//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Resistance // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Zero // by BLsquared //------------------------------// Fallout: Equestria - Zero Written by BLsquared Chapter 3 - Resistance         The groaning of the generators could no longer be heard due to their being shut off. I unsheathed and activated my saber, providing a faint green glow.         "Why did the power go out?" I asked.         Aztec Falcon rolled his eyes. "It's obviously them."         "Mavericks?"         "Not just any Mavericks-" Frantic hoofsteps came from behind the glass. "It's the Resistance."         He opened the door into the execution chamber, only to find it empty. The lights suddenly returned, revealing a door that had, most definitely, been forced open.         "Backup generators must have kicked in. Thankfully they didn't tamper with those," Aztec Falcon mumbled.         Entering the adjoining hallway, I found the pony guard to not be dead, but only unconscious. Aztec Falcon did not see this, as he was running after the escaped prisoners. I managed to catch up to him,  and we could see somepony go around the corner. A large room awaited us; it appeared as a loading and unloading area for prisoners, considering the tall garage door on the opposite end from us. It was open and occupied by a tank-like troop transport of some kind. The escapees were climbing into the back of it. Helping them were four or five zebras and ponies fitted with green uniforms.         "No one is leaving. PERIOD!" The command left Aztec Falcon as he pushed a nearby red button that was on the wall. The garage door started closing, but caught on the top of their transport. This rendered the vehicle incapable of moving.         "Hold on!" It was a female voice. "Let's talk about this, OK?"         Out of the transport stepped a pale white unicorn mare wearing a pink coat. Her mane was yellow, and she had sparkling blue eyes.         "What is there to talk about? You're all convicted felons here, and deserve to be killed!" Aztec Falcon responded, stomping his hoof on the metallic floor.         "Now just wait a second. I have a suggestion: if you allow us to leave, then we will never bother Neo Arcadia again. We don't want more to be killed, only for this unnecessary conflict to end."         X's voice came from my radio:         "Kill them all."         I raised my radio to my mouth and replied, "Why? They mean no harm. In fact, none of ours were murdered today. We should just let them go!"         "Wrong words, Zero. If you can no longer be of use to me, then you must be retired. Aztec Falcon, I give you permission to take down Zero."         "My pleasure." Aztec Falcon said while smirking. Around his hoof armor appeared electrified bladed claws. He dashed at me, swiping his hoof. I rolled out of the way and assessed the situation. He seems to be good in melee combat, so let’s not fall into that trap. I drew my pistol and fired several shots at him, and at the same time jumping out of his reach. Aztec Falcon was hit by the unexpected bolts, and flew into the air. He swooped down at me, and I dodged. He was met by the ground, and stood right back up.         "Think you're so smart, eh?" He flew up again, this time returning fire with lightning bolts from his clawed hooves. I managed to avoid two, but was hit by a third, sending me on my back. Flying over, he prepared to stomp on me from above. During his fall, time seemed to slow. I ignited my saber just before he made contact. Time returned to normal, and Aztec Falcon went limp atop of me. He had been impaled by my saber. I turned off my blade and pushed the dead corpse off of me. The Resistance soldiers, the mare, and the escapees stood amazed.         "Nice try, Zero." It was X's heartless voice again. "But failure is not an option."         My body was instantly in unbelievable pain. I fell to the ground, paralyzed, and was surrounded by a force field emanating from my radio. Is this the end? Am I  truly going to die here? From my fading vision I saw a magic sparkling object float out in front of the mare from the Resistance. It was saying something, but I hardly caught anything. The electrifying pain was taking over. Darkness filled my vision as my consciousness slipped from reality. However, my death was interrupted by a flash of light alongside a scream. Strength returned to my body, and color to my eyes. The radio on my wrist was destroyed, and the magic barrier with it. I stood up to find the mare on the ground, weeping.         "Passy...." she mumbled through her tears. "Passy..."         A Resistance soldier came to her aid. "Miss Ciel! Are you all right?" He showed concern in his voice.         "Passy..."         It was all that she said.         "What does 'Passy' mean?" I inquired of him.         He replied by putting me in hoofcuffs. “Now, just because you saved us does not mean you are one of us. Until we figure out exactly who you are, you might as well be a prisoner.”         Ciel looked up at me. "She.. she gave her life for you...." she managed to muster up.         With one final sniffle, Ceil stood upright and quietly thanked me. We boarded the vehicle, and somepony shot the button that held the door in place. The door lost power, and thus gave our transport just enough leeway to scratchily escape from the metal jaws that once held it captive. We appeared to be moving quite quickly, considering our vehicle to be propelling itself via treads. I stood amongst the soldiers and refugees in the cargo area. There were pink cushion seats along the grey steel walls, but the tension had been too much for anypony to sit down. It seems that the others, namely those rescued, expected Neo Arcadians to show up, and all of them crammed their faces into the solitary window to convince themselves of otherwise. Desert is the only notable thing to be seen, except that there is so much that it is not actually worth seeing. Not even Neo Arcadia is in view anymore, only the yellow sands.         After approximately an hour the sun began to set below the cloud cover, and we approached a base of some sort. The green building looked more as a bunker than a base upon closer inspection. It was definitely weather-worn; the paint had chipped and cracked in too many places to count. A garage door opened up to reveal the interior, and our vehicle crawled to a stop within. The room was flooded with off-white light. More Resistance Soldiers entered the garage; some helping the passengers, and others investigating the condition of our vehicle. One tried to talk to Ciel, who then straightened herself up and walked out through the door on the opposite wall. I got out and stood over in the corner, awaiting some sort of orders. Eventually everypony else had left, with the exception of one soldier. This stallion in particular had a faded blue coat alongside a navy blue mane, and he wore rectangular white goggles with blue lenses.         “So, you new here?” he politely asked. I nodded. “Alrighty then, allow me to introduce myself. ‘Name’s Colbor. Yours?”         “Zero.” At least, that is what I have been told.         “Well, Zero, I’m sure there is an extra bunk in my room for ya, if you’re in need of someplace to sleep tonight...”         I lifted a hoof as far as I could to reveal the chains binding them.         “No prob. We don’t really have a prison, so one of the empty rooms will have to do. Just follow me.”         On the other side of the door out of the garage was a grey hallway. The walls were composed of large metal plates, and a couple of doors occupied each side. At the end of said hall was an elevator with a huge “G” painted beside it. Upon entering the elevator, I noticed that it had two doors; the one we entered through and another directly across that probably led to another hallway identical to the one we had just been in. Colbor tapped a button marked “4” and down we went. Exiting the elevator, we entered the first door on the left to find a very huge yet very empty room. The lights were turned off, making it very dark. “I’ll lock this door, just in case, and come get ya in the morning. G’night.” He closed the door behind him, and I drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the fighting and everything.