Applejack
Applejack gasped as she came round, her eyes snapping open, only to be met by inky blackness. Panicking, Applejack tried to sit up, only to slam her head painfully into something above her, before falling back and slamming the back of her head into the rocks. Applejack let out a scream as the airless space seemed to press down on her, her nostrils being invaded by a smell of burning fuel as the reality of her situation set in. She was buried alive, alone, and no one knew where she was.
“Help!” she screamed, trashing from side to side, before stopping as an intense pain shot through one of her rear legs, forcing her to slow down, panting as she looked up at the darkness.
“Ok Applejack, keep yourself together, panicin’ won’t help nopony,” she whispered to herself shakily, gritting her teeth as another bolt of pain slammed into her, concentrating on the pain. Working on the farm had taught her that while pain was bad, having no pain after an accident was even worse. Pain meant you were alive, and she had to focus on that.
Blindly, she slowly reached up until her hooves came into contact with the top of her tomb. It was metal, the cold smooth surface feeling good against her tingling hooves. Feeling around, she found that there was very little space around her, which would be why she had slammed into her surroundings, but it also revealed that the metal wasn’t fixed in place. With a grunt, Applejack pushed against it, her muscles straining with effort, and her back leg screaming in protest, but she was met with a small sliver of light as the sheet metal moved slightly.
Emboldened by her success, Applejack continued to push, until she had finally made a big enough hole to squeeze through. Grunting, she pulled herself out of the hole, digging her way out from under a mountain of tangled metal and machine parts, before unsteadily rising to her hooves and staggering away across the strewn debris, her head spinning from the shock of standing up.
The small village that had been in the canyon was nowhere to be seen, probably crushed beneath the mass of the Imperial titan, bits of which were now spread as far as Applejack could see, small fires burning as bits of debris fell onto the metal, causing loud clanging sounds to echo around the deathly silent grave of the massive machine.
Turning round, Applejack let out a cry of pain, collapsing to the floor as her rear leg collapsed from beneath her. Screwing up her face, Applejack let out a roar, before glancing at her leg, not wanting to see the damage. Even a glance at it was too much however, the snapped bone sticking through her hide causing her to empty the contents of stomach onto the metal around her.
“…ug…gusting…uck!” came a muffled roar from somewhere beneath Applejack, and she slowly moved over, looking between a small gap in some armour plates.
“Koghad!?” she called down into the darkness.
“Applejack?” Koghad coughed as he looked up at her. “Bloody hell lass, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Ya hurt?”
Applejack resisted the urge to look back at her leg, before shaking her head. “Can you move?”
“Barely lass, this stuff’s heavy,” Koghad grunted back.
“Give me a sec,” Applejack muttered, forcing her forehooves in between the metal plates. Grunting, she began to move them slightly, before slipping between them and pushing with her back, keeping her broken leg bent and using the other three to force the metal apart.
With help from Koghad, she had soon made a big enough gap for the large Demiurg to clamber out of, and he collapsed beside her, panting heavily.
“You cut your head,” Applejack noted, looking at Koghad, before wrapping her hooves around him.
“Whoa, what’s this…” Koghad began with a slight laugh, before looking down at Applejack’s leg. “Applejack. You’re hurt, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Needed to help you, couldn’t have you panicking,” Applejack winced as Koghad touched the top of her leg, gritting her teeth. “Don’t…touch it.”
“We need to do something about that, it looks nasty,” Koghad insisted.
“We find Lofeg first,” Applejack shook her head, before looking around. “Did you see where he went to ground?”
“Aye, but…it’s not exactly easy to pinpoint it,” Koghad looked around, before pointing. “I think it’s that way.”
“Let’s go,” Applejack grunted, hobbling forward.
“Come here,” Koghad reached down, laying a hand on Applejack’s back. “Now, I don’t know how you’d usually do this, but trust me here.”
Lifting Applejacks forelegs up, Koghad wrapped one around his neck, taking her weight. “Ok now, just…you know, hop like you have two legs.”
