//------------------------------// // Medical Assistance // Story: Chassis // by LoosePartyCannon //------------------------------// Tyler "Mac! Mac, say something please!" The orange native shouted, tears running down her equine face as she tried to wake up what I assumed to be her brother. OK think brain, An infected native, a clearing full of toxic sludge and dangerous tech, natives both dead and afraid and from the looks of their warriors they don't have the tech powerful enough to save this poor bastard...Shit. Thank space god for mandatory first aid. Thinking quickly I sent a signal for my Chassis to run to my location and then went to work on helping the natives. "Listen, I need you to remain calm. does anyone here have medical training?" I said to the orange one who was borderline hysterical. "M-my friend Fluttershy is a doctor." She told me as she wiped the tears from her bloodshot, green eyes. "OK, what's your's and his name?" I asked, keeping pressure on his tainted wound. "Applejack and Big Macintosh." She told me. Strange names but not the weirdest I've heard. "Well Applejack I need you to get your friend over here, I don't have a lot of supplies on me but I've signaled for help. I promise you I won't let him die." I instructed her, trying to bolster her confidence with half-truths, I wouldn't let him die but if they can't combat the virus then there's little I could do. She then ran off and went to talk to one of her friends. Turning to the infected man I went to work. I removed my canteen from my hip and started to clean the wounded area and tore of a part of his shirt to use as a bandage to stop blood loss. I turned around to see the yellow girl from the group, shaking in fear. She was small, being a foot shorter then me, and wore a plain green sweater. She was shaking like a leaf and her iris where like pinpricks. "H-hello. How bad is it?" She said to me as she knelled beside me and looked over Big Macintosh. "He's been bitten by an infected human, the disease in him is curable but we got to act fast. I've cleaned the wounded area with sterilized water and bandaged it with a clean part of his shirt." I told her as she nodded her head as she listened. "How fast does the disease spread and what are its symptoms?" She asked, in a more confident but worried tone of voice. "Without care he will be dead within the hour, with care he may life past today, but will need constant care so his situation won't get worse and will needed to be quarantined for at least a week, I can't stress that enough. If he starts shaking uncontrollably, foaming at the mouth, coughing up blood or other substances, or his nose starts bleeding black blood profusely then the disease has reached his brain and heart, meaning he can't be saved." She was shocked by this news and started to panic slightly. "W-we don't have the equipment to deal with this!"She half-shouted with a look of dread. "Don't worry I've sent for-" It was at that moment that my Chassis ran into the clearing. The guards raised their weapons, some of the girls panicked, Applejack and the blue one got ready for another fight while the purple Raknan simply starred in awe. "-Help." I said as I rose and ran to the Chassis. As I approached it I ordered it via my wrist mounted PDA to kneel and open its cockpit so I could get in. Once I climbed into the cockpit I pressed a blue button built into the left wall which opened a hatch full of medical supplies. Grabbing some of the different items I would need I hopped out of the machine and ran back to the yellow native and Big Macintosh. "W-What is the-that thing..."She stuttered out in fear. "A Chassis scouter, more specifically a Raven.21. Now anymore questions you won't understand or can we save this man's life?" I rhetorically asked her, slightly annoyed. "S-sorry." She muttered. I handed her a few NSAIDs and my canteen as I readied a syringe full of an experimental sterilizing agent. "OK, I've given you a few Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, they'll assist in decreasing swelling, pain and his fever. And this is a potent antibiotic agent designed to give people a fighting chance against the Marauder virus, its experimental and I have no idea how it will affect him, but without it his chances of survival are slim to none without a hospital design to fight this. Help me get him up into a sitting position." I ordered her. With one arm each we lifted the surprisingly heavy native up and supported him with a shoulder each. "Fluttershy, try and get him to swallow some of those tablets with the water." She did as I said and managed to get the medicine down without the man choking or experiencing discomfort. "buddy if you can hear me, this is gonna hurt like hell. So you know, happy thoughts." I told him as I injected him with the orange sterilizers. I had done all I could for him as I had nothing else usable in this situation. Exhausted and stressed, I opened the front of my helmet to breath without a filter. With a hiss, the helmet slid back into my suit, allowing me to breathe and see normally. My tanned skin was warmed slightly by the afternoon sun. The women gasped and jumped back when she saw my helmet slide into the armor plating. "you just can't beat fresh, unfiltered air." I exclaimed as I breathed deeply through my nose and out through my mouth. When I was done calming myself I noticed the others had moved in closer. Some where looking over Big Macintosh with worried looks while others where staring at me. "What are you?" The blue flying one asked as she hovered a few feet away from me. "I'm a human, scientifically named Homo Sapiens. My name, is Tyler Faye. I'm the designated scout and marksmen for Fire team Recon. And you people are?" I told them. The purple one stepped forward. She looked like a Librarian or a teacher with how she dressed. She seemed to have both a horn and a pair of wings. Perhaps this planet's species are ranked by the appendages they have? Some of the aliens here have no strange features, some have horns, some wings and this one both. "Hello and welcome to the