ghouls. Hence the glow. Given your appearance, it should make a good hiding spot. But still, you might need these if you're going to hide in there. They're free of charge, just this once." Nikolai nodded franticly, and stuffed the packet's into his pocket. "Thank you Thifty, I shall return. " He tipped his raincoat hood and sprinted out with his rifle in hand, after leaving the market place he pulled out his PDA and examined the map of the city. He followed the winding streets until he passed by a road sign with a crude radiation symbol painted onto it. The surrounding buildings began to look more and more decimated the closer he got to his destination. The 'Dome' was now fully in sight. On the far side, the roof of the massive stadium- like structure was a hole, an eerie green glow emanated from the entire building. As he got within half a kilometer, his Geiger counter began to make those weird wave-like noises he had heard outside of the city. He lifted his mask slightly, took 2 swigs of Vodka followed by a little bit of water. He knew he wouldn't be able to lift his mask again once he got inside. And he needed to stay as cheerful as possible. "It's just like the Zone!" He said with a laugh. Uncalmly cheerfully. Throwing his arm out to greet the irradiated ruin.