//------------------------------// // 01: The Men of the Union // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Red Alert // by Obvious German //------------------------------// Fallout: Equestria- Red Alert 01: The Men of the Union “The Red Army and Navy and the whole Soviet people must fight for every inch of Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for our towns and villages...onward, to victory!” – Josef Stalin I flickered as I awake in a pleasant bedroom, my own. The smell of Okroshka making its way throughout the entire surroundings as I moved my arm up to scrutinize it just as a sweet female voice spoke. “Artyom, breakfast is ready!” Ah yes, my lovely fiancée. Her name was Vera, and I loved her very much. But I scrounged through the realms of my inner consciousness. Was I supposed to be even here? But it didn’t matter as I slid off the bed, revealing a wholly plaid V-neck and a tight pair of black boxers. I sighed and shuffled like a zombie towards the nearby mirror that Vera and me bought a few months ago, it was a precious thing indeed to her. I eventually reached the mirror and saw myself, but something was dead wrong, indicating that I’ve just entered a dream, most likely a nightmare like many before. I saw myself dressed up in a bright red trench coat, or a shinel as we Russians called it, and accompanied by an ushanka that rested comfortably on top of my head. I reached out to feel it, and soon I felt the weight of the coat in the mirror being placed upon my shoulders. As soon as that happened, I looked to my side and saw an ADK-45 assault rifle resting on the walls of my bedroom. What was its significance? I wondered to myself, before a terrible shrieking sounded, the sounding of air raid sirens wailed throughout the shaken atmosphere to my horror. No, not again. This was the very nightmare I suffered for the four months of my service, and the one I dreaded the most. Vera was the one who had shrieked and I grabbed the ADK to save my fiancée from death, only to find her dead and her blood splattered on the walls of the now crumbling household. Who knew being a Conscript was this frightening? The war, the war that made me enlist to protect my love and my family, but one by one they all died fighting, until Vera was the only one left. Damn them all, damn the Premier for dragging me into the crude business of combat and damn those Allies for ruining my life as I found a growing shadow forming from a corner. I couldn’t speak, but my muscles could react and that was good enough as I raised the ADK up to engage this nightmarish entity. But the shadow grew bigger and bigger and came in the form of a cackling, monstrous demon from Russian mythology. I kept on firing in blind hope that the beast will dissipate into thin air, but then the surroundings turned into darkness. I was trapped in an endless, horrifying against an outlined demon, the demon that threatened my sanity. But no matter how long it continued its advance, I still fired to my last rounds. Then the rifle clicked, and the demon stopped before laughing at my pathetic form. “You are no hero, Artyom Salnikov,” I hear it rumble as I strengthened myself for the worse, the ADK still empty. “You are merely a conscript, a living meat shield.” There was truth in the words of the demons, I watched countless of my friends and comrades die meaningless deaths, and no one did a single thing but watch. “You are fighting a losing fight, and so the day will end with your meaningless death,” the demon cackled once more before it lunged at me. The blackness came soon, and I fell through a void of never-ending damnation. -- “Hey, Artyom.” I awoke from the hell of a nightmare, gasped for air and fumbled for my rifle, which sat alongside my bunk bed. That nightmare would never stop until the day I die, and I will most likely lose my sanity to the horrors of war. But that was not the issue as I looked around for the source of the voice. It revealed to be a gruff man who stood by the doorway, smoking a dying cigar. “Taking a beauty nap, it seems.” I wanted to strangle him for remarking on my nightmare, but I let it be. He wouldn’t know that I was even having one unless I told him about it. “Not really, terrible nightmare.” “What? The one they say you mumble about whenever you’re asleep?” Damn, this soldier was onto me. What was his name again? Ah yes, his name was Dmitri, a seasoned Flak Trooper. He was not the man to be toyed around, having crushed the strongest and toughest armor in the war so far. King Onis, Mirage Tanks and hell, even captured Apocalypses. And he was in my squad, hooray. “Yeah, pretty much Dmitri,” I respond as I crawled out of my stiff mattress, grabbing my ADK and the ushanka that was sitting on top of a metal protrusion from my bed. “What time is it?” I asked the Flak trooper as I began warming up for duty. “Half past noon, no Allies in sight,” I breathed a sigh of relief, no Allies invading Leningrad, at least for now. I