//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-One: Treesap // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Gaia Prevails // by John Colt //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty-One Treesap I haven’t been able to find a trace of Kha’ref, basically just because I couldn’t go around asking of his whereabouts, to be asked why I’m looking for someone who doesn’t exist, or worse, why I’m looking for him. The best shot I had at meeting him again was to stay on the training grounds in the hope he’ll return, but this agenda hadn’t bore any fruit in the three days. Three days to give Dahlia time to plot against me while I was still near… three days too much, so with the dawn of the fourth day I decided to not stall anymore, and set your plan to gather some treesap into action and leave Black Oak for good. I couldn’t be honest to my friends why I had been stalling, because it was either a ‘Craft-thing’ or I was seeing a stallion behind their back. I don’t even know what will be worse in their eyes. “Are you ready?” I asked. “No.” Cirrus stated matter-of-factly. “I take that as an agreement.” Focusing my magic around the Pegasus and locking it onto her, I transformed her appearance into that of a zebra mare with a lab suit I’d seen right at the Black Oak, when I had been near it with Dahlia. The freshly made ‘zebra’ in front of me had her eyes closed and was mouthing (almost whispering) all her tasks again. It’s one of Cirrus’ traits which make her rather cute, but seemed completely out of place on the zebra. “Okay.” She finally said. “Showtime.” I gave Turbulence the signal to now make sure nobody was near the Black Oak. We had positioned him on the other side of the clearing, where he had a better view down to our target, not to mention we look less suspicious if we are all together. Cirrus was walking down the ramp and I subtly made my way to a good viewing point of the weirdly colored tree. If anyone would ask me I was thinking about the tree in question, and while nobody would tell me anything I was still allowed to look at it and think about it. I couldn’t help but think of this Black Oak-tree as pretty. I have seen tons of trees that were blackened by fire or something, but every time they had an ugly shade of black (Does black has shades?). Not this tree though. The thing that differentiated it the most from other black trees was that it was still alive. Whatever condition it was in, just looking at it was somewhat intoxicating. First I thought that a black plant would make sense, considering black absorbs most of the light, but after hearing that it’s sap was an ingredient in making a bypass spell I doubt that this tree had been created for advanced photosynthesis. That’s another thing that bothers me, I’ve studied the recipe again and again but I couldn’t make much sense of it. Apparently I had missed something, maybe even literally, and I didn’t like that. I have hardly any experience in alchemy, and the properties of the sap weren’t explained in the recipe, which means I’m allowed to miss the point, but that doesn’t mean I was supposed to like it. Let’s think about the bypass more clearly. If a relative can pass through the shield, so can a single drop of their blood. And logically this trait of blood can be passed onto someone else, but how…? Cirrus had made it past the guards and had reached the forest floor. Things are going to get more interesting from here on. Please don’t panic, Cirrus. I believe in you. A group of scientist left the research facility and they too were walking towards the Black Oak. To collect samples, maybe? Shit, was there Cirrus original under them? I couldn’t make it out from here. This would be really bad if that would be the case… “Miss Aideen!” Go away, I don’t have time for anyone. “Miss Aideen?” The voice repeated itself, this time with a questioning tone. My eyes went wide, I recognized the voice. “Kha… Kha’ref?” I couldn’t turn my head, I need to focus on Cirrus. “Hey!” “Hey.” His hoof steps drew nearer and he leaned onto the railing next to me. He didn’t continue to talk, he was just… hanging around with me, staring at the same beautiful object with me, not doing anything… I couldn’t concentrate on Cirrus, so I turned my head to take in his features, and immediately got reminded why I didn’t reject him when he offered me to help me train a week ago. Shit. “I’m sorry.” He finally said and I immediately returned my gaze down to Cirrus again. “I know you have been at the training field, but I had a different shift this week, and I thought I couldn’t sent you a message. So… uhm… sorry.” He gulped. “Were you searching for… me?” I couldn’t even bring myself to gulp, I was completely frozen. Come on, focus on the mission. Cirrus! … Who of the zebras down there is Cirrus…? “Miss Aideen?” “I…” This was not good. “I think we’re on a first name basis, Kha.” Why does he have to show up now? “Don’t you think?” I had to close my eyes and use a spell to feel out, searching for my own magic. “Aideen then… Uhm…what are you casting? The