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"Good morning Vanhoover, you're tuned into Radio KAOS and it's all set to be a beautifully sunny day out today, clear skies far as the eye can see. Here's a little tune to get you going this fine morning, for whoever's on the same ungoddessly early sleep pattern as I am - that Boogie Woogie Bugle Colt from Company C. Enjoy..."
Waking up to the sound of a trumpet playing - was that Crash Dive, or did I leave the radio on?... oh, radio - I groggily rubbed my eyes with a hoof, the heavy jacket on my shoulders flapping about as I lifted myself from the bed. Taking a moment to refocus, the green button eyes of the small plush of dad stared back at me, myself lingering as the blood started flowing again. Whoo, feeling a little hot... that's new. Alright, Sparkle Cola nearby, taking a sip, bit more focused now. Sliding the plushie into an inside pocket of the jacket, I took a longer gulp of the glowing soda, letting off a gasp as everything brightened faintly - thank the goddesses for caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, and Strontium 90.
Sliding myself off the bed, the familiar heavy hoof of Crash Dive banged against the door, Static jolting himself awake. Ech, he don't look too well-rested... "Revellrie, c'mon you two! It'll take all day to get to Jericho Beach, and I don't much like our chances if we get caught outside in the dark. Better be packed for a long trip!" I wonder if the word 'relativity' means anything to that mare... granted, I was asleep for a lot of that first trip, but I'm pretty sure with the speeds involved we covered a lot more distance then than we probably will today. Granted, that was only because we weren't on hoof, but whatever...
"Nrrf... at least she isn't giving us a plasma-fueled wake-up call today..." Static groggily rose to his hooves, stumbling over the bedspread as he picked up his saddlebags and adjusted them on his back, sliding the umbrella underneath them. A faint chuckle escaped myself - oh, he couldn't have 'borrowed' a better weapon to have down here... unless the electric prong-thingies attract lightning. Hope we don't find out about that. Trotting out of the room, Crash Dive was busying herself with a pile of old shafts of rebar, loading them into a metal box-thing on the side of her harpoon cannon. Huh, neat, a jury-rigged rotating clip system...
"There should be two roll-up sleping mats in the broom closet, I suggest taking them. If those maps are right, we should reach Jericho Beach by sundown, with a stop outside Maple Creek for lunch and picking up stuff." The solid metal rods clattered faintly as she fit each into the mechanism, topping the box off with the bars before reaching and turning a wheel on the back of the gun. The rounds slotted into places on the tube, a clicking sound resounding as she reached a full turn. Sliding a few more shafts into the clip, the lid clattered and latched into place, a press of a button causing the rods to clatter one more time, the pink-maned mare looking at the device. "Can never be too careful. You two set?"
"Should be, got more than enough for Thumper and Static did pick up those useless grenades, so he's not entirely useless." Letting off a snicker, an annoyed, muffled grunt came from behind me, followed by a heavy rolled-up map being tossed onto my back. Oof, well, guess I'll have to drop these if I want to fly. I adjusted the mat slightly, Static shooting me a glare for a moment before seeming to shrink back, the mat being pulled off by the power armored pegasus and fitted on her own back. "Uh..."
"Pegasi are useless if they can't use their wings. The mare's loaded enough as it is, earth pony." Well, I guess that makes sense... kind of. Coming from the pegasus with her wing covers welded down, it's a bit of odd advice. Crash Dive fit the large harpoon cannon onto her armor, opening up a cupboard and pulling an old, black metal helmet from it, resting it on the barrel of her gun. "Right, well let's get going, then. Night Strike... other. Chocks away."
Crash Dive pushed herself through the small wooden door, the helmet clattering on the long barrel, the sky outside stained a murky blue with hints of orange to the far east. The waves were... eerily calm, for how early it was. Eesh, didn't realize morning was so dramatic down here... what's on the radio at this time of the morning?
---
"That was a lovely flow of songs from the war to wake up to, don'tcha think? You're listening to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful morning here up north of Vanhoover, and I could almost swear the swallows had come back today. We'll be getting on to the morning news reports shortly, after a quick announcement; for any ghouls who might be listening to us and served in the royal navy, or, any branch of the armed forces for that matter, would any of you happen to know what a Pinnacle - Empty Quiver is? This box on the console has been flashing it since last night, never seen it do anything like this before. If anyone's got any clues, please don't hesitate to call them in.
"Anyways, on to the news properly this time. This following segment, I feel it's only right to precede it with a reminder about that old lighthouse on the coast. There is a very live minefield surrounding the area immediately around it, and a good few places with traps, barbed wire, and other things hidden in the overgrowth. Never go out there by yourself if you're feeling brave enough - or are just plain stupid - because there's a very good chance that you will die one way or another. This story comes out of Maple Creek, where a family recently lost their oldst colt to the no-go zone. We don't know if he's still alive or not, we just know that he'd been seen by his brother a day ago heading to the west, and he hasn't been spotted since. The family is fearing the worst - Baler, if you're out there and still alive, please, try to go back home. Our wasteland might be safer than others, but it's still a very dangerous place. Your family cares about you, and they're worried. Please, go back home.
"There's still been no confirmations on the crash from a few days ago. I urge everyone to not try and seek out information, blood shouldn't be spilled and lives shouldn't be lost over this. You're listening to Radio KAOS, and here's a long Roger Trotters album titled 'The Final Cut'. If anyone needs me, I'll... I'm going to get myself a drink."
A shiver ran up my spine, turning the volume on the radio down as we trotted along, my brain thinking back to yesterday. I think Crash Dive kicked what was left of Baler off of the cliff... wuh. Oh, I -really- hope we don't run into his family. Swallowing dryly, Crash Dive glanced back at myself, her helmet swaying on her harpoon cannon. "You hanging in there, Night Strike? We're a few klicks out from Maple Creek still, but we'll be at the river soon enough." Giving my head a shake, I let out a small huff, answering her with a nod.
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just heard something I wish I hadn't..." The power armored pegasus' eyes looked down to my legputer, the sound of the creek meeting our ears as Static trotted alongside myself. Crash Dive turned her head back forwards, letting off a small grunt as the sun poked out from behind a distant cloud.
"Never really listen to the radio. Always is bad news, from my experience." Trotting along, Crash Dive began slowing, her head slowly leaning forwards as she seemed to brace herself on the ground. Myself and Static both exchange a worried glance before trotting up to her, seeing her teeth gritted hard and eyes wrenched shut. Oh, that can't be good... She shakily lifted a foreleg, leaning herself back as she banged her metallic hoof against her other leg, myself catching the glint of etched metal on the side panel she was hammering. Med-X, huh... Crash Dive gasped deeply before releasing the breath, sitting on the grassy road for a moment as she regained herself. Looking about at either of us, she let off a sigh, getting back onto her hooves. "S-sorry about that. Armor's getting a bit old, acts up every now and again."
She continued on, adjusting the harpoon cannon slightly, myself watching in a bit of silence. Okay, I've seen a lot of not okay things, and that mare? She is not okay. Not buying the suit story, we both caught up after a moment, Static scratching at his head. "So, you've been wearing it, even when it does, uh, 'act up'? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" He had a point, I've seen the armor they've got back at EQUAD, if the motors fail you're stuck and if they misfire, you can kiss that leg goodbye. If an armor's chance to kill me increases with age, having it as my usual attire would not be high on my list... "I mean, don't you ever take it off at least sometimes? Take a bath, do diagnostics, spread your wings or something?"
It's funny to think how some things can happen faster than your eyes can process them. One moment, Crash Dive has this really... well, for lack of a better phrase, 'get my brown pants-level horrifying' look on her face, the next Static's been thrown straight up into the treeline by a power armor-assisted uppercut. The leaves rustled as the electric blue earth pony fell back through, landing against the undergrowth with a heavy thud. O...kay then. Yikes, so, asking her about taking off her armor is a really bad idea, gotcha.
Righting herself with a huff, Crash Dive looked towards myself, a scowl on her muzzle. She didn't really say anything, just looking at me, breathing heavy for a few moments, before she finally began moving again. I turned back to the forest, just barely hearing Static's pained grunts over the rustle of the leaves. "Get him if you have to. I'll be at the bridge. Bloody earth pony..."
Yeah, that mare is -really- not okay.
---
"Is it really a good idea to be traveling with her? Ow..." We'd begun heading for Maple Creek by ourselves, Crash Dive heading around the village by herself. Static was fairing surprisingly well for having fallen at least twenty feet and landing against a fallen tree trunk... but the way he was limping, yeah, finding him something to help with that would be useful. The earth pony grunted heavily as he trotted beside me, us both drawing closer to the small streets of the town. "I mean, sheesh, if her answer to a question is to throw me like a hoof grenade..."
"Well, I dunno, maybe you said something that offended her, maybe she doesn't like being naked or something." Shrugging, I grimaced faintly as he stumbled, gasping and grunting through the pain. Ooh, I really hope that it won't take too long to reach Jericho Beach... Leaning down, I let Static rest one foreleg about my neck, watching him try to recover himself. "Okay, I don't care how long it takes, you're getting something better than a healing potion for that. No way you'll walk the rest of the way like this."
"Is asking you to carry me out of the question?" He let off a weak chuckle, one that turned into a grimace fast as his other foreleg moved to hold against his stomach, the shift in weight nearly being enough to send me faceplanting against the stone road. Goddesses man, lay off the snack cakes! He jammed his forehoof back out, catching us both in time, myself sliding out from under his other foreleg and shaking my mane about.
"Nnfh, that answer your question, spark-butt?" The blue earth pony smirked for a moment, starting to trot back along, a few of the townsponies tending to their daily business. From one part of the villiage, a strange, enticing aroma picked up - ooh, now that smelled like candy. Looking to Static, he seemed to smell it too, meeting my eyes for but a moment before grimacing and scrunching his face up. Okay, doctor first, then we go see what that smell is. That sweet, sweet mouth-watering smell...
Trotting along further into the town, we passed by Sulfur's Stockpile again, the eponymous mare tending to sweeping off the small porch. A smile crossed her muzzle as we passed by, waving at the both of us with a hoof, us both responding back with a wave of our own - at least, until Static stumbled again. Sheesh... Sulfur blunk a few times before seting the broom she had inside, coming back out a moment later and catching up with us both, a look of concern on her face. "Luna above, what happened to you? It, uh, it wasn't from the flash-bangs, was it?"
"No... nnfh... no, it wasn't from them. Just asked something that I shouldn't have to a pony wearing power armor..." Static's eyes widened faintly as he heard what he just said, a faint stammer coming from his mouth. Great, yeah, why not tell everyone that we're with a member of the GPE? Let them know that we have a flying machine with four easily transportable tactical megaspells while you're at it, why don't ya? Sulfur blinked in surprise at that statement, before a look of realization crossed her face, along with one of her forehooves resting on her muzzle as she let off a sigh.
"Oh no, don't tell me that one steel rangers company is back around these parts again. I'm still recovering my stock from the last time they came through here..." ...okay, steel rangers, that was a more acceptable target in this current situation, let's go with that. The old mare slowed in her trotting, motioning for us to follow her down another road, a crudely-painted red cross sign hung off of a building at the far end. "Those drunk idiots in B Company nearly caused my store to go up, with me inside! Do you have any idea what happens when a bundle of dynamite goes off next to a couple of balefire eggs?" Oh, how I had to resist the temptation to say yes. "Gotta say, I can't remember them being delibrately malicious to the point of actually beating up somepony for a laugh. Then again, wouldn't put it past them, either..."