groaned as my bones cracked under the stretching and soon I was all un-stiffened from my period of inactivity. “Come on, boss. Patrol duty isn’t going to do itself.” I sighed again. I was just a veteran Conscript who was one of the very few to get promoted, having survived almost all of the battles the Union had fought. I was basically the last man standing seeing that my fellow comrades were all but bumbling fools unlike me. I was a born tactician, gunman and just what a Russian would be. As spoken before by Dmitri, I was relegated to the hazardous duty of taking charge of a Soviet Super Reactor. They’re highly volatile, and I’ve seen what they can do after being destroyed. I shuffled towards the doorway as Dmitri pulled out, reaching his left hand to take ahold of a Vorana Steelshot flak cannon. It was one of the useful things left in our squad, as it could clear up enemy anti-infantry and those disgusting Vindicator bombers they used to clear our finest ground units in a short controlled explosion. Soon, I was beginning to restart my positivity as I was known for, actually what every conscript was known for, being high spirited and positive even in the face of death. I was a little different from your regular conscripts, being a little more insightful on combat situations and thus, I could be called a natural born leader. I promptly thought about Vera, who lived near Moscow and far away from Leningrad, before the Flak trooper appeared with his signature heavy anti-armor weapon, his personal radio blaring away the Soviet March at full volume much to my moodiness. “Looks like you snapped out of the coldness of today afternoon.” “It’s not even cold Dmitri, and I thought you would be the one being cold,” I responded as I saw sunlight bearing down on the both of use, the rays of it reflecting on the bright yellow hard hat that Dmitri had. I shielded myself from it before I got used to it, the outlines of the Super Reactor burning away and the shadow of a passing KA-65 Twinblade covered it for a brief while. I appreciated Krasna Aerospace’s designs, as they consisted most of the attack forces of my missions on the frontlines, beyond Leningrad. “If you had a little trouble earlier on, welcome back to Leningrad,” Dmitri said, clearly keeping his serious tone that made me reconsider having him as a squad mate. Although he might’ve been the only person in my experience to have held such a brutal weapon and currently conscripted into my squad, I’ve been sifting through his dossiers and found out he had murdered a Soviet officer in cold blood, much to my dismay. The incident wasn’t clearly described in the dossier, considering that it is in fact, fallible Soviet documents but I had a feeling that he must’ve did it for a good reason, since no one had the right mind to simply kill a Soviet officer. The rest of my squad mates were privates Mikhail, Nikita and Josef. No doubt they were slacking off somewhere nearby as I pushed that matter into my next sentence. “Yeah, yeah. I get that, where’s the others?” “They’re hanging out by the Hammers and Flaks, drinking vodka again,” Dmitri replied, his voice instilled with hostility as he never got along with anyone besides me. For once, I actually respected the former convict, seeing that he was not all that hot headed and such as per every trooper I’ve encountered so far. “They’ve been at it since you took a nap, taking potshots at the Allies faces on bottles.” I chuckled weakly, knowing well that we Soviets are filled with intense hatred and animosity for the Allies. “Well, I certainly can’t blame them.” “You can’t, Artyom,” Dmitri responded as he lugged the Vorana up high, loading a huge magazine into the slot behind in the process from a bandolier containing almost a dozen of these lethal shotgun-like shells. He nodded as the Flak cannon clicked in working order, as the huge words that was scrawled onto it shone with great intensity. Dmitri was singing along with the tune of the Soviet march being played on the radio. Our brotherhood’s a good life, our generosity is without compare, All those with us are strong, All those against us, beware. It’d be a shame if we had hardships. I cracked a hard smile as Dmitri hefted the heavy piece of weaponry onto his shoulders and started to walk towards a small contingent of olive drabbed Hammer tanks, where I could see the familiar tinge of red trench coats being reflected by the midday sun, bottles of Vodka constantly being lifted up and down as the men continued downing them. A minute later, we had reached the tanks where my men immediately saluted, dropping their vodkas and leaving behind a terrible and unsightly mess. “Sir! We didn’t see you!” I waved them down, I didn’t care about broken vodkas. Only about the situation at hand as I spun my head to behold the Super Reactor working effortlessly to power the Iron Curtains that were built on islands far from where we were now before I turned my attention back to the inconspicuous