//------------------------------// // Project Lazarus // Story: War of the Fallen Race // by PegasusKlondike //------------------------------// The newly named General McGoff summoned every man and woman of knowledge to his side. The day after Dr Patterson's homecoming and the abdication of General Winters he held council as to the next course of action the remnants of the human army would take. General McGoff sat at the head of the semicircular table in the war room, at his right hand sat Dr. Patterson. At his left sat Commander Pilotte, his direct subordinate. The subject was of the most dire news, Dr Patterson reported that during his escape he heard plans from the enemy to attack Stronghold. On the other hand, a mysterious force continued to wipe out human towns with exponential efficiency. The arguments were heated between the scientists and the soldiers. The soldiers wanted a preemptive strike on the pony capital of Canterlot, hopefully gleaning the cause of the mysterious plague as they razed the capital. The scientists wanted a reverse approach, dealing with the chaos plague first, then slugging it out with the ponies again. This must be how the kings of lore felt when their advisers fought for attention, thought the new general. He was torn, a threat from the pony army directly against them could not be ignored. But neither could a plague of insanity that was wiping out the rest of humanity. Dr. Mcentyre was speaking now, addressing one of the men on the military action side of the argument, "Look, all I'm saying is that we got our asses handed to us when we attacked the Surge mountain, if we tried to attack a fortified capital city we wouldn't stand a chance! I say we go the route of logic, put off the attack until we can deal with the Chaos Plague." The captain on the side of action retorted, "If we try to deal with the Chaos Plague now we will be crushed by the invading army, then we can't do anything about either initiative. We don't have the manpower to deal with both threats!" Dr. Patterson interjected, "Technically, we have neither the manpower or the technology to deal with either threat. If all of you will recall, most of our heavy machinery was left behind or completely expended. We don't even have a blind to throw in for this hand. And as for the Chaos Plague, it moves too rapidly for us to even pin down." "So we are at an impasse, neither side of this argument makes any more sense than the other." General McGoff sighed. "What alternatives do we have?" Nobody spoke up, many were content to look elsewhere rather than at the General. "There is Lazarus, sir." "Why Lazarus Dr. Patterson?" "If we go the scientist's route, we try as hard as we can to deal with the Chaos Plague, the probability of our success being nearer to zero than one degree Kelvin, and the enemy marches, killing us and dooming humanity. If we go the soldier's route, we futilely attack Canterlot, get crushed in the process and the Chaos Plague dooms humanity. But if we take option three, we gather what we can of humanity here and sleep through the worst of it. Then we rise in fifty or a hundred years and actually stand a chance." "It sounds like a good plan, but I need a little more information before I condemn those people out there to suffer the enemy and the Chaos Plague while we take a dirt nap." "I've already compiled my argument for Lazarus. Even if we get an edge somehow, the Surge energy is still actively awake. Fossil studies show that it exerts itself for short periods before receding for millions of years. If we attack now who knows what kind of horrors will come next? As for the Plague, it may burn itself out or the enemy may find a way to stop it while we are in cryo-stasis. As an added bonus, the enemy may not be unified and the demigods may have left." General McGoff nodded, "We'll put it to a vote. All in favor of the activation of Project Lazarus?" Aaron's hand rose high. Dr. Mcentyre soon followed. Soldiers looked at each other in shame, then raised their hands. Scientists shook their heads, but seeing the futility of any other course of action, raised their hands as well. "It is unanimous, in three days we activate Project Lazarus. God have mercy on our souls. This council is adjourned." ************************************************************************************ Again the soldiers went forth to gather recruits, but this time, they asked and only took those willing to go. A difficult task, considering the rebels had completely intermingled with the civilian populace and still constantly attacked the military. These young men and women would not fight, they would fill the extra cryostasis chambers for Project Lazarus. If humanity was to survive in another time, it would need a population more than soldiers. Another initiative was put forth, and patrols gathered whatever books, technology and information they could find. This was to preserve their culture and history. Humanity would not be simply erased from history, they would preserve themselves and their accomplishments. Hume and Kant were crammed next to Dr. Seuss and Tolkien. Mozart shared space with Elvis Presley and rubbed shoulders with Ozzy Osbourne. For the first time that day, Aaron descended down the long elevator to the Vault. It would have housed rich VIPs and other self important people, but now it had a much more pressing purpose. The Vault would harbor mankind through the storm, preserving not only their bodies but their minds and their culture. It was powered by a triple set of nuclear generators, buried an additional two hundred feet deeper. With the generators in place, the Vault could be sustained for around 40,000 years, give or take depending on power consumption. Hopefully they would not need that long. "Dr. Mcentyre, how exactly do we prevent corrosion and breakdown of external systems?" "Simple, oxygen is a very corrosive gas, so when we seal the Vault we pump in nitrogen gas to act as a preservative, theoretically it allows us to stay nice and crispy indefinitely." The door to the Vault was massive, twenty feet high and ten feet thick with enough room when open to drive a tank through. Inside stood a field of tubes under the stone ceiling, stretching almost farther than the eye could see. "150,000 tubes for 150,000 souls. Its like nothing else we have ever made." Over to the side stood several auxiliary miniature vaults that were being filled to the brim with various supplies. One that stood open contained row upon row of guns of every type, enough to outfit a pair of armies. Another contained something more precious, the books and technology that the scouts had been gathering. In two days these tubes would be filled with human soldiers and civilians who would carve a place for themselves in the distant future. "I'm suddenly reminded of the Shepard's Prayer, Eve. Allan Shepard's Prayer. Dear Lord, please don't let me fuck up." ******************************************************************************** It had been decided, for harmony to ever be secure Luna and Celestia would have to leave their people and hunt the monster Discord. Humanity, who had just been given their second chance, were being slaughtered like cattle. Every second they spent preparing was time Discord had to feed on more souls and get stronger. And so called to the ponies of Canterlot, called them to meet upon the steps of the castle. Princess Luna was the first to address them. "Hear me citizens of Canterlot! My sister and I have an announcement. We must be leaving you, the world needs us to right a terrible wrong. We do not know if we shall see you again, for it may be generations before the creature is destroyed." Princess Celestia took a step forward, "Know this my fellow ponies, you must be strong! This creature is an element of chaos, and he feeds upon the souls of the humans. If you hold fear, hate and resentment in your hearts, the creature will feed upon you as well if we cannot stop him. Live your lives with loyalty, generosity, kindness, laughter, honesty and magic. Only through them will we stand together and harmony will triumph! Fare you well." With their speech done, the alicorns took wing to search the world for the monster who created chaos and wallowed in suffering. The beast who drained the very souls of humanity, the monster known only as Discord. ******************************************************************************** It was time. The day had come at last, the day of the ultimate trial. To determine whether humanity could survive in a time not their own. Aaron felt a nervous queasiness building in his stomach as he descended the elevator for what might be the last time. A computer system would monitor the humans in stasis to make sure they woke up on time. It would also do periodic surface scans for any sign of hostility. Thus humanity would live. Aaron lucked out, his tube was in the front row, he tucked his chosen personal belongings into a sealed nitrogen filled locker. Changing into the required clothing of a sterile white blouse and loose pants, he climbed into his tube. Dr Mcentyre passed by on the way to her stasis chamber, he stopped her. "Eve?" "Yeah kid?" "Will I dream?" A small smile crept across her face as she wiped the sorrow from her eyes. "Yeah, we'll all dream." The door to the pod slid closed, and Aaron Patterson closed his eyes.