“I know how to walk like this,” Applejack told him as they hobbled forward. “Some can do it better than others, ya should see Lyra do this. She can do it fer hours.”
“Well, you need to get used to it for now,” Koghad muttered. “That won’t be healing for a while, even with Tau medical techniques.”
“If we get back in one piece,” Applejack shot back.
“We will,” Koghad assured her. “Now, come on, we need to find Lofeg.”
It didn’t take them long to find the other Demiurg in the area, finding him spread-eagled on a protruding rock. Apart from a few cuts and bruises, he didn’t actually look that bad, and after a few nudges from Koghad’s foot, he slowly woke up, staggering to his feet.
“How the fuck do we always get caught up in things like this Koghad?” he muttered. “I thought we retired from being combat engineers to avoid crap like this.”
“Yeah well, crap seems to always find us doesn’t it,” Koghad sighed, resting Applejack down and looking over Lofeg. “Now, stand still and let me look at yer, then we can set about…doing whatever it is we’ll be doing next.”
Applejack let the two talk as she looked out at the devastation wrought on the valley. She could just about make out what she assumed was part of the Tau vehicle, and turned back to the others, stomping on a metal plate to draw their attention.
“We should check for survivors, maybe they’ll have a better plan than we can make?”
“As good an idea as any I guess,” Koghad nodded, walking past Applejack and looking at the Tau vehicle in the distance, allowing Applejack to see his injuries. “Looks like the main fuselage is there.”
“Someone else can do it,” Applejack whispered, turning away from Koghad.
“Do what?” Koghad asked in confusion.
“Be in charge,” Applejack sighed. “Ah’m no leader. This is stupid. Someone else can do it.”
Lofeg nodded at this, crossing his arms. “Good thinking, Applejack. For once.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Koghad asked, rounding on Lofeg.
Lofeg took a step forward, sneering slightly. “Applejack led us into this crap. She’s not leading us anymore.”
“Shut your mouth,” Koghad snapped. “She didn’t do this. Bloody hell if I thought she had the power to call in one of those I think I’d be a lot more scared of her. Neither of us would do any better.”
“Neither of us could get us anymore fucked either!” Lofeg roared.
“We’re not dead are we?!” Koghad roared back. “Someone has to be in charge, and in light of everything, I still say Applejack is the leader.”
“I don’t want to be in charge,” Applejack snapped. “I don’t…I can’t…”
“See!” Lofeg shouted. “She doesn’t even want to be in charge!”
“Then who does? You?!” Koghad clenched his hands into fists.
“Maybe! But not that stupid…”
Koghad lashed out, striking Lofeg in the chest and doubling him over.
“Koghad!” Applejack shouted indignantly, trying to make her way towards him, but forgetting that her leg was fucked and sprawling across the floor.
“Fall in Lofeg,” Koghad snapped, pushing Lofeg to the floor and placing a foot on his chest. “You are not in charge here, so you will follow orders.”
Lofeg looked like he was about to say something, before the area was lit up by a bright green light. Looking up in the sky, Applejack quickly caught sight of a large green flare, the light arcing down towards the ground over the Tau wreckage.
“Looks like we have survivors,” Koghad noted, before hauling Lofeg to his feet. “We will continue this later.”
Turning, Koghad grasped hold of Applejack, helping her onto her one good back leg. Much to her surprise, Lofeg also helped her, wrapping her other foreleg around his neck, and together, they made their way through the wrecks towards the origin of the flare. They eventually got to what looked like a wall of rebar, stumbling slightly and causing a loud clang to echo around the site.
“Whoever is behind that strut better come out slowly and with their hands up,” a voice ordered as they neared the plane. “Unless you want plasma where your brains should be.”
“Alright, but hands up might be hard,” Koghad called back, before slowly moving round the corner, setting eyes on a Tau pilot, his lithe body clad in a skin-tight flight suit, while a small pistol was grasped in one hand, pointed right at Applejack and the others. “Friendlies, ok?”