men. “It’s alright, Russians do slack off anyway.” They looked at each other before chuckling slightly and turning their attention to me. “Thanks, officer.” “No problems, I’m not Moskvin, am I?” I replied, hinting my apparent dislike for that man. He might’ve been an unpredictable and sadistic man to me, but to the Premier he is a perfect example of what a Soviet commander should be. He is to me, just another maniac in the ranks of the Union unlike people like me. I treat our soldiers with utmost respect but as for Moskvin, he doesn’t even know the difference between friendly and hostile as I watched his V4s destroy each and everyone on the battlefield, even his own. “Of course, sir! You are not Moskvin!” They chimed out as they gripped around for their ADKs, causing me to grin and Dmitri to grab his cigar, just to flick it away unto the ground. “So sir, is there any news on the Allied scum?” I looked at Dmitri, who just shrugged under the weight of his Vorana and I immediately turned my attention to the radio strapped onto my bandolier, which was buzzing with Russian commands. Judging from the radio communication frequency, something big was going on as I caught word of the Allies. “Can you see them?! This is Viper 2-3 mayday, mayday! Allied fighters are engaging us, they are not far from Leningrad-ARGH!” I felt myself sink deep into the reaches of my soul, my own men knowing that there was almost no hope for victory. “Sir… they approach,” Nikita stammered as he gripped his ADK tightly, I followed on as I prepared my bayonet, which I had ordered specially for myself. “I’ve heard, prepare yourselves. This might be our last fight,” I responded with utmost regret as the men started mumbling amongst themselves. The only one to not say anything at all was Dmitri, who himself had seen his share of battles and understood that dying will mean nothing at all. I wheezed and collected myself again as the frantic boot steps amongst the Hammer tanks stamped. “Sir, with all due respect. Do you think we might win?” I shuddered, not wanting to digress the truth in the current situation. I am an honest man, and I knew we would fail whether we tried or not. But breaking the truth to such fragile children was rather terrible, but it had to be done. “…No, I’m sorry but no,” I replied as they started trembling. Dmitri huffed and got ready to fire, with me feeling the tension emanating from him. He then turned and faced me, pulling out a new cigar and an engraved lighter. “Well, Artyom. It’s been a pleasure being in your squad,” he responded as I reached out to eject my magazine to check whether I had sufficient ammo or not. “I can face the truth, not like many men.” “So it is, a fight to the end,” I responded, the magazine freshly ejected showing enough ammo for the upcoming fight. “If we die, we die for the Union. Remember that in your motto!” I shouted out to them, as they stopped trembling. “Yes sir! For Mother Russia!” They held up their hands as our MiGs rippled through the skies, the air raid sirens now freshly sounding and blaring loudly. “Good, now be brave. They come.” -- As far as I knew it, I was now taking cover behind a wallpapered wall, with Dmitri right beside me and the rest taking cover in the upper regions of the building. I spoke with him as I saw the familiar shadows of their feared fighters closing in on the horizon, accompanied by their mighty destroyers. “Dmitri, do you have a will?” “They don’t allow convicts to have wills, Artyom,” he responded as he propped the Flak cannon and got ready to fire on the incoming fighters. “But let’s not dwell on that, we’ve got a Super Reactor to guard.” “Well said,” I responded as I saw mist coming out from my mouth from my heavy breathing. Then I saw the MiGs and Twinblades come to face the armada, and soon the battle was on. Our MiGs had taken down some of their fighters, but they were all scrap metal just as Dmitri’s Vorana started pounding them in response. Slag metal was all that remained of them as I saw bits and bits of metal falling out of the sky at high velocity, shaking the conscripts above. The Allied destroyers were now closer than ever, with their assault cannons withering away our responding Akula submarines. Then I watched one explode in extreme ferocity, presumably from a well-targeted Ultratorpedo just as I saw an APC hover down the road. These odd vehicles were not to be underestimated as I knew of their lethality. I took the liberty of informing Dmitri of this, as he spun. “Dmitri, take care of the APC! The fighters won’t do anything to the reactor!” “I have them,” he then aimed the cannon at the APC and let loose, gutting the pitiful transport and lighting it aflame just as our Hammers finished it off with a barrage of 90mm shells. The Hammers moved out into the streets ahead, crushing some civilian pickups and other object before they turned their attention to a newly adapted Assault Destroyer. I feared them, for they are amphibious and capable