//------------------------------// // Chapter 35: Thyme // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// "We can't shoot down the drop ship- they'll start suspecting us." Spitfire sighed. "But then we're letting Val onto the COLOSSUS. And that's a heck load of bull and she'll reveal us anyway." she rubbed her head. "Buck this. It hurts my brain. Somepony else make the decision." she said, turning away. "Captain! Haven has filed in a completed list of evacuees from ATLANTIS that made it to the site." an officer called after her. "Alright. Give me the unconfirmed casualties." Spitfire said, turning back around. "The entire army of Crawlers, ma'am. We believe them to be still in ATLANTIS." the officer said. "We'll need them. Keep them on stand by. Go on." Spitfire rubbed her chin, mapping out the information in her head. "Apollos alpha 6, alpha 12, beta 17, and the Horizons." "Blithy..." Spitfire took in a sharp breath. "Knowing Val, she's probably captured. I wouldn't worry too much- she'll live. Give me specific names for the rest." "Zealo and Lightning Dust of Alpha squad, escort of the Horizons; and... I'm not sure what this one is... It's not an Apollo, but a registered co-pilot of the Horizons. Beta 17." "Name, officer." Spitfire said, frustrated. "No name... Just... 'The Doctor'." Spitfire was silent for a minute. "Well, buck." She sighed frustratedly. "Mobilize a search party. I want that search party down there before Val gets to the COLOSSUS. We need the Doctor." she said, pacing around. "Distress signals ma'am. And one incoming call from alpha 6." a different officer called from across the bridge, on the opposite end. "Put em through! And track that distress signal- direct the search team there!" Spitfire yelled. A holographic screen popped up before her eyes. "Alpha 6 to command, can anybody hear me? ATLANTIS do you read?" a pilot's face appeared on the screen. "Alpha 6, this is the M.F. OASIS. What's your status, over." Spitfire spoke loudly and clearly, with her hooves folded behind her back. "Shuck! Captain! A lot of the Apollo's systems are down- can't see you. We're running on reserve energy, don't know how long we'll be in the air for. Can't be much longer now though, by the looks of it. I'm fine, but I've got one injured." "Fatally." Lightning Dust cried weakly from behind Zealo. "And... A little insane." Zealo muttered. "Don't worry. She's being normal." Spitfire face-hoofed. "Alright. Can your Apollo pick up a distress signal?" "Most of the HUD isn't working, ma'am. I have no idea what my own true air speed is." "Right. I'll send you the co-ordinates." Spitfire waved at an officer. "See if you get them." There was a small beep on Zealo's side. "Got it." "Head there. There should be another pony needing pick up. Stay there, our rescue team will head to that rendezvous point." Spitfire said. "We'll do our best to get there ma'am." Zealo said, not saluting because he was too busy trying to keep the plane in control. "Put me through to your co-pilot." Spitfire commanded, and Zealo switched the screen. "Hey Captain." Lightning Dust said weakly. "Holy cows-" Spitfire flinched at what she saw. "Cadet- I mean lieutenant- what is wrong with your wing?" "I don't know, ma'am." Lightning said weakly. "Don't look! Don't look! It's not important." Spitfire said quickly, just so Lightning Dust could keep that extra courage. "Just stay alive. Focus on that, alright?" "Yes... Ma'am..." Lightning Dust breathed. "Captain, your cupcake-" Soarin ran into range. "Soarin, take over. Keep talking to her and keep her alive!" Spitfire yelled, and scoffed down the cupcake. "I need to keep track of that rescue team." "They've been dispatched ma'am!" an officer yelled. "Good! Tell them to hurry!" Spitfire said impatiently. "Give me an estimate time to arrival!" "ETA 30 minutes!" the officer yelled back. "Shuck..." Spitfire muttered, rubbing her head. "Dusty, you heard that? Can you hang on for that long?" "I'll...push my limits..." Lightning Dust muttered, and Spitfire grinned. * "Medical team 45, entering the atmosphere." a light green unicorn reported. She had been among the few that had been recently transported from Haven to work on the OASIS in secret, because the OASIS had a sudden demand for medical staff. She was wearing full medical team armor, light weight for high maneuverability and a clean white, with red stripes running down the sides. Medical teams were equipped with retractable light-weight rifles, which have low fire power however can fold into the size of a small sub-machine gun and unfold into a high-precision rifle within seconds. A red cross on her shoulder caught a glint of light through the dropship's windows, which then flashed across her badges which identified her as squad leader. She hadn't been on the surface for a while now. The last time was a month ago, just before she was dispatched to the OASIS. Seeing it again brought back a sort of familiarity that made her comfortable, but also a sense of alien in her heart. She checked her back pack, full of medical supplies. "Thyme, I'm trusting you with this. Keep in mind that the Doctor isn't a normal pony- and quite an important one." Spitfire spoke through the mic. "I'll do my best Captain Spitfire." Thyme replied, even though her hooves were sweating under the gloves. "You don't have long, so work your magic." "Yes ma'am." Thyme said, and peered out the window. Her face was instantly lit bright orange by the evening sun slowly dropping below the horizon, now a half sphere in the distance. Long shadows were cast across the surface by the objects on it, like the city of Manehatten. The shadows of its sky-rise buildings dragged across the surface, even longer than the clouds in the sky. She turned and looked