spell seems familiar.” “I’m feeling out with my magic…” That was the spell I’m using after all. “to analyze this pretty tree there.” That was a lie, and… Why would I even feel bad about lying to that guy? “I need to concentrate…” My magic tentacled out down to the black tree and the zebras (and hopefully one disguised pegasus) way stronger and faster than I would have expected. The spell is a form of basic where levitation comes from, and my homemade targeting spell. It was the first spells a unicorn learns, or at least for me it had been the first one. So I always thought the spell is either activated to reach out, or not used; I never assumed it can have different power levels. I felt Cirrus… somewhere. The spell had been too strong for me to stop at that point, my grasp simply flew past her. “Ahh…” “Are you okay?” Kha’ref sounded genuinely concerned about me, and to be honest, it could have sounded as if I got hurt, not that I got surprised. I choose to ignore him, opened my eyes and took another look down. Maybe I can tell her apart by her behavior… I had no such luck. She blended into the masses, just like I had told her. How can I have been so stupid as to get distracted and lose sight of her? I closed my eyes again and carefully kept my magical output low this time to reach out. I felt my way further off the platform to the ramp she had gone down, tracing her approximate path and feel out all the hooves on the ground near it. No trace of my magic. “Isn’t that…” Kha began, but I already know what happened. I opened my eyes and immediately saw the white Pegasus down there. Abort mission. I need to get her out of there… I could teleport to her and get us both out…. Yes. I teleported. Pain. I felt as if I had hit a rubber wall at high speed, and, considering what happened this was less a metaphor and might have been literal. Branches of trees slapped my back and scratched me as I was hurled back upwards through the trees. It took me a moment to realize I had been sent flying after I had bounced on what might have been teleportation warding. I left the trees and was above the settlement. My flight had hardly any intention of slowing down. All I had going through my mind at the moment was that I my landing will be as ungraceful as it will be deadly. NO! I screamed in my head. There has to be a way out of this. There IS a way out! Craft has used a bubble thing when we fell out of the sky! I can recreate that spell! She has used my body after all! Okay, first thing was to annihilate the wind… A shield. I don’t know how to make a shield, or do I? I remember Spellfield’s book about magic. Basically you can do whatever you can imagine. I focused my magic around me, forming a bubble… and now? … I hardened it. It worked. The wind stopped searing beside me and I fell down on the bubble-floor. Standing up inside of it I took a look around before redirecting my velocity in the opposite direction, back towards Black Oak, it was a piece of cake. Seems like I have done this already and don’t even have to relearn everything; it wasn’t even magically straining. I just… do it. SHIT, I need to get to Cirrus and Turbulence! As soon as possible! I couldn’t find the point where I have burst through the trees, so I simply dropped myself in Black Oak somewhere, then I rapidly started to teleport through it, taking the risk of bouncing again, in the hope only the Black Oak and the research center alone are warded against teleportation. Shit. Where the hell am I? I kept teleporting around in hope to find a familiar sight, but everything looked the same here. Every second I waste is valuable to the live of my friends. Our plan for failure is that they have to get away, even without me. I hope they manage to do that, but I need to be sure. After another teleport I realized I should have been exhausted long before. “YOU!” I screamed to a random passerby, one of those who had been watching me hop through space. “WHICH DIRECTION TO THE BLACK OAK?” He simply pointed his hoof in a direction and I teleported off again. Why had I been screaming so loud? This wasn’t like me… After a few more teleports I knew where I was again, but I had to think again just weird it was that my stamina hadn’t taken the smallest hit from all that magic, until I felt blood trickle down my forehead. Was my horn bleeding? Sure, I had been a late bloomer, but I had never thought I get another horn growth spurt at age 21. Horn growth spurts only happen once in a unicorns life. Is a second even possible? Ahh… who am I kidding, this was not normal. Now that I know where I am located I could make it all the way back in one more teleport. It was quiet… to quiet. Once again I looked down the platform, only to see four zebra lying on the ground with two more caring for their wounds. I figure Turbulence has shot them from above to cover Cirrus. But where are they? And where is everyone else? I ran down the ramp to check the ground for hoof prints. Judging from how far each step of those are apart, and how many there are in general, I’d say a good