enough to lay waste to our Apocalypse tanks if carefully coordinated enough, judging from what I have observed. I didn’t know what to respond to, but then I sighted two tank topped soldiers approach from behind the tanks, and I immediately slaughtered them as they fell with their rocket launchers clanking on the ground. Then I saw three big shadows in the skies ahead, as a Twinblade came into the scene to engage the Allied heavy armor. I shuddered, this was the end. These shadows were Century bombers, our worst nightmares. They are the most feared aerial vehicles in their arsenal, and I expected well enough for them to fly them in considering that they had finished off our MiGs for good. I clicked my radio to break the news to the unfortunate men above as their rifles cracked in bursts. “This is Artyom, we’ve got enemy bombers inbound!” The response was undoubtedly in the tone of sheer terror. “What?! BOMBERS?” “Yes, Century bombers!” I yelled back in response as I spotted heavily armored troopers slinking behind our occupied armor. “It’s been an honor!” I faced the truth without fear, we were going to die. “Sir! We can still- “I’m sorry, but they are going to drop the bombs on us and that Super Reactor,” I slowly said to them, as I watched the bombers with utmost attention while firing at the Allied forces below who stumble and fell dead. “And we can’t do anything about it.” “You can’t,” Dmitri responded and I almost wanted to slap myself. He had a flak cannon for God’s sake. “But I can.” He heaved up and aimed it for the growing shadows and thundered, causing the building to shake vicariously. I braced myself for the worst as the Centuries above just shook off the shells like nothing. The hovering Twinblade that was still scourging the now heavily damaged Allied destroyer was then razed by a newly arrived IFV that tore it down like nothing, before it turned to us. But we were too late, the Century bombers were above us. I could hear the bombs’ whistling, and I knew we were going to die. Knowing this, I turned to Dmitri who was already accepting his fate. “Well, Dmitri. I guess this is goodbye.” “You too, comrade.” The bombs were closer than ever, and for three seconds my last thoughts were about Vera safe. I wanted her to be safe from them, from the monsters I fought. I was Artyom Salnikov, and everything went pitch black. Vera, I love you. -- Cold. That was my first feeling in the afterlife, cold. I flickered and saw nothing, for it was pitch black. Something was off though, the afterlife didn’t smell… off. I groaned as I tried to move my arm, only resulting in total numbness. I was now looking up towards the sky, which was vaguely odd. Where was I? The last I remembered was… no. The bombs, they dropped and I died alongside my fellow comrades. So what is this place, and where was it? I found my view of the midnight skies blocked by thick clouds and I immediately raised my attention, scrambling my hands to look for my ADK. To my surprise, my arms jerked to life and soon I found it in perfect condition. No damage, nothing at all as if it just came out of the foundries in Kursk. I remembered what our instructors had taught us as we were training. Remember! Your best friend is always a Kalashnikov! If anything moves that isn’t red, he is not your friend! I smiled weakly, remembering that mantra over and over again. Then I found my ushanka not far away from where I laid and I groaned in pain, trying to get up. I eventually rose from the ground as my dusty boots scrunched the gravel underneath my bulk. Only then I realized I was not in a building anymore, in fact I wasn’t anywhere close to the urban scenery of Leningrad. Now I realized my other hand was equipped with some sort of device for some reason, and I would find out the answer as I looked towards the arm hefting the ADK and rolled up the sleeve of my shinel, only to find some sort of a miniature computer with a emblem seemingly engraved onto the device. What it read was PipBuck 3000 in clear English and a little to the top, wrote “Property of the Grand Pegasi Enclave”. What on Earth was this device, and who was this Grand Pegasi Enclave? I swung my arm around and soon I was accustomed to having a little extra weight onto my right hand, and I let out a depressing sigh. This wrist-mounted device was very peculiar as I squinted to find something related on it, only to find a small button labeled ‘On’. I hesitated to press it, but I did anyway knowing that I was dead and someone just had to put this on me. It flickered alive, to my shock as it revealed the map to this place with a luminous blue glow. A quick flash suddenly blocked my vision out as I stumbled about, and then I could see again. This was definitely Allied technology, but who had created it? To my surprise, what I saw was a miniature blue compass pointing north in my vision. I rose up my free hand to rub my eyes in dismay, only to find that it was still there. That device, it had something