//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Inheritance // by Azuras //------------------------------// The ponies stare in shock at the device. The image freezing as the Silent presses a button. “Well, that is a find” Tombs says. “It may be a find, but no need to shout” Professor Blade grunts out still not impressed. “However. I'm more interested in this device” He says pointing towards the center object. All the otheres looking towards it. “Well if anyone wants they can examine that while the others can view this” Tombs states with a smile. “Very well” Professor Blade says before heading towards the center object followed by Dusty and Gem Cutter. “I'll go and make sure he doesn't break anything” Strong says as he follows not waiting for Tombs to reply. Leaving Twilight, her Escort, Tombs, Silent and Seeking to look at the device. “Alright. Now if you would Silent” Tombs says to Silent before she presses a button with a triangle pointed to the side. ×~×The image begins to move once more as it shows the snow whirling about, wind rushing over the frozen land. “This ladies and gents it two thousand, three hundred and ninth two days. Give or take. After the bombs were dropped. Now, as you may or may not know, this isn't a proper winter. Oh no. This freezing cold, blizzard infested world is all because of the simple fact that our ancestors cashed it to save us. Kinda ironic really” The image turns again facing the bring once more as he walks the image shaking from time to time. Behind him is a thick overcast that seems endless. “So, when these bombs hit the earth it caused all of this dust, ash and whatever else to fly up and form a massive cloud of the stuff stopping most of the sun's rays from reaching us. Making the earth cold and so killing pretty much everything. Or so the stories goes” “But that's where we come in. Us Bunker survivors. As you should know all the humanity that could be saved were stuffed into these massive underground facilities. Some finished some not. But all of them being at least self sustainable. And a bunch of these finished ones having pretty much every kind of plant and animal in the world. So when the cloud finally vanishes and the earth thaws. We can reclaim the earth!” The being says doing some sort of gesture earning a chuckle from somewhere nearby. “But. That's not going so well. And that's where my team and I come in. We are scavengers from” He clears his throat mockingly. “Civilian Repopulation Facility November, Delta, Foxtrot, November, Echo, Alpha” He says with a large grin. “I'm fifth generation after everyone woke up. I don't know much about our home, since the military is in charge but what I do know is how to survive out here. And well. A while back we found a bunch of these cameras so I like to make video journals of our adventures and then leave them where ever we end up. So someone else can find them and maybe learn” The being shrugs slightly. “Now onto introductions since my long winded intro is finished! I as you know, am David. I'm the head honcho of this here merry band of fine respectable men and women of our home” The Image changes to show another being wearing thick clothes all a dirty white which have seen better days. The being also wears some goggles over its eyes making its face difficult to see. “This here is Charles, my older brother and our hard ass gunslinger” The being whom David calls Charles waves before the image is shifted again. “Now to the beautiful and the backbone of our entire operation. Steph” He says the image showing another being dressed similar to Charles who's face is easily visible. Her skin is more tanned than David's and her face seems softer than David's making Twilight believe it's a female. "Screw off David” She says with a clearly feminine voice, sounding annoyed. “Well. Someone's grumpy today” David says with a chuckle as the image moves again turning before moving towards a strange cart. The cart had three wheels on the one side, one upfront and two in the rear. There's chains wrapped around the large black wheels and smoke is coming from two pipes angled back above the vehicle. The image draws closer and a covered hand bangs on the side causing some snow to fall off revealing clear glass. A head pops through the window and glares at the device. The person shows a dirty fist to David and then raises the middle finger. Before returning out of site. David laughs as the image returns to his face “That's Gregory, our mechanic and cook. And this lovely machine is an old armored truck covered to deal with the snowy lands. We found it a long time ago and the Officers let us keep it. It has a thirty millimeter cannon and everything. But. We only got ten rounds” He Shrugs before looking at the device again. “Anyways. I'll record some other time. I've got to do my job now. Tell than survivors” He says with a chuckle as the image goes black. The image after several seconds begins to flicker the sound of rumbling coming from the device. The image clears up and it shows the inside of some sort of vehicle as it moves along, the image shakes pointed outside a window showing the snowy landscape.×~× “Stop it” Tombs says slowly. Silent presses a button with two vertical lines causing the image to freeze and the sound to stop. “That's a lot to process” Twilight says as she takes out a note pad and begins to jot down information. Specifically the descriptions of the beings, there names, a description of the strange cart, the environment and all the new terms such as ‘Gun’ and ‘Camera’. She only jots down the information which was given all while she speaks. “This group lives in a place like this. And yet they don't leave here apparently. Since they left that device. Or ‘Camera’ as being called it here. They apply said that there people or ‘Humanity’ dropped these ‘bombs’ weapons which could destroy entire cities. And that's why there world is frozen. These just so much information but so little detail! How did these bombs form a giant cloud? And why didn't they just break it apart? Or make something to do just that” Twilight exclaims frustrated. “Unfortunately. Your preaching to the choir Twilight. I'm so confused as you. But what has me confused the most is. Why are they scavenging. They said that there home was self sustaining. So why scavenge it seem pointless. A waste of-” Tombs says before he is cut off by an audible whack. Twilight turns towards the sound seeing Gem Cutter standing next to an indent in the desk with some sort of handle which her telekinesis covers. “I didn't mean to!” She shouts scared as a low thum comes from the device in the center. The sphere