The wooden door of the small clinic let out a heavy bang as it shut behind us, the stallion leaned back in the chair behind the counter letting off a snort and small yelp as he momentarily lost his balance in the chair. Pulling himself back up, Sulfur let off a weak chuckle, myself sticking with Static as she moved up to the desk. The stallion fit on a pair of glasses, strands of his greying mane fallen over his face in a few places, giving his back a stretch before looking up at the three of us. "Eh, Sulfur, wasn't expecting to see you around here again so soon. I told you I need to have at least some of that nitroglycerin for my patients with bad hearts, can't all be used for your dynamite..."
"Heh, not here about that this time Doc, these out-of-towners just need a check-over. Said they were assaulted by steel rangers... you still have that twelve-guage I sold you a few years back, right?" The stallion got himself to his hooves, trotting out from behind the counter and rubbing at his eyes with one hoof. Man, these guys really didn't like steel rangers, did they? Hope we don't have to give him a family history, or if we do, Static remembers to leave the 'Paladin' and 'Scribe' prefixes off. Sulfur looked up at a clock on the wall, trotting herself over to the doorway in a bit of a hurry. "Sorry to cut this short, just realized I forgot to put up a sign. Ah, just put it on my tab, if those morons really are coming around these parts to harass travellers I've got a feeling I'll be getting some business soon anyways. Catch you around!"
"Steel Ranger assault? That's a new one. Bad Company was a nuisance, I'd call them that, but I didn't peg them for the type to beat other ponies up." The stallion sat Static down, tilting his head back and looking at his jacket. Huh... yanno, now I think about it, a lot of the ponies around here were pretty raider-naked... hm. "They might play it loose with explosives and like shooting up perfectly good bottles of rubbing alcohol... eh, jacket?" Static blunk for a moment, reaching up and pulling the zipper down. Oofh, that is one nasty red mark on his chin there. "Thanks. But yeah, they were a bunch of undisciplined pricks, but getting into fights and... using tree trunks? What the hell... what did they do to you?"
"Uh... well, it kind of happened fast. We were walking along, passed by them on the way here, Static here asks them a question and next thing I know he's been uppercut into the forest." Well, that was at least most of the truth. Question, uppercut, flying earth pony, forest - almost sounds like a weird joke. The doctor had brought over a small medical box, setting it on one of the waiting chairs and opening it up. Looking back to Static... oof. Ow, um, yeah, ow, that's more than a few splinters. Myself wearing a grimace, the old stallion had fit on a hoof-operated pair of tweezers, looking back to the bare blue belly of spark-butt and then meeting Static's eyes.
"Blunt force trauma, splinters... you walked all the way here with this? Goddesses above, I've seen ponies with damage like this that can't even catch their breath without attention, let alone walk a good few kilometers..." Slowly the old earth pony got to work, the tweezers working and pulling wood prick after wood prick out. Ooh, I can't watch this... without Sparkle-Cola, at least. The doctor began patting at Static's stomach with a bit of cotton as I popped off the bottle's cap, his ears perking and eyes looking over to myself for a moment. A smirk came to his face as he went back to work, Static biting at his lower lip. "I hope you don't drink a lot of that stuff, addiction ain't pretty, and that stuff is addictive as anything."
"Oh, nah, I'm fine. I've had to cut back since we've been here, down to four bottles a day." Static sucked a breath in as the old stallion stammered, his tweezers pulling out an especially long splinter before they both stared back at me. I blunk in response a few times, the doc patting Static's chest with the cotton again. "What? That's half of what my dads drink every day. Found a distribution depot in Queb- uh, yeah, they found a distribution depot, stocked to the brim with the stuff." The doctor paused, looking myself over for a moment before turning back to Static and brushing his stomach down.
"That's dangerous, you know. I've had to help more ponies addicted to worse stuff, but... you do know that stuff is radioactive, right? It has a trefoil on the bottle's label, for pony's sake!" Taking a big gulp, the cool blue soda flowed down my throat, the doctor letting off a sigh. Hey, if radiation was as bad as people say, I'm half sure that my dads would both be ghouls or dead by now. The old stallion went back through the box of medical supplies, pulling out a smaller box and sliding a syringe out of it, sticking it into Static's chest. He grunted, the grimace on his face tightening for a moment before relaxing, the syringe sliding back out easily enough.
"That should dull any remaining pain some. Med-x, this stuff isn't as downright lethal as the stuff she's drinking but that's all you should have for an injury like that. Any more pain comes up, work your way through it, you're the toughest sonofabitch I've ever seen come in here on his own hooves. If you ever come back through here, I really don't want to see either of you in here looking for Fixer. Warning you now." The Doctor packed up the medical box, setting it back behind his counter, resting back in his chair and picking up a clipboard. Static, meanwhile, zipped his jacket back up, pressing and rubbing over his belly with his foreleg for a short while, looking down at it. "Try to not wind up getting hurt again, you're a nice couple, we don't see those too often in the wasteland. If you don't mind, I think I'm gonna get back to my nap..."
Sharing a blinking glance, we picked our things back up, trotting out the door in silence. A cute couple? Me and Static? Well, I mean, if he did swing that way I wouldn't say no, but... sheesh, it is kind of weird to think about. An awkward silence overtaking us, I hastily looked to my legputer, flicking through the screens. Radio, please have something...
"You can hide, hide, hide...
Behind brown and mild eyes.
...
Oi!"
"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, you're listening to The Final Cut by Roger Trotters. This is an update on the, uh, the crashed aircraft, at least I think it's in relation to it. A ghoul who served with the Equestrian Megaspell Deterrent force back during the war has explained the meaning of the 'Pinnacle - Empty Quiver' warning, in non-military terms it refers to the theft or loss of a functional self-contained weaponized megaspell. Y-yeah, you did hear that right, it could be that that craft landed at the lighthouse contains a fully functional pre-war weapon of mass destruction. I don't think I need to tell most of the listeners on this station exactly what a megaspell can do...
"For the sake of everypony, please, I urge everyone, don't seek out any more information about this... this craft, missile, whatever it is. The wasteland is almost not a wasteland anymore, we don't need to see how well the lightbringer can fix a more recent megaspell explosion. We don't need more people to die out of curiosity... um, sorry, that's the midday news. Up next is 'Get Your Filthy Hooves off my Desert' from the Roger Trotters album The Final Cut."
...well, shit.
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"So, I've got to ask, um, just out of curiosity... what's your cutie mark of?" Crash Dive cast me a firm glare as we trotted along, the hills rustling with the wind as the sun began it's descent. She hasn't laid a hoof on me yet, I guess she's still a bit Enclave-programmed, even after so long. What'd she say earlier, ten years alone, or something? She let off a small grunt, looking back at my own flanks for a moment before peering forwards.
"I think I should ask you about yours first, I've a feeling it'll be more interesting than mine." She wore a small smile, her armor whirring slightly as it moved, the black metal over her flanks making small noises as they shifted around. Her helmet clattered as it swung on the barrel of her rebar cannon, glinting sunlight every now and again. "How exactly does a mare like you get an intercontinental ballistic missile for a cutie mark, anyways?"
"Heh... oh, these? Now that's a fun story..." First time I ever put on my own fireworks display, that's a day to remember. The road was paved for this section, cracked by undergrowth but still mostly recognizable. Probably is one of the few ways left between Maple Creek and the rest of the wasteland... aw, crap, we forgot to check out what that sweet smell was. Eh, we'll be back there sooner or later... "I was, uh, seven or eight at the time. Twintails and Featherweight brought me along to Pripytrot to check out things there one day, told me to stay in the TOG... I'm a bad listener. And, well, as it turns out, Pripytrot did have a missile base nearby..." Yep... yeah, that was the look I usually get, dumbfounded, surprised stare. Answering Crash Dive with a smirk, we kept moving along, a few houses and buildings coming into view.
"Dad said he used one of the missiles to take out the Tsetse back when he was going around with Minty, during the second siege of Pripytrot. Thought he meant he filled one of those cruisers with balefire eggs, but there was the control room and silo readouts plan to see, and lo and behold, one of them was empty. Of course, with all the blinking lights and buttons, well... come on, it's a big red one in the center of the console and I was a filly at the time, how could I resist?" Letting off a small laugh, Static let off a sigh, placing a hoof to his forehead. Hey, I haven't killed us yet, have I? "Long story short, I -may- have launched a megaspell-carrying ICBM, and it -may- have detonated prematurely. I got my cutie mark, though!"
"Yeah, memory serving, Minty said your dads had to rush to the TOG and try to shoot it down before it got to it's target. Quazar and Nova weren't exactly happy when the big boards were screaming 'NUCFLASH' at them in EQUAD." Giving the earth pony an eyeroll, Crash Dive's jaw hung slack, looking betwen us both. The houses were starting to become a little closer here - well, relatively. None of them seemed to be inhabited. The power armored mare shook her head, catching back up with us, the smell of water and decay greeting our nostrils. Jericho BEach ought to be close...
"Hey, at least mine's better than your cutie mark story, Sparky. C'mon, let's hear it again, I'm sure Crash Dive would love a laugh." Oh, that scrunched face is so cute with that blush. The earth pony let off a small huff, leaving us walking in silence for a few moments, the sun casting long shadows behind the hills. Gently nudging his flanks, and the bolt of electricity on them, his eyes met mine, and he released a small sigh. "'Atta boy, c'mon, it isn't that bad."
"Fine, fine. I was, uh, I was helping Greasy out with one of her inventions... think it was the umbrella, actually." Huh, really, I heard it as he accidentally jammed a fork in a power outlet once. Eh, had something to do with electricity... "Anyways, I was helping her out with getting it to work, guess I might've bit something that I shouldn't have and, well... um..."
"Yeah, the power output of a spark battery probably didn't taste too good, did it Sparky?" Sticking my tongue out at him, he did that cute scrunch-face thing again, hitting me in the side with the dull end of his umbrella. Easy, I don't want to know what happens when you taser somepony's wings, thanks! Crash Dive let off something like a growl, Static sliding the umbrella back under his saddlebag strap.
"It wasn't a spark battery... Greasy was running it off of a power outlet at that time. I wasn't tasting anything for a week afterwards, high-voltage electricity tends to do that." He made a slight grimace, seeming to shake his tongue off to get the memory of the taste out, swallowing afterwards. Oh, c'mon, it couldn't have tasted that bad... for sake of wanting to enjoy Sparkle-Cola tonight, I don't want personal experience. The sun slipped behind the last hills in the distance, Crash Dive glancing backwards and then looking towards the large lake that Jericho Beach was on.
"We ought to find a bunkhouse or something for the night, strange things tend to live in these waters. It's a military depot, it's gotta have something, right?" The power armored pegasus looked about the area in the dimming light, Static and myself following suit. Right, if those old films taught me anything, the bunkhouses are usually big half-tube-shaped buildings made of corrugated metal with other vent bits on the side. And if those old movies were right, then the things should be a good distance from anything potentially explosive, so...
"Alright, here we go. Earth pony, you set up the bedding. Night Strike, see if you can't get some of the utilities up, I think there's a stationary generator by the back. I'll keep watch, and make up something for dinner." Us both nodding in response, Crash Dive forced the door in, myself trotting about the structure. Right, blowing stuff up might be my thing, but I'm sure a simple standalone reactor would be simple enough to get working again. Dad did try teaching me how to care for the TOG's reactor at one point... I hope that's a standard design.
"Arcane reactor, military grade... huh, mark 18 design? That's two revisions older than the one in the TOG. I guess I can work with it." The side panel clattered as it swung open, revealing the guts of the miniaturized reactor and turbines. Eugh, this has seen better days... oh, that is some nasty corrosion on the connections for the generator. Eh... hm. Might be able to work, maybe, hopefully. I'm gonna guess '18-W' means it's made for working in wet environments. Okay, reactor startup, I can do this...
---
A short while later, when the last bits of light had gone away from the sky, I let the access panel for the small generator clatter back into place, letting off a sigh. Picking the Sparkle-Cola RAD up from where I'd set it on the metal box for light, I slowly trudged back to the entrance of the bunkhouse, fighting the cap off and drinking down the glowing liquid. Mmm, Strontium 90...
