//------------------------------// // Critical Mass // Story: Resistance of steel // by Valsion //------------------------------// Resistance of steel Chapter 16 Critical Mass It's been a few days now since Tiffa finally woke up again. Things have calmed down afterwards, while they continued to travel north towards Russia. They left behind the desert area around India, where most of the devastation of the colony drop happened and entered a forested area. The Freeden was following a river for now, while Captain Jamil was talking to Tiffa. "So you cannot sense any other Newtypes yet?" He asked her, earning a shake of her head as an answer. The Captain sighed, though he couldn't blame her after all that has happened. "It's alright, no need to rush. We will try again another time." Jamil said softly, after seeing a worried look on Tiffa's face. His goal was to protect all Newtypes from being exploited by people, desperately seeking power, so he hoped that Tiffa could help him. From the outside, he could hear the muttering of some of the crew, as if he wouldn't notice them. In a way it was a good thing that everyone was so worried about Tiffa. Even though Jamil could keep her safe, he would be busy most of the time and he didn't want the girl to be lonely. Then there were also the two pilots they picked up after rescuing Tiffa, Quatre and Trowa. After what happened with that Frost guy, he had his men monitor those two closely, to make sure that no repeat of Tiffa's kidnapping would happen. So far they were not interested in her powers, though he still didn't trust them. Trowa was very distant, keeping to himself and generally avoiding contact, while Quatre seemed like a nice, young man. He frequently chatted with the crew and was very polite. Outside the room, Garrod, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and two mechanics were pressed against the door, trying to eavesdrop. "Move over, I wanna hear something too." Garrod hissed to Rainbow Dash, pushing against her. "Neither of us are gonna hear anything if you are not quiet." She retorted and pushed back, while Fluttershy mostly just let the others closer. Suddenly the door opened and the group almost fell against Captain Jamil. Garrod and the mechanics hastily stood at attention and saluted, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were hovering just above ground. "Aren't you supposed to perform maintenance on the machines now? You and the pilots as well, you need to work together to make sure all robots are in fighting shape." Jamil started to lecture them, though Garrod was not even listening. All the boy could see was Tiffa. He smiled happily, seeing her up again and flashed her a peace sign. Fluttershy also hovered a bit closer and waved to the girl. Tiffa was visibly happy that her friends were coming to visit and smiled back at them. This heartwarming moment didn't last long though, as Jamill ordered everyone to get back to work. Garrod, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed the other mechanics to the hangar, since they still had to help with adjusting their machines. It was pretty difficult for the Bellzelute though, since the two pegasi only knew how to control it. Knowledge about how exactly everything worked was not included. Still, the skilled mechanics of the Freeden did a pretty good job at figuring everything out so far. Kid, the chief mechanic, almost saw it as some sort of hobby. "Say, why is everyone after those Newtypes?" Rainbow Dash asked, as they walked through the metallic halls. She heard something about special powers, though she did not really listen to all the talk about them. One of the mechanics sighed, figuring that Rainbow Dash didn't listen the first time Jamill explained it. "Newtypes are supposed to have an incredible focus and some sort of sixth sense. It's said, Newtypes experience some sort of 'flash' when they sense hostile intentions directly at them. They are also capable of sensing other Newtypes." He wasn't sure if those were all of the abilities a Newtype possessed but those seemed to be their main abilities. "I guess you can see why armed organizations are interested in them. The sixth sense alone would be a huge help, since that makes them pretty resistant to ambushes and the increased focus also helps with their piloting skills." The ponies could understand that those Newtypes could make great warriors. Still, Tiffa was not the warrior type and they wouldn't want her to be forced into a fight. "Yeah, I can see that. But it's just wrong to try and force them to fight. Glad people like Jamill and Garrod are around." The latter blushed a little at Rainbow Dash's compliment. Finally they reached the hangar, where a furious Kid was already waiting for them. "Don't touch anything." He angrily yelled at the apologizing mechanics, from on top of the. "If you are lacking so much professionalism as to leave the hangar during work hours, I won't let you touch a single screw." He huffed and jumped down onto the sidewalk, where Garrod approached to calm him down. "Hey hey, just calm down a little. We were all just a little worried about Tiffa." It did not really help though. "You should be working hard too Gundam-boy. And you ponies too. Normally a professional pilot should always help the crew with adjustments before a sortie." He complained to them. Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes, while Fluttershy actually did look pretty guilty and muttered an apology. "Although, I don't expect too much from you Garrod." As those words left Kid's mouth, Garrod looked pretty much ready to punch him in the face. Before the situation could escalate any further though, an announcement was made. "All hands, we will deploy in ten minutes, ready your mechs." Vultures did not really have many options when it came to spare parts and new equipment. After the colony drop, many manufacturers were closed down as the Britannian Empire, in cooperation with OZ, took control of the colonies while the AEU licked their wounds. Years later, the AEU have never tried to reclaim their old facilities in the area. The former Human Reform League has split completely, leaving the Asian countries with independent leadership yet again. That meant that their facilities also remained abandoned. Those facts greatly helped the Vultures, as they would often salvage spare parts from the old AEU and HRL facilities. The Freeden was currently near one of those facilities. An old warehouse was located in the area, still not picked clean by others. Witz and Roybea were already carrying some ammo into the Freeden, while the crew hooked the Gundam X and the Bellzelute up to some old machinery. With how old everything was, it was doubtful any of it would work but they could still get some spare parts from it. "Alright, tow it in." Came the order from one of the mechanics, as the old mobile suit was secured. For moving large machines like those around, they had large platforms with wheels, that other mechs could tow along. The Bellzelute started to move, carefully bringing in their loot. It was dangerous work, since the old warehouses were about ready to collapse on their own. After Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were already out, they could hear the crew giving Garrod the order to move out as well. "I can't believe those AEU guys would leave all this stuff lying around. These machines are far more advanced than anything we have back home." Rainbow Dash complained, as she looked back towards the mobile suit. Robots like those were only something she knew from those Science Fiction comics that Scootaloo liked so much. At some points she wondered if she's not sleeping and only dreaming all of this. "Makes me wonder why we don't have any of these cool machines in Equestria." It was not like they had a shortage of eggheads that could come up with robots, floating ships and such. Twilight was pretty much the biggest egghead she knew and the purple unicorn only had a computer that would probably make the engineers here laugh. "Well, they don't have any magic." Fluttershy then commented, earning a quizzical look from the other pegasus. Upon seeing this, she elaborated. "Well... it's just that magic can solve so many problems at home. Most would think of using magic first, then try coming up with new technology. The humans don't have such a shortcut... I think." She explained, a little unsure of what she just said. Still, it kinda made sense to Rainbow Dash. Magic was pretty much part of everyday life in Equestria. Twilight must be having an existential crisis by now, in this world without magic. Suddenly a loud crash came from the warehouse. Quickly Rainbow Dash opened the cockpit and flew back, where mechanics were already running out. Inside, she saw what happened. A piece of steel beam fell to the ground, nearly crushing some of the mechanics. Rainbow Dash saw that a few of them were apparently wounded and quickly flew back to the Freeden, to report the accident. On the way out she saw, how it happened. The platform that the GX towed had crashed against one of the pillars and caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Later inside the Freeden, Fluttershy immediately volunteered to help the doctor, fixing up those who got hurt. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. While the doctor popped a dislocated shoulder back in place, Fluttershy cleaned the scrapes of someone, who had to jump aside to dodge the falling metal. With many of the crew being stitched up, the remaining engineers needed some extra help too. Even though Rainbow Dash didn't really know anything about engineering, she took care of messages and fetched equipment for the crew. At the door, Garrod was peeking into the room. After causing the accident, he wanted to make sure everyone was alright but he couldn't face them directly. All of them were surely angry at him for getting them hurt, just because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. The others finally noticed that he was standing just outside the room, the door just a crack wide open. Not a word was said but the tension was thick in the room. Fluttershy herself wanted to say something to break the tension but she couldn't bring herself to say a single word, until Garrod finally left. Finishing up quickly, Fluttershy went after Garrod, hoping she can help him. Flying down the hallway, she spotted him leaning against a wall, sulking in guilt. The young pilot noticed the pegasus and sighed. "I completely blew it, they must all hate me now." He said. His voice was ridden with guilt over being the cause of pain for all these people. Deep down he was also concerned. When he first fired the satellite cannon, he already knew that he would kill