part of them had been running. For their lives, or to chase? They lead into the research facility… Why would Turbulence and Cirrus seek cover in there? They can just fly… unless one of them, Cirrus probably, had been wounded. There are traces of blood around, but I had no way of telling whom it belonged to. Ignoring the wounded zebra and their helpers I entered the facility, carefully not teleporting this time. From here on out it was easy, I simply had to follow the blood trail… Please, don’t end with two dead pegasi. Please, don’t end with two dead pegasi. This is all my fault… why had I been this distracted by Kha’ref. Well, I know why, but why does sex has to make everything so complicated? I rushed through the facility and only stopped once when I saw my own reflection in a window. Wow… the way blood ran down from my horn made me look really scary. The corpse of a zebra mare lay around a corner I turned. I hadn’t been prepared for that. These zebra have done nothing wrong, and we need to defend ourselves, because we stole from them. We are the bad guys here… And the guards (from the looks of her posture) were just the senseless victims. Wait! Kha’ref is a guard too. Is he hunting Turbulence and Cirrus too? Of course he is… he… ahhh… Don’t think, Aideen, just catch up to them. Every time I came across a door I simply blasted it away with my magic. At first with mere levitation and kinetic force, then with an energy blast to make it faster. Oh yeah, great learn a few awesome spells while I’m at it. The headache will be pure torture. I’m running here and my worries are about a headache, not my friends who I need to safe. What the hell is wrong with me? I came along more corpse and even a pile of ash once before I finally reached a big room that looked like a refinery. Big tubes and containers for liquid, catwalks around them for looking into those things. Big chemical processes are going on here, and a commotion. At the ceiling, on one of the air vents were my two stupid pegasi who fled inside a building to escape. At the walls some zebra were walking upwards to catch them, while a lot were on the ground, simply shooting up. Cirrus actually had been hurt, she was just lying on the vent and was catching her breath. Turbulence on the other hoof was working on cutting into the vent to make their escape. That was approximately 300 feet away… how can I see that so clearly? Increased perception must be a perk of the growth spurt… I took the risk that they can’t have warding from inside the facility to inside the facility, and even if, if the same thing would happen I would simply crash against the wall right behind me, right? I teleported up to them. “Gaaah!” Cirrus screamed. “Aideen!” She realized who I am, and then tied to add. “What the..?” “Don’t ask.” I can only assume it was because of my horn. “Move.” I ordered him and blasted open the side of the vent where he had been working on. Now we could escape into it and upwards, out of the facility. “Go.” The zebras had of course noticed that I was here now and had stopped shooting. While Cirrus and Turbulence flew in I took the time to look around to take in what they might do in this facility to begin with. Sadly all containers were closed and unlabeled, except for one not far from us with a dark red liquid inside of it. I had no idea what it might be, it certainly was no part for the potions I can make, maybe it… “Aideen!” Snapping out of my thoughts I entered the vent, of course, wasn’t able to make it up. Can I blindly teleport up? Not a good idea. Turbulence flew down again and reached out his hoof for me. He had it angled like a hook, so I copied that position and formed a hook with mine too, to I grabbed his. I had my doubts this would work, but we had to try. This was not the kind of improvisation I was good at. Hooves don’t work that way and I slipped out of his grasp. “Don’t worry about me, flee, I’ll make my way with magic.” His face was in doubt. “Trust. Me.” My glowing eyes must have done something because he backed off. “See you soon, okay?” He said. “See you soon.” I repeated and gave him a warm smile. Hopefully the blood streaming down my face won’t ruin the reassuring smile I gave him. He nodded and flew away. Cirrus put her head in the vent too and also said her quick “See you…” There were tears in her eyes… Then they were gone. Okay, new plan now. I went horizontally through the vent and see where my luck leads me. crank Something has landed on top of the vent I’m in, probably one of the zebras that had climbed the walls, but the ‘crank’ sound didn’t come from the impact of that zebra, it came from the vent bending down. A series of unidentifiable sounds later (they echoed through the vent mercilessly), I saw a light from where the vent broke in two. Nope. The vent now quickly bent downwards, and sent me sliding down. I tried to push at the walls to support myself inside the vent. Nope. Nope. I have bad experience with sliding off things. What does the floor have in mind for me. Oh great, my fall will be stopped by that mysterious dark red liquid, nothing to worry. Nope. Nope. Nope. I remember the last time my mind went on a ‘nope’-spree. It was in exactly that bad experience of sliding down off things too. