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A Heart Of Steel
Chapter 2 - Impenetrable?
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I rapped rhythmically on the metal door
Tap Tap Tap. Tap. Knock. The last one slightly louder than the others. I had to use this code as he didn’t like company and only talks to the few ponies he can trust. His dorm was hidden way at the back of the Watering Hole, where the grubbiest buildings were, and this one was the least cared for. Rust was found in many places in the corridors and the dorms as well as being infested with rats, and possibly the odd bloodwing or two maybe, but I was yet to see them. The reason why these dorms were in such disarray was because they were reserved for rangers who had broken rules and protocols of some sort and were no longer permitted to socialise with the others. It was like they became a different species who had to become quarantined from the other, good rangers. But funnily enough, the higher ups of the base never really cared about the huge hole in the fence at the back which allowed free entry and exit, if you were clever about it.
The door opened just a crack and a single eye with a blue iris stared at me. It looked me up and down, dilating slightly showing how nervous he was about opening his door.
"Crossword? Is that you?" he said quickly and quietly, trying not to draw attention of anypony else nearby.
"Yeah, I just need some help with something, can I come in?" I asked, reflecting his quietness, even the slightest fright would mean he would lock the door completely for a week and answer no-one, as I have learned before.
The door closed completely. I wasn't too loud was I? I looked to my sides and saw nopony in the corridor, and I definitely didn't hear any hoof steps either. But then the door opened wider and I was met with a navy blue stallion with a frizzy deep indigo mane and tail mixed with a few grey hairs. There was a slight sign that it used to be highlighted with different coloured streaks, but they were faded and unrecognisable. He turned to his side revealing his cutie mark, a terminal with what looked like a cracked screen.
Serial Crack was an ex-scribe of the Steel Rangers who specified in fixing up or cracking information from terminals or devices collected from Ranger Acquisition Missions. He was one of the best hackers in the Fillydelphia Contingent many years ago, arguably some said in the entirety of the Steel Rangers. With his reputation, he was given great trust by the higher-ups of the Contingent, allowing him to use advanced terminals and equipment to complete his jobs if his team’s equipment didn’t meet his needs. He took much pride in what he did but while using some of these private terminals, he noticed interesting documents and information that raised questions to him. He devoted nearly half of his work time to decrypting these files and discovering their secrets, but he was soon caught in the act. Accessing top secret information like that was punishable by exile in the wasteland or even death.
After a heavily fought tribunal held by the Council of Elders themselves, it was decided that he would be allowed to remain in the Custody of the Steel Rangers within the compound containing the lowest level information as well as being the most remote. This lead to him ending up in the Far South Contingent in the Watering Hole, restricted to this very room. His shattered reputation lead to many of the ponies here to come to ridicule and hurt him for his treachery, leading to his scars and the 'crack' on his cutie mark. These events resulted in his now recluse lifestyle, hiding away in his room, only answering to a certain select group who he considered safe. I was one of the few ponies here which he allowed into his small clique, as well as being what I considered his best friend.
"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" He whispered loudly as possible, also gesturing quickly to get inside. I trotted hurriedly into his room where he nearly slammed the door, but stopped it in inch before it reached the frame, closing it easily. He then advanced to the modified locking system on his door. As an expert hacker, he didn’t trust in many of the technological advances the rangers have had, such as the electronic door lock, so he removed it opting for a manual approach of sliding locks, bolts and chains as well as a large metal bar that slides over the entire width of the door. At last he sighed with relief and changed his posture to look a little more relaxed. He turned to me after his final check on his door.
"Can I get you a drink?" he asked, much calmer than before, almost an entirely different pony. His voice had a much higher volume now that the soundproofing he had installed was not compromised. His expression was much cooler, his upper eyelids now slightly closed.
"Sure, we may be here a while, I’m in need of your expertise." I replied, also making the sound of work enticing for him.