people, even though the sheer power of it still surprised him. Was it really that easy for him to hurt others? Fluttershy put a comforting hoof on his shoulders. "They might be mad at you at the moment but I'm sure they will forgive you. After all, there were no serious injuries." She assured him. She did not think that Garrod was a bad person. As far as she heard, he just wasn't used to being around others. "You just need to take the others into consideration more. Everything will be fine, I promise." After the last sentence, she pulled Garrod into a hug. Having been alone for a long time, Garrod was not used to being hugged. The most contact he usually had with others was usually whenever he sold mobile suits. Other than that, he always kept to himself. At least that was the way he lived until he met Tiffa. Still, it felt kinda nice to him. Slowly the arms of the boy also wrapped around Fluttershy's back, returning the hug. The pony smiled, feeling some of the guilt and tension slip off of Garrod. The hug lasted until a cough got their attention. Quickly they broke it off to turn towards the source of the noise, seeing one of the women who worked on the bridge, standing in the hallway. "Excuse me Garrod, the captain would like to hear about todays incident from you." She said. In that moment, some of the tension returned to Garrod. Still, he didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he just nodded and followed her. Luckily for Garrod, there was no penalty, since nobody got seriously injured. The incident still weighed heavily on the youths conscience. Right now they were on the way to the next town, where they would sell the mobile suits they acquired. The entire rest of the day, Garrod was brooding somewhere, while normalcy returned to the Freeden. Almost all the mechanics were on duty again, giving Rainbow Dash the opportunity to rest. Still, with rest came boredom for the tired pegasus. Weather duty was often a tough job, especially whenever the clouds were being stubborn and sometimes she even got shocked when they had to discharge stormclouds by hoof again. On the whole, Rainbow Dash couldn't complain though. Being a weatherpony at least meant she could do what she loved most while working, flying. Right now they were far enough away from civilization, so she could take a quick spin. All she had to do was make sure those two pilots were asleep. Quatre and Trowa were a mystery to her. They usually kept to themselves and only occasionally took off in their Gundams to return later. They were clearly fighting someone, since their Gundams often returned with light damages and sometimes they picked up crates of ammo. From what she could see, Quatre's Gundam, the Sandrock, was more melee focused but Heavyarms, belonging to Trowa, was practically made out of missile launchers. On her way, Rainbow Dash came past the sickbay and heard the captain talk to the doctor. "Garrod kinda reminds me of myself when I was that age." Jamil said to the doctor. "When I joined the military, I only had survival on my mind. I must admit, I never thought too much about other people." Was this why he was so lax on Garrod? It would make sense, if captain Jamil could sympathize with him better then. The doctor smiled back. "Back before the colony drop, I only had this girl on my mind. Though sadly she is too far away now." He said with a sigh. Jamill was curious about that. "Is she in one of the colonies?" He asked. The doctor just shook his head. "No, in heaven." He answered. Rainbow Dash felt bad for the poor man. She first heard of this heaven and thought it to be a city like Cloudsdale, until Kid explained it to her. Rainbow could clearly remember how stupid she felt at that moment. One of the engineers talked about how he hoped his brother was happy in heaven and she suggested that he could write a letter and offered that she could give him a lift. The pegasus didn't want to eavesdrop but her curiosity got the better of her. "You know, I am also reminded of myself when I look at Garrod. Everything can be very overwhelming when you experience it for the first time." The doctor then said, pouring some coffee for Jamil and himself. "By the way, I heard you didn't punish him for that incident. That might have been a mistake on your part." He then said. Jamil seemed a little confused at what the doctor meant. Why would it be a mistake not to punish him? "He has spent most of his life alone and is not used to receiving kindness. I've seen him while tending to the wounded and he feels terribly guilty. I believe he will want to do something to make it up and I don't think that it will be something terribly smart." Rainbow Dash mulled over the situation. Despite having been a loner, Garrod was a good person overall. He seemed to like Tiffa very much and now that she thought about it, she knew why Garrod was so careless earlier. Working alone for most of his life, he never had to follow orders or take care of others, so he didn't know how to work in a team. Maybe she could help him with that. She was then shaken out of her thoughts, when a beeping noise come from inside. Rainbow peeked inside, apparently captain Jamil got a message from the bridge. "He what? Try to contact him and tell him to come back. I will be with you shortly." Rainbow Dash managed to avoid being seen as she hurried off, now sitting in the cockpit