beginning to glow a pale blue. From there the multiple cubes being to light up with various colors long strips. And then the desk starts to light up and after each key is lit a screen appears made of blue light. “What have you done?!” Professor Blade shouts as the thum grows louder and loud clicks are heard from the very back or the chamber. As the clips continue they begin to see powerful lighting crystals come on in great rows reviling the massive chamber bit by bit. Before long the crystals above them turn on blinding Twilight for as moment due to the sudden change in lighting. As she blinks her eyes the area comes into focus and she realizes that the entire area is lit up as if it where day. Able to see the ceiling. She guesses it's forty meters tall. She gasps from the sheer height. And the fact that the shelves go almost to that height. All the ponies are rendered speechless from the sight. Twilight looks back to the device the pale blue sphere still glowing. She approaches the desk slowly broken from the trance. “I'm sorry!” Gem shouts again “I'm just a gem expert! I didn't mean to do this!” She shouts on the verge of tears. Professor Blade approaches her glaring as she shrinks back. Strong Hoof steps in front of him looking down making his size apparent. “The Mare says she's sorry Professor. Back off. We don't need anyone with tempers right now. Currently we need to address the situation” “Strong Hoof is correct” Shield says stepping forward. “A mistake was made but one which hasn't caused any harm. All that we know is that the lever which was pulled suddenly made everything light up” Shield states calmly. “Couldn't have said it any better myself’ Tombs says walking towards the desk as Twilight stops in front of it. “I believe that this race uses magic in all of there devices or another means to power them. And I believe this… Key Pad controls the facility. And with that said I believe we need to be careful. For now leave this entire device be. We don't know how it works. For now we'll watch the images on the ‘Camera’ and those that do not want to can explore” He states earning nods of agreement. Twilight looks over the ‘Key Pad’ unsure for a moment before nodding to Tombs in agreement. “Alright let's watch the ‘Camera’s’ images” She says. Professor Blade scuffs and heads off deeper into the chamber. “Strong go with him will you?” Tombs asks Strong. “I was planning on it” Strong says with a nod as Dusty steps forward. “I'll go with them as well” Dusty says to Tombs as he and Strong move to follow Professor Blade. “Private Arrow. Sargent Taffy. I want you to head back to the entrance and tell the Guards stationed there what's occurred and then to walk the edge of the facility and report to me your findings. Do not touch anything” Shield says looking at the two escorts. Both give a salute and begin moving back to the entrance at quick pace. “Sergeant Knight. Monitor the Device and if it begins to do something report it” Shield says pointing to the device in the center of the area. Knight salutes and walks towards the device watching it. Twilight turns her head towards Tombs and gives him an apologetic smile. Tombs shrugs at her not seeming to mind Shield’s actions. “Well with that sorted out” Tombs begins before turning towards Gem Cutter “You have nothing to apologize for. Now how about you just take a rest? These last moments have been fairly hectic” He finishes with a chuckle smiling at Gem. “Alright” Gem says slowly still unsure. She goes and sits down looking off down one of the pathways. “Well. Not exactly what I meant but if that makes her happy” Tombs says dryly his humor gone. He shakes his head sighing before walking back to Silent who doesn't seem to have been that fazed by the recent event. “Well let's continue with this message” He states as Twilight glances at Gem before walking towards Tombs. As Twilight peers at the device finding that the Image has remained the same. “Alright start it again” Tombs says, Silent pressing the triangle button again. ×~×The rumbling sound returns as the image returns shaking from time to time. Before long the voice of David can be heard. “It's dawn now. Can't see the sun but it's bright enough to be called that. Anyways this is the fifth day of our journey. Gregory is Driving right now and I'm sitting in the passenger seat. I would bug him but it's actually a tough job driving out here. As you may have discovered or been lucky enough to avoid. While the earth is barren it's not lifeless. Things lurk under the ice and in ruins” He stops speaking for a moment his good cheer gone. “Anyways enough of the horrors of the world. I'm recording again to explain where we again are going and why. So we come from an underground facility that's pretty much self sustaining. However there's some things that break and there's either no spare parts or we can't fix it. It's been like this for a few years. And every year less and less groups go out. It's not easy out here. And with that in mind the Officers want to expand to outside. Get a real settlement going. The snow in most places is safe and the air is safe to breath so it makes sense rather than shoving fifty thousand people underground” “Anyways. My team and a few others have been sent to various other bunkers and underground facilities to either establish contact and trade or do some minor looting if no one is there or if the facility is still shut down. And my team has been charged with getting food, seeds, medical supplies and if possible some heavy machinery. And lucky for us we are headed to one of the most north facilities. Fort Harper in northern Ontario. So at this fort there's the facility we are looking for. It's called Military Complex Gama. And was constructed a long time before the war. Most of the Canadian places where. Back home there's rumors that Canadians more or less survived the end. But of course those are just rumors. The last facility we went into was Canadian a direct was barren. Not a soul inside. It's shame” He trails off again before pointing at what appears to be a mountain range in the distance. “If my geography serves right that there is ‘Canadian Shield’ or a mountain range connected to it. We'll follow that for a few days and we'll come up to the base. It's built a little bit ways away from the mountains for some reason and it's fairly out of the way. But the good news is that along the way we'll be stopping at other locations such as the great ‘Canadian Wall’ and one of the military bases there. Now, you may not know about that massive thing but the Canadian leader at the time wasn't all up there and built all of these