"Alright, I think it should be working now. As Celestia probably once said... let there be light." Letting off a small chuckle as I stepped through the doorway, the soda illuminated a switch on the wall, Crash Dive and Static sitting around a small lantern and looking up towards myself. With a grin, my hoof flicked the switch, the bulbs overhead flickering as power coursed through them once more, filling the hut with a soft yellow glow... for a few seconds, at least. The lights flickered and sputtered out, leaving us all in the dark again, a warning buzzer coming from the generator. Letting off a defeated sigh, the switch fell back into place, myself turning around.
"Stupid pre-war technology..."
-----
It didn’t take long after Night Strike went back to check up on the generator for the bulbs to flicker back on again, creating circles of lights under the lamps every few meters. When she returned, Crash Dive set a few tin plates onto a small table in the corner, carefully pouring out the can of beans that had been heating on a hotplate into them. Night Strike and I slid into the chairs at the table, pulling the plates towards us and beginning to eat. My stomach quieted down as I swallowed the beans - Mm, well, it's no Sparkle-Cola Stew, but it's something. We each quickly finished up our plates, Crash Dive pouring out another can she’d set on the hotplate.
After we’d eaten our dinner, I stacked up the plates and tossed them in a rusty sink. I trotted back to the table where Crash had pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them. “You two up for a few rounds of poker?” She asked. I nodded and sat down as she began to deal the cards. “Twenty cap limit, I don’t want to go broke.” I dug around in my saddlebag and produced my satchel of caps, lying a few down onto the table as Night Strike and Crash did the same. I stared down at the cards I was given, looking down at the three that had been laid in the center next to the small pile of caps.
A few rounds of cards later and my cap bag was slightly heavier, Crash cursing and Night Strike and I pocketing our winnings. She scooped up the cards and slid them back into her saddlebags before glancing through one of the windows of the hut. “Alright, we better head off to bed, we’ll want as much time to search around this place as we can get tomorrow.” She trotted over to the door, grabbing onto the end of a bed nearby. She dragged it in front of the door before tossing some heavy junk onto it to ensure it wouldn’t budge.
I laid down onto the bed, thankful I had one of Crash Dive’s bedrolls as a barrier between me and the dirty mattress. Good thing it’s not frigid down here, sleeping without covers back in Mooscow generally resulted in a pony-cicle - thank the goddesses my dad is a seamster. The lights flickered off, and Crash rolled onto one of the mattresses, the only light now coming from the moon streaming through the windows. I curled up a little, tucking my tail between my legs as I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
---
I awoke to the sound of scratching and pounding at the door - ooh, that doesn't sound fun. Climbing out of bed, I tried to spot what was on the other side of the door through the dirty and cracked windows, but none of them gave a clear view to the front of the building. Crash Dive and Night Strike were both up soon too, Night Strike flying up to the air vent at the top of the half-pipe structure, but couldn’t manage to see what was outside. The power-armored pegasus grumbled, seeming thoroughly irritated as she pulled a plasma grenade out of a box on her armor. She scooted under the bed in front of the door, pulling the pin and shoving the grenade through a small mail flap near the bottom. She stepped away as the scratching stopped, the air silent for a moment before a loud explosion rang through the hut, the door shaking violently on its hinges as it pushed the bed away slightly.
We waited for a moment, but no other sound could be heard. “Alright, well, that was an annoying wake-up call, but we’re up. Roll up the beds, you two, I’ve got a box of oats we can eat before we set off.” She dug around in her saddlebags before tossing a box of oats to us. As we rolled up the mats and took a few mouthfuls of oats, Crash Dive pushed the bed out of the way of the door, revealing a trail of glowing goo seeping through the bottom crack. Well, whatever that was out there definitely isn’t a solid mass anymore.
We all hitched up our saddlebags, Crash Dive grabbing a bit of oats for herself before heading out of the bunker. We stepped around the puddle of warm goo in front of us, heading along the row of bunk houses set behind the main facility. “Jericho Beach is a pretty old supply depot, even by pre-war standards. There shouldn’t be any security systems still online.” Crash Dive said. Nevertheless, I made sure I could easily reach my umbrella in case we stumbled into another one of those mutated bloatflies. Well, more mutated than the ones back home, anyways. No security systems work both ways, if that thing that woke us up this morning means anything...
We first headed towards the docks, several discarded crates of cargo laying on the piers and at the water’s edge. I opened the door to one of the small shacks nearby, rummaging around inside the office. “Find anything?” Night Strike asked, poking her head to see what I was up to. I stood up from digging around in one of the filing cabinets, holding up a couple bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparilla.
“Just some centuries old soda. Want one?” I offered the bottle to her, her response being to pull a look of disgust in return. I shrugged, pocketing one and popping the cap off the other. “Oh, come on, Night Strike. There’s brand loyalty and then there’s just plain insanity.” Answering me with a sigh and shake of her head, Night Strike turned and trotted after Crash Dive, heading towards the ends of the docks.
“I thought we established long ago the fact that I’m crazy.” Night Strike and I stopped at the edge of the dock, peering down into the water. I could barely make out the shape of a sunken boat in the murky water. “Hey, didn’t Ripple need some boat parts? You’re a good swimmer, right Static?” Shooting her a glare, the pegasus wore a smirk.
“You throw me in and I’ll shove this umbrella so far up your ass you’ll be spitting sparks.” Night Strike chuckled as I took another sip of soda, Crash Dive turning around and heading back up the dock. “The engine’s probably in horrid condition anyway. Who knows how long it’s been sitting there.” We followed the power armored mare as she made her towards the largest building, the door squeaking on its hinges as it opened.
Inside the building was a small lobby, a circular receptionist desk placed in the center. Night Strike trotted up to the terminal on the desk, flipping a switch as it began to boot up. The screen flickered, showing a few interdepartmental memos and appointment bookings, but no sort of shipping details that might point out where to find some parts. “Aw, oh well, I guess we’re just gonna have to scour every bit of this place.” Night Strike said, trying to put on an air of disappointment. Yes, Strikey, I totally believe you’re saddened we have to wander aimlessly through a pre-war military base.
We trotted though the lobby, heading towards a large set of stairs on the opposite end of a long hallway. We passed by a large office, glancing in to see a skeleton in a heavily torn military uniform laying on the floor beside the desk. I grimaced as we began to make our way downstairs, occasionally needing to hop down some broken steps. “So, did the Enclave have direct control over a lot of these bases? Or was that more for the Ministries?” I asked as we descended.
“Most all military bases were under the control of the Equestrian Armed Forces, the Grand Pegasus Enclave being a part of them back then. After the bombs wiped out Cloudsdale, we broke off from Equestria fully... the Lightbringer brought us back.” She adjusted the large gun on her back as we heard a soft chittering emanate from behind the bottom floor door. Pausing for a moment, Crash Dive swung the door open, rearing onto her hind legs. Her front hooves came down hard onto a large cockroach, the exoskeleton crunching as she crushed it. “I figured searching an old supply depot would be smarter before we head to places with actual security. Besides, this was the closest one to the lighthouse.”
“At least tell me this place supplied and held megaspell warheads, right?” Night Strike asked, looking a little hopeful. Crash Dive thought for a moment, then shook her head, wiping some bug guts from her metal hooves. Night Strike’s ears flopped down as she stared at the floor, muttering to herself. “Stupid no-megaspell-military base...” I rolled my eyes as we trotted into a large computer room. Panels covered in switches, dials, and gauges lined the walls, a large window at the far end revealing an empty room full of large machines and broken crates. I examined some of the panels on the walls as Night Strike and Crash trotted over to the main console. “So, how exactly are we supposed to get a generator back up to the surface from here?”
“We can dismantle it and carry it out that way, I’ll be able to rebuild it back at my house.” Crash responded. I grimaced a little, doubtful that Crash would take advantage of her suit’s strength boosting servos in favor of dumping the metal on me. “Come on, there should be a generator somewhere inside the actual storage area.” She headed through a door, trotting down a few more steps before beginning to wander the large warehouse floor.
Night Strike and I spread out, glancing around for some sort of power source. The floor of the empty warehouse reminded me quite a bit of the RobronCo facility back North, though many of the machines here looked like they were made for sorting big shipping crates rather than manufacturing robots and electronics. Sheesh, I hope Night Strike doesn’t try and lug home a mortar to strap to the Valkyrie or something. I began to follow the wires connected to the machines in hopes of them leading to the generator, but they simply twisted around each other, heading in seemingly random directions.
“Hey, I found the generator! But, uh, I don’t think it’s in very good condition...” Night Strike called. She was standing at a small door tucked away in the corner, her pip-buck light shining on it. Crash and I trotted up and followed her into the small room, finding a large dusty generator sitting in front of us. ‘Not in good condition’ was an understatement. The gears and bearings were interlocked with years of accumulating rust, several other parts looking like they would fall off if somepony sneezed too hard next to them. Crash blew out of her mouth exasperatedly, walking around the generator to view it from all angles.
“I don’t think this thing could power a laser pistol, let alone power those repair talismans enough to fix up the plane in a sensible timespan.” She bent over the back, the sound of metal being brushed aside filling the air. “Ugh, looks like it’s a hydroelectric turbine too. Could be running off of the river to Maple Creek.” She stood back up, wiping her now greasy hooves onto an old mop leaning against the wall. “Even if we could fix this up, there’s no good place to set it up near my lighthouse for power. We’ll need one of those newer portable arcane reactors.”
“Ah, what about that reactor back at the bunk house? You got that working, would that be powerful enough?” Night Strike answered me with a shake of the head, as we began to trot back out of the facility.
“That little thing? In the condition it was in, we were lucky it didn't blow up last night while we were sleeping. Besides, it was corroded to it's base, probably would just damage it further trying to take it out.” Well, thanks for leting us all know that there was a time bomb just outside the building we were sleeping in, Night Strike! We reached the steps and began to work our way back upstairs, the gaps in the steps much more of an issue now. “We’ll want something with a lot of kick anyway, if we want the Valkyrie up and running within a few days. Even running at full power, in good condition, that puny thing’d probably take a year.”
We were soon stepping back out into the sunlight, pausing outside the door as Strike and I checked our maps. “Next closest base is Seahoof Armory. No way we’re going to get there in a day, though... It looks like there’s a little town partway there. We can probably make that, stop there before heading down. Just need to follow the coastline east.” Crash nodded and we began to make our way along the edge of the lake, the water almost perfectly still from the lack of wind.
“So, this place must not have gotten hit very hard during the war, with all the stuff still living here, right? I mean, even with that thing getting set off by the Lightbringer, this place is pretty intact for being a military depot. How the heck did it avoid at least a little bombardment?” I kicked a rock into the water, watching the ripples travel along the surface as we made our way along the water's edge.
“Vanhoover wasn’t a large priority target to begin with, the zebras were more worried about targeting megaspell installations than the manufacturing plants and supply depots around here, I think.” We trotted along for a moment, myself glancing over my shoulder as I thought I heard a low buzzing. “There was supposed to be a base somewhere nearby that was made to house some kind of bigger, more potent missiles. Could just as well be a story my SOs came up with to scare new recruits into not touching pre-war stuff.”
As we continued along the coast, the sun was beginning to fall low in the sky, and Crash Dive looked over to Night Strike. “How much further along is this town?” The dark blue pegasus stopped and checked her Pip-Buck, scrolling long from our location to the small town. She frowned a bit, as she double checked the distance, her expression growing a little worse by the second.
“Uh… well, I guess it’s a little further than I thought.” She chuckled nervously. Crash didn’t look amused. “W-well, there’s something not too much further from here, along a major road, I think.” She looked up from her Pip-Buck, staring into the distance in the direction the little pointer on her map indicated. Peering for a moment, she double-checked, setting her hoof back against the ground. “Yeah, there’s something there, a road stop or something.” She pointed towards a small shack sitting a little further away from the edge of the water.
