Chapter 1: Escape
I stared at the steel-clad ponies, taking a moment to process what had been said. The Overmare stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak.
“You h-” She was cut off by the cracking report of the lead Ranger’s rifle and a bullet punching into her chest.
“FUCK!”
I tackled Scopes to the side as a missile exploded in front of us and all hell broke loose. I threw me and Scopes through the nearest doorway and bashed the controls with my hoof.
“What now?” Scopes asked over the noise of explosions and gunfire coming from the other side of the door.
I thought for a moment. The weapons security carried stood no chance against the Steel Ranger’s armor, so if we wanted to have any hope of escaping we’d have to find more powerful weaponry. I remembered the armory had a couple of sniper rifles that hadn’t been used for anything but target shooting since the Stable had been sealed up.
“We need to get up to the armory.” I said. “There’s some sniper rifles up there that should be powerful enough to get through that armor.”
Scopes nodded. “Alright.” She unslung her AA-12 shotgun, racking the first round into the chamber.
I drew my Deagle and began cantering down the hall. We reached the staircase to the second floor right as the door to the atrium was blown open. “Shit! Run!”
We galloped up the stairs as a minigun revved up and started pelting the area with bullets behind us.
I bucked the door control at the top of the stairs like I had done to the last one, hoping that would give us at least another thirty seconds or so. It didn’t, bullets ripping through it before we could even get halfway up the stairs to the third floor.
Scopes fired wildly behind us with her AA-12 as we made a mad scramble up the stairs to the third floor in a vain attempt to cover our flanks. Thankfully, or security barding was strong enough to stop the several rounds that did hit us as we dived through the door.
I hit the panel to close it, and the second set of security doors, for this was the security level. I heard bullets pinging off the other side as me and Scopes flew for the armory.
I hurriedly typed in the password on the terminal, sighing with slight relief when the door to the armory slid open. I went in, and Scopes shut the door behind us, standing next to it with her AA-12 at the ready.
I made my way towards the very last two lockers in the armory, one labeled IF-47 and the other IF-107. I opened the IF-47 one first, pulling out the silenced sniper rifle and its accompanying battle saddle. “Scopes, here you go!” I heard her trot over and begin putting it on as I opened the second locker.
Inside the second locker was the longest, most powerful sniper rifle Ironshod Firearms had ever made, an IF-107. Only 1000 of them had been completed before the bombs fell, and this was one of the 10 custom made left-hoofed models of the rifle.
I took the rifle out, my eyes running down it with fascination like they had every time I had used it during practice scenarios. From the styled muzzle brake, the sleek black barrel, the swivel bipod, the magnificent scope, the surprisingly smooth bit trigger, all the way down to the stock and the inscription engraved in gold lettering on it, The Undoer.
I pulled out the battle saddle. It was an interesting design, allowing only for one weapon to be fitted on its left side, while the right side was extra ammo storage. It also had two saddle bags that hung off the back extension.
I threw it on, and attached The Undoer to the quick-release mounting system on it. I pulled out a box of ammo from the locker next, and loaded the 100 rounds of FMJ ammo into the auto reload system of the battle saddle, which in turn loaded the sniper rifle’s clip with 10 rounds.
I blinked as my PipBuck beeped, interfacing with the saddle and rifle, the scope view of The Undoer coming up on my eyepiece when I flipped it down. I turned to Scopes, who was finishing securing her AA-12 to her own battle saddle with the IF-47. “You ready?”
Scopes nodded, and a moment later the sound of the door to the stairs being blown across the hallway reached our ears.
“Well, good, cause here they come.”
I moved into position behind a stack of metal boxes, settling my sights on the door as Scopes did the same somewhere behind me. The stomping of metal hooves got louder, and then stopped right outside the door to the armory, which was promptly sent flying backwards as the Steel Ranger stepped into the room.
I immediately slipped into SATS, and targeted two shots to the Steel Ranger’s head, hoping that even the Ranger power armor wouldn’t stand up to a couple of .50 caliber rounds.