“Thank the Ethereals,” the Tau breathed a sigh of relief, allowing the pistol to drop to his side. “Never fired in anger before, didn’t know if I’d actually be able to do it, especially against one of those techno-monsters of theirs. But enough of that, I am Vre’Halra. Who are you?” his gaze lingered on Applejack, and he cocked his head to the side. “And what are you?”
“A pony,” Applejack grunted, her leg struggling to keep the cocked position it was in.
“You’re hurt,” Halra observed quickly, moving over to the trio and taking some of Applejack’s weight. “Come on, help me get her down on that flat plate there.”
Nodding, Koghad and Lofeg heaved Applejack onto the flat piece of metal, careful to avoid laying her leg down too heavily.
“I hope you know more about this sort of thing than I do,” Koghad looked at Harla imploringly.
“A bit,” Halra nodded, pulling out bandages and what looked like a long cylinder. “You,” he pointed at Lofeg, “I’ll need a brace for the leg to keep it straight, and you,” he looked at Koghad, “find something for her to bite down on.”
“Why do ah need that?” Applejack asked in confusion.
“This should probably be done with anaesthetic,” Halra explained, before showing her a few broken shards of glass. “Of course, guess what broke in the landing? Plus, I have no idea what your biology is, Tau medicine could easily kill you.”
“Ok sugarcube, ah understand. Do ya worst,” Applejack nodded, panting slightly in anticipation and taking the proffered piece of burnt wood that Koghad was holding in front of her. It tasted horrible, but she bit down on it hard regardless.
“You never did tell me your names,” Halra spoke as he checked over the limited medical supplies he had, especially the odd cylinder, pressing a few buttons so the three clear tubes around it filled with a blue liquid.
“Fio’Saal Koghad,” Koghad replied, before looking at Applejack. “This is Fio’Saal Applejack and Fio’Saal Lofeg. We’re farmers. You were the pilot?”
“No, I was the gunner,” Halra shook his head. “I managed to eject before…well, before we crashed our Tiger.” He ran his hand over the remains of the hull lovingly, before looking up at Koghad and placing both his hands on Applejacks leg. “Hold her down.”
With a nod of confirmation, Koghad pushed down on Applejack, as Halra pushed down on the protruding bone, straightening Applejack’s leg out. Applejack let out a scream, muffled heavily by the piece of wood, but still piercing through the near silence that was over the rest of the wreck. She continued to scream, although quieter now, as Halra took a piece of scrap metal from Lofeg, quickly binding it to Applejack’s leg, before slipping the glass cylinder over it, sealing it on, before filling it with a pale blue liquid that seemed to sooth the pain slightly
“It’s not a permanent solution,” Halra warned her, checking over the medical equipment. “And to be honest it may not set the same way, you may have a limp in the future, but it will hold for now.”
“Thanks,” Applejack grunted, spitting the wood out and rolling over, testing the strength of her leg. It still hurt, and she couldn’t bend it at all, but it was better than it was before. Hobbling up and down a bit, Applejack finally came back to Halra and the others, cocking her leg to take the weight off it and leaning against the fuselage.
“So, how did you three get caught up in all this?” Halra asked, pulling out a few rations and handing them out.
For the next few hours, Koghad recounted their story, while Lofeg poked around the wreckage of the Tiger Shark for anything of use. Eventually though, Koghad had finished retelling the story with a little help from Applejack, and the three made their way over to Lofeg.
“Find anything useful?” Koghad asked, tapping the other Demiurg on his back.
“A few bits of wire that may come in useful,” Lofeg shrugged, pointing at a couple of spools of wire he’d stacked near a rip in the vehicles hull. Most of it’s smashed beyond repair though.”
“Annoying, but hardly unexpected,” Halra shrugged, before looking between the three of them. “You never told me which one of you is in charge. Who is it?”
“Applejack,” Koghad answered instantly.
“I told you, I don’t want to do it,” Applejack shot back.