Crash Dive let off a grunt, and we began to make our way towards the small building in the distance. We were soon following a road along the coast that passed by the building, which we could now recognize as a cart maintenance stop in the dimming light. We stepped into the building, Night Strike lighting a small electric lamp sitting next to the cash register. Crash Dive turned and began to push one of the large displays in front of the door, causing me to grimace from the sound of it scraping across the floor.
“Alright, that should keep any big stuff out. I’d still sleep close to your gun if I were you, though.” I dropped the sleeping rolls onto the floor, unfurling them between the shelves. Crash Dive set herself up behind the main counter, though not until I was finished digging around beneath the counter for some spare caps. She shot me a glare as I came back out, carefully making my way around her as she settled in the corner.
I trotted back over to my bedroll, Night Strike grinning and popping open a bottle of regular sparkle-cola. Jeez, you’re going to be up all night drinking that. “Bluh, hopefully we actually get to find some better stuff at Seahoof Armory. I really wanted to use Thumper on something...” I answered her with a roll my eyes, as Night Strike flipped on her radio.
“And that concludes the adventures of DASH-E, the Supreme Spritebot! Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion!” Huh, I don’t think I would’ve guessed KAOS to host radio shows. “And now the news, for all you ponies who aren’t being sent off to bed now. We’ve got a few reports in from Mellow Station that their rail mechanics have finally managed to gather the parts together to repair the northern express, but bad weather may cause further delays for all of you ghoulish types looking for passage north. You held out against all the fury of an entire nation, I'm sure you lads and dames taking refuge up there can hold out for a while longer where you are."
There was a shuffling sound behind us, a metal-clad hoof tapping against the counter. “If you don’t turn that off, you two are sleeping outside tonight.” Crash growled. Night Strike let off a weak chuckle, fiddling with her pip-buck for a few moments before she finally turned off the radio, leaving us in silence. We lay down on the bedrolls, Night Strike shuffling something out of her saddlebags and pulling it close to her chest. I sighed, staring at a pile of dust-covered toy trucks as I drifted off to sleep.
-----
Goddesses, flying was such a great feeling. The chill, crisp breeze in your mane, air under your soft, silky wings, the view of the world below racing by at speeds few other ponies get to see... serene, just simply beautiful. A quick snap of the wings gives another burst of speed, just the right amount to get me a bit higher up, the thick jacket and my bundled mane and tail getting a little frosty as I punched through a low cloud with a spin, trailing a spiral of mist and ice at my back legs. Letting off a gentle sigh, the cloud settled and re-formed, my hoves resting gently against the soft, fluffy surface, staring off into the distance.
To the east was Mooscow - Heh, Static's probably getting himself in trouble again, trying to get to Minty's guns. Heading west, you'd run into Turnpike and Trotisk, and more than likely my dads with the TOG. Featherweight never really liked being inside that thing, though considering he's about half a stallion larger than most ponies I can't really blame him. Directly below was Quebuck, my favorite scavenging grounds, target range, and all-around irradiated hellhole. Nice place in the summer, actually. Looking south, ah, there was Pripytrot and her silos, probably still has a missile or two left there - one thing that I unfortunately can't find out for myself. Apparently launching a missile is frowned upon nowadays... so, why were there two smoke trails coming out from Pripytrot, now?
Sitting up and staring out, a faint sound began rising over the wind, carried by it, a low, rising note. It hit a crescendo, then fell back off, only to rise again. Off towards Mooscow, a stream of black dots filtered out of the city and into the CONELRAD Stable, the majority managing to filter in, if only just. A few dots were left in the snow - not moving. Looking back west, a full stampede charged north, towards EQUAD, and the massive bomb-proof structure that it was. This... what in the name of the goddesses was this? Looking down over the edge of the cloud, the big form of the TOG trundled along towards Turnpike from Trotisk, a black speck poking from the top of the turret, climbing out. Dad... He'd know what this was, he was great with missiles and sirens, and balefire bo-
Behind me, the sky lit up in a blinding flash, the reflection off of the snowy wasteland being enough to blind me for only a moment. Letting off a scream, I flipped myself over on the cloud, rubbing at my eyes and letting my vision come back. Jacket, legs, tail, okay, I'm not dead... but... a massive, green fireball rose up from where Mooscow once stood, the mountain it bordered to the north completely gone as well, and the stable it housed with it. Mooscow was... was... it was gone. Static, Minty, Cross, they were... they-
My brain still trying to process the mushroom cloud rising from where a city full of ponies once were, another flash happened behind me, this one a little faster for me to look at. Flipping back around as the stem grew up from Mooscow, Trotisk was now a fireball, the long shape of the tank vanishing under a plume of white snow, and the black, gold and green speck with it. But... no... I stared at where my dads were, as Turnpike was lifted and thrown, the railcars being mangled and smashed into each other by the shockwave. Mooscow... Trotisk... Turnpike... my daddies... gone.
The sky immediately to my left lit up with such a bright light, such a huge, blinding flash. Every nerve ending in my body screamed out, my brain still trying to process what'd happened. The cloud vanished from underneath me, my body being crushed from three ways at once, ears met with a deafening roar and brain still trying to understand what was happening to me. Then... I woke up.
"Wauh!" Clutching the little plush tight against my chest, my breathing was heavy and sporadic, gasping for air. That was... that was not a pleasant dream. The interior of the rest stop came into focus, the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears slowing down enough for some sounds to meet me once again. Heavy metal hooves against solid concrete met my ears first, the door in the room behind the register opening and closing as the whirring of power armor servos filled the air, along with labored breathing. That, um, that did not sound good...
Quietly sitting back on the mat, through a crack in the stuff on the shelves I was just able to see Crash Dive's pink mane glinting in the moonlight from the windows, a deep grimace on her face. She sat back in the chair, lifting her left foreleg and letting it drop onto the counter, illuminated by the light coming in. A panel opened up on the shoulder, and she began to pull syringes out of it, the little glass and metal things clinking against the floor. With her other hoof, she dropped a medical box on the counter beside the register, the grimace growing worse the longer she worked. Eventually, she managed to get the latches undone, pulling a small tin out - one that looked just like the one the Doctor back in Maple Creek kept his Med-X in.
"U-um, you know that stuff is addictive, right?" Crash Dive jumped - okay, so maybe I'm not great at keeping my yap shut when it comes to stealth - myself getting up, still holding the plushie and fitting on my duffle bag. Her brown eyes stared back at me, teeth gritted in pain, before she went back to opening the tin and fitting the needles into their slots on her armor. Six, sheesh... "Just, uh... just saying."
"I'll keep that in mind. You been awake for long?" The panel clicked back into place, her expression instantly becoming relaxed as she stopped breathing through her teeth. I trotted over to where she sat, setting my duffle bag on the counter and opening it up, pulling out a Sparkle-Cola RAD. Looking to her for a moment as I reached in for a second, she shook her head, letting her chin rest against her armor's neck plating and releasing a sigh. "I know that it's not right, but... if you saw what I've seen, felt what I've felt, knew what I knew, you'd be hurting too. It's a painkiller, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Foal killer, too... there's this one sewer grate back in Quebuck, has an old radio inside. Somepony used it to weather the bombs with their kid... one skeleton is missing the top of it's skull, the other's surrounded by empty needles, and holds a small plush toy." That was... that was a sobering find, to say the least. Was to Dad and Minty too, if their story's right. Boy, I'm glad that that doctor didn't gve us any of that stuff, now... Crash Dive looked over to me for a moment, her forelegs resting over her stomach, the bottled, glowing soda letting off a hiss as I opened the cap. We sat in silence, myself staring into the Sparkle-Cola, swirling it in the bottle. "What, um... when did you start? The Med-X, I mean."
She sat and glared at me for a short while before she turned to look out the window, myself taking a quiet sip from the bottle. Yeah... I was never good with not asking questions. Taking a moment, Crash Dive's hoof tapped against the windowsil, a sigh escaping her. "Ten years back, Operation Cauterize. Just after it, anyways... my wing was sent out to assist operations on the ground, remove lesser ponies, that old horse shit. One of those bastards that fit the full description of a disgusting wasteland pony somehow had his hooves on a balefire egg launcher, shot one right into my platoon. I wound up lucky, just was knocked out by the blast... they figured I was dead. By the time I came to, it was all over, and where my wing commander stood was just a radioactive crater."
Okay... that, I wasn't expecting. Truth be told, dunno what I was actually expecting in the first place, but having your friends vaporized in balefire definitely wasn't that. It was just a dream, Strikey, no need to start acting up again! That's it, breathe, drink your soda, everyone's fine and still alive... I hope. Goddess-damnit. I let off a small nod, Crash Dive going back to looking out the window. The first cracks of dawn were beginning to show in the sky, it turning a faint shade of purplish-orange towards the east. Looking down into my bottle of soda, the bubbles clung to the sides as I swirled it around, thinking. "Um... I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure Med-X isn't for mental pain..."
"Goddess-damnit, I know it isn't for fucking mental pain!!" The windowsil broke with a crack, Crash Dive staring deep into my eyes as she chuffed through her nose. Static stirred from his sleeping mat, Crash Dive glancing towards him for a moment before turning back to me, letting off a sigh. "I know... just, I need it, alright?" Her eyes looked into mine, softened... mental or physical, she was definitey in pain. Static let off a grunt, looking over from where he was sitting up, rubbing at his head and getting up off of his mat.
"Hnnh, uh, what's going on? We heading out?" Crash Dive slid herself off of the chair and onto her hooves as Static dug sleepers out of his eyes. fitting his saddlebags on and picking up his umbrella. He glanced around the small shop, blinking a few times before looking out the window, then checking his pip-buck in confusion. "Um, I know we want to do early starts, but, uh... it's barely even 3 in the morning." Crash Dive trotted out from behind the counter, looking out the window, then turning to the barricaded doorway.
"Yeah. Night Strike and I were just discussing heading out early, give us time to do some scavenging along the way. After that game last night, I think having a few extra caps on hoof would be useful." She shot Static a glare, the earth pony returning with a smug smile. Yeah, come to think scavenging for a few caps would be useful... after buying all that ammo, I think I've only got a hundred or so left. Well, least Thumper is great at taking care of most things with one shot. Getting myself up, the barricade came down with a small clatter, Crash Dive shoving the heavy cooler unit away from the door and then moving back to grab her helmet and rebar cannon. Huh... swear I saw something glowing in there...
"Oh, score!" Mmm-mmm-mmm, Sparkle-Cola, what a lovely sight. I wore a wide grin, reaching into the cooler for the bottle and immediately regretting that decision as the skittering of a huge-ass bug met my ears, and brushed against my hoof. Well, that was one big pile of nope. Static let out a sigh, pulling out his umbrella and stabbing it into the open cooler, the smell of fried bug filling the air moments later. "Euck, thanks. You think it'd be worthwhile for me to get a smaller gun, or something?"
"Oh, I dunno Strikey, I kinda like having to save your flanks from mutant bugs, makes me feel neede- CELESTIA'S SWEET PISS!" Looking up from gathering some of the bottles of soda, Static sure looks like he'd be the one wanting a diaper right now... and for damn good reason. Crash Dive's helmet apparently has eyes that glow red, and from a glance... yeah, no, she does look kinda like a security robot. Well, a security robot that could pin you to the wall with a shot from it's cannon, anyways. She looked to Static for a moment, then faced myself, her voice coming through a speaker behind what looked like an added-on rebreather.