military bases. One such thing was the wall. It was built in the middle of nowhere for some reason but it was massive and had giant guns on it, small guns and all of that fun stuff. And that's all I know about that thing” He chuckles. “Anyways sorry for rambling there's not much to do out here but look out the windows or talk. And since Steph is sleeping and big bro is in the turret, so not much for me to do” He grows silent for some time before sighing. “Well now that I'm thinking about how horrid this new land is I may as well share it since you lot probably just woke up or something” He sighs deeply before the image is of him. “So out here. It's not right. There's killer robots from the war, mutants, remnants of the old armies, monsters and worst of all. Infected. So let's start with the robots. Out of all of the things out there those are by far the easiest to deal with. They weren't designed to last thousands of years. But those that do are generally damaged. Hence why they attack anything that moves. So you got plenty of these from small drones to heavy walkers and automated tanks. We've only ever encountered small walkers and generally a few well placed shots and it'll go down. But I heard from some veteran scavengers that went down south, encountered an automated tank. They said it just rolled about shooting everything that moved and they barely got out of there” He chuckles again. “Anyways next thing. Mutants. Not a lot of those up north. But there's stories of horrid creatures down south, all being by-products of radiation. Worst thing I saw was a wolf with six legs and two heads. Gave me nightmares but it left us alone. So with mutants just be cautious. There still animals after all. Now to the remnants of the war. These are mostly stories but many of the older folks swear by their lives that they saw creatures that fit the descriptions of the things that our ancestors fought. But I've never come across that stuff” He then sighs sadly “And the final thing besides the environment is Infected. These are very real and extremely dangerous. The infection is the real reason why the world ended. Not the war. That's what every says at least. And I can believe it” His face hardens as his eyes begin mist slightly as he forces himself to not cry. “There use to be five of us. We got trapped inside a small bunker by a blizzard. So we explored it. Turned out it was a research facility. A small one but still that. And there was this locked door. We found a key and opened it. Boy was that a mistake. When we went inside it was filled with maimed and mangled bodies. We closed the door and went main entrance to put as much distance between us and that room. But we forgot to lock it” *** He rubs his eyes pausing. “We built a small fire a small and waited. Sometime during the night it came out of the room. I guess the cold caused it to hibernate or something. But I know for certain it was slow. Otherwise we all would have been dead. So Jeff, our old team leader was on watch he noticed something crawl into the room we where in. And he shot it a few times waking us up. Scared me to death hearing the bangs. It stopped moving and we all went to investigate. It's legs where crushed, it's arms far to long for it body and it's mouth to big filled with fangs. Jeff told us to stay back and he gave it a few kicks. When it didn't do anything he announced it was dead. And just as the words left his mouth it gripped his leg and bit him tearing flesh away from bone. Blood went everywhere. It wasn't pretty. We shot it until it let go and dragged Jeff away as he screamed. I then let the thing on fire as Steph tried to tend to the wound” “She manages to stop the bleeding but by then Jeff passed out, he had lost a lot of blood and he had gained a fever. The blizzard passed but we didn't want to move him. So we stayed. And then about two days after that he woke up. But there was something off. He seemed paranoid. Barley spoke and his fever grew worst. By nightfall he started sweating profoundly. And then he started bleeding. From his mouth, nose, ears, eyes. Everywhere. By then we knew something was wrong. We kept guns pointed at him. He didn't speak anymore. Barley made a sound. And when Steph went to change his bandages he attacked her. Trying to bite and claw at her. I tackled him off of her as Charles pulled her away. Gregory came over and started stabbing him in the head over and over again. But he didn't stop. He just kept on fighting. Almost got bit. But I finally pushed him off and Charles lit him up. And then he fell motionless. We then burned the body and went home. When we got there the Officers put us under quarantine for a month. And later we where told what that was” He chuckles sadly. *** “Worst part is the fact that we had to kill our friend. All because of some plague that survived the end of the world. So. If you ever come across something that looks human but seems. Different. Shoot it and burn the body. Same goes if you see someone bleeding from all over. Doesn't matter if they are your best friend, brother or mother. You shoot them. And you burn the body. It's better that way” He says as the image goes back to the landscape him growing silent. It remains like that before it goes black again.×~× Twilight stares at the ‘Camera’ in shock before looking at Tombs who has a hard look. “Do you… think that those skeletons in the hallway where… this plague?” Twilight asks slowly getting her emotions back in order. “It's possible. But we don't have enough information to worry about an ancient plague. I'm more concerned about the geographic information. The closest mountain range is hundreds of kilometers away. Yet apparently this place is near one” Tombs says. “I'm not certain of that's the most concerning matter Professor. But I do agree that this plague isn't something we should worry about” Shield states as the image begins to change again drawing Twilight's attention. ×~×The image shows the outside barren landscape through a window once more, however rather then approaching mountains there's a massive structure dozens of meters high. “Turns out we've found the Wall. Passed the first few mountains a few days ago and now we're approaching this monstrosity. We should be there in a few hours” Tell then. The screen goes black again and just as suddenly it lights back up. The rumbling sound gone, replaced with the howl of the wind. The image being shown is complex of some kind. There's several large objects and a few buildings, snow covers everything. “We just passed under the wall not much to it other then the fact that it's ridiculously high and thick. But