Talking about a pony’s talent round here, albeit quite restricted as the palette often included being tactical, sharp eyed, strong, if you were a knight. For a scribe, their talents were a little more varied, many scribes take a lot of pride in their specialty just as much as a knight would. Serial was the opposite due to his collapse. He often dreaded the talent he had now, but without it he was nothing and it was the only thing that kept him occupied while he was restricted to his room. I often came to Serial to keep him company while I was in my last 5 years of initiation. I learnt about him during one of our lectures on hacking and the dangers of overstepping the skill. I learnt many of the base techniques, but some of them seemed to go straight over my head. Hacking piqued my interest from the beginning, and I would be very disappointed if I failed it, as it would have given me quite the edge with such a skill in the field. So learning that Serial Crack was present in the Watering Hole, I went about finding where he was, sneaking in into the Old Scribes Building and knocking on his door. It made me wonder to this day why I was an exception to his normal rules on opening the door to strangers, but from that day, he taught me everything I know now, becoming a mentor of sorts.
"Well. I better use the big mugs then. Must be pretty important if you can’t figure it out. Take a seat" he smirked as he walked into his small kitchen.
I approached the centre of his dorm, a room with walls and floor covered by plans, notes and different codes from his research. In the middle were two make-shift sofas he had crafted from the junk that gets thrown at his door when other scribes and guards pass it. Despite some of the junky, unappealing items included in the makeup of the furniture, it was surprisingly more comfy than the metal furniture used in the other buildings, certainly better than in my dorm. If there was a need, he would make a great crafts-pony.
I settle down on one of the sofas and walk through the plan I have so far. When I got off duty, I went and scouted round the command building. I know it has 3 floors, but being as we have over 30 Crusaders based here, as well as the paladins, and Elder Cucumber Salad when he decided to stay, I find it unlikely all those offices can fit in there. So some conclusions I have drawn is that they must be sharing offices possibly, fitting more than one desk in a room. Or they might have their terminals in the officer’s dorms. But even so, I honestly can't find a way of gaining access to the command building undetected, let alone into a Crusader's dorm which is filled with ponies all the time. I needed advice, maybe a way of remotely hacking the terminal if it were possible. It might be a touchy topic, but Serial has experience in this as well as hacking, so hopefully my years of friendship should pay off today.
A few minutes later, Serial re-enters his sitting room carrying two rather large mugs in his magic. He places them onto the small metal table in-between the two sofas and takes his seat opposite me.
"So then, Crossword. What is it that requires me? Must be something pretty big if hacking Mellow's terminal didn't need my intervention?" he replied, not showing any form of anger.
I showed a look of dismay when he brought that up. He made a strong point that he didn't want me using my skills for personal gain. Hacking Crusader Mellow's Terminal when it was in the repair bay was one such example of me breaking his rule, one I had neglected to mention to him.
"I guess it's not an appropriate question to ask how you found that out. But I promise it was for a good reason, and definitely nothing that would have gotten me or you into serious trouble." I defended, I may have evaded the truth slightly, but the reasons for it were legitimate.
Crusader Mellow always had it out for me, and when Cherry Strudel befriended me, his hatred became shared, becoming one of the few officers who actually hated her. He managed to catch Cherry going through the answers for one of the theory exams, being as she was more of a practical mare, answering questions was never really her style. He had video evidence from the cameras that he was going to use in an incriminating report to Star Paladin Hard Harrow, the Head Knight of the Watering Hole. It would ruin her chances at being a knight, as well as stopping the support she was giving me also as she would be isolated for it.
"Whatever you say. Now, what do you need?" he asked, relieved he didn’t take my actions further.
"Well, if you didn't know, I managed to get into the knights in the end, I passed my initiation." I explained, hopefully starting with something good will lighten the mood a bit.
"Congratulations, I thought you would do it, you’re a very knowledgeable pony." he smiled, making me blush. Despite him being a bit emotionally unstable, he always was able to make me happy, no matter what mood I was in.
"However, I asked Cherry Strudel to see if she could get me on a mission outside of the Watering Hole, preferably an acquisition mission. But it didn't go quite to plan, and I'm now on the border patrol instead." I looked down when I said the last part, putting emphasis that I was disappointed in this.
"I see, well I can see where this conversation is going," he stated, seeing straight through my façade.
"You want me to break into a terminal and get you onto a different job?" he sighed, clearly saddened by his guess at my proposition.
"No... Actually? Wait. No, that’s not what I was going to do at all. 'I' was going to do the hacking. But all I wanted to do was find out why I was put on border patrol. I think Cherry lied to me when she said she would get me on an out-of-base mission. I just need a way of finding and getting to the right terminal." I explained. I hoped it might change his opinion, but that was really wishful thinking.