"If you're done searching this place, we should get going. I think there's a pre-war town just down the road here, we should be able to do some better scavenging there." Crash Dive nodded once, turning back towards the door to the outside, it creaking open on it's hinges. Static's eyes met mine, the earth pony still catching his breath for a few moments, looking to the door. Okay, yeah, I think that we don't have to worry about being messed with if she's keeping her armor on like that...
...as long as we keep up with her, anyways!
---
"Yanno, I don't think we ever got mornings like this back in Mooscow." Static let off a small sigh, looking across the sky, and the purplish haze just past the far mountains. Now I think of it, mornings back home were usually always cloudy one way or another, and more bitter cold than it usually is during the day. Huh, there's food for thought, this is the first time since we've been down here that I haven't felt hot while wearing this big jacket... The lake rustled slightly, a small, chill breeze picking up. Whoo, good morning wasteland.
"If my memory from the pre-war maps we had to study serves, the villiage of Clearwater is just up ahead, should be a good scavenging spot. Last time we were through here, nopony was around." Crash Dive glanced about the area, the barrel of her harpoon cannon moving slightly with her head. A completely abandoned pre-war town? Well, if it were smacked in the everything by a near miss, I guess I can understand that. Still, you'd think that after the lightbringer did her reclamation-thingy people would try and settle it sooner or later. Crash Dive shrugged in her armor - I think - as we reached a small bridge over a creek.
The old wood creaked under our combined weight - mostly Crash Dive and her armor, though - the water of the lake to our left reflecting both the moonlight and the first hints of day, stirred only slightly by the breeze. Uck, Clearwater, yeah, this place must be pre-war, because I'm pretty sure that clear water does NOT smell like rotting fish. Maybe. In this warmer place, who knows, maybe it's always stunk like that and I just never smelled it back home because cold water can't hold stink, or something... Oh, I'm glad that I drink Sparkle-Cola. No tainting my essence with stinky water.
Crash Dive suddenly came to a stop halfway across the old bridge, standing still at the top of the small arch. Um, okay, going to explain why you're doing that, or... A definitely not-a-pony hissing sound came up from behind us, and again, wish that we were wearing diapers. That did't sound like anything I've heard before, so, Thumper, please be at the ready to give whatever that is a faceful of flaming flechettes. Another hiss sounded from the other side of the bridge, Crash Dive staring intently forwards as Static pulled himself closer to me, his own umbrella pulled out. Oh right, hah, for a second there I forgot that we lived in a world that had more menacing stuff than huge bugs and radiation, how silly of me...
"Three, two on your side and one on mine. Be ready to fire on my mark." The power armored pegasus backed herself up beside me, turning herself to cover our flanks from... whatever these things were. Should've drank more RAD, being able to see in the dark would be really useful right now. Static's umbrella let off a small high-pitched whine as it powered up, the creatures hissing at us again. Fuck... "NOW!"
Crash Dive's rebar cannon choomed as the pressurized air sent the solid hunk of metal out of the barrel and into whatever that thing was, the bridge illuminating on mine and Static's side as Thumper sprayed a cone of bright orange flame at those things. Their skin glistened faintly in the glow, the old wood of the bridge smouldering from where some of the flechettes bounced off of their skin harmlessly... WHAT. The rebar gun fired off twice more, the things letting off another hiss as they pulled back, the smell of burning fish left behind. The creek below splashed, dark forms wading out into the lake, vanishing beneath the moonlit surface as we all peered over the side of the bridge.
Okay wasteland, giant bugs are one thing, but mutant fish-things, really!?
---
"Huh, yanno, not a bad place. Looks kind of... uh, has a sort of old Equestria charm to it. Ahem." Yeah, I ain't a poet, sue me. Clearwater seemed to be built up around an old canal, the town situated about a story higher than the water's level. Good thing too, if those water marks along the sides of the upper canal wall mean anything. No buildings over two stories high, though, but save for a few blasted store fronts here and there and the odd collapsed roof it seemed pretty intact. Nice cobblestone roads, pleasant view out over the water, if you can live with the evil hissing fish monster things it'd be a lovely scenic place to visit. Now, about what loot this place has for us...
"Alright, we'll cover more places if we split up, I don't think those... things from this morning will bother us now, looked like they're nocturnal, or something like that. Sound like a plan?" Leave it to Crash Dive to suggest us all being by ourselves. I responded with a nod, Static glancing towards myself uneasily before nodding as well. Oh, don't be such a scaredy pony... "We'll meet back at the stone bridge here, just over the creek. It's 8 AM now, be back by noon and we'll all find something for lunch. At ease."
Crash Dive turned herself about, heading further along the small canal, Static sticking with myself and watching as she trotted off. We passed over the stone bridge Static still watching Crash Dive as she turned a corner and headed down a side street. "Okay, don't get me wrong, I like not being the one that's expected to take all of the hits all of the time now, but do we really have to travel with her? It doesn't take a genius to know she doesn't like me."
"Look, I know it's not ideal, but we don't exactly have many options. She's staying with us until we get back to the Valkyrie with the generator we need, if we're lucky it's at Seahoof and we just have to get it back and wait." The wind rustled the trees along the waterfront, a few of the buildings making whistling sounds through their shattered windows. Alright... ooh, general store, that's a good place to look into. Police Station afterwards, that'd be good to find a few weapons or ammo or something, maybe... Static let off a sigh, staring off at the lake. We trotted along in silence for a short while, the door creaking open as we entered the small store and started looking about the neglected shelves.
Alrighty, let's see what you've got for us, Clearwater. Abraxo, flour, turpentine... hm. Hope that Crash Dive doesn't know how to make Sparkle-Grenades, I'm quite sure that Thumper has us covered for 'firey explosive death to the everything' for now. Eh, it's still worth something, at least. Hum-dee-hum... Mmh, it just isn't the same without CONELRAD on in the background. I made way to the back side of the store, near the food coolers, lookng down at my legputer - Radio KAOS, please have something good for my ears. Ooh, funky, Strikey likey~
"Some folks are born, made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're followin' that deep blue.
And when the band plays 'hail to the queen,'
Ooh, they point the cannon at you!
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no Ministry Mare's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no."
Okay, so Radio KAOS' lineup of songs is a helluva lot more appealing than CONELRAD's was. Those two missiles on my flanks shook and bounced as I trotted along, humming along to the tune as it played out in my ears. The cheese formerly known as Milk, a couple things I think at one point were supposed to be frozen hayburgers, mmm, Sparkle Cola, now we're talking... Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and ignore the smell of food that's just completely gone. Wuck, this is why our wasteland is better, you don't have to smell all this stuff. Five regular Sparkle Cola ain't bad, though~
"Hey, Night Strike! Score!" Static wore a grin as he waved out to the main area from the back room, disappearing back behind the doorframe. Oooh, back room goodies, I hope there's a safe there~ Thumper's been getting antsy to fire off. Kinetic lockpicking with a 40mm slug is always fun~ Trotting myself over, I shuffled through the duffel bag for the ammo, pulling the HE shell out of Thumper's chamber and replacing it with a copper-tipped slug, closing the break-action with a quick flick of the neck. Grinning around the mouthpiece, I was instead greeted with the sight of Static hefting up a big wooden box, undoing the latch and flipping up the lid. Gee, thanks for the info...
"Damnit Static, I thought you found a safe! You made Thumper sad..." Don't you roll your eyes at me mister, you know that named weapons have feelings. He gave his head a shake, shuffling the contents of the box about before sliding a spark battery out of it. Huh, never seen one with the labeling still intact on it... weird. "Okay, so you found a box of really heavy batteries. Hey, if you want to lug it to Hopeville to sell off, be my guest." I shrugged, the earth pony letting off a small huff and turning back to a shelf behind him, reaching down and lifting up four more identical boxes, setting them all down beside the first.
"You have any idea how much these things are worth? A wasteland-worn one goes for 75 caps, these are fresh out of the box! At least 100, maybe 125 apiece if I can find the right buyer, and there are 32 here. This is a goldmine!" He chuckled, setting his saddlebags on the table and sliding the boxes into them, replacing the spark battery he'd pulled out of the first and latching it down again. Saddlebags re-packed, he slid them back on, letting off a small huff as the full weight settled. First rule of scavving, don't take more than you can carry to the next merchant. Oh, now you're just showing off... "Nnfh, al-alright, I've got it. Heh, oh, we'll be rolling in it by tonight, I tell you!"
"Whatever you say, Sparky. So, police station next?" Static gave a nod, his hooves quivering only faintly under the weight. Let's see, thirty two times three... almost a hundred kilos. Sheesh, and I thought that dad walking around with Kindness and twenty balefire eggs all the time was hard to believe... to be fair, he did have the TOG. The bell above the door clinked as we stepped back out onto the street, myself turning the radio back up as an instrumental wrapped up. Ah, the unnamed DJ of Radio KAOS comes yet again.
"Welcome back to Radio KAOS, it's a beautiful northern Vanhoover day out today. The forecast for tomorrow is predicting spotty clouds, but don't worry about the rain, folks... that doesn't come until next week, eheh. Erm, well, for everypony below Maple Station, anyways. Hang in there lads. Anyways, news time once again, for this pleasant midday broadcast I bring some pleasant news out of Hopeville, the ghoul families who'd suffered severe cases of shock from the arrival of the missile that landed near the lighthouse have made a full recovery and are doing well under the care of the Hopeville Triage. That being said, the Triage are putting out a call for any and all high-proof alcoholic products they can find, as well as, um... dynamite. I'm sure they have a good reason for that particular request. Anyways, yes, high-proof alcohol will be paid for, twenty caps to the bottle for vodka, ten per bottle of whiskey, preferably wild pegasus. Heh, I guess those doctors do know how to party after all..."
"Night Strike? Can I get a hoof here?" Static had rested himself up against a pillar outside of the poice station, looking back at myself with a weak smile. Can't even open the door with all that stuff... I let off a small sigh, grabbing the handle and pulling it open, the distinct smell of rotting flesh hitting our noses like an uppercut from a hellhound's backside. Static made a gagging sound - I don't blame him - as I took a few steps back from the door, the stopper catching on the ground outside. The blue earth pony regaining himself, he coughed out a chuckle, looking over to me and rubbing at his watering eyes. "A-ah, ladies first?"
"I thought chivalry died with the bombs, but no, it just became an asshole..." Really wishing that Thumper could fire air fresheners - well, technically it could, but I think keeping the floor intact is a good plan of action - I stepped inside the small waiting room and office, lookng about. Yup, small town police office alright, everything's right there to see. Including the armory... Oooh, lookit all those sellable guns. And a big lock on the door too, yay, I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to use Thumper here! Static worked his way in as well, finally, sitting down on one of the old benches and catching his breath. "Alright, you get your rest, I'm gonna see to getting some worthwhile things to sell~"
"Mmf, I think I just need to get something to eat... Wuck, not here, though. I'll be at the bridge if you need me, picked up a snack cake from the general store earlier." The earth pony layed on the bench for a short while longer, myself slipping out Thumper and aligning it with the big lock, wearing a big grin. Time to live up to your name again~ A squeeze of the trigger, and well, you could say the door was unlocked... you could just as easy ask 'what door?,' considering the state it was in now. Boy, that's some degraded wood. Who cares, I've got lots'a guns and I'mma sell 'em all! Riot shotgun, riot shotgun, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge, short-barrel 12 gauge... lotta stubby .357 Ironshod revolvers, six ten-mil semi-autos, and plenty of ammunition for all. Ooh, beanbag rounds, that's neat. And a stylish Clearwater Police duffel bag to haul it all in, very nice indeedy. I love it when a scavenge goes well...
Zipping up the bag loaded with guns and ammo, the glow of a few terminals scattered around caught my attention, the loaded duffel bag finding place on my back alongside my usual one. Oofh, okay, maybe I should lay off of Static about the heavy stuff... okay Clearwater, what's the dirt on you, eh? What lovely pre-war files of filth and smut do you have here...