here we are. On the other side and in one of those military check points” “Now I got to make this quick as the weather is taking a turn for the worst and we got to set up camp” He then points towards one lf the massive objects and the image moves towards it. “That there is an armored transport. You'll find them all over the place” As the Image draws closer the sound of walking through thick snow can be heard. “The unfortunate thing is that half of it is barred under the snow so unless it had a top hatch we won't be able to get in” The image stops moving as the sound of metal being firmly stepped on can be heard. The image lowers and a gloved hands comes into focus pushing away snow revealing a greyish metal fairly deep down. “It's shallower than I thought, that's good” The hand clears away more snow and before long a hatch of sort is reviled. “Now let's just hope it's unlocked” He says as the image changes again to the snow the ‘Camera’ seemingly put down. Some grunting and muttering is heard and within a few moments the sound of old rusty hinges being used can be heard. The image changes again as the it shakes before showing the metal and then a cavernous hole into the ‘armored transport’ which leads inside. Suddenly a light is shone down into the hole revealing a plane metal floor and multiple bits of packages. An arm reaches in front of the image arms a clang is heard as the hatch closes. “No use looking in there. Radiation probably got the person. Anyways I'll do another recording later” David says solemnly. The image turns black once more singling the end of the recording. ×~× “Stop it again please” Tombs says as he backs away rubbing his head, all of his cheer gone. Silent pushes the two lined button again stopping it as she looks to Tombs. “Set it down. We are going to do a quick information session of what we do and do not know. And the questions we need to find answer for” Tombs says as he sits on his hunches. “Twilight. You can start since you seem to have been taking notes” Twilight blushes slightly at her habit and quickly looks over her key points of interest. “Well, we know that this race was fairly advance. Judging from this device, this facility and the vehicle they were using. We also know that a cataclysmic event which they caused force there people into hiding underground with the hope of returning to the surface. We also know that there's many dangers that they faced in this endless winter caused by the ‘bombs’ which also happened to cause the cataclysmic event. Finally we know that the being ‘David’ references to his people as ‘Humanity’ and that before they were forced underground there was more than one nation, possibly more than one race” Twilight finishes as she looks up from her notes. “That's the jest of it” Tombs agrees nodding his head at her words “However this answers very little. We know why they built this place, but we still don't know how or how long ago this happened. We can assume it was well over ten thousand years ago. We also don't know how anything of their technology works and if these other places that is mentioned still exist today. And lastly. We don't know if there's dangerous artifacts or devices here” Tombs explains. “We also don't know the exact size of this facility and why several sections are blocked off” Seeking says as she holds up a crudely drawn map showing the different routes which were walked by the group and key locations. “But we do know that the builders made this place organized” She finishes. “We also know that the creatures are omnivores and that they have advance armor” Silent speaks up. “Wait. Omnivores?” Twilight asks confused not seeing any meats. “Yes, we found some crates filled with dried meats. Similar to what the Griffins do” Silent explains as Twilight writes down this new information. “Anyways. What we also know is that there technology is meant for beings with thumbs. So, most races wouldn't be able to use it” Silent finishes. “Now. I believe that the most pressing questions that need answering are, How does their Technology work and How dangerous is there Technology. Does everyone agree?” Tombs says looking at the few around him. He earns many nods from the others. “I think we also need to find out what exactly that device is” Twilight says pointing to the center device which hasn't changed since turning on. Tombs nods his head. “That's also important. Now with these questions in mind pay attention to the recording so we can hope to find the answers” Tombs finishes earning more nods from all the ponies present including Twilight. “Good. Now Silent if you would?” Silent levitates the ‘Camera’ up and presses the triangle button. ×~×The black screen to changes to an image of the three beings, Charles, Gregory and Steph around a fire sitting on blankets within a large stone room. The image goes out of focus before zooming in on them. “There we go” David says as he walks in front of go the image before sitting down on his own blanket. He is wearing no jacket but still has thick clothes on. The others seem to be in similar states minus Charles who has all of his clothing on including his goggles as he grips a long club with a long pipe coming out one end with a small telescope on the top. About half is wood while the other half is metal of some sort. Gregory is wearing dirty blue pants with multiple stains and a simple green shirt which covers his entire arms. He's also wearing gloves that show the tops of his fingers. Steph is meanwhile wearing pants much like Gregory and a red shirt that stops before her elbows. She has two lumps upon her chest while the males do not. All seem to be in a decent mood. “Alright as you know I'm David” David says pointing to himself with his normal good cheer. “I'm Steph” The only female says pointing to herself. “I'm Gregory or Greg” Gregory says waving, his voice sounding fairly friendly. “I'm Charles” Charles says as he raises the device up slightly. His tone is neutral and cold. “So. To past the time since a blizzard is coming down we figured we can explain a few things about ourselves and home. And maybe a little history to. Incase you don't happen to know how all of this happened” David explains. “I'll be going first. Since David never shuts up” She begins poking her tongue out at David who mocks being hurt. “And because Gregory is cooking dinner. Or well be when he gets his lazy arse into gear” She finishes giving Gregory a playful glare. “Fine, fine. I'll cook the bloody beans no need to be rude” Gregory says as he stands heading out of sight, he can be heard moving things about. “Anyways. As you know I'm Steph. I was going to be