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Splash. The zebra on top (or rather on the side) of the vent had crashed down. Whatever was holding his hooves to the wall, it hadn’t helped for the vent. Or maybe the enchantment had worn off once he had ejected himself from the wall to jump on. He screamed. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Is he screaming because he knows what that stuff is, or because he doesn’t know? The ‘unknown’ has its own eeriness. Hmm… Maybe it was acid or something, and really hurts? Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. My fighting soon proved useless as I continued to slide down further and further, until I finally lost grip fell down, right into this ‘whatever’. Ouch… it was hard. I could have sworn it was liquid, not solid. Unless… no, I’m sinking in. My body that was already in contact with the stuff wouldn’t move, it didn’t let go, and I was slowly sinking further inside of it, like the guy whose fate I shared. Panic is a reasonable reaction to being devoured by an unknown substance, right? But, weirdly enough, I felt perfectly content. It was warm and applied pressure to me, not as if trying to squeeze me, but almost as if giving me a hard massage. Why had he been screaming? I couldn’t help, but let out a soft moan when it had engulfed almost my entire body and my head was about to sink in. This felt really nice, and I was getting sleepy. My head hurts, so sleep would really be nice. I closed my eyes and rested my chin on the substance where it just sank in. I had my mouth open, but the substance seemed to exactly know where the confinements of my body where as it didn’t run into it. This was disappointing, as I now wouldn’t find out how it tasted like. No wait, I can still extend my tongue, right? I gave the substance right in front of my mouth a lick. Hmm… oak-y… I was fully engulfed in the liquid when I lost consciences. *** *** *** It’s a bad situation you have found yourself in, Aideen. Your ability to state the obvious surprise me, Craft. Remind me. Whose fault is it? You think I made him up to distract you? Sorry. All real. Believe me, I‘m not fond of you being captured. So that means he’s real, and Craft didn’t just made him up to annoy me… Yes. What? I said ‘yes’. You can hear what I’m thinking? How is that even possible? Because you’re not awake right now. Just try to look around. I have no body to even do so. Yeah, so… I can wait for a couple thousand years with no problem. But I can’t. Your ability to state the obvious is extraordinary as well, Aideen. I tell you why I contacted you. You’ve been sleeping for a while now. What? How long? When I wait my feeling of time kinda disappears. Just think of it as a short enough amount of time that your body hasn’t died of malnourishment. The treesap keeps your body barely supplied with liquids and nutrients. Taking all that in account I don’t think it has been more than a week, maybe just a few minutes. I really don’t know. Okay, less than a week, I can live with that. So what now? I’d advise you to focus your mind on waking up, don’t you think that would be good? I can’t just wake up… Can I? You can, I wouldn’t suggest it otherwise. How do I do this? That’s for you to figure out. Okay… Hmmm… Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. I believe as I’m just consisting of thought, I have to think it, right? It’s not like I can say it out loud or something. Can’t hurt. Wake up. Wake up. Come on, focus. Wake up. Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP! *** *** *** Apparently they have freed me from my oaky prison and moved me onto some soft surface. A bed? Maybe the hospital. Yes, a hospital. Or at least a prison with good hospital inside it. Judging from the tubes coming out of my nose to help me breathe, it was definitely a medical facility, whether or not cuffs on my hoofs are standard issue for every patient. I didn’t yet open my eyes, I would need an element of surprise… for any kind of situation. What kind of situation am I in anyway? Physical condition first. I fell into that stuff, and though I probably had no fresh oxygen for quite a while, my heart must have kept pumping as my brain was still intact. Other than that I couldn’t feel anything wrong with me. A little hungry though and I’d need the little fillies room, but otherwise perfectly healthy. Mental condition? Hmm… that’s hard. The usual fucked-upness of my brain, and the constant question whether or not this is real, but I don’t think my mind had been impaired by a drug, hell I even had the good sense to not open my eyes. I actually feel way sharper than I should be after sleeping… or being unconscious. Okay, next item: surroundings: I could hear I was not alone, shifting noises of guards who were not observed and had no problem with moving a little bit, but they weren’t talking. I couldn’t