"Seems a bit of a weak reason to go through all the effort, just to prove a fact." he sceptisised. It was true, I may have cared a bit too much about proving my conscience, I was obsessive like that. But I was willing to take the risk, especially knowing I could possibly change the records a bit. Ok. Maybe that did make this much more worthwhile doing.
"Ok, I’ll be honest. I did not even consider changing the records to get me on a different mission. But do you think that’s possible?" I enquired. He sighed and looked up to the water stained ceiling. He looked back down towards the table and took grasp of his mug with his magic and took a long drink out of it. After, he placed a hoof to his forehead in a look of annoyance or frustration.
"Ok. Forgetting my morals here. Say you were successful and you get on this mission. I am pretty sure that somepony will find it suspicious that a knight chosen to be on one of these missions, which are often very prestigious for a fresh knight to get, to now be on border patrol. And to add more mystery to the equation, 'you' are then found to taking his place. I don't mean to offend, but I think this would smell a bit fishy don't you think?" he criticised. He pretty much destroyed my idea in one statement. I have no idea of what to do now.
"Plus, from experience, there is no way into these rooms or offices anymore as they have these new electronic keys to activate everything from locks to terminals." he carried on. My ears pricked up when he mentioned the key.
"Well now that you mention it, I happened to acquire a key from a Crusader while I was on the border." I flash the key in front of him, hanging from my hoof.
His eyes then widen at the sight of it. I have never seen him so affixed to something other than his papers and his terminal.
"Can I?" he asked, surrounding the key in his magic.
I nodded and he took the key from my hoof and levitated it a few inches from his face. I reached for my mug, struggling to grasp it being as they were better designed for magic users with its absence of a handle. Using both of my hooves I took a drink and quickly placed it back on the table as I began to lose grasp of it.
"Fascinating work of technology these. I have seen schematics of them before they were implemented, but it looks like they really overhauled the design since then. Security loops, a much better encryption level, even a Near Field Sparkler. Damn,0 do they have some technicians up in Manehattan or what?." admired Serial, seemingly forgetting any anger he developed towards my idea.
"So, what do you think?" I enquire his interest in the key appearing to flip the tables a bit.
He carries on examining it, for the fact that the key is only 3 inches long, it’s surprising how much you can see in it. But after a while, his look of interest begins to cloud and he lowers the key to look at me, more sullen now.
"I don't know, I’m torn really. I have never been more tempted in my entire life to see what this key unlocks. But I swore to myself that I wouldn't do this again," he lectures. But then the corners of his mouth began to prick up a bit
"However, all the information, videos, logs and records stored by these are invaluable, which lead to them using these keys." he argues with himself. The speed at which he was talking appeared to increase.
"So, you'll do it?" I press. I should be feeling guilty here; it was like I was tempting somepony to get back onto drugs or something. But I needed to do this, for the good of my future, and my stubbornness. Boy do I feel cruel.
He contemplates it by nodding his head from side to side, warring with his conscience and his heart. He lifts his head up to the ceiling again but drops it sharply while saying...
"Yes!" shouting it louder than I have ever heard him speak since I had met him. His irises appeared to grow very small when he said this, looking only a little bit deranged.
He leaps out of his seat and lands awkwardly at his terminal. After righting himself he logs in into it with a furiosity I would only have expected from myself when I’m hacking. He was definitely motivated, and this gave me some hope, but there was still the issue of making this seem believable. After a minute or so, he brings up a map of the Watering Hole, zooming in on the Command Building.
"Ok, I know for a fact that they wouldn't keep terminals needing a key like this in the dorms or anywhere else on site except for the command building. Another fact is that these keys are given on a per room basis, meaning they don’t share with other knights." he surmises. His method of deduction literally took the words right out of my mouth.
"Ok, so how do they fit all those rooms in there, I doubt it’s like a flank to flank arrangement in there." I argue.
"I see your point, but there is one thing we can try. Can you fetch that box of parts in the corner?" he commands, having an apparent light bulb.
I wade my way across his paperwork to arrive at a bunch of boxes containing a various assortment of electronic parts and wires. I pull out the biggest one and use my head to push it along the floor, knocking over a dozen paper stacks. Arriving at the terminal, Serial has already retrieved a tool kit and a single paper from his sea of paper cuts. It’s a wonder to me how he got both of these thing so quick, even with magic.