a nurse at home, but I never enjoyed that life style. And rather then doing something I hated I signed up to be a scavenger. You see. Back home we live following very specific rules, everyone pulls there weight even the Officers who are in charge. And at the age of ten you take a test to determine what areas you'll best fall under and whatever is most needed in those areas is what you'll be assigned. Unless you sign up as a Stavanger” She pauses suddenly looking off to the side where Gregory went. “You found enough pots?” She asks as Gregory returns into view carrying several pots and large panel of metal rods. “As a matter of fact. Yes” Gregory states as he sets up four upside down pots around the fire and then places the panel on them. The four pots act like posts while he puts a fifth pot onto the panel before removing several cans. “What's on today's menu Chief Gregory” David calls out from the side saying Chief and Gregory with a Prench accent. “Well my cultured friend. Today we have beans” He begins lifting up a can and popping the top off with some sort of tool and dumping the contents into the pot. “More beans!” He says again repeating the same motion as before “Oh! And look at that! More beans!” He shouts with a smile opening it and dumping the contents into the pot. “And my secret ingredient! Water!” He shouts again laughing as he pours some water into the pot before holding up a large wooden spoon and stirring the contents in the pot chuckling. “A fine meal” Steph says with a roll of her eyes as Gregory and David chuckle. “Anyways, when I was sixteen I signed up to be a scavenger. I studied as a nurse for five years so I had a good chunk of experience and the scavenger corps where quick to take me due to that. They taught me more practical medical skills that can be used in the field. How to shoot a gun and how to find things and judge if things are safe. By the time I was turning eighteen I was put into this team. And from there I've done plenty of things. And been one of the few to leave home” She finishes with a smile. “How about you tell us about your hobbies and what your good at Steph?” Gregory says as he stirs. She rolls here eyes “Alright. I'm pretty damn good at stitching cuts and clothes. And I'm probably the second best fisher girl at home. Seeing as me and my dad where the only ones who fished in that lake” She says with a chuckle. “Never caught anything but I've had a few bites on my line” She pauses in thought. “I also like reading. Besides that I'm always out here with these idiots. And Charles” She smiles at Charles flaunting her eyes gaining a grunt. They all laugh at that. Once they calm themselves Charles lowers his weapon letting it wrest on his legs. “I may as well go next. I'm Charles and I'm David's older brother. On the test that Steph spoke of, I was given the choices of being security, military or enforcer. I choose the military as it was what I wanted to be since our grand father told us about his time” He sighs deeply. “I was in the military for twelve years before I joined the Scavengers. I was the rank of Staff Sargent and I was fairly well respected amongst my peers. My rifle grouping was eighty one which is fairly good. Anyways I joined the Scavengers because David here was joining and I wanted to look out for him. And the rules at home are that anyone can join the scavengers. Even criminals. It's the hardest, yet most respected job there is. And seeing as my little bro is that. I had to look out for him” He pauses flipping his weapon over before holding it up so the lever is pointed down and the telescope is on top. Meanwhile Gregory is adding small orange chunks to the pot as he stirs. “This here is my rifle. It's mine because I found it on my first trip outside. A frozen men had it, and with it enough ammunition to last a century. It's called a ‘Willington Rifle’ it's able to shoot up to four hundred yards easily and about four hundred meters give or take a few. I also have an M4 Rifle which is more modern then this. But I prefers using this older one. It feels nicer to shot and it's round are larger then the M4’s. Anyways, I enjoy thinking, shooting and reading. I also generally enjoy my time with these three” He finishes his lips hinting at a smile. “Well. Just in time dinner is served” Gregory announces as he uses the large spoon to fill four bowls before handing them out getting thanks. Once every one has a bowl they all set them down. “What who doing today?” David asks looking at the others. “We did God yesterday, Same with Jesus. Steph says. “The day before we did Buddha” Gregory says with a chuckle. “Pretty sure you don't do that for him. But whatever” “How about Death? We haven't done her in some time” Charles says. “What's with that anyways? I still don't get it” Gregory asks leaning back. “It's a traction in the army that someone started a long time ago. It stuck with me” Charles says simply. “Alright, lady death it is. Charles you have the floor” David says before everyone sits up and bows there head. There silence for what seems like a minute before Charles speaks. “Daughter of Fate, we thank you for the life that you continue to watch over. We thank you for guiding all the fallen onto there journey to the next life. We ask of you to watch over us during these times of darkness. And we pray that our time has not yet come. Amen” Charles finishes the prayer, the others echoing the word ‘Amen’ before they begin to eat. “A good prayer bro” David says as he eats. “Still confused why we don't ask her not to you know. End us. But a good prayer none ales” Gegory states. “It's because Death is simply the one who guides us after we die. She doesn't decide if we die or not. And she's also the one who guides the life into a child” Charles says with a shrug. “And remember, I'm not a strict follower of Death. I don't really follow any religion” He finishes as he eats. The group eat there food in relative silence before Gregory speaks up. “So guess I may as well share my life now. So, as you know I'm Gregory. I'm also this teams mechanic and cook. But I'm also the techy amongst us as I was the one who got given the choice of Engineering or Research and Development. Since R and D will never be my calling in life I chose to be an Engineer. What they do is fairly complex. Normally they build things and fix things. Primarily the machines we need to survive. Water pumps and purifiers, Oxygen recycling, waste treatment the power plants all of that. But we also do a lot of work on the electricity cables and transformers” He pauses to take a bite. “Basically electricity is what keeps everything that we used