to do with this. I looked down on my right wrist again only to find a blue arrow at where I supposedly stood, a town in proximity from where I stood named ‘Ponyville’. What an odd name, comparing it to our own city names. Then something flashed on the compass and soon I could see the northwest highlighted with green, signifying something important that I had no idea of. Regaining my composure, I sent my first step into this strange land. No sooner than that, I realized the atmosphere was… dark and the place littered with dead trees. This was definitely not Leningrad, I thought as I continued walking towards the direction it had pinpointed me. It took a few long seconds to recognize the sound of the Soviet march flowing through the surroundings. I then remembered Dmitri’s radio, and broke out into a restrained sprint. Finally I reached where the marker wanted me to be, and I saw a passed out man with a large cannon to his side. Dmitri, out of all the places in this strange wasteland, even more so with his radio still working and playing the march’s familiar tune, his Vorana lying still on the side fully loaded. I quickly slung back the ADK and shook him. “Dmitri… DMITRI!” He groaned, that was good as it meant he was still alive. Then he flickered and looked back and forth to only find me. “Wha…What? Artyom?” He mumbled under his breath as he let out a stern cough of dismay and flexed his arms before pushing himself upwards, the same strange device was revealed on his right hand just like me for a split second. “What… happened?” I wheezed and started. “I don’t know and for all I know is that I woke up with this,” I showed the Flak trooper my PipBuck, as it was called, and he looked visibly dismayed. “Not only that, I can see weird things through my view now. You have one too.” At this, Dmitri looked around until he pulled up his right sleeve, revealing his own PipBuck. I waited and scrutinized the surroundings, to see what this place was, and its secrets. But hardly anything was a secret as I saw the ruined and decaying structures far ahead that was probably Ponyville in the distance. The ghastly sights made me tremble with primordial fear, are we in hell? Or somewhere worse to wear? “Artyom, did you put this on me?” He asked, to my visible dismay at the astounding amount of stupidity in that question. “If I had, then I would’ve woken you up and told you so much earlier,” I responded with a clear tone as I gripped my ADK tightly for any hostile creatures of this wasteland. I had no idea what lurked in the darkness, but I am guessing it will most likely kill me if I didn’t react fast enough. Dmitri had already pressed the activation button, his stumbling was how I knew and how I felt like being blinded for a while. “Artyom! What in blazes- “Yes, Dmitri. Get used to it because it happened to me too,” I replied coolly as I felt a cold breeze shift through me. Dmitri was in a state of panic, something I rarely saw in my entire career serving with other Flak troopers. Then I thought of checking my inventory when the PipBuck responded with a brief table on it to my initial surprise. I was going to have to get used to this for now, until I find out why we’re here. Listed was my ADK-45 outfitted with an ACB-90 bayonet and loaded with 32 round magazines with 7.62mm rounds, a Molotov cocktail, a logbook and a few bottles of emergency vodka, ending with my current trench coat and ushanka. I noticed that their value was listed as ‘caps’, not rubles, but didn’t matter, the chances of a wasteland having the same currency as us is almost as close as to our chances of getting home. Now acquainted with my inventory, I turned to Dmitri who was shuffling towards his Vorana like a zombie, I smiled weakly and continued examining the surroundings. I felt total dread, this world must’ve had a war of massive proportions to scathe such large areas, and it must’ve happened decades ago judging from the lack of recent smoke. Why are we here anyway, to such place? I had a sinking feeling we were going to find out sooner or later as Dmitri’s PipBuck lit up. “Okay…. So Artyom, this thing shows all of my gear?” “I think so,” I reply, knowing that it does. I wondered what else could this intricate computer do, so I took a few steps back and sat on a rock as I glided my fingers over the various buttons. It was then I found a curious audio file, labeled ‘message_to_subjects.mp3’. Was this meant for us? It was time to find out as I confirmed the playing of this message to Dmitri’s newfound interest while cleaning his dusty Vorana. “Artyom, what’re you doing?” “Finding out why we’re here,” I respond with absolute sturdiness, and listened attentively to this curious. Ack…Ack! Watch the electromagnetic fluxes! Anyway, you might be wondering why you’re in the Equestrian Wasteland? I will be explaining why, and by the way, try not to get mauled by a Hellhound! I am Lightspark, the lead scientist for Project Spacestorm that is currently under constant