I fired, and sighed with relief as it turned out that it couldn’t. Both shots penetrated, and the Steel Ranger went down before they could fire a single shot.
“Nice shooting Dez.” Scopes said, trotting up behind me.
“Thanks, now let’s get the hell outta dodge.”
***
“Well shit.” I muttered.
We had snuck our way back down to the atrium, only to find it swarming with Steel Rangers. I could see the mutilated corpses of the security ponies scattered around the floor, and I could hear intermittent gunfire and explosions drifting from the other parts of the stable. “They didn’t stand a chance…” I muttered, pulling my head back from the doorway and into the small room we were hiding in.
“Well, we’re not getting out that way.” I said, turning to Scopes, who nodded.
“If I remember correctly, isn’t there some sort of escape tunnel down on sub-level three?” She said, checking her PipBuck. “Yeah, there is, Emergency Access Tunnel 199-1 it’s called.”
I nodded. “But the maintenance entrance is on the other side of the atrium, how are we gonna get over there without being filled with holes and then blown up?”
Scopes grinned and pointed up, to the vent grate in the ceiling above us. “Through the ventilation of course, please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all those nights we snuck around the stable using it.”
I grinned back. “Of course I don’t, let’s do it!” I flew up to the grate and pulled it off, letting Scopes fly into the surprisingly spacious air ducts of Stable 199 before I followed, pulling the grate back on behind me.
We snuck quietly along the air duct, the sounds of the Steel Rangers discussing something drifting up to my ears as we went.
“…lost contact with Paladin Breeze. He went after those two pegasi that were in the stairwell.” One of them was saying.
Curious, I stopped, and peered down at them through a grate. There were two Steel Rangers standing next to a terminal, one’s armor seeming more fancy than the others.
“Well, did you have the feed from his helmet?” The one with the fancy armor asked.
The other Ranger nodded. “Yes ma’am, I’ll put it up on the screen.” He said, fiddling with the terminal a moment before stepping back. On it was the staticy view of what the Steel Ranger that had been pursuing us had been seeing.
I watched as he blew the door to the armory off and stepped inside, catching a glimpse of me aiming The Undoer at him. His helmet began flashing a targeting warning, but then the screen flashed white and an error message flashed up: Ranger #144707 ‘Paladin Breeze’ KIA.
I turned and continued on before I caught more of their conversation, having heard enough.
We passed several more grates before finally reaching the one that was on the stairs down to the maintenance wing. Scopes kicked the grate out and dropped into the stairway below, me following.
I checked EFS. “Shit, they are down here too.” I muttered, looking at the multitude of red bars. “Well, let’s get to that tunnel before they notice us.”
We made our way down into the maintenance wing of the stable, moving quickly through it. All of the Steel Rangers seemed to be on the floor below us, on the Reactor level, and the tunnel was below that.
I paused at the doorway leading down to the reactor, looking at Scopes. “Alright, we’re gonna make a beeline straight for sub-level three, try and not get shot.”
Scopes nods, pulling her fedora down. “Let’s do it.”
I opened the door and charged through, Scopes right behind me, flying over top of the first Steel Ranger that had been waiting for us as she sprayed the area we had just been with a minigun.
I turned midflight and squeezed off a shot at the back of her head, turning it into red paste inside her helmet. I flipped around just in time to avoid a missile shooting past, and dove towards the door that lead down to sub-level three, right as another minigun revved to life behind us. “Shit!”
I slammed my hoof into the door release and dove through, dragging Scopes behind me as I punched in the lockdown codes into the terminal on the other side.
The door slammed shut, followed by a much heavier blast door.
I sank down against the wall, out of breath. I looked myself over for injuries, but my barding had done its job, leaving me without any bullet or shrapnel wounds. “Hey Scopes, are you alright?”
No response.
“Scopes? Scopes!” I looked at where the black mare was still lying on the floor, unmoving. There was also a pool of blood beginning to form underneath her.
“Oh no…” I leapt into action, searching my barding for medical supplies. Thankfully I at least had a roll of bandages.