He looks down into the mountain of geekiness and retrieves several or so parts simultaneously and takes tool after tool from his kit as he assembles some sort of device. Finally after only a short few minutes of skilled work, he attaches it to a wire connected to the terminal. He then picks up the key and plugs it into his new creation. Suddenly the terminal flashes with various different messages and errors as the unconventional way we have plugged the key in is recognised by the terminal.
"Eureka!" he announced a bit cliché as I have read many geniuses say this in books I have read.
"Now, if I’m correct, this key should identify the whereabouts of the terminal it corresponds to in the building. Being as all the terminals are linked in the Watering Hole, even with encryption, its location should match up right about... Oh wow!" he exclaims, bewildered by something on the screen.
I was about to ask what when I saw the map of the Command Building shift to an upright position, and then some structures appeared underground. The Command Building had an underground complex. And a green blip appeared on the bottom floor, the Crusader's terminal.
"That makes so much sense, but also much, much harder to get to." I state, slightly saddened. I had to face facts, a terminal, five floors below an off limits building is impenetrable.
"Maybe not," Serial replies, a new idea forming in his head.
"Another Crusader who visits me from time to time popped by yesterday complaining about the fact that the Elder wants a full inspection of all the dorms saying that ammunition has been going missing and it needs to be found. Cucumber Salad seems certain that the Knights and Initiates have nothing to do with it, so nearly 'all' of the officers will be out of the building tomorrow afternoon. That gives you a brilliant chance." he grins, turning to me with a crazy hypnotic look.
"This is happening, it’s really happening! I’m so excited! Espionage, sneaking, stealth. Oh wow, I could only dream of it." I begin to squeal, Serial also beginning to copy me in a freaky sort of way but I ignored it. He's not been this happy in a long time, who was I to take it from him.
"Right, so there are likely to be cameras around the building, so we will need to find a way around those, I also assume there will be other doors locked which this key cannot unlock. There is also the risk that there may be armed anti-intruder systems in there possibly. I know Manehattan had them down in the black archives where they kept all the good stuff. Goes without mentioning that this will be similar." Serial begins to weigh. He fetched a blank piece of paper from a dispenser on the wall and collected a pen and began jotting down all of the complications he could think of.
Five minutes later he presented the list to me, and with each complication, my ears began to droop again. It’s not that it seemed impossible now, but it looked just downright horrific. I wouldn’t just be caught down there if I wasn’t careful, but I could die. Burned to a crisp, disintegrated, and even liquidated. Serial could see the look of fear on my face as I read through the list.
"Hey, don't worry; you’ll be in Power Armour, that stuff won't even leave a scratch on you... Exaggerating slightly of course." he smiled cheerily.
"Wait, What? How can I get it when it's in the armoury? I have to return it when I’m off duty." I attacked, yet he remained calm and looked full of himself.
"Follow me." he instructs as he leaves the terminal and approaches the door. He begins to undo the latches and chains.
"Serial! What are you doing!?" I shout, concerned about him breaking his dorm arrest
"Relax, I’m not leaving." he reassures me
He opens the door just a crack and gestures for me to come to him. Approaching the door he points across the hallway to the dorm opposite.
"Over there, is the dorm of a scribe who was an ex-knight. He was sent here because he became deranged I heard, and not from the field weirdly enough. For some crazy reason though, they let him keep his power armour, but I heard a commotion a few nights back that he had passed away. But one thing I didn’t hear was the sound of the armour being removed. If you can fetch the armour from his room, then I can adjust it for you to take into the Command Building tomorrow" he explains to me.
"That’s a bit. Grim, isn't it? Plus how am I supposed to haul that thing across the hallway without attracting any attention, or breaking my back?" I complain. Almost as soon as I finished my sentence he had a rope and cart beneath his hoof.
"Need I say more?" he wittingly remarked.
"What happened to you?"
He chuckled as he kicked the equipment to me
I heard a click as the magnet I placed on the lock panel of the door fell off into my hoof. These electronic locks were much easier to use than the traditional key lock, but consequently, they were much easier to crack. Just a simple magnet on the right part of the latch opens it up nice and clean. The doors edges open and I take a peek inside. The format of the dorm was predictably similar to Serial's dorm. I did notice that it was much better furnished, but was covered in up with cloth. For the love of Celestia, I hope that they didn’t leave the body in here. I took a sniff and I was relieved to not smell any signs of discomposure, besides the dampness of the structure itself.