risk feeling out with my magic as all of them would notice that, so I decided to open my eyes slightly. “She’s awake.” A female voice immediately said. I moved a little to get a more comfortable position and closed my eyes again. Moving carelessly was a foolproof way of acting asleep, especially when you move a lot in your sleep anyway. Nobody who is acting asleep usually moves, they grow rigid and try to keep their position I believe. I have used that tactic countless times. It even works when you are awake late at night reading and your supervisor comes. Nothing more suspicious than quickly shutting off the light, just keep your position, then shift a little, as if you have fallen asleep while reading a while ago. They can’t do anything. “False alarm.” I don’t even have to keep myself from smiling at that, all part of the act. “Aww, isn’t she precious?” That was Kha’s voice; Kha’s guarding me! “She’s a pony.” A male voice said with disgust in it. “That doesn’t contradict what I said.” Kha defended my species. “How can you… She’s a pony.” He empathized the last word as if it would speak for itself. I had never thought I would hear racism the other way around, but then again I had never been somewhere where ponies were the minority or nonexistent at all. As Kha didn’t honor him with another answer he added. “You’ve always been weird.” “Cut it out,” The female interrupted, “both of you.” she added in the direction of Kha. “She has been chosen to be a pawn in the goddesses plan, and we must honor that decision. Whether she’s a freaking pony, or she looks precious when sleeping.” She said the last few words in a very mocking tone to Kha. So the female guard dislikes ponies too… Is racism really the norm? Have they all been always acting nice to me because they were under Dahlia’s orders? Is Kha really that much of an outsider in his own home? “I was just trying to lighten the mood…” “Yeah? Well, Fiora and Mal’sek are dead, and Nar’yol is dying. Excuse me if the mood is a little down but you might want to ask yourself whose fault that is. Hers! And you joke around at how precious she looks? She is completely fine. But have you seen what that stuff did to Nar? He’ll be lucky if he goes fast.” She is getting quite emotional now. ‘What that stuff did to Nar’? That doesn’t sound good. What was it anyway? Well, if the guards don’t even know it might be super-secret. And secret stuff that has such an effect is bad… “I’m sorry.” I could feel for him. Misunderstood by his comrades who are supposed to be like a second family. “Take your ‘sorry’ and stick it up her, if you think she’s so precious!” Oh wow… A wave of pain suddenly welled up in my head. --- === --- “Ahhh…” I couldn’t control myself from moaning out loud as my head seemed to explode. The headache was gone as fast as it came. I tried to raise my hoof to rub the remaining feel of pain out of my temples, but I had been cuffed to the hospital bed I was lying in. “What the hell?” I struggled to get up in a more comfortable sitting position and looked around. This was the hospital, does that mean something happened to me..? Nothing feels wrong with me. “Call Dahlia!” Around me were three of my fellow guards, but not those friends I would expect to wait next to me hospital bed when waking up. Jen just shouted an order out to more guards I couldn’t see, but I heard their confirmation of the order and their hoof steps trotting away. All three of my comrades had their weapons pointed at me… something isn’t right here… How did I even get injured? Where have I gotten injured? I inspected my body, only it wasn’t my body. “WHAT THE HELL!?” My head split up again. --- === --- This time I didn’t moan. I felt humiliated because I don’t had the self-control of keeping my pain to myself; I was betrayed by my own body, and I gave away that I’m awake. “Does it hurt?” Jen asked me. “I hope it hurts.” “I can barely feel anything.” I wouldn’t let Jen have that satisfaction. Wait, how do I know her name? Her name is Jendra, only her nickname was Jen… “Your two screams of ‘What the hell’ told me a different story.” I did what? “So tell me, does it hurt?” “I didn’t…” I did… I clearly remember not saying it once and shouting it a second time. Why did I do that? I narrowed my eyes. “I have had worse headaches.” “That’s all..? A headache?” “What can I say? I guess I’m stronger than your Nar’yol. And…” I looked to Kha. “I’m ‘precious’, really?” I tried to hint him I didn’t really mean it, but want to help him keep up his charade. Kha somehow managed to get into this position where he can watch over me. While I do believe he means well, even might try to free me, I have got to keep in mind that Dahlia already knows about this and send him to guard me on purpose. The best solution is to get away and leave him behind, where he can continue his life without having his reputation ruined. I only have to hope Dahlia will assume he doesn’t mean anything to me and won’t try to use him against me as a hostage. Would that even work? What would I do for him? What does he mean to