I grabbed them, and moved over to Scopes, finding that the source of the blood was from several bullet holes along her unprotected left hind leg. I wrapped the roll of bandages around it tightly, hoping that that would be enough until I could get her proper medical attention.
I hoisted her onto my back, and trotted over to a door marked as Restricted. I swiped my security keycard in the slot next to the door, stepping back as it slid open, a gust of cold wind hitting me in the face.
I hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the tunnel, the door shutting automatically behind me. There was no turning back now.
I flew slowly down the long tunnel, only a few feet above the ground. After a while, the tunnel sloped up, and I came upon a set of rotted wooden doors.
I burst out into the Wasteland, a second surge of cool air almost knocking me to the ground. I quickly gained altitude, a fairly challenging feat when carrying another pegasus on your back. Coming to a hover, I took in my surroundings. The sky was a mass of grey clouds, and the sun seemed to be setting behind them.
Odd, I just woke up a couple of hours ago. I thought. I kept hovering for another five minutes or so, taking in what this new outside world felt like. Eventually I spotted a very tall building several miles distant, which seemed to pierce through the cloud cover.
That looks like a good place, but I doubt I can make it there tonight. I thought, and decided to find a closer place to spend the night in. I spied some mountains rising about a mile to the west of us, and began to fly towards them.
***
I had spied a small shack on the opposite side of one of the mountains, perched atop a sheer cliff. By this time, I was utterly exhausted, carrying Scopes over the mountains had been no easy task. I began dropping down towards the shack, aiming for a soft landing in the front, but my legs seemed to have other ideas. As I came in to land, my legs decided to give out from underneath me as soon as they hit the ground, sending both me and the still unconscious Scopes tumbling into the side of the shack with a loud thud.
“Ow.” I muttered, getting back to my hooves. I looked over to where Scopes had landed at, her bandages still in place, and began to trot over to her.
CHICK-CHINK!
I froze in my tracks at the sound of a battle saddle’s charging handle racking a round into the chamber.
“Ah wouldn’t move if ah was ya.” A voice above me said. In front of me landed a rust colored pegasus wearing a black desperado hat. “Ah reckon ya wouldn’t mind tellin’ me jus’ what ya’ll are doin’ on muh porch now? Ah don’t take kindly to Enclave jus’ droppin’ by.” he said.
“W-we need a place to spend the night, and my friend here is hurt.” I said nervously.
The rust colored pegasus kept his guns trained on me, glancing back at where Scopes lay. “Oh muh, that is not good.” He said, looking her over. He hesitated for a moment. “Bring her inside an ah’ll see what ah can do.”
I nodded, going over to Scopes, hefting her back onto my back and retrieving her fedora. I carried both inside the pegasus’s shack, the pegasus keeping the dual rifles on his battle saddle trained on us the whole time.
The pegasus gestured to a bed in the far corner “Put ‘er over there.” He said, rummaging through a cabinet and pulling out a medical box as I gently laid Scopes on the bed. I hoofed off my helmet and pulled my battle saddle and barding off, leaving my Deagle in its holster on my leg.
“Ah’ll be takin’ that.” Calamity said, pulling the pistol from its holster. He took it and both of our battle saddles, putting them on a table that he could see while tending to Scopes.
Everypony I knew except one. Gone. Just like that. And on top of it all, we were in the care of a pegasus who thought we were sent from whatever the Enclave was, whom I guessed were hell-bent on killing him or something. It was too much. I swore to whatever Goddess that was out there that the Steel Rangers would pay for what they did.
“I’m gonna take a nap.” I said, lying down on the floor. I watched as the pegasus began tending to Scopes before drifting off into a restless sleep.
***
BOOM!
I awoke with a start at the sound of thunder booming through. Lightning flashed through the air, illuminating everything for a brief moment. It was followed shortly by a loud CRACK!
