//------------------------------// // Grid: Kilo Kilo- 7 // Story: Remnants, Forgotten. // by AnkhOmega //------------------------------// Primus moved deeper into the city, it's large frame brooking no impedance from anything or anypony. It towered over most of the creatures watching as it moved, it's height of nearly two stories made it impossible to not notice moving through the once busy street. The bipedal monstrosity of metal moved with purpose, only stopping to scan the occasional item or creature and determine its function. So far, it had not encountered anything that could pose a significant threat of mission hindrance. The thaumic fields being put off by the horned equines was nowhere near strong enough to breach it's warding, and there seemed to be a general lack of militarisation to the city. This meant that they had deployed into a civilian population centre, as per Salt protocol this was to be expected. It finally found the large park that the Salt units had designated for the beginning of the operation. Secundus, Tertius, Septimus, and Octavus were already waiting. They began to exchange information the moment that Primus had gotten into formation with them in the middle of the square they had formed. All around them ponies began to close in, wondering what the strange two-legged machines were for, and where they came from. A large crowd began forming, hushed whispers spread like wildfire throughout the assembled ponies. ..||.. Mission status: Eval. … … Primus evaluation complete. Confirmation of findings pending. Sharing evaluation. Technology level estimate: Post-industrialisation, pre-information. Confirm. (4/4) Native dominant life: Equine-based, Three variants. Confirm (4/4) Possibility of Galaxia link in life forms: 86%. Confirm (3/4) Negative (1/4 Oct: 90%) Militarisation: Non-existent. Confirm (4/4) Spell danger: <10%. Confirm (4/4) Probability of mission hindrance: 0%. Confirm (4/4) Evaluation successful. Mission shall proceed. For Elseria. In her name. ..||.. Shocked murmurs sped through the crowd as the five towering hulks of metal began moving to form a circle. A young pegasus hovered in front of one of the twin pipes attached by rods to Primus' shoulders. She was examining them, trying to figure out what they were for. The crowd were likewise staring unashamedly at the machines, soaking in every detail they could. The machines stood near two stories tall, covered in strange arcane symbols inscribed into shining silver metal. They were bipedal, and seemingly had two arms, ending in open ended cylinders. They lacked heads, or anything resembling a face, just a glowing red glyph towards the tops of their chests. The pipes on top of their shoulders were black, wide enough to fit a hoof down and longer than a pony. One of the shoulder mounted pipes was currently tracking the pegasus, much to her delight. She was in the middle of shouting to her friends about how cool the situation was, when a sound like a thunderclap burst from the pipe. For a moment, all that was heard was the thunderous echo. The crowd was silent, not even the faintest whisper passing their lips. The pegasus looked down at her chest, quivering slightly as she reached a hoof up to the new hole. It was about the size of her hoof, those behind would have attested to the fact that it went straight through her. The barrel of Primus' weapon smoked lightly. She fell to the ground with a light thump. That was when everything descended into anarchy. ..\\.. Cookie Cutter was a good little filly. She had always tried to be her best, her mother insisted that she be polite and caring to those she met. No-one liked somepony who was rude. She had tried her darnedest to get good grades at school, and she had ignored the teasings made by the local bullies. So what if she didn't have her Cutie Mark yet? She had plenty of time after all. When she had heard that there were giant robots in the park she had gotten very excited indeed. She was a little bit of an oddball in that regard. Her mother was a baker, who absolutely insisted that the products she sold be hoofmade, and was something of a Luddite. There was very little by the way of technology in her home. This made anything with even the slightest bit of mechanisation innately fascinating to her. She had never known her father. Her mother had said some very nasty things about him when she thought Cookie wasn't listening. She had still not quite found out what a 'bitch' was or why her father was supposedly a son of one. He must have been a bit of a liar too, because there was always the accusation of him cheating at something. Her mother hadn't told her what game it was, or why it made her so angry. She had ran down to join the crowd staring at the beautiful machines, slack-jawed and amazed at them. Her mother had found her and after being given a stern whispering at, Cookie had been allowed to climb on her back to get a better look at the machines. She was fascinated by them, she wanted to know how they worked, or why they were there. Cookie Cutter, though she would never admit it, had a massive crush on a unicorn colt in her class. She'd been slowly working up the courage to ask him on a date. So far her anonymous secret-admirer notes had gone over somewhat well, and she felt that if she could just actually ask, he might even say yes. She had tried to hold on, tried as hard as her little hooves would hold, but the speed her mother had ran from the park, coupled with the jostling of all the others around her had been too much. She had fallen and gotten lost in the crowd. She managed to find her way to a side alley, out of the way of the stampede and no longer at risk of being trampled. She had tried to catch her breath, she was unsure what that horrible noise was, or why it was being repeated near constantly. She knew that it wasn't something good. Pegasi were not meant to be perforated. She had been having such a nice day. She had enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, had a lovely and peaceful walk to school with her mother, she had found out that due to a leaky boiler the school had to be closed for the day. She was very pleased with that, who didn't like a day off every now and then, after all? It was starting to get dark when she left the alleyway, she called out for her mother, for anypony. It was quiet, deathly quiet. The thunderclaps had stopped, the screaming had been cut off and the rumbling of collapsing buildings had slowed for the time being. She was very close to crying, she couldn't understand why those machines were being such bullies. She made her way through collapsing streets, weaving through fires and ignoring the cold motionless shapes littering the streets. Her mother had to be okay, she was so much smarter than her after all. She would have outsmarted the mean machines easily. She was tough like that. She would be okay. She had to be. Right? Her mother had been so strong. Cookie knew, even if her mother denied it, that raising a foal alone was difficult. She had pretended to not hear when her mother was crying at night. Her mother always looked so sad when she asked, and she didn't like making her mother sad. She found her mother outside their home. She had been sitting next to her for a full minute now. There was something wrong. Her mother's middle had a terrible, hoof sized hole in it. The cold pool of congealing blood was a distressing sight all on its own. She had prodded the cold body, tears streaming down her face. The floor rumbled as one of the machines approached. Cookie plead with her mother for her to get up, for her to stop sleeping, they needed to run. The machine had raised a giant foot, leaving it above them. Cookie Cutter looked up, she stared at the huge metal boot. She sobbed out a single word, the only thing she could think to say. “Why?” The machine brought it's foot down. She stopped feeling the pain when her skull caved in. She stopped feeling anything before the machine's foot connected with the pavement. ..||.. Octavus report: all lifeforms terminated. Confirm. All active Salt units report full termination. Primus order: Recall for recharge. Mark Grid-Kilo Kilo 7 as exterminated. Confirm. Recalling.