out the other window- it was night on this side already, because they were so high up they could virtually see both sides of the Earth. Hints of stars were popping out on the dark purple sky, twinkling in the darkness. Just a quick run- shouldn't be too complicated. * Vinyl walked down the mane street of Fillydelphia, which cut directly down the center of the city. Heck, the street was about ten meters wide. She felt oddly exposed out in the open- and everything was oddly silent too. Nuclear fallout crunched beneath her hooves as she trotted on, more ash and dust falling from the skies as a slight breeze blew them off the buildings. The buildings were nothing more than huge concrete blocks towering hundreds of meters high with holes in them where windows used to be. Vinyl walked through rows and rows of these, the buildings growing shorter and shorter as she approached the center of where the nuke hit. "Applebloom." she said quietly, Frostbite following her close and his eagle eyes scanning the area. "Vinyl. You got anything yet?" "It looks like it was one of those incendiary nukes again." Vinyl sighed, looking around at the area of devastation. An incendiary nuke was the combination of a nuke and an incendiary device. Val developed it to erase evidence- the nuke would wipe everything out, and the device would burn any trails left. Or so that's how it was supposed to work, but the device turned out to only prolong the nuke's effects by adding fuel to the flames. However, due to a reaction with the nuclear radiation, it somehow clears it down to a safe level. The reaction was still being studied, with little progress however. Put simply, there was something here Val didn't want anyone to see. "Keep looking. There's gotta be some materials that the nuke can't destroy." Applebloom said. "Got it. Heading to the center." Vinyl said, and Frostbite took out two protective masks from his bag and handed one to her. She nodded, and slipped it on. The center probably had a lot of fallout which wouldn't be pleasant when inhaled. They rounded a corner, and immediately was met with huge clouds of dust and ash drifting in the breeze. Frostbite's eagle vision peered through the fallout, scanning the area. "We seem to be at some sort of establishment." he said, walking towards the center. The buildings here had all crumbled down into blocks, completely blown away by the nuke. Vinyl walked by a huge metal box, with bits of deformed alloys scattered around the main body. There seemed to be the barrel of a small cannon poking out from it, the barrel drooping down- probably melted then froze again as everything cooled down. Clearly portions of the mysterious metal box had been set on fire before, burn marks and deformations scattering across the surface. "I'm taking a look inside." Vinyl nodded to Frostbite, then flicked her wrist. The laser disc activated, and formed in her hoof; a rotating disc of high-temperature light. She dug it into the side of the metal box, and started cutting. She cut a square into it, then dug her hooves behind the metal sheet. It was quite a hunk of armor- almost solid steel. But the flames had made it some-what crumbly, and as she hauled it out of the way it hit the floor and fell into pieces with a loud thunk. Something else followed it out too, dark brown and black with portions of it white. It seemed to be stuck on the side of the metal sheet that fell on the flood, and threads and pieces of it still stuck to the insides of the metal box. It looked like some sort of sticky substance, obviously a biological hazard. "Uh..." Vinyl waved a hoof around, flinching at the smell. She couldn't quite tell what it was- but it definitely didn't smell good. Hot smoke was pouring out of the metal container, and slithered along the ground. Something caused a slight chemical reaction in there when it was burning- but what was it? She turned her attention back to the odd guck stuck to the metal. She stared at it, trying to figure out what it was. Then she tried her best not to puke, and quickly looked away. "Oh, god..." she muttered and shook her head. "What is it?" Frostbite asked, flying down and landing next to her. She pointed at the guck, and he peered at it. It was a body. The white stuff was the skull and skeletal structure, the only thing recognizable. The flesh had melted into this odd gooey stuff, completely indistinguishable from the internal organs and skin- everything was all melted together in one big goo. The only thing that might give a clue of as to what it was would be the skeleton, which remained some-what in shape. The skull had an obvious bullet hole through it- looks like there was a firefight before here too. The metal container must've protected the pony from a good deal of the nuke, however probably grew so hot on the inside that it melted everything. It was a miracle there was anything left of it though. Frostbite kicked the sheet of metal aside, stretching the goo as it slid away. He took a look inside, scanning around the interior. "Looks like it was a walker. Scout class... With light anti-aircraft missiles." He mumbled, examining the controls; which were all charred and burnt black. But there were some distinct buttons and triggers that he could rely on to give him information. He stuck his head back out, and shook it. "Nothing more in there." he shook his head, and headed off to look around some more. Vinyl sighed. That was the good thing about having a griffon around- they do give you a high confidence boost. Having one around felt like you didn't need to do anything- despite they would scare the heck out of you. "More of these downed walkers." she muttered, scanning the area. This time she wasn't about to open them. "Do you think the science faction attacked