I jumped a little, looking around. I was still in the pegasus’s shack, and Scopes was still lying in the bed, her side and wing healed. I saw the pegasus sitting at the table where had put our weapons, and was studying my battle saddle closely. I got up, rain beginning to drum heavily on the roof as the storm began.
He looked up as I approached him. “So, did tha Enclave finally get up enough courage to come an’ hunt me down?” He asked. “’Cause ah’d say they need to send better operatives.”
“Wait what? Who’s the Enclave? Who are you? And why the hell do you think that me and my friend are Enclave?” I asked, confused.
Calamity chuckled and seemed to relax a little. “Stable dweller, ah presume?”
I nodded “Fresh out of Stable 199. Steel Rangers attacked…” I trailed off, shuddering at the memory still fresh in my mind.
“Well then, ah ‘pologise. Thought you and yah friend were Enclave soldiers dressed up ‘n whatever armor they thought would blend ‘n an’ whatnot. Don’t see too many Stable pegasi.” He said. “Muh name’s Calamity.”
“I’m Desert Eagle, and my friend over there is Quick Scope, but she likes to go by Scopes.” I said.
“Nice to meet ya.” Calamity said. “This here’s a pretty nice piece o’ equipment.” He looked back down at my battle saddle. “Ahn it’s got an IF-107! Those are a might rare ah tell ya. Haven’t seen one since ah was a colt. Won the Best Young Sharpshooters Competition four years in a row with it.” He said. “Where’d yah get it?”
“From my Stable.” I replied.
Calamity nodded slowly. “What use is there for ah fifty in ah Stable?” He asked.
“Beats me. It was in a locker at the back of the armory. Looked like it hadn’t been opened since the Stable was closed up, but it was in full working order when I found it.” I said. “So who are these Enclave ponies you thought me and Scopes were?”
Calamity proceeded to tell me about the Enclave, how he had become a Dashite, and then moved onto the topic of the Wasteland itself. He told me everything he knew. Raiders, slavers, ghoul zombie ponies, and anything else that he told me I filed away in my brain.
Eventually, Scopes stirred, awaking with a jolt as thunder cracked overhead. “Scopes! You’re awake!” I cried, trotting over to her as she got out of Calamity’s bed.
“W-where are we?” She asked, looking around frantically.
I quickly told her everything that had transpired from the time she had blacked out until now. “So once this storm dies down we will head on over to that city I saw.” I finished saying.
Calamity, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up. “Ya’ll are gonna go to Seaddle? Ah would stay away from that place if ah was ya. That Luna Needle houses nothin’ but raiders around it, an’ ah heard tell o’ an old Ministry o’ Awesome black-ops facility out there too. Nothin’ good can come out o’ that place.” He said. “Why would ya even want t’ go there?”
“Well, primarily because we don’t have many other places to go that we’d be safe from these Enclave pegasi that made you a Dashite. Plus, we need somewhere to plan out how to take revenge for 199.” I replied, Scopes nodding in agreement.
“Well ah can’t say ah didn’t warn ya.”
***
Winds buffeted Scopes and me as we winged our way towards Seaddle. We had left Calamity’s shack an hour ago, the storm having subsided. He had left with us to go escort a caravan from New Appleoosa or something.
“Calamity said that the Luna Needle hasn’t been able to be opened since the megaspell hit Seaddle.” I said, looking at the tower that loomed in the distance.
“Well, we’re gonna be the ponies that open it!” Scopes declared.
***
We landed on the top floor of a crumbling building at the edge of downtown Seaddle. I gazed up at the Luna Needle, the black tower stretching up above the clouds. As I finally looked back down, I saw movement down the street.
“Scopes, bring up your E.F.S., I think I saw something down there.” I said to her quietly, bringing up my own EFS display. The display jumped to life with a dozen red bars, Scopes’s bar a green one.
“Raiders.” Scopes muttered. We took to the air, spotting the raiders approaching the building we had landed on. They were armed with various weapons, ranging from spears to a couple shotguns.