"Log 1 - September 23rd, 2&[$ - Report of a disturbance at the docks, Coral found with serrated bite marks on her forelegs and hooves. Admitted to the clinic in Hopeville for treatment; what are big fish doing in the reservoir?" Okay, so it ain't exactly dirt. Looks pre-war, though... huh, couldn't be, could it? Selecting the next one, it took a moment to come up, the old console starting to whirr and smell of burning dust. Yuck... "Log 2 - September 28th - Another attack, this time with worse injuries; S. Daze's filly Clear Sky was out on a rowboat with her father when one of the creatures jumped out of the water. They returned safely, but Sky had to be admitted to the Hopevile clinic for stitches on her left foreleg. Probably would be worthwhile to try and get a case of that waterproof dynamite I've been reading about." Waterproof dynamite? Oh, mister pre-war police pony, you have my interest.
"Log 3 - October 6th - Waterproof dynamite ordered, should arrive sometime in the next few weeks. Chief isn't too crazy about laying a minefield just out in the harbor, but he agreed to add it on as a work expense. I smell a fishing trip in the near future." Oh, I like this guy. C'mon, I wanna know where the waterproof dynamite is, don't leave me hanging! Just a few more logs to go... "Log 4 - October 17th - Another attack, this time on the canal docks. Three Bit; darkly appropriate name, was bit three times by those things, hind legs and tail. Band-Aid treated his legs on the spot, poor bastard had his tail bit off. Good thing he was a damn tough-skinned earth pony." Okay, weird fish-things have a taste for pony tail, great. What about the dynamite? "Log 5 - October 18th - good news, Clearwater has explosives. Crates came in today, 20 of them, small things. Well, there were 25 crates officially... good thing nopony checks those loose bricks in cell 5. Pappy's gonna have a fun fishing trip ahead of him..." Cell 5, really? Interesting... ah, it ain't going anywhere, and there're still a few logs left, might as well peruse.
"Log 6 - October 23rd - Going to start minelaying today, take the hard-hull out to do it. With the sensors and casings, these things ought to do a pretty good impression of those naval mines the boys over on the HMS Cadence use. Good morning Clearwater - you'll live up to your name today. They still haven't found the ones I stashed in cell five yet, heh..." Clever bastard, if he were alive today I think we'd get along just fine. Huh, two logs for this day... "Log 7 - October 23rd, 2 - The town's in a panic. Finally get out to a good distance for the mines, and the first thing I see is this... this green fireball rising up from Vanhoover. It couldn't, they couldn't have juCELESTIA SAVE OUR SOULS THE STRIPES LAUNCHED..." ...well that went south fast. If that's only the second last log, though... "Log 8 - October 23rd, 3 - bombs attracted creatures.///// radiatioooooooooon iknytrexsr4de /[{/[] mm nbjop;g njbnbhv b,k,xczzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz H E L P."
Okay, that's enough console-reading for today. That dynamite's not going anywhere, but I sure as hell am. Static, I need a hug!
---
"Well, that took longer than it should have, but we're here, at least." Crash Dive stood upright, looking over to the town of Hopeville, myself and Static both thoroughly exhausted from carrying our salvage. You'd think having a duffel bag to carry twenty guns you won't use would make them seem lighter... The power armored pegasus looked down at us both as we dropped and rested against the grassy road, shaking her head. "I'm going to go find a non-wrecked house to sleep in. You two go and get a hotel room, or something."
"W-wait! Uhm, uh, Crash Dive, why don't you get a room with us?" It was kinda stupid to ask, but it was worth a shot all the same. The power armored pegasus came to a stop, turning herself about to look at me her red, glowing eyes meeting mine. Yeah, that was still get-my-brown-pants terrifying. I lifted myself to my hooves, Crash Dive's helmet coming off with a hiss of pressure. "Just hear me out, kay? I've seen Enclave armor, and I'll tell you, your armor isn't really all that Enclave, at least not anymore. Besides, wouldn't a bed be better than a pile of rubble?"
"You've obviously never been to an Enclave boot camp, they make you love a comfy pile of rubble." Glad to see her snark's not gone. Static gave me a bewildered stare - just trust me on this. "Alright, say I go with you and we manage to get a room, what happens next? Word gets out that there's a pegasus in power armor in town, that's going to raise a few suspicions." Well, she had a point... but, counterpoint is my middle name. Actually it's 'Gamma', but that's beside the point. Counterpoint. Whatever.
"Your wing covers are welded down, aren't they? Far as anypony would know, they're just cosmetics... hell, even I'm not sure someti-" Holy crap on a cracker, she out-Twintails-stared Twintails. Okay, being of sound mind and body I value my continued existence. "U-uh... anyways, moving along, nobody would know for sure you're a pegasus, let alone an Enclave pegasus. You'd just be another wasteland wanderer that found a fancy suit of armor and harpoon cannon somewhere." Crash Dive looked over at the town for a moment, letting off a sigh.
"Fine. But I'm sharing a room with you." Um... well, that was a bit out of the blue, but, uh, alright? I blunk in response, Static letting off a nervous chuckle as he rose up to his hooves once more.
"Fine by me. Let's just get there before the lights all go out." Static began moving himself again, Crash Dive fitting her helmet back on and giving me a quick glance before following behind him, myself picking up the rear. Still pretty confused about her insistence... I might wind up seeing her without her armor on and I'm okay with that, and I am not okay with that. Oh, tonight's going to be fun...
The town was rather peaceful during evening, not a lot of ponies were milling about - or, at least not a lot were looking our way. We traveled either side of Crash Dive, eventually reaching a small structure that had an illuminated Hotel sign in front of it, stepping through the doorway and causing the bell to jingle. The stallion at the desk gave his forelegs a stretch, rubbing at his shoulder as he looked over us, eyes going wide as he rubbed at them. Static trotted up to the desk, resting his forelegs on it and panting for a few moments.
"Sorry... long walk, came all the way from Maple Creek... uh, you have any rooms available?" The stallion behind the desk blunk a few times, putting on a small smile as he sat himself upright, looking over us three. Static leaned back, stumbling slightly as his loaded saddlebags threw him off balance for a moment. "Y-yeh! Dah, um, how much for two rooms?" I swear that that stallion behind the desk's eyes brightened at hearing that... though it's anyone's guess as to if it's in a 'more money' way or something completely different.
"Of course, 203 and 204 are free. It's usually 100 caps per night per room, but, uh... for a face like yours, I think I can get away with 80 per. Call it a nice stallion discount." ...something else it was, then! I swear I can see Static's blush from here. And the desk pony just winked at him as he handed over the caps, great. Making friends there, Sparky? "My name's Chauffeur, by the way. Come down if you need anything, I'll be glad to get it for you... anything you want~" It's fun when I'm not the one being completely embarassed!
Given our room keys, Static made his way up to 203, myself and Crash Dive taking 204. The way he was shaking, you'd think he had too much sugar, or something. Unlocking his door, he turned to face myself, lip in a bit of a shaken frown. "I-If I'm not up by the time you are, p-please, do whatever you can to wake me up. S-starting to regret this..." His eyes drifted over to meet those of Crash Dive's helmet, and I swore I saw the red reflected in his as he stopped, eyes going wide. "Nevermind, night Night Strike!" Hmh, he wasn't moving that fast earlier...
Stepping into the room, the pair of single beds pushed together for use as a double was a welcome sight, myself dropping both duffel bags and letting out an exhausted sigh. Not even bothering to do my usual hover and flop, I really just flopped, burying my muzzle into the soft cotton of the pillow. Crash Dive stood beside her own bed, pulling off a few various pieces of her armor, stripping herself down to the chestplate with the welded wing covers, the shoulder with the Med-x panel, and the undersuit for the armor. Huh, she's not much bigger than I am... oy, too tired to care. Lazily pulling up my pip-buck to my view, I fiddled with the volume, getting it down to that sweet spot where I can hear it but nopony else really can. Alright Miss Lynn, let's have that lullaby...
"We'll meet again,
Don't know where,
Don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day..."
-----
I awoke to a soft beeping, my Pip-Buck’s screen flashing on and off. I blinked as my eyes watered from the continual sudden change in light, trying to find the little button to flip off the alarm. After some pawing at the knobs and dials, my Pip-Buck stopped beeping, quickly displaying a picture of a smiling colt climbing out of bed and a ‘good morning!’ Resting in the bed a short while longer, I let off a soft sigh, enjoying the comfort of the pillow and mattress. Almost like back home... heck of a lot better than that bedroll, at least.
After a few more moments of laziness, I managed to roll out of bed, standing up and trotting into the small bathroom. I cringed as I looked into the rusted tub - uck, yeah, I don’t think I trust that. I dunked my mane into the marginally cleaner sink, starting to let the water run. Well, my Pip-Buck’s Geiger counter isn’t ticking, it can’t be that bad. It’s been way too long since I’ve properly washed this... I scrubbed at my mane for a couple minutes before turning the water off and letting the wet hair fall back into place. Well, least here I don't have to worry about it freezing up while walking around.
I hoisted my saddlebags onto my back, immediately letting out a grunt of effort. Okay, maybe carrying around all these batteries might not have been the best idea. The thought of how many caps I’d soon have was enough to get me to the door, umbrella secure in the saddlebag strap. I trotted next door to Night Strike’s room, knocking. “Morning, you guys up?” I got a muffled irritated grunt as a response. Alright, I’ll leave you alone. Maybe this place has some free bagels or something, then. I made my way towards the lobby, sitting down in one of the chairs.
I glanced over to the main desk, breathing a small sigh of relief upon realizing Chauffeur wasn’t the one sitting at it. Sliding my saddlebags off of my back, I stepped up to the receptionist. “Uh, hello?” The pony looked up, pushing her glasses up her muzzle. “Where’s the nearest place I’d be able to, um, resupply stuff? Trade, and things?”
The mare with the frazzled mane stretched her back for a moment, leaning on the desk and pointing her hoof off to the right. “The general store’s a few blocks down that way. Gunsmith’s south of that, and there’s Gumbo’s place back around that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction of the general store. “You can ask one of the shop owners, they might now somepony if you need any sort of specialty items.” I nodded and gave a quick thanks before I heard a few hoofsteps.
I hitched up my saddlebags as Night Strike and Crash Dive wandered into the lobby, Strike yawning and rubbing her eyes a little while Crash Dive... well, looked like Crash Dive. Did she really need to have her helmet on? Sheesh... Taking a moment to get ourselves together, we headed out the door, and I began to lead them both down the road. Night Strike let off another yawn, trotting to catch up with me. “Get any leads on a generator?” I shook my head in response, looking over the town. Paved roads and water towers, huh...
“No, but the receptionist said the shop owners might know something. Besides, we gotta sell off this stuff anyway.” I shook my saddlebags, wobbling a bit with the shifting weight. Woof, why are these damn batteries so heavy, anyways? Making our way through the town, the sun crested over the distant mountains, several ponies milling about in the early morning. We soon arrived at a small wooden building, the door squeaking on its hinges as we walked in.
The pony on the other side of the counter looked up from his book, bending a page and setting it aside before greeting us three with a smile. “Ah, hello there! Anything I can get for you?” I simply opened up my saddlebags and placed the boxes of batteries onto the counter, grinning widely. The owner’s eyes widened as I opened up the packaging, taking out a few of the batteries to show him.
“I’ve got pristine spark batteries from Clearwater, fully charged and perfect for display!” The owner looked over one of the batteries, clearly impressed by the uncommonly good condition. “100 caps apiece, 8 batteries a box.” The owner faltered for a moment, obviously a little unsure. Silver tongue, don't fail me now... “Hey, considering the normal price for much worse condition ones, a 30% increase isn’t bad.”