running. To an extent. For example that camera runs off of battery power which is charged with electricity. Unfortunately. The stuff is deadly. Sure in small amount it's harmless but when there's a surge or you're working with live wires. That's deadly. And after seeing three coworkers fried I decided to become a Scavenger. And been one ever sense” He smirks looking at David. “These guys need me anyways. I'm the only guy here dumb enough to turn an armored truck into a snow fairing machine” He finishes with a chuckle. “Anyways. I enjoy tinkering with stuff and fixing things. I'm good at it and enjoy it, I find it calming. I also enjoy cooking hence why I'm the cook. And everyone here but Charles burns food” Steph and David chuckle at that comment. “And I guess I enjoy traveling. Besides that. I got nothing” He finishes with a shrug. Charles places another piece of wood into the fire. As they eat in relative silence. After a minuet or two David speaks up. “So it's my turn I guess. Unlike these three I was never given any options to choose from. I was called an enigma. I didn't fit anywhere because I ever sucked at everything or was good at multiple things. So I was put to work as maintenance. The one job that anyone can do. All I did was clean and get rid of junk. However I am a pretty good talker, I've gotten away with so much it's not even funny. So. I managed to talk my way into getting a position in the Scavengers and I've been one ever sense. My hobbies include reading and thinking, and the only things I'm good at are cleaning and talking” He finishes with a chuckle. “Don't be like that man. Your a great leader to. Hell if it wasn't for you we'd all be dead” Gregory says. “Pretty much. Plus you're the one who's able to remember those damn lists of extra credit supplies and the one who's able to manage us. Your pretty much a born leader” Steph speaks up giving David a smile. “Maybe. Anyways” He begins as he stands walking in front of the image and then out of sight. “That's enough recording for now” The image goes black once more. After a moment the image comes back showing the inside of the entrance chamber snow rushing in from the open doorway. The chamber is lit up from several bright lights coming from behind the image, a clear shadow being casted into the next door. The image is fairly shaky and one of the weapons found in he hallway is being held close to the image with David's gloves. However there seems to be a light coming from under the pipe. “Alright sorry for the shakiness of this recording but right now I've got the Camera strapped to my shoulder so I can us my gun. Seeing as we just arrived” The Image quickly turns to Gregory who's getting out of the armored truck after moving it inside. Two bright almost blinding lights are on the front of the vehicle. “Close the outer door, Charles will stay with you. Me and Steph are heading through there first” David says as he points to the doorway which the skeletons lay. “Alright!” Gregory shouts as the image begins to move towards the doorway. Judging from the image David seems to crouch slightly holding up the weapon the light shining at the door. Steph moves in front of the camera and stands next to the door. She looks at David pausing a moment as she grips the handle. She nods and opens the door David moving in the image shaking as he makes quick moments shining the light all over the hallway. The image steadies out and the light is pointed at the skeletons. David sighs. “Clear. Mind the dead Steph. Also I see some body armor. Look for ammo leave the weapons” He says the light pointed at what Twilight assumed was armor. He moves deeper into the hallway and bends down the image shaking next to one of the armored bodies. His left hand let's go of the weapon as he pats down the armor. He seems to have found something as he pulls a cover up and then removes a rectangular object. He puts it somewhere behind him before patting the armor down some more. He stands up and repeats the process finding two more objects before he pulls out a picture. He holds it up so the camera can see. It's fairly worn but the image can still be made out. A young being wearing a pink dress smiling. David holds it in silence before putting it back where he found it giving the armor a gentle pat before standing again. “Alright I got three magazines” He says suddenly “I found two” Steph replies. “And three tags” “Damnit didn't even check for those. Could you grab the one I missed?” He says bending down grabbing at something under the skull. “No problem” Step replies as David holds up a chain with two small metal plates. There's a leaf on one side and what Twilight assumes is writing on the other. “Alright. Let's carry on” David says walking towards the next door. Steph repeats the same action as before but when she goes to open the door it barely budges. “Well that's a bother. One sec future viewers” David says as his hand comes up blocking the image before it goes black once more. Before long the image returns to the room that had the message. Gregory and Charles are both in the room as well, Gregory is holding onto a device that casts a light while Charles is going over the skeletons. Steph is meanwhile sitting in a chair looking around. “Sorry about that, the door was blocked. Had to force it open. And then Gregory pressed a button and a last recording played. Now he's looking over everything before he fixes it” The image begins shake as he walks over to one of the desks with a keypad and a screen of sorts. “So. These consoles are deactivated right now. Before they were shut down these would have controlled key things in the upper and outer layers of the facility. So all the automated defenses connected to the facility. So stuff like turrets and cameras and what not. Hence this being the security room” He presses a few keys causing nothing to happen. Before pointing towards the central desk. “That's the only computer which works. And that right now is setup to play a message and then give a list of instructions” He pauses before the image turns to Gregory. “And he's going to fix that right?” David says his voice raised causing Gregory to turn. “Fine. I'll do it now. Forgive me for trying to look” He says raising his arms up showing his palms as he walks towards the central desk. He pulls a chair over and pushes the one with the skeleton away before sitting down. “Still don't know why they would lock everything up” He says as the large screen turns on again the list showing up before the screen turns black a few words of some sort appearing in the top corner. “Anyways this will take a little while” Gregory