Scopes fired first, downing the lead raider with a single shot from her sniper rifle. I activated S.A.T.S. and targeted two more raiders. My sniper rifle boomed twice and the tow raiders fell. Within five minutes, we had dispatched all twelve of the raiders. As we descended, I reloaded my sniper rifle, searching the raiders’ bodies for anything useful, and only finding a few bottle caps.
“Let’s keep moving.” I said, checking my EFS display again. It only had Scopes’s green bar on it, for now at least. I switched the display onto my helmet’s eyepiece so I could keep a better eye on it.
We were walking down what appeared to have been the main road, having decided that flying drew too much attention to ourselves. My PipBuck began clicking softly as we drew closer to the Luna Needle.
***
I held up a hoof, signaling a stop. We were only a block away from the entrance to the Luna Needle, which according to my EFS, was swarming with raiders, and whatever ponies that were represented by the yellow bars. I switched the eyepiece’s display back to my sniper rifle's scope, and nodded towards the building that stood to our right.
“Let’s head on up there.” I said to Scopes, who nodded. We made our way up into the building, peering out of the third floor window. Below us was more or less of a small town of raiders, who occupied the ruined buildings taking up the city block in front of the Needle’s entrance.
“Damn.” Scopes muttered, looking over the town. “How we gonna get through that?” She asked.
“Don’t know. There’s too many of them to fly over, and besides, I would prefer to work on the door without being shot at.” I said. “I guess we will have to fight them.”
Scopes nodded. “Yeah, guess so.” She said. She looked over the town, studying it for several minutes before speaking again. “I’ve got an idea. I’ll stay here, and Desert, you go over to the top floor of that building over there.” She pointed a hoof at a building that was off to the right of the raider town. “I’ll take out the sniper in the tower first, and then you take out the two guarding the entrance to the town.” She said.
I nodded “And then we just take out the rest of them.” I said. Scopes nodded. “Alright, sounds like a plan then.”
I snuck back down to the street, making my way over to the building Scopes had indicated. Making my way up to the top, I sighted in on my targets and waited.
I did not have to wait long. I heard the high-pitched crack of Scopes’s sniper rifle, followed by a fleshy thud as the bullet impacted its target. I fired immediately, not needing SATS on the two unmoving ponies. My sniper rifle boomed as I opened fire, taking out the guards, and then targeting other raiders as they scrambled for cover that the .50 caliber rounds punched right through.
SWOOSH! BOOM!
A missile impacted the back wall of the room I was in, knocking me out the window. I snapped my wings open, my legs stinging from where shrapnel had cut into them. I quickly gained altitude, finding the raider with the missile launcher and making his head disappear.
Soon I was joined by Scopes as we hovered back-to-back, firing and reloading as fast as we could.
Click.
“Luna damn it!” Scopes yelled. “I’m out of ammo!”
I checked my ammo count quickly. Only four 10-round clips left. “I almost out too.” I replied. “And Celestia only knows how hard it’s gonna be to find more .50 caliber ammo out here. Might as well make good use of it. Your shotgun still full?”
“Yep!”
“Alright, let’s go down there and kick some raider flank!” I yelled, drawing my Deagle. Together we dived down into the middle of the raider town. I checked my EFS, seeing that the remaining red bars were in the same building with the three yellow bars now. We approached the building, Scopes blowing the first raider she saw to bits as we entered.
I leapt towards another raider, hearing the loud thudding of Scopes’s auto-shotgun as I avoided the raider’s knife and putting a round into her chest. Whipping around, I snapped out my baton, catching the raider behind me in the neck with a loud snap. Shooting two more raiders, and bashing several heads in with my baton, I moved into the next room, and discovered what the yellow bars were.
They were prisoners, the three of them guarded by the final raider, who had a grenade. He pulled the pin right as Scopes grabbed me, diving to the side. The explosion ripped through the doorway a moment later, sending debris falling on top of us.
Scopes pushed some boards off of us, coughing a few times as she got up. “You ok Desert?” she asked, helping me to my hooves.
I nodded. “Never better.” I said. “Now let’s go get that door open!”
Scopes's Rifle