me? I… I don’t know. Some time passed until Samuel, the male guard (why do I know his name?), exclaimed “Attention!” I heard hoof steps drawing near. Three people… one in shackles. “At ease…” Dahlias ordered as she entered the room. “Ahh… Aideen.” Her tone was way too sweet, something wasn’t right. “Dahlia.” I put as much hate in her name as I could. She smiled. “You remember our last conversation?” No, it slipped my mind. “You see, I have gotten myself some leverage here.” Making way for me to see the form in shackles behind her, she gestured to it. “What do you say?” Cirrus stood in the doorway with her muzzle tied shut, wings were clamped down atrociously, and the shackles at her hooves were spiked. Besides that, she had many whip-marks and cuts. She had been tortured… recently, and tears were still streaming down her face. There was no information to get from Cirrus that Dahlia might need. No, that’s not what this had been about… This had been just for fun, and to hurt me… to make me yield. “What do you want?” I pressed out. “Right now? Nothing. I just wanted you to understand that I don’t do half measures. You see…” Dahlia pointed at Cirrus again. “I have two of those marvelous pieces of leverage against you now. That means I can use one to make my point while keeping a spare…” Now she gestured the female guard to give her something. “and I wanted you to be present for this.” “Here.” The guard gave my .44 to Dahlia. “That was holstered to you when you fell to your demise. Your weapon of choice, I assume?” It might be, but I haven’t fired it once (beside practice). “The connection between a fighter and her weapon is strong, you know…” She took the weapon in her mouth. “Projektile wepons - Noth realleh mah shtyle, but…” Dahlia turned to Cirrus who had been thrown over to lie on the ground by the male guard. “NO!” BANG It took all three present guards to restrain me. Dahlia just killed Cirrus! I noticed Kha trying to whisper something in my ear, but I was too busy shooting bolts of lighting through the room, incinerating things and turning medical instruments into weapons to bludgeon zebras. Dahlia just killed Cirrus! All my magic was absorbed into five talismans above my bed, especially made for this situation; one I could have been able to overload, maybe two as I was in a state of strong emotional distress. Dahlia just killed Cirrus! After a while I stopped fighting. I had barely noticed that they had tranquilized me at some point. My body simply went limb, but I managed to turn myself in a way so I could see Cirrus’ body. Something inside of me thought she couldn’t be dead. We just saved her a week ago from that tick… Her eyes which had still tears in them have lost their spark of life. She had been looking at me when she died, but now her head had fallen down and she simply stared under the bed. Magnum, .44 caliber, modified for more firepower, hollow point ammunition, shot at point blank directly into the side of her head. The wound at this side of her head wasn’t even very big. It was the mess the bullet did inside Cirrus’ head and when leaving it. I need to help Cirrus… Craft! Craft can help. “Craft…” I whispered. “help.” “Seems like you are calming down.” Dahlia… again with that sweet tone of hers. “I’ll make you wish I would let you die fast, and even death won’t be the end for you, for all eternity your soul will be mine, you hear?” These weren’t my words, but they clearly came out of my mouth. “Your eyes…” Dahlia gasped in awe. “You are the goddess, right?” --- === --- The next thing I know was that I was standing next to Kha. Right in front of me Dahlia was leaning over Craft, and Craft had… dragon like eyes. “Don’t even believe you know what I am!” Craft stood up from the bed, as if there have never been any cuffs restraining her/me. “Do answer your question, there have never been any cuffs. They only exist in your memory, but I annihilated them from reality.” Dahlia bowed, and quickly all the other ones followed. I took the time to try and touch Kha, but my hoof simply went through him. I didn’t panic, Craft simply had taken over; I had asked her for help, and so she did. “Please excuse the crude way I had to lure you out mistress. I…” “Oh. You are not excused.” Craft smiled devilishly. “So, Aideen, what do you think? Should I go on a little killing spree?” “YES!” I screamed out. “You are not taking orders from that pony, are you…” My vision got distorted by blood. *** *** *** Footnote: You have reached Level 16! New Perk: Anger-management my flank!: +50% critical hit damage when angry. Special Perk: Bathed in... whatever: ??? it's probably bad ??? Special Perk: Nightmare's Power (3): You can tap into Nightmare Moon's power, and gain +5 points (total: +15) in Magic. Skill Note: Energy Weapons has reached 50. Skill Note: Building has reached 75. Skill Note: Science has reached 75. Quest: Blind Date: [X] Meet Clint’s employer [ ] Find out what Dahlia’s really planning. New Quest: Crush, Kill, Destroy: [ ] Destroy Black Oak [ ] Kill Dahlia [ ] [Optional]Leave no survivors.