The owner thought for a moment, letting off a small huff, before conceding. “Alright, you’ve got a deal. But I’ve really only got enough caps for two boxes, you’ll need to find somewhere else to sell them.” I nodded and caps were exchanged, my smile growing a little wider as I slid the small mountain of caps into my satchel along with the remaining batteries.
“Anypony you know that might be interested in these?” I asked, thankful my saddle bag was now several pounds lighter. The owner thought for a moment, Night Strike placing one of the pistols and some rifle grenades she’d grabbed from the displays on the counter. The pony looked over her gun, and the two exchanged the cap difference before stowing it and the batteries under the counter.
“You can try the gunsmith, though I doubt they’d be that interested. There’s also the Hopeville Triage near the center of town. They’d love to have something to charge any medical equipment they’ve got.” I thanked him before glancing over some of his supplies, though nothing caught my attention.
“Well, you certainly got rich fast. I barely got a chance to show him the guns I found!” Night Strike let off a small huff as we stepped out of the store, myself smirking as we began to head towards the gunsmith. “What’re you going to spend those on anyway? It’s not like you need ammo for that lightning rod.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, hush, I’m sure the gunsmith’ll be happy to bury you in caps once you show him that duffel bag.” We made our way down the road, glancing around for any signs indicating where the gunsmith would be. “Besides, with our luck we’re going to end up needing to buy that generator, and I doubt anypony who has one is going to give it up cheap.” Night Strike tilted her head and shrugged.
We turned a corner, spotting a store with a few rifles on display behind its dirty windows. We trotted in, Night Strike making sure she got to the cashier before I could. As she dropped the duffel bag on the counter and opened it to reveal the contents, I walked around the displays, gazing at all the weaponry. I certainly had more of an affinity for traditional guns than either of my dads, though nothing really could beat the power and awesome lightshow you got from energy weapons. Then again, a heavy stick is still better with my aim being as bad as it is... stupid unicorns not having to use their mouths.
“What do you mean you only have 800 caps? You're a gunsmith, for crying out loud!” Oh, that doesn't sound particularly good. Night Strike seemed to be glaring the stallion behind the register down as she rested a hoof on her bag of guns. She released a sigh, placing a hoof against her forehead and shaking it back and forth. "Alright, alright, look, how many forty mil grenades or shotgun shells do you have in stock? I'll take whatever you've got that'll work."
"S-sure, right away. Sorry, nopony's been buying much of anything with caps lately, I'm lucky I had the 800 to offer. You have any idea how hard it is to make a living when random wanderers keep coming in with scrap metal and other junk in place of actual caps to trade? What do they expect a gunsmith to do with shit like a pressure cooker or hunks of rebar!?" Well, technically speaking a good length of rebar with a bit of concrete on the end makes for a good thing to bash a radroach's head in with. "Uh, what caliber were those shotgun shells you wanted?" Night Strike gave the cashier a slightly odd look, pulling one of the non-revolver pistols out and setting it on the counter.
"Um, forty millimeter, same as the grenades. Yanno, like this one?" The pegasus pulled Thumper off of her back, opening it up and sliding out the flat-nosed shell. The ponty behind the desk was... understandably both surprised and terrified. I don't blame him, I've seen what one of those things does to a pony's face... Well, feral ghoul pony, but still. Oh, I'm glad that I already slept... "There's also slugs, and I guess it could fire birdshot too, but dragon's breath and slugs are the main ones I carry."
"Celestia above, I didn't even think that they made shotguns that big... Uh, um, could I possibly keep one of each? I-I can make you more, I guess, just... sheesh, that's kind of overkill." Night Strike obliged the gunsmith with another one of the shells, breaking into laughter as she took the time to reload Thumper with one of the orange-tipped grenades. The large ammo box slid across the counter, and Night Strike placed a few of the boxes of bullets on it as well, to make up the difference, I suppose. "Anyways, that's all I've got, 20 regular, 12 incendiary, and 5 timed. Oh, uh, could I interest you in some fifty cal anti-tank bullets? Great for making things really dead, yeah?"
"Forty Mil grenades and shotgun shells work just fine for that, thanks. If you do get the slugs and dragon's breath into production, though, I assure you that this isn't the last you'll see of me." Night Strike answered him with a smirk, fitting the ammo box into the Clearwater Police duffel bag alongside the guns, myself standing near the entrance with Crash Dive. C'mon already, burning daylight, or something. Sooner we can stay away from the hotel, and Chauffeur, the better. She gave a light grunt as the bag settled - heh, now who's the one with too much stuff? - and we stepped back out into the street.
My stomach growled loudly, a light blush crossing my face as Night Strike and Crash Dive both looked over to me - what, I'm a growing colt! “It’s not too late for breakfast, I think; it’s been a while since we’ve had anything other than fish, anyways.” Night Strike said, looking up at the sky. “That mare at the hotel mention anywhere we can eat?”
"Uh, yeah, she did say there was one place back that way." I nodded back down the street, and we began to make our way back across town. “I think we should head off to that Triage place after eating. They might know where to find a generator, seeing how they’re running a lot of medical equipment from the sound of things. Not to mention give me some place to unload the rest of these batteries...” Crash Dive and Night Strike both nodded, the missile-flanked pegasus' stomach giving off a low growl as well. We passed by the hotel, Chauffeur wiping clean the cracked lobby windows. Slowing in his wiping, he waved to me, lowering his eyelids in a somewhat seductive manner and brushing some of his bane away from his eyes. I gave a nervous smile back before picking up my pace, passing the hotel a bit faster. Night Strike snickered as another blush crossed my face, and we headed down the road.
“Oh come on, Static, you can’t just leave him hanging like that! I thought you had better manners.” She chuckled, and I felt my face grow a little hotter as we rounded another corner, arriving at a small open shack. A slightly pudgy earth pony was standing at a wood stove, pouring several ingredients into a pot on the stovetop. We all slid into booths set up along the counter top, the pony turning around and smiling warmly.
“Hey, welcome to Gumbo’s! Couldn’t have had better timing, my signature blood sausage stew is nearly done. Or, is there something else I can get you?” We all glanced over the frankly insanely large menu hanging behind Gumbo. I didn’t realize there were so many different ways to cook bloatsprite... or, um, radigators? What the...
“I’ll, um, I'll just have the blood sausage.” I said, pulling out the right amount of caps. Night Strike and Crash Dive did the same, Gumbo smiling and gathering up the caps before turning back to the pot. It didn’t take long before three steaming bowls of the stew were placed in front of us, the aroma making my stomach growl even louder. I began to eat, my stomach quickly filling up with the delicious broth, thankful to have a warm meal inside me again.
“You three from out of town, I take it?” Gumbo asked as he stirred the large pot. Night Strike nodded and Gumbo smiled a bit. “I figured. Mayfly back at the hotel always sends ponies my way...” He let himself trail off as he turned back around, pausing for a moment and looking over Crash Dive. Huh, that rebreather part of her mask comes off? Neat... “You, uh, wouldn’t happen to know Steel Ranger Company B, would you?”
Crash Dive took another gulp of soup before answering. “Uh, yes, actually. Trying to track them down and bring them back for a proper court martial, these two are just sticking with me until the rest of my squad decide to get back here. You wouldn't happen to have any leads on them that could help us, would you?" We finished up our bowls, Gumbo taking them and beginning to wash them, occasionally glancing over to his stew to check it, Crash Dive reaffixing the rebreather.
“They mentioned they were heading towards Vanhoover, but I don’t know by which route.” He placed the clean bowls onto some shelves beside him. “I wouldn’t go mentioning anything about them to anypony, they didn’t exactly leave a good impression.... gave the Triage a hell of a hard time, sounds of it that's why they need more hard alcohol and nitro.” Ok, so now ponies will think we’re with a currently less-than-accepted Brotherhood Paladin instead of a psuedo-ex-Enclave trooper. Right now, I don’t think I know which would be worse.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Crash said simply through the voicebox, sliding off of her stool. Night Strike and I thanked Gumbo for the meal before following her away from the shack, having to run a bit to catch up. “Come on, let’s get to that Triage so he can sell off the batteries and we can get moving again.” Crash headed towards the center of town, not bothering to avoid anypony that was in her way. I made a note to myself to try and not talk to her until her mood improved - I really didn't need another flight into the trees. It wasn’t long before we came to a large building, its doors and windows in much better condition than those around it and a large metal sign across the facade reading 'Hopeville Medical Clinic'.
We headed inside, stepping into a relatively refurbished lobby, several ponies sitting in small chairs as a couple sat at a large desk, calmly typing at bulky terminals and scribbling down notes on clipboards. I stepped up to them, one looking up from a terminal screen. “Hello, and welcome to the Hopeville Triage. Are you in need of medical attention?”
"Uh, no, I heard you needed power for you machinery. I’ve got some spark batteries to sell.” I pulled one of them out of my saddlebags, placing it on the counter. The secretary looked it over before handing it back to me and pointing towards an open door leading to a long hallway.
“Head down the hall and take the second door on the left. Talk to Emerald, she’s our main mechanic.” We headed through the hall and opened the door to reveal a bright green unicorn fiddling with a broken heart monitor. She glanced over when she heard us come inside, setting her tools aside and wiping her forehead with a washcloth.
I pulled out the boxes of batteries and placed them on her workbench, her eyes going wide as she loked over them... or maybe because of how much the cart was beginning to tilt under their weight. “I’ve got some batteries for you equipment, near perfect pre-war condition. 100 caps apiece sound good?” Emerald immediately pulled out her cap bag and began to count out the amount. I scooped them up as she set the batteries aside, looking extremely relieved.
“Oh, thank goodness, you have no idea how strapped for power we’ve been lately. Every day we seem to get more ponies coming in and more equipment malfunctions, and they keep draining energy like a mosquito on Jet.” She went back to working on the heart monitor, undoing the screws on the back.
“How’re you able to keep all this up on just spark batteries?” Night Strike asked. Emerald blew out her nose exasperatedly and pulled the back panel off of the monitor. She fiddled with some of the wires, unscrewing some broken bulb-things before digging around under her workbench for new ones.
“Little bit of pre-war magic, little bit of plain being lucky. For all intents and purposes, we don’t, honestly... We’ve been turning down ponies left and right unless they’re in serious condition. Hopeville… couldn’t have found a better name.” She began to fix the machinery, wiping down a few dusty bits. “We’ve been looking for somepony to go visit the old Vanhoover Hydroelectric dam east of here, but all of us are too busy looking after the patients.”
I looked over to Night Strike, who could easily see what I had in mind. She shrugged and stepped forward. “We could head out there, if you want. What needs to be done?” Crash Dive placed an armored hoof on the temple of her helmet, clearly not wanting to get involved. Emerald flipped the panel back up on the monitor, affixing a couple readers to her arm and hooking the wires up to one of the batteries. The monitor hummed as it began to beep, showing a steady pulse across the screen.
Emerald switched off the machine before walking over to her desk, jetting off a small sigh. “We’re not entirely sure. The dam should already be hooked up to this hospital, but for whatever reason the power’s just not coming through. It doesn’t look like the cables have sustained any damage from the few reports we’ve gotten, so we think the dam is just plainly not functioning. All in all, miracle it survived the war in the first place.” She rifled through various papers before pulling out a set of blueprints and rolling them out on her desk.
“It’s most likely either a problem with the turbines, or the maneframe.” She dug around in her desk a little more before producing a small plug connected to a small brick-shaped device. “If it’s the maneframe, just plug this into the computers and it should automatically reboot and reroute power towards us. If the turbines are broken, just head back and I can see about sending some mechanics there when we’re not in such a mess.” I slipped the device into my saddlebags. “Try not to get killed on the way there, though. Only have one of those things.”