“As you can see, that’s up for debate,” Lofeg rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“I can see,” Halra nodded. “But, as I am the highest rank, I believe it would be prudent for me to take charge. Any objections?”
“It works for me,” Applejack nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief.
“Higher rank, more experience, you won’t hear me complaining,” Lofeg agreed.
“Then it’s settled,” Halra nodded. “Applejack, are you fit to move?”
Applejack nodded, testing her leg and brace another time. It was still painful, but it was a lot better than before. “Ah can walk on it, long as ya don’t expect me to move very quickly.”
“We’ll go at your pace where possible Applejack, and carry you if we need to move faster,” Halra assured her, before pulling out a small datapad. “Now, as for a plan, we need the rest of the crash kit. For that we need the pilots’ cockpit. It’s broadcasting its location half a kilometre…” he took a minute to get his bearings, before pointing, “that way.”
The four began to carefully make their way over the remains of the Titan, avoiding the large plumes of smoke and fire that were still burning, as well as the remains of what looked like a mix of organic and technology, a horrid melding of the flesh and machines.
“What are those things?” Applejack asked, trying her best not to look at the morbid sight, but at the same time wanting to see more of it.
“Weapon servitors of the Adeptus Mechanicus,” Halra replied, taking a knee and closing the servitor’s eyes. “These poor souls are used to control the small systems on their war machines. Criminals or anyone who fell through the cracks, they end up like this.”
“That’s barbaric,” Applejack said in an appalled tone.
“No, that’s the Imperium of man,” Koghad muttered sullenly. “I fought these things before, mindless beasts made to carry weapons that should break them. This fate, it’s a mercy for them.”
“Still disgusting,” Applejack shook her head, before looking towards their destination. “I think I see a piece of the cockpit. Whatever’s left of it.”
“There can’t be much, Ralof, the pilot, made sure to take the titan down with him,” Halra smiled softly. “He always was one for bold tactics. Can’t think of being much bolder than that.”
“I don’t suppose…you don’t think there’s a chance he survived, do you?” Applejack asked hopefully.
“None,” Halra sighed. “He refused to eject, he wanted to ride it in.”
“Then we can at least try and find the crash kit,” Koghad responded, leading the way forward.
They reached what remained of the cockpit in short order, finding the twisted metal of the titans chest wrapped around the sleek, but no less twisted, metal of the Tiger Shark. It was plain to everyone that Ralof hadn’t survived, but that didn’t stop them from all looking for the briefest of moments. It didn’t take long for Halra to find what was left of him.
“You stubborn bastard,” Halra chuckled, looking down at the head and part of a torso. “Still, you brought the flank time, and you saved three others. You’ve done the greater good proud.”
“Ah’m sorry,” Applejack limped up beside Halra.
“Thank you,” he nodded, before taking a deep breath. “Come on, we need to find the crash kit, if it survived. Should be in a heavy metal box. Protects it from most things. Maybe even this.”
Spreading out, they began to clamber over the wreckage, combing anything that looked like it had been designed by the Tau for any sign of the elusive crash kit. Many times, Lofeg asked if they should stop, but each time Halra refused, insisting that without it, they would have next to no chance of finding friendlies before Imperial troops investigated the wreck. Deciding to check further away from the main body of the cockpit, Applejack slowly clambered up a pile of earth and metal, before gasping, almost falling over as she took a step back.
“Applejack? Are you ok?” Koghad called up, dropping the armour plate he was carrying and scrambling towards her.
“Y-Yeah, but you may want to come and look at this,” she called down.
“What is it?” Koghad asked, panting as he finally reached the top.
“Do…do ya think he’s alive?” she asked hollowly, pointing with a hoof.
“By the Ethereals,” Halra whispered, stepping up beside Applejack and Koghad, looking at the scene before them.