says as he begins to type causing words to appear on the screen. “Welp catch you in a bit” David states as the image once again goes black. After a moment it once again shows the large screen in the security room. There's multiple lists on it now some moving slowly down as if it were a scroll being unrolled. “Found anything yet?” David asks. “Not really still a bunch of shipping records. Nothing about personal yet. But there is some stuff here that we a bitter looking for. Tons of seeds. Literally tons” Gregory states before a new list opens up and David whistles. “Fifty thousand personnel kept under ground. Now that's a lot. And all of them military or scientists” David says as he moves forward then image growing closer. “That's not all. I found a map of the facility. Putting the Three D up now” Gregory states before the screen darkens slightly and a massive image appears on the screen. The image shows a massive chamber which has a hallway leading towards a smaller room. As well as the chamber continuing down as slope past a doorway before leveling off and having three different connections. Two smaller ones which lead straight down to a massive complex before of various rooms, chambers and hallways. So many that it's nearly impossible to judge the true amount. The third connection leads to a massive rectangular chamber which has a rear connection leading down to a chamber of half the size. “Alright. One sec I'm going to show all known security devices” On the main level dozens of orange and red dots appear all over. While three black dots are found in the massive chambers. Two in the larger one and one in the smaller. However there's not a single one in the maze like complex. “Why's there nothing in the rest of the complex?” Steph asks. “I think this security room is for just the main sections not the living areas. Probably so someone like us couldn't go in knowing where everything is. Anyways. red are turrets and orange is cameras. From here I can't turn them on or off. However” The image zooms over to the massive chamber and near the center a blue dot appearing. “This is some sort of computer there and it has the clearance. So what's the next move boss?” “Anything about what's in those chambers?” David asks. “Nothing” Gregory replies as he begins to type again before the screen returns to the way that Twilight found it. With a number counting up. “We'll check out the elevators and if they work we'll leave them be. Then we'll get the supplies and load them up. And after that we can check the rest of the complex” He states. “Alright, let's go” Steph as she walks out followed by Charles. Gregory puts the chairs back and leaves being followed by David. The image shaking as he follows them. Steph goes into the truck and after a moment a low rumbling fills the chamber. Gregory walks to the left side of the massive door and runs his hand along the wall. He then pushes it and steps back a keypad sliding out as a metal plate lifts up. He begins to type on the pad as Charles moves to stand on the right. David moves forward until all that can be seen is the doorway. Slowly the door opens and something flashes a bright red, some sort of alarm going off. Charles and David move toward the gap shining their lights through. As the door opens even more all that can be seen is the massive sloping hallway which leads towards the main chamber. Charles followed by David move through the opening. Before long the alarm stops and the armored truck moves past David. He walks next to it as they descend. After a short walk the armored truck stops and David faces the two doors which had the barrier over them. Gregory walks up to him and seems to look over it. He suddenly throws some dust at the doorway showing the barrier as the dust falls down harmlessly. “Well. That's going to be an issue” Gregory states. “What is it?” David asks as a door opens and closes behind him. “A barrier of some sort made by energy alone. This must be extremely costly and hard to make tech right here” Gregory says. “What makes you say that?” Steph asks from behind David. “If it was easy to make. They would have used it to protect cities. Or the major doorways. These are to keep us from going down there. So I'd assume that someone is there and turned it on. Either well before we showed up or recently” Gregory explains before walking away. I'll open the next door. Sit tight” “Alright future viewers. I'll be back” David says as the image goes black once more. Before coming back showing the ‘Unmared Armor’ smoking and jerking slightly. “Well. This is an assault bot. And it nearly killed us. It's a good thing we lead it towards the Truck. Otherwise we'd be dead” David says giving it a kick. “Big hunk of metal. Anyways may as well tell you about it. So this here” He points to the arm that's attached to the rest of the body having the massive pipe sticking out. “Is as twenty millimeter anti infantry cannon. You get hit by that you're dead. Anyways the body houses the electric motor and the computer. While the head has a bunch of sensors. And the other arm has a high power machine gun. Thankfully this thing is slow” He chuckles. “Anyways onto the really cool thing” He says before moving quickly up the walkway towards the center. After a few moments of the image being shaky and hard to see he slows down coming up behind the others who stand in front of the device that dominates the center. Gregory is pressing different keys on the device muttering something. “It seems to be in standby mode. And I can't figure out how to turn it on” Greogry says agitated. “Tried using the power button?” Steph asks causing Gregory to glare at her. “There isn't one” Gregory says annoyed. “How about a power switch?” She asks with a smile pointing at the same switch that Gem pressed down. “Oh. Didn't see that” He says before pushing it down with ease causing the device to hum as the lights above slowly turn on lighting the area. As soon as the keypad lights up Gregory returns to it pressing multiple keys as he watches the screen. Before long he steps away. “Greg what's wrong?” Steph says rushing to his side. David approaches from behind the image showing only Gregory and Steph. “It's all there” Gregory says in a hush voice. “What is?” David asks. “Everything. The war. The medieval Era. Religions. Everything that is humanity is there” Gregory says again. “What do you mean? Our history?” David asks taking a step back ass Gregory walks towards there keypad again. “Yes. And more. Everything is here. Diagrams of our technology. Instructions. Ideas. Images. Everything” He chuckles. “This machine is our entire races knowledge…” He