monitoring by the Grand Pegasi Enclave! How fun is that? Not much really… Anyway, if you are listening, that means my warp machine has worked its magic! But sadly, the only triumph in doing this will go to my team and me as soon as this message is played, it will send a special signal to us regarding our success. But as for you, I’m truly sorry. You might’ve attending to your families or other important things, and now that you’re here in the desolation of the Wasteland with a terrible factor, you cannot go home. I’m truly sorry, but it works that way. So you are free to do anything to ensure your survival. I wanted to destroy this thing after listening to this infernal message. We were pulled to this wasteland for some fucking experiment? I wanted to scream and shoot Lightspark, whoever he may be for taking us away from Leningrad. I wanted to die for Vera’s sake, not to be a guinea pig for some stupid project! I buried my face into my black gloves just as Dmitri came over with his Vorana ready for combat. Then he spoke, hearing of the message I played. “So we were brought here for a finished task?” “Yes, and now we’re on our own,” I mumbled, wallowing in despair. Then I raised my head out of my gloves and looked towards the destroyed town not far away, Dmitri following my look. Then the PipBuck restarted again, not having finished this scientist’s grand speech. Oh, and one more thing. I saw the luminous marker in my vision changed to face the town, Dmitri also seeing it too as I guessed. I have placed a marker on your map, it will lead you to a safehouse in Ponyville that was built before the Great War. We have no need of it and subsequently I sought to help you out a little bit. You will find non-radiated food and water there, but once these finish, you will have to face everything the Wasteland has to offer. I wish all the best for you, whoever you may be. The message finally crackled into nothingness as Dmitri pulled out his cigar box to smoke while I felt torn apart, having known that our sacrifice was indeed worthless, as the demon in my nightmares had said. “So Artyom, you have any plans on surviving this place?” Dmitri asked me, and I thought long and hard, accepting a cigar that he kindly offered me. “I lived in Siberia during my youth, so I think it should be easy to survive this wasteland.” “Just for you, Dmitri. But what about me?” I responded as I lowered my cigar, smoke rising up into the air. “Do what you want, as you see fit. But think before acting, we don’t know this place at all. Thus, we have no way of predicting anything,” Dmitri responded with a tinge of coldness and remorse. “I think it’s best to head for that safehouse first, then we’ll decide on what to do next.” I looked up towards the clouded skies and pondered. The safehouse was our best bet, and I think that we shouldn’t mull around here any longer. So it was, I decided that we both head for the safehouse. "Yes, Dmitri. I agree with you,” I reply as I got up and readied my ADK for anything hostile. “Let’s go, before anything finds us.” --- Footnote: SPECIAL: Artyom Salnikov. Strength: 6 Perception: 8[+1] Endurance: 6 [-1] Charisma: 6 [+1] Intelligence: 7 Agility: 8 Luck: 6 Perk added: Conscript- Your experience during the War of the Three Powers have granted you +1 for Perception as well as a 25% accuracy bonus when using Explosives or Small Guns. Unsung Leader- You are unlike any other soldier during the war seeing that you have survived to the point where you were promoted, so this grants you +1 to Charisma and 20 extra points for Speech. Knowing Them Well- Your relationship with your fiancee grants you extra dialogue with female characters, human or not. Trait added: Human- Your dexterous hands give you an extra 15 points each to repair and survival, but you suffer -1 endurance and -50% movement speed over open ground. Due to your alien appearance, certain species may flee from you or attack without provocation. SPECIAL: Dmitri Amosov Strength: 9 [+1] Perception: 6 Endurance: 9 [+1] Charisma: 4 [-1] Intelligence: 6 Agility: 6 Luck: 5 Perks added- Flak Trooper: Your months of destroying enemy armor with ease and carrying around a heavy cannon have granted you with +1 with Endurance and Strength as well as 40% accuracy bonus when using Big Guns. Wronged Convict: Since you have a criminal record for doing the right thing, your persuasion skills might not wholly convince someone that you’re a good soul. -1 to Charisma. Grizzled Survivalist: You’ve lived in harsh conditions just before the war, and so your outdoor skills have given you an extra 15 points to survival and medicine. Traits added: Human- Your dexterous hands give you an extra 15 points each to repair and survival, but you suffer -1 endurance and -50% movement speed over open ground. Due to your alien appearance, certain species may flee from you or attack without provocation. Disclaimer: Yes, I did copy the 'Human' trait from Rule's Of Engagement, and that only.