The head of the titan rested before them, the massive metal cockpit half embedded in the dirt. As impressive a sight as that was however, it was not what Applejack was pointing to. Hanging from hundreds of cables and wires was a single man, strung up like some sort of executed criminal. It looked like some disgusting mechanical intestines spilling from the mouth of the mighty machine, swaying slightly in the breeze in a perverse mockery of life.
“Do ya think he’s alive?” Applejack asked again, breaking the silence.
“What does it matter?” Lofeg asked, not looking away.
“What do you mean?” Applejack asked in confusion.
“Why should we care if he is dead?” Lofeg reiterated. “That machine was trying to kill us, why should we care if he died instead?”
“I’ve got to say, I’m with Lofeg on this one,” Koghad nodded. “Humans are the enemies, and any who drive a machine that big have to be high up in the military. One less of them is a good thing.”
“I can’t believe you,” Applejack looked up at Koghad disbelievingly. “He could be alive, and you won’t even…”
“Applejack, lass,” Koghad cut her off. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s cute and all, but I will not help a human. They abandoned my kind in our hour of need, grudges are not forgotten. Lofeg,” he turned to face the other Demiurg. “Back to searching.”
Without another word, the two dwarfs began to clamber back down the wreck towards the Tiger Shark, leaving Applejack alone with Halra. Applejack looked up at the Tau, silently imploring him to help, but he too shook his head.
“Applejack, if he was alive, maybe, but right now we have to find the crash kit,” he reasoned. “I’m sorry, it’s not that he’s a human, it’s just prioritisation.”
With that, he began to follow Lofeg and Koghad, before turning and looking at Applejack. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes quickly moved between her and the swaying body, before he turned and headed back to the search.
“He is the priority,” Applejack whispered to herself, before scrambling towards him, careful not to bash her leg against anything as she finally reached him.
As she got closer, she managed to get a better look at the body, it being even more grotesque and horrifying up close than it had been from far away. His skin was wrinkled and pulled tight as if he’d stayed too long in a bath, pruney as Rarity would probably have called it. Tatters of electronic dreadlocks trailed from his head, some of them shorn off, others stretched taut up into the insides of the titans head, suspending him in mid-air. Further bits of machinery sprouted from his forearms and spine, and Applejack was immediately reminded of the servitor she had found earlier.
For a moment, an anger took hold of her, and she debated taking Koghad’s view and leaving the body, dead or alive, before she banished the thought. What had been done to the human turned servitor was monstrous, but she would never be able to live with herself if she turned away from anyone in need, no matter what they might have been a part of.
Reaching up, she touched his cheek, trying to find some sort of warmth or pulse or anything. His head was slack, and he was naked except for a shredded bodyglove. Applejack sighed, allowing her hoof to slowly slide off his body. It had been a long shot, but a part of her had hoped that he’d somehow survived.
She froze as her hoof slipped off his neck, and she quickly placed it back on, trying to feel what she desperately wanted to find. His skin was cold and clammy, feeling like it was covered in oil, but she ignored that, concentrating on one things. She let out a gasp as she felt it once again. It was weak, and she could have easily missed it, but she knew it when she felt it. She felt it herself when she worked hard, and she felt it in others when they did the same thing.
A pulse.
“He’s not dead!” she roared, grasping hold of him, trying to take some of the weight off of the wires suspending him. Her leg roared in protest at the added weight, but she didn’t relent, refusing to give in. “Halra! Koghad! Lofeg! He’s not dead! Ya hear me?! Get over here now!”
In a few seconds, she could see Halra scrambling towards her, followed closely by Koghad, with Lofeg bringing up the rear with decidedly less haste. They quickly reached her, Koghad taking hold of some of the weight that Applejack had been holding while Halra looked over the man.
“What are ya waiting for?” Applejack grunted. “Take him down already.”
“You don’t understand,” Halra responded. “I’ve heard of these modifications, these bio-plugs. They plug straight into the nervous system and the brain, if we just pull them straight out, he could suffer major trauma, he could never wake up.”
“I think he’s already suffered major trauma,” Koghad grunted. “Pull the bloody things out now.”