planet Equis, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and they are Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity, together we form the Elements of Harmony. This is my protégé Spike Solstice, and these are my royal guards. On behave of the ponies of Equestria we welcome you, Tyler Faye." She said in a welcoming tone as she introduced me to the assembled aliens and then performed a formal bow. "Is my brother gonna be OK?" Applejack said as she approached me. She looked like an old school cowgirl. They have jeans and stetson hats here? Cosmic coincidence or conspiracy? "I've done what I can. I gave him some drugs to decrease pain and weaken the fever and some sterilizing agents to help combat the disease but both of which just give him a chance of survival. If he's strong enough to tough it out and he's got a good enough doctor and medical supplies then he should make it." I told her truthfully. "Thank you so much." She said as she hugged me with tears falling onto my shoulder. She had a surprisingly strong body as I couldn't break the hug without pushing her off me forcefully. Feeling slightly awkward I returned the hug. "Now that formalities are out of the way will you please accompany us back to our town, I have many questions to ask you and I assume you do to." She asked, hopeful that I would do what she wants. "Listen, as much as I would like to play twenty questions with you guys as you mostly likely have a lot of questions, this isn't the time. You need to get this man to an emergency room and put him in quarantine, it also would help if you all got checked." I said as Applejack broke the hug. "What about you? We can't let an unknown and potentially hostile creature roam Equestria in times of war." One of the guards told me, his young voice oddly firm. "I will have to first destroy all evidence of this crash landing, then incinerate the clearing to stop the spread of the Marauder virus to the local wildlife or ecosystem. Unless you want everyone in a mile radius to catch what Big Macintosh has then you better let me do my work before it ends up in a river. I have a feeling I will end up meeting you people again, after all I'm going to have to check up on him now that he's caught the virus." I told them as I picked up my flamethrower from the ground. "So we're suppose to let you go?" The guard replied. "You COULD try and make me come with you but it won't end well for anyone. Let me do my job, and I can guarantee it will end better for everyone. Now please leave the clearing, it's going to get very toasty soon." I instructed as my mask sprung from my armour and covered my face, clicking in place. Sighing Twilight turned around and walked off with her friends. "This sucks, I wanted to know what that giant robot does." The purple Raknan named Spike said, clearly upset. "Young Raknan, I can tell you what it does when my work is done, but can you people please leave?" "B-but I need to know so much about you! Where did you come from, how advanced is your species, what fields of magic-" "Trust me, this isn't the first time I've disappointed a native population. If you do as I say and please leave the infection zone I will try and meet up with you if my superior allows me. Also, it would be safer if you left the dead guardsmen where they lay." I interrupted her as I silently prayed Vectis would order me to stay away from them. "But we need to return them to their families for a proper burial!" One of the female guards told me clearly offended that I would burn their dead. "I understand the need to give these poor soldiers a proper burial, trust me I do, but if there's a chance that the corpses are carrying the disease then I can't let the corpses enter a populated area or even into an uninfected region. Please understand that if it was safe I would let you but I can't morally or legally allow you to take them." I pleaded with them, truly sounding sorry. "We can't allow you to destroy the bodies. It is against the moral code we follow to allow our dead to go disrespected." One of the other guards shouted. "If you want them to be disrespected then let the bodies infect their families at these poor soldier's funerals." I shouted back, frustrated because they wouldn't listened. "Guards, stand down. As much as it pains me, he is right to destroy any carriers. We have no idea how destructive an outbreak would be." Twilight ordered her guards. "Understood ma'am...Can we at least collect their tags and personal items?" The female guard asked with a defeated tone as she backed off. "Thank you, and I'm sorry. As long as you disinfect them I can see no risk as the disease can only affect living material. Now, please leave so I can do my job." I asked. "Fine, don't make me regret letting you go. The other Princesses will hear about this." Twilight told me with a slight warning as she helped carry Big Macintosh away. The guards from before approached the corpses and, in a shocking display, used their Psionic powers to lift the guardsmen's tags from their necks and a few small items like photos, wallets and other personal knick-knack. When they had left the clearing I turned to the wreckage in front of me. Yeap, this is gonna take awhile. "Well, at least they're finally gone, now then, back to work." I said to myself as I moved the dead guards together in a pile and turned on my flamethrower. "Gods above, forgive me for disturbing the dead and guide their souls to rest, and please let these proud soldiers never be forgotten." I prayed in a quiet voice as I went to work on incinerating the bodies. The armor was surprisingly flame resistant but the bodies where soon melted along with the armor from the intense blue fire. Soon the clearing was filled with the smell of burning flesh and a faint stench of burning fat. Turning to the dark puddles at my feet I inputted a series of commands and created a steady, controlled stream of cleansing fire which soon engulfed the ooze like it was gasoline. There where trails of fire in all directions but was it surprisingly controlled, almost as if the fire