“We’ll have the power back up before you know it.” Emerald smiled and we made our way back out of the hospital. Night Strike checked her Pip-Buck, thinking for a moment. “Alright, it’s not far, we could easily make it there and back before dark if we head out now.” I nodded and we made our way towards the east end of town, following the road along the edge of the lake.
“Do we really need to get involved with this? Need I remind you both the reason I'm along here is because I don't fancy being killed by one of those megaspells on that thing, the thing you two crashed and has already started attracting attention, if that pile of gore I kicked off the cliff a few days back means anything?” Crash said, irritated, as Night Strike placed a hoof against her mouth, looking a little faint. Huh, maybe teh food just doesn't agree with her, or something... I kicked a rock along as we walked, eventually losing sight of it as it rolled down slope towards the lake.
“Well, they might have a portable generator there, you never know.” I said, trying to rationalize the trip. Crash Dive let off a sigh and gave her head a shake, muttering something about surface dwellers as we walked along the lakeside. “Besides, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours, anyways. We can spare the time, right?” We continued down the road, passing by a caravan heading towards Hopeville. It wasn’t long before the dam came into view over the horizon, the curved concrete wall just barely visible above the water it was holding back. A large building stood just beside it on the opposite side of the lake, a set of three large letters affixed to a rusted metal sign above it, reading 'North Vanhoover Hydroelectric' beneath.
We opened the fence blocking off the top of the dam, trotting along it for a short ways. I turned my head to the side, staring out over the lower lake in front of the dam - boy, that was one hell of a drop. I swear my first instinct whenever I see a giant cliff is to throw a rock over it. We made our way into the structure built halfway along the top of the dam, stepping through the doorway and heading down a long set of stairs, several turbines sitting idly in the center of the dam below us. We trotted along the scaffolding above the turbines, staring down towards them. “Well, they don’t look damaged from up here, at least. We may as well see if we can find the control room first.”
Our hoofsteps echoed through the concrete structure as we crossed the lower scaffolding, the quietness eerie, to say the least. Night Strike glanced upwards to one end, spotting a large glass window into another room. “That might be it.” She said, pointing it out. We all began to walk towards the side with the room, looking for some stairs. “Hey, here’s an elevator, maybe it’s still working.” I gave her a worried look but she just waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh, fine, find the stairs yourself then if you’re that worried.” She punched a button, the doors sliding open noisily into the small elevator. “See, it doesn’t look that bad.”
I tentatively stepped onto the elevator, worried it would fall beneath our weight at any moment, especially as Crash Dive stepped on and we dipped a half-inch. Night Strike pressed the topmost button and the doors slid shut, the elevator beginning to rattle and shake as it climbed upwards. I whimpered a bit, the ride feeling much more like several minutes than a few seconds. The doors slid open and I almost stumbled out of the elevator, Crash Dive letting off a slight groan as Night Strike snickered.
We were now in a small room, a few large computers lining the wall opposite the window with a terminal loking out over the generator room. I pulled out the little device Emerald had given me, plugging it into a small port on the side of the terminal and booting it up. The screen flickered a bright green before pulling up the boot menu, myself scrolling through and finally getting to the option ‘Route power to station 1255-B.’ Might not be as tech-savvy as my dads, but at least I know how to use a terminal. I hit a button and the a large grinding sound was heard, Night Strike and I covering our ears as the terminal began scrolling out various commands.
‘Error encountered. Running diagnostics. Cables: Intact, Generators: Intact, Piping: Intact.’ Several lines filled the screen before another option appeared - ooh, computer-ese is Minty's forte, not mine... ‘Errors found: Turbine No. 1 inlet and outer intakes clogged. Please clear debris before resuming to power on turbines.’ The terminal held on the error message, Night Strike and Crash Dive both looking over my shoulders at the screen. “Well, crap.” I stared down through the window.
Crash Dive turned back towards the elevator, glancing over her shoulder at us. “Come on, then. We should’ve checked the lower levels for generators, anyways. Going to be a bit of a pain to get it out of this place, but we'll make do.” We headed back towards the elevator, Night Strike punching the lowest button this time. We were soon stepping out into a dimly lit corridor, the sound of water dripping from a few pipes echoing through the halls. We trotted through the corridors, following a few signs towards the turbines.
I glanced down one of the halls, almost sure I saw something step out of view just before I had turned far enough to check. I shuddered, trying to push thoughts of whatever those things that had attacked us on the bridge yesterday out of my mind. Crash Dive opened a door into the long room lined with the large turbines, massive pipes leading to the four structures from the reservior-side of the dam. I glanced over into one, but couldn’t see much below the surface of the fogged, murky glass.
Once we reached the first of the four turbines and opened up the top hatch, though, it was obvious something was gumming up the blades. Large collections of moss clung to the inner walls, and several large round objects could be seen stuck to the side of them. “Yeeaaaah, I’m not climbing down there to clear those out. Whatever they are.” Night Strike chuckled, pulling out Thumper.
“Pfft, this’ll be the easy part.” She said, sliding one of the new grenades she’d picked up into the grenade rifle. She took aim, and before I could stop her she fired a grenade into the open hatch, it making a slight splash as it entered. It stuck into the mass of gunk that was below the surface before exploding, all of us getting sprayed by mucky water and bits of some fleshy white material. I gave a sound of disgust as I brushed the things off of me - what the heck were those, giant soft eggs, or something? Night Strike slung Thumper back over her shoulder, trying to hide her revulsion under a smug smile. “See? Now we just gotta get the main intake cleared and find some sort of power lever, right? So, uh, where's the access for that at?...”
"I'm no expert in these things, but I'm pretty sure that hydroelectric dams usually have their intakes located at the bottom of the lake they're holding back. Something to do with kinetic energy and water pressure." The power armored mare looked over at the massive pipe that took up one wall, pointing over at the place where it seemed to lead out to the lake. "There. Since we were able to get one of the turbines open without drowning, safe bet that it's entirely clogged up. I don't think that there's a hatch there you can shoot another grenade in, though... we'll have to blow it open externally."
"Ooh, ooh, that's great! There's some waterproof dyamite that we can use, I know where a stash of it is, back in the... Clearwater police station. Ah, ponyfeathers." Well, better it's back there than here, where it'd be liable to be shot at and explode, taking half of you with it, Strikey. She let off a sigh, rubbing her forehead with a hoof as we headed back out.
"You'd really think that pre-war ponies would've come up with some way to clear the intakes remotely, without having to blow it open every time it got stuffed up." I passed along a shrug as we stepped back onto the elevator, Crash Dive seeming to be really quite intent on adjusting her helmet in the meantime. The elevator clattered as we stopped on the catwalk level, making way back up to the top of the dam, Night Strike loading another timed grenade into Thumper. We all peered over the edge on the lake side, the dark blue pegasus keeping her rifle held tight.
"I dunno... I don't think Thumper has the powder load to throw a grenade that far down. Water's a lot denser than air, if it doesn't just disintegrate on impact I doubt it'd make it to the intake. Plus side, we don't have to be accurate, long as it gets close the shockwave will be carried by the-" We both blunk as Crash Dive shoved a remote-thingy into Night Strike's hooves, staring at her with the red eyes of her helmet. Oh, well, um... okay, then?
"Don't fire it until I'm back here, or you'll wind up killing me. I won't be too long." We both watched in slight confusion as the power armored pegasus stepped up onto the concrete barrier on the side of the dam, perching there for a moment before leaning forwards and dropping over the side, impacting the water with a loud splash. Needless to say, confusion didn't quite cut it now. We both stared over the side, watching as the water settled again, just simply waiting now. Minutes passed, and every now and again a small flurry of bubbles would come up - w-well, um, if she were klling herself she'd have drowned a while ago. I really didn't think that power armor would be the best thing to take a swim in...
A short while later, the water splashed loudly further along the dam, a black figure climbing up the concrete wall with her hooves, getting up to the top of the structure and onto the road. We both rushed over to the power armored mare, Crash Dive removing her wet helmet and taking a big gulping breath, looking towards the both of us as she hung her helmet back on her harpoon cannon's barrel. I... really didn't think that the Grand Pegasus Enclave would have much need for a suit that let you work underwater. "There's a few charges in place on the intake filters. The things gumming them up are eggs, or something. Freaky as a flying plucked ghoul..."
"So, I take it you've made more modifications to your armor than just the w- uh, helmet mowhawk... fin-thing, right?" The pink-maned mare gave me a small glare before nodding once, Night Strike grinning slightly as she took the remote in her mouth, activating it. There was a low thud that shook the dam and caused a small swell in the water, a series of white bubbles and much floating up from the bottom. Okay, ew... well, at least teh intakes are clear now.
Back down in the dam, we continued back to the large maneframe room, myself walking back to the terminal while Night Strike moved a junction box on the far wall labeled 'Manual Floodgate Override'. She grabbed the lever and tried to pull it down, grunting as she worked at it. “Ah, crap it’s rusted off... damnit, why couldn't I have gotten Featherweight's huge body?” I rolled my eyes and pushed her aside before grabbing ahold of it, glancing over to see her scrunched face. Sorry Strikey, sometimes an earth pony is just better for the job~ It took a few tries, but I was able to get the lever to slide down, squeaking and grinding across the box as it did. Once it was flipped down, there was the sound of a buzzer going off in the main section of the dam, before the turbines began to hum as the water flowed through the grates and spun the giant blades.
“Well, they should be getting power back in Hopeville, now. We can still run a quick sweep for a generator before heading back, I think.” Heading out of the maneframe and back to the turbine level of the dam, we all began to explore the various storage rooms and hallways connected to the structure. I trotted into a small workshop, digging around below the benches and inside the various tool closets, finding nothing but cobwebs and old tools. I stowed a few energy cells that were lying on the benches before heading back to the turbine room, meeting up with Crash Dive and Night Strike near the elevator. “Find anything?” They both shook their heads, and we began to make our way back towards the entrance to the dam. As we stepped out onto the top of the structure, the sound of water rushing through the grates below was almost thunderous, wave after wave crashing down into the lower lake.
Night Strike fluttered her wings and began to balance her way across the fence, peering down at the cascading water. She wobbled a bit, her wings outstretched as we walked back across the dam. “If you wanted to commit suicide, you know you could’ve just jumped into the running turbines, right?” I yelled over the rushing water. Night Strike didn’t respond, whether she didn’t hear me or just didn’t want to acknowledge me unclear. I flipped on the radio, a smooth jazz number filling the air as began the trek back towards Hopeville.
---
“And that’s how I learned how to make a makeshift laser cannon out of duct tape, scrap electronics and a few conducters. Join us next time to hear how I broke my way out a raider slave camp with nothing but a pretzel stick.” I switched the radio off as we trotted up to the hotel, the sun hanging low in the sky. I yawned as we entered the lobby - hopefully Crash Dive lets us sleep in again.
Chauffeur looked up from the desk as we entered, a smile immediately crossing his face as he spotted me. “Well, hello again. Looking to stay another night?” I nodded and his smile widened. “I can’t exactly see how I’d charge you three after what you did for the Triage. And hardly getting any dirt on that pretty face doing it!” I blushed and tried not to cringe. “Enjoy your night, and feel free to stay as long as you want. And again, just give me a ring if you want anything~” I picked up my pace as Night Strike chuckled behind me, zipping into the hotel room. Before I could shut and lock it, a power armor wearing hoof blocked it open, Crash Dive staring back through with her helmet still on.
“We’re heading out at first light tomorrow. If you aren’t up, I’m sending Chauffeur in to wake you up.” I nodded, gulping in fear, that warning being more than enough motivation. She removed her hoof and let the door shut, allowing me to lock it, finally. Letting off a sigh of relief, I slid my saddlebags and umbrella off my back, flopping onto the bed. I crawled under the covers, flipping the lamp on the bedside table off and burying my face into the pillow, trying not to think of Chauffeur. Oh, I’m going to have weird dreams tonight…