trails of before suddenly looking at Steph. “I need my bag now. I'm going to copy as much as I can” Steph nods and heads out of sight presumably to get his bag. David stands next to him and chuckles. “Anything else we should know?” “Maybe. There's several sections I can't access. And they all relate to something called ‘Hope’ it's some kind of program but I can't figure it out. I'll make that copy then I'll activate it” Gregory says. “Alright” David says as he turns to Charles. “Stay with Gregory. I'll start getting supplies” The image is blocked by his hand and then it goes black. After a few moments it turns back on to show the back of the armored truck filled with boxes and other strange objects. “So. This is the haul. A bunch of rations for us. A box of every farm seed we could find. Some strange guns” He starts pointing to each object in question. The strange guns being white club like objects much like the ones found by the excavation crew but bulkier. “A bunch of spare parts. Medical supplies. And two water pumps and a single water transfuser. Whatever that is” He says with chuckle before the image shakes showing his smiling face. “This is my last recording. Hope you find it informative future viewers” He chuckles again as he seems to walk over to something. “And that program that Gregory ran. Hope. Didn't do anything. So we turned it all off. Maybe you'll figure it out. Anyways live well” The image goes black and remains that way for some time.×~× Silent closes it and says what everypony is thinking. “Wow” “Wow is right. We just learned a whole lot of information. Primarily about what's going on here. And how all all of this works. Lighting. Or a product lf lighting” Tombs says as he sits down. Twilight steps back and rubs her eyes before looking at her notes. “That and the fact that this ‘Military Complex Gama’ was above ground. Or the entrance was. Which makes me wonder how it go underground” Twilight states. “I believe that number we saw before. Was the accurate date” Tombs says slowly. “Impossible. Nothing can last that long” Silent says “Right?” Tombs shrugs “Perhaps this place did. But I believe that simply due to the fact that maybe there was a major flooding and then this place was covered by water. For it is mostly under ice” “Perhaps” Twilight says nodding unsure of the Theory. “I'm still wondering how these ‘Computers’ or ‘Counsels’ work. We see them using the keys but until we can understand the letters we won't be able to do anything. “Um… Lieutenant! Something weird is happening!” Knight shouts the small group looking at him as a humming noise grows the sphere on the device pulsing before it begins to spin. “Everypony behind me now!” Shield shouts ad Knight rushes over. As she moves forward her horn glows and a barrier surrounds them. The sphere continues to glow and several plates in in the ground all around the area slide open as small polls with black glass like domes on top rise up roughly three meters tall. “What's going on?!” Twilight shouts her own horn glowing as she prepares her own spell. The sphere shoots out multiple lights towards he comes. They begin to glow the same pale blue before the stream of light from the sphere ends. The domes continue to shine pulsing from time to time. “I'm clueless. No pony move” Tombs says firmly. After several minutes another two plates in front of the console open up reviling an large gap. A low hum comes from it before a strange device shoots out of it. A metal raindrop shaped device with four wide hallow and thin cylinders with a fast rotating part. It has a single eye like thing in the front which shifts slightly as it appears to look at the group. It quickly hovers over to them allowing Twilight to see that the eye is more like a lens similar to the one on the ‘Camera’ it lazily hovers around the barrier staying back from it. After several circuits it zooms over to the keypad. Some sort of tendril comes out from it and connects to something. The screen begins to flash quickly causing Twilight to look away her eyes hurting. “I think it's harmless” Tombs states. “I'll be the judge of that” Shield says before calling out “Can you understand me?!” The strange device doesn't do anything still connected to the device the screen still flashing. Suddenly the screen goes black and the device disconnects it's tendril and hovers back into the hole. The plates close as the humming dies down to being barley audible. After a few moments Shield drops the spell as Tombs whistles. “That was scar” He says with a quick laugh. “What was that?’ Gem asks from the back the group shaking slightly. “No idea. Maybe one of there ‘Robots’” Tombs says as he walks to the device again peering over it. Twilight walks to one of the posts as Shield follows her. “I don't like this Princess. What if one lf those ‘Assault Walkers’ show up next from the ground?” Shield states as the Domes pulse. “Then we'll run off or fight it” Twilight says slowly. “And if we can we'll try to reason with it” “Oh boy” Tombs says causing Twilight to look at him. Right in front of the ‘Computer’ is a blob of shifting blue light the same as the light from the sphere and domes. “Professor back away” Shield states, the stallion doing so. Twilight however walks towards it. “Princess stay back” Shield says firmly. Twilight looks at her and smiles. “It's simply light. Don't worry Shield” Twilight says as she walks forward. Shield calls out her name but Twilight ignores her. She stands before the light and raises as hoof touching it. As her hoof passes into it the light suddenly cover her blinding her for a moment before it vanishes altogether. Twilight stands there blinking her eyes as Shield rushes over to her. “Princess. Are you alright?” Shield asks worry clear in her tone. After collecting herself for a moment Twilight nods. “I think so. The light just surprised me is all” She says giving Shield a smile “Sorry for not listing” Twilight says apologetically. Shield nods and let's go of Twilight. “Very well, please refrain from doing-” Shield begins her tone cold before being cut of by Tombs. “Ladies… You should see this” He states slowly. Twilight looks towards him. Seeing an almost identical copy of herself made of the blue light. The Mimic looks over itself, it's muzzle smiling slightly. “Um. Hello?” Twilight asks confused. The Mimic Twilight snaps it's head up looking at Twilight and tilts it's head before opening and closing it's muzzle several times before it speaks using Twilight's. “Hilo… Hiloo, Hellio… Hello” It smiles at Twilight getting the word correct. “Hello” It says fluently nodding it's head as if in greeting.