of the Bellzelute again, together with Fluttershy. Garrod has taken the GX and has left the Freeden. Behind them, the two Gundam pilots, Quatre and Trowa mounted their own machines, having agreed to help retrieve him. Sala Tyrrell, captain Jamil's second-in-command gave orders over the intercom. "Be careful, Garrod is heading to a former Federation power plant, those areas are extremely dangerous. Should the energy generator still be active and go out of control, the resulting explosion will be huge. The goal of this mission is to contact Garrod and get him back to the Freeden as quickly as possible." They all confirmed their orders, before the hangar of the Freeden opened up. The power plant was already in sight. The building was old and desolate. "Excuse me, how dangerous are those plants?" Asked Fluttershy. Back in Equestria, most energy came from magic and while it could be dangerous, the unicorns had it under tight control. However, with the energy weapons she saw here, Fluttershy learned very quickly how much more dangerous this kind of power could be. "Normally we would never go near these plants. We will also send out some vulture signals to warn others, who might be nearby." Sala explained. When left alone, these facilities were usually not dangerous. Try to remove some equipment however and the core can get unstable really quickly. Sala heard that there were some people, that actually went inside those power plants to grab everything they could, before the reactor became too unstable. The two pegasi and the Gundam pilots were just about to leave as they saw something through the rear camera. It was Captain Jamil, getting into the cockpit of one of the mobile suits they managed to get earlier. "I will be coming along. People generally avoid these old power plants but I want to be sure." He said nervously. It was strange to hear the normally so stoic captain like this. Whenever Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy saw him, he was always perfectly calm. This was the first time he seemed... afraid. Still, they had to rescue Garrod, so there was no time to be afraid as they left the hangar, heading for the power plant. The abandoned building towered ominously before them. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been to the old castle in the Everfree Forest before but not even that ruin felt so menacing. If the stories they heard are true, what would possess the humans to use something that hazardous as an energy source? They guessed that the fact that this building was still standing was a sign that they could control it well enough for these purposes. Still, the ponies felt increasingly uncomfortable as they got closer. "Alright, I don't detect any sudden rises of energy from within the reactor, so that Garrod kid hasn't broken anything yet." Quatre, who volunteered to watch the energy readings, reported. As long as the equipment inside wasn't touched, it was unlikely that they would be in danger but if the reactor goes critical there wouldn't be much time left to retreat. "Good thing is, even if he does damage something we would have enough time to quickly fetch him and flee, this building is in a surprisingly good condition." The cheery youth said. "Alright, I still don't want to stay any second longer than I have to. That building gives me the creeps." Rainbow Dash replied. Trowa and Quatre haven't seen them yet and thankfully, they weren't too curious, despite their unusual names. The best guess was that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were just their callsigns. "Relax Rainbow," Quatre replied. "it's just a building. It remained stable all this time, so it's highly unlikely that it would go critical al...." Suddenly the call was interrupted by an alarm, blaring from the speakers. "What the hell? What happened there? Even if the reactor would corrode too much, it shouldn't become unstable this quickly." The large tower, which housed the reactor, started to glow and they could see steam coming out from several holes in the structure. "Detecting several heat signatures around the tower, it seems like Garrod was ambushed." Trowa said calmly. Despite the danger they were in now, the pilot of the Heavyarms did not seem the slightest bit fazed. "The fighting made the reactor go unstable, some shots must have hit the cooling system. I recommend that we retreat now. The enemies will most likely perish in the blast, when the plant explodes." Almost like a machine he remained monotonous. "But Garrod would die too." Fluttershy protested with a gasp, not believing what she heard. How could Trowa be so cold, just leaving Garrod to his fate without even caring. "Please, we have to save him." She begged. Jamil would have the last word on this. Before he could say anything however, Rainbow Dash butted in. "Hay yes we're gonna save him, with or without you. Come Fluttershy, put some more juice into the thrusters." The brasher pegasus ordered and set course for the tower. "Well Trowa, looks like those two lovely ladies didn't care for your advice." Quatre said, as the Bellzelute sped off. He could understand their reasoning. While he and Trowa had a mission that Garrod was not part of, for them he was a comrade and friend. "Follow them, we must act quickly. Once we located Garrod, we will leave with him immediately." Jamil ordered, as he too increased his mobile