I take a few more steps inside, dropping my magnet in my saddlebag and towing the cart behind me. I was now completely inside the dorm, and I didn't like it one bit. It felt empty, which was obvious. But the fact I knew it was lived in, made it seem quite eerie and depressing at the same time. Everything being covered in cloth was like the rangers wished to forget this pony had passed away, despite whatever he had done, like a cover up. No pun intended. I looked around the room for something that nearly resembled Power Armour. It shouldn't be too hard being as most of the stuff in here was furniture, and I’m pretty sure that making property of the Ministry into furniture was punishable by the fullest extent. Makes sense really, I mean who on earth would make a coffee table out of one of the most incredible feats of engineering the world has ever known. My eyes finally arrive upon a cloth which seemed to have more jagged edges than the others, I also noticed that it seemed to have four trails where it had been pushed or dragged into the corner of the room. Approaching it I noticed it was not of a considerable size, being as the previous owner was a stallion, but more my size. This was brilliant. I raised my hoof to the corner of the cloth and yanked it off revealing something more than Power Armour.
Before my eyes laid a legacy. From my studies, some of the armour issued was not of a standard quality. The Ministry attempted to tweak with the design, outputting something which would be much more reliable, quicker and powerful. The result was not what was intended at all and was abandoned, however some of them were recovered from certain Ministry factories, and one of them in question was right here. The Mk III. Featuring a unique design overall which was designed to be more streamlined, plated with a rare black mineral that was said to make it 2x as strong as steel. It is also one of the few classes of armour which had backup Magical Energy Weapons installed as standard. Very few of these were made as the labour force was not able to cater for the demands needed, as well as the fact its design carried so many faults. Thus Project 2, as it was called, was shutdown, leaving them scattered across the lands.
I stood there a little longer, taking in the sight of the relic when suddenly I heard voices from out in the corridor. Soon enough I heard Serial's door slam shut, and I realised I had left mine wide open. Crap what was I going to do; if they caught me in here I was through. Maybe I could hide under a cloth, being as there were plenty here. No, too predictable, they would see me easily. Then. It hit me.
"Hey, what did you say we were doing again? I can't for the life of me remember" asked one of the Knights
"I told you, Gravy. We're here to collect that Power Armour. You know, that snazzy one that old coot keeps in his room" the other responded.
"Oh, I remember now. Damn what would I do without you, Pierce." admired Gravy.
"Nothing probably if I was partnered with some..." Pierce retorted, but was interupted.
*SLAM*
"Hey, that came from near that coot's room!" exclaimed Pierce's partner
The pair of them gallop round the corner to arrive at the room
"What’s his door doing open? I have the only key except for the quartermaster. And he wouldn’t be nosing round the likes of here" Pierce questions.
"Maybe someone came to take the armour we were supposed to collect?" Gravy suggested
Pierce thinks for a moment
"Nah, that’s absurd. Only Harrow and us two know about the armour being kept here. Plus who in their right mind would dare steal one of the rarest pieces of technology and honestly think they would get away with it." Pierce rejected, rolling his eyes to emphasise how stupid that sounded.
Suddenly a sound came from behind them, almost like a laugh, but they shrugged it off.
"Well, just to be sure, well do a quick search." Pierce concluded
"You got it!" Gravy shouted enthusiastically
They both enter the room and start circling round it, one hugging the left wall, the other on the right. They started looking under all the cloths, in all the cupboards and even under the carpets, but to no avail.
"Nothing!?" called Pierce
"Nope, just a large cart, probably left it for us. You?" replied Gravy
"Nope, I call this a joke, let’s get this job done so we can head over to Lion's" he conceded
They both return to the centre of the room and lay their eyes upon the Mk III Armour. They eyes widened at the sight of how incredible it looked compared to theirs.
"Come on, you take the rear." commanded Pierce as he began to tie a rope around the fore hooves of the armour.
Gravy took his position at the tail and lowered his head to begin pushing the armour onto the cart.
"Oh dear Celestia, what have I got her into?" regretted Serial, hearing the commotion coming from across the hall.