refused to leave the flammable liquid. Wasting no time I walked in between the different rows of fire and walked into the remains of the marauder landing craft. If it had made it through the blockage we formed the forest would have been over run within hours, thankfully only one of the freaks survived, still it did a number on the locals and the landscape. Moving into the ship I could barely go ten feet in as the smell of rotten flesh was so pungent that it almost made me vomit. standing in the middle of the broken down room I set a demolition charge on the ground. Designed quite similarly to the old C4 charges uses during the early 21st century, these small clear boxes of white crystallized explosive and wires did a hell of a number on infected objects and was invaluable cleansing operations. Setting the charge for thirty seconds I ran out of the wreck and back to my Chassis. I boarded it and lowered the cockpits cover just in time to avoid the bright purple flash of the explosion. When it cleared all I saw in the clearing was scorch marks, a few feet of destroyed ground and dirt in the center, and a few patches of fire. The bodies, sludge and ship where all incinerated in the blast. Stomping on the few patches of fire left I signaled Vectis. "Captain Vectis, the cleansing operation wasn't as much of a success as we had hoped." I informed him. "What went wrong." He replied, clearly tired. "The natives where first on the scene and there was an infected survivor." I told him. "Damage done?" "four dead natives, burned the bodies, one infected native, treated the virus so hope he lives, and a small group of natives are aware of my existence. I have destroyed all evidence and harmful substances to the local fauna and flora." I stated. "Shit, well at least the situation is contained. Surprised you noticed the damn thing falling in from re-entry, guess that's why you're the designated marksman. How much progress have you made with the long distance radar?" He asked, slightly worried about the way I handled the situation. "Still pretty bad. I don't have the tools necessary for a full repair. At least I can pick up signals, its staticy and hard to keep the channel open for long, but its there." I told him as I walked my chassis through the many trees that littered the path back to the safe house I had found. "Well at least its progress. I can't make heads or tails of where I am. Grey mountains and brown dirt as far as the eye can see. I'll contact you if something comes up, until then work on getting that radar working." He ordered me as he sighed. "One last thing, now that the natives are aware of me how should I handle the situation? I need to check on the infected native to make sure he doesn't show signs of turning." I asked, needing guidance. "Try to make your presence known only to those who need to know, no need telling the world aliens are real while we're still blind and grounded planet side. Good luck Sergant Tyler." He instructed. "Roger Vec, ending transmission." I replied as I closed the channel. Parting the last line of trees I came across my temporary home, an abandoned castle. With the evenings last rays of sunlight as a background the castle gave off both an eerie and welcoming vibe. It had missing roofs in some rooms, dilapidated doors and furniture and the forest has taken over a large portion of the castle, but it would do. Jumping over the chasm that surrounded the stone structure I moved towards the left side of the castle towards one of the smaller towers. As I neared a balcony I ordered the machine to open its cockpit and power down. Jumping onto the surprisingly solid platform I moved inside. The room looked like it used to be a bedroom of some kind. The bed was a stained yellow and white color and the room was filled with ornate gold and marble furniture. It seemed like it was built for royalty. The stairs that lead down to the castle below had collapsed from what looked like an explosion instead of age and the rain and winds from the outside wouldn't affect me as the walls where still solid. I had laid out a sleeping bag I had pulled out of the Chassis's storage and lit a small fire in the center of the room which gave everything a warm glow. As I sat down next to the fire I moved my helmets cover back into the armor so I could feel the warmth. It had been a long day of hiking through the woods and cleansing but I will admit this planet so far is quite beautiful. The last time I had seen a forest this lush and full of life was back home. I laid down on the sleeping bag, letting my body relax after a long and exhausting day. I still had no idea if anyone aside from me and Vectis made it and I may have endangered the natives life's if Big Macintosh turns, but at least I was still alive, the natives aren't straight up hostile, this castle was still standing, I had a safe place to sleep and my Chassis was still in one piece minus the radar. Gotta stay positive right? I decided to just lay there for awhile and stare at the ceiling, thinking to myself. The Armada is going to come for us, that much I know. The only question is when? The Phantom's fucked and is now floating in orbit, the teams scattered, and my supplies will only last me awhile. Worst case scenario: I'm stuck with the natives who all turn into Marauders or die because I made a bad judgement call, the help comes too late to do anything, and the team is declared MIA along with the Captain. Best case scenario: I don't have to stay with the natives for long, no one is infected, help arrives tomorrow, the team is found and we can get off this rock. The room, despite the fire, was cold as night was fast approaching and with no fire wood the light would die within a few hours. All I had to eat was the packaged meals the military passes off as food, I got two changes of clothes, my LANS and civ clothes, and no bathroom... 'At least it isn't raining' I thought to myself as I signed in exhaustion. ...It was then I heard the sound of thunder crackling in the distance, signalling a strong storm front...Fuck my life and fuck Murphy's law.