suits speed to pursue them. "Once we engage the enemy we will rotate cover-fire duty while fleeing, should they continue to attack us during out retreat." It would surely be a difficult situation, having to retreat while they were under fire. He hoped that those unknown assailants would cease their attack. The two pegasi could already see the repeated flashes of gunfire and hear the shots. "How insane are these people? This whole building is already dangerous and they seriously wanna fight here?" Rainbow Dash growled as the mobile suits finally came into view. The brown machines had no real marks, indicating that these were most likely mass produced models. Even the heads were featureless, aside from the slight protrusion where the camera was built in. Rainbow Dash didn't waste any time and drew the Shot Launchers. With these pistol-like weapons, she took aim while dodging the enemy fire. In the last moment before shooting however, she hesitated. If she damaged the machines now, the pilots wouldn't be able to make it out of the area. The thought of killing someone, even if just indirectly, didn't sit well with the pegasus at all. Adjusting her aim, she instead aimed for the arms before firing. In the cockpit, Fluttershy was adjusting the output of the thrusters as needed in order to evade the enemy fire. Somehow it was a bit scary how natural it all came. The knowledge on what she had to do was there but it was almost like the right instinct was injected right into her brain as well. Even with that though, Rainbow Dash amazed the shy mare. Despite their constant moving, she managed to aim well enough to shoot off the enemies arms, rendering them incapable of fighting without dispatching them completely. One after another, the mobile suits were forced to flee as the green bolts of energy impacted upon them until they were all gone. For a moment during the fight, Fluttershy remembered flight camp, back in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash always loved to play hoofball, passing the ball around in midair and dodging the players of the other team. In a strange way, this was very much like that. Only that being slow here could have much worse consequences than just losing a game. "That was all of them but where is Garrod?" She asked, as the last enemy mobile suit left. The glow from the tower got brighter and she could see even more cracks in the concrete now. Some of the metal equipment closer to it even started to melt. "Oh horseapples, we got to find him NOW." The two of them were close to panicking, as they spotted some flashes just a short distance away. "Over there, that must be Garrod." Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she flew in the direction of the flashes. If he was still fighting here, it would be very bad. That must be what caused everything here to go so unstable. At the site of the battle, they finally saw what was presumably the leaders mobile suit. It was the same model as the others but painted blue instead of brown. One of the leader's underlings was still there, firing at the Gundam X. Rainbow Dash wanted to contact Garrod, telling him to stop and flee immediately, as he already drew the beam sabre of the GX and cut into the enemy mobile suit. The mech was thrown back into some gas tanks, which ruptured, allowing the gas to spill out. Even after all these years, the gas inside those tanks was still contained until that moment but now it came into contact with the sparks, caused by the damaged electronic parts of the mobile suit and the scraping of metal against metal. A large explosion engulfed the tanks, completely annihilating them, along with the mobile suit. The old plating on the ground also couldn't withstand the heat and melted, allowing the flames to enter the underground facilities. A chain reaction went off inside as explosion after explosion rocked the ground of the power plant. Fluttershy swiftly opened a channel to Garrod. "Garrod, the reactor is about to blow, please stop, we have to get out of here." She practically begged. The poor pegasus felt like her heart was about to burst in her chest from the fear. Luckily though, the enemy leader understood the situation and fled. The area was turning into an inferno as the group made their dash back to the Freeden. Arcs of electricity danced around the tower, which was not riddled with holes. Any second now it would burst and destroy the entire area. Quatre was still monitoring the reactor. "This is not good, we're not gonna make it into the safe zone in time." He alerted the others. The Bellzelute was a very fast machine, yet the pegasi inside wanted to remain close to their companions instead of just saving themselves. They had to do their best to make sure, everyone would make it back. "Don't complain, flee." Rainbow Dash's cocky attitude only masked her worries. Without a doubt, if they flew at full speed they could make it back but the others... Finally the reactor couldn't take it anymore. The entire facility turned into a giant, bright sphere of pure energy, rapidly approaching them. Never in their lives, did Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Garrod, Jamil, Quatre or Trowa witness such raw energy. The Freeden was still nowhere in sight as the explosion got closer and closer. They could already feel the heat, the deadly sphere was too close now, escape was impossible.