Nodding, Halra took hold of a bundle in the mans head, slowly easing them out, before travelling down his spine, taking great care with each one, before finally he was unplugged, his full weight falling on Applejack and Koghad, forcing the pair to the floor.
“Bloody hell this guy’s heavy, what do they feed him?” Koghad grunted.
“Get him off me,” Applejack grunted, rolling out from underneath him and looking down at him. “Halra, can we stabilise him.”
“Possibly, but we only have a few supplies left,” Halra explained.
“We can’t use limited resources on a hu…” Lofeg began, before Applejack slammed a hoof into his stomach.
“Shut, up!” she roared. “Halra! Stabilise him now! Koghad, did we find anything useful?”
“We found a few drones, I was trying to reactivate them,” he replied quickly.
“Go back and get on it, they can carry him,” Applejack ordered, before turning on Lofeg. “You stay down unless you’re going to help. Understand?”
Lofeg snorted, before getting up and following Koghad, not looking directly at Applejack. Turning back to the human, Applejack watched as Halra began to thump the man’s chest, drawing out spluttering breaths with each blow, flecks of liquid spurting out each time, before finally his chest started to rise and fall on its own.
“He’s breathing, but I have no idea if he’s going to wake up or not,” Halra turned to Applejack. “This guy looks like he hasn’t walked under his own power for years, and he’s got a lot of tech inside of him.” He emphasised the final point by shaking his hands, grimacing in pain from where he had been hitting the sub-dermal metal.
“Is he going to survive?” Applejack asked, her face hard and unflinching.
“I’ve done everything I can,” Halra nodded. “All the injections I have that could help a Tau in similar situations could easily be toxic to a human. It’s the same reason I didn’t give anything to you.”
“Fine, just…” Applejack began.
“Fio’Saal Applejack, it is good to see you again,” W1 chirped, bobbing up beside Applejack. “It appears you are hurt, do you require medical assistance?”
“Hey W1, you made it,” Applejack chuckled, before becoming serious again. “We all need medical help, right now your priority is him though.” She pointed at the human. “Carry him, you are in charge of making sure that he makes it back to the Tau for medical treatment.”
“But Fio’Saal, scans indicate that he is a human, and he is not in my databanks as one of the converts. Surely…”
“I gave you an order! Don’t question me, we save him,” Applejack snapped.
“Yes Fio’Saal,” W1 bobbed neared to the human, small arms extending as the drone slowly took hold of the human, taking his weight with ease, even more so when the second drone returned with Koghad, quickly moving to help its fellow machine.
“Did we have any luck finding the crash kit?” Applejack asked him.
“Halra, is this it?” Koghad asked, holding out a large metal box.
“It survived?” Halra asked with a slight smile. “I honestly didn’t expect it to.”
Halra quickly opened the box, pulling out a small disk and pressing a few buttons on the side, a map bursting into life above it.
“We’re in business,” he smiled. “This is an IFF beacon, it has two functions, and luckily, both are working. First of all, it broadcasts that we are friendlies to Tau, and second, it maps out the nearest Tau unit and directs us towards it.”
“So? Where’s the nearest unit?” Applejack asked.
“Fifty two kilometres west of here,” Halra responded after consulting the device. “Looks like an armoured convoy. We can only hope that they hold their position or move closer.”
“We best get moving then,” Applejack nodded. “Koghad, Lofeg, you two ready to move?”
“Yes,” Lofeg replied curtly, not looking at her.
“You’re the one with the gamy leg lass, if you can I’m behind you,” Koghad laughed.
Giving the drones a quick check, Applejack turned to Halra. “Well, you’re in charge. Lead the way.”
“I don’t feel in charge,” Halra shrugged. “Koghad, what do you think?”
“Only one of us has the passion for it,” he agreed. “Sorry Applejack, but looks like that ‘someone else’ is still you.”
Applejack sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, before shaking her head and opening her eyes once more. “Fine. Let’s just move.”