their own troops?" "Unlikely." Frostbite titled his head to one side. They were in a huge clearing which might've been a huge complex, but everything has been burnt to ashes. His eagle eyes caught something, and immediately his head snapped to that side. "Looks like someone's been here already." he said as he walked towards the object. "What is it?" Vinyl asked. "A memorial, it seems." Frostbite said, walking up to it. It was a large stick, stuck in the ashes, with a piece of bright red fabric tied to the end. It fluttered in the breeze, coated with nuclear fallout. "Looks like there were survivors." Vinyl said, scanning the lines of hoofsteps in the ash leading to and from the memorial. She walked closer, then abruptly her front hoof sunk into something. She let out a surprised yelp as she tripped into the ash, and would've taken a mouthful for it not her mask. Frostbite quickly picked her up and put her back on her hooves. "Stand back." he said, and walked forward himself while keeping Vinyl back. He dug through the fallout with his claws, and eventually unearthed something underneath all the ash. Embedded in the gravel road which was burnt bare, was a huge foot print. "Walkers..." Vinyl muttered, staring at the footprint. She traced the direction it was facing, and her horn glowed. The ash parted, revealing a complete trail of walker footprints. They led out of the devastation zone and out of sight. "Hmmm." Frostbite mumbled, and turned back to the memorial. "I have a feeling that the science faction didn't randomly turn rogue. Something attacked them, and stole some of their walkers. And we only know of one group of ponies that would do that..." he sighed, and plucked the red fabric off the stick. He unfolded it, and wiped away the ash; revealing a black skull imprinted on the fabric, grinning menacingly back at him. He tucked the fabric away, and checked around him. "Pirates." "So the science faction nuked the pirates after they attacked a squad of patrolling walkers, eh..." Vinyl rubbed her chin. "Should we track these trails?" "They're leading to Manehatten... Give Haven and Spitfire a heads up first. We might've found new allies... Or enemies." * Pirates were a common type of the survivors left on the surface. They would attack anyone and anything should they possess useful goods and supplies- regardless of who it was. In this case, they stole half a squadron of walkers- that means there must be quite a lot of them too. "Pirates. Got it. Shouldn't be too much to worry about." Spitfire sighed. "I've got larger emergencies than this to deal with." she said. "They stole walkers, ma'am. On their own. They should be considered formidable at the very least." Frostbite replied. "Hang on, soldier. They stole walkers? What type?" Spitfire suddenly felt something bad tug a her heart, and her hooves started sweating. "Scout, with light anti-aircraft and combat capabilities." Frostbite reported. "And where did you say they were headed again?" Spitfire's heart was dropping. "Manehatten, ma'am." "Well, BUCK!" Spitfire cursed, hanging up and turning away from the screen. "CONTACT THE ILLUSION!! SEND THE MEDICAL TEAM REINFORCEMENTS- NOW!" she screamed across the bridge. "What's wrong captain?" Soarin quickly rushed to her side as she slumped down in an office chair nearby. "Bucking pirates. We're gonna have a problem. Contact Thyme and the medical team now." Spitfire said, and took a deep breath. "Let's just hope those darn bastards don't shoot our bird." * "Captain, we're ETA five minut-" Thyme started as Spitfire called, but was immediately cut short. "BE CAREFUL. We just got reports of possible pirate activity in the local area, with light anti-aircraft missiles. Tell the pilot to watch it! We're sending reinforcements, but they won't be there till in another thirty!" Thyme froze. Great, back in the war zone. "Yes ma'am. Signing off." she said, and hung up. "Alright ponies, we've got a slight problem." she sighed. "Check your rifles, get those turrets running- we'll probably be going in hot." The squad groaned, and started checking their weapons. Thyme reached up and pulled down the standard issue 9mm UP gatling manual turret. It clicked into place behind the closed drop ship doors, indicator lights flashing as it came online. The 9mm turret uses modified pistol ammo, and while may sound extremely un-intimidating; it still has its capabilities. Small ammunition has cheaper production costs, and may also be produced in mass amounts without too much sorry on cost and time, making it highly efficient in terms of marketing and production. The turret is a bit more work however, apart from firing the standardized 9mm ammo; it also has a magnetic accelerator along each barrel that can instantly propel the bullet at 17km/h below light speed. The bullets themselves are coated with a high-density material made from neutron stars, to keep bullet integrity at a max as it propels through the air. This insures the bullet doesn't split or go off course during the acceleration process, making the turret one of the most accurate high fire-rate cannons to be produced; alongside its energy weapon successors. Both turret and ammunition are cheap to produce, making it a standard issue weapon among front lines and drop ships. Gun ships use a different version, modified for high fire-power instead of accuracy. Since the 9mm rounds are so small, they could easily slide through a target and cause extra damage. They have been known to go through at least twenty-seven standard blocks of ballistics gel at once. Right now the medical team had clouds below them as cover, but as soon as they go through those they would be exposed to visual contact. They just have to spot the pirates first, or hope they don't fire.