//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Tides of Conflict // Story: A Legacy of War // by Revan //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer was united with Thunder, organic and psychotronic minds fused together, not two minds, but one. His tracks were her legs, his sensors her eyes and ears, his armaments her arms and hands, and the ferocious power of his fusion plants her lungs and heart. She was still in confusion, but she could feel his emotions, his respect and devotion, his compassion. And suddenly she realized that there was no more conflict within her, that she was balanced once more. I am surprised at the suddenness of the memory surge. Despite all its details, it only lasts for 33.845 seconds before it is over. I reach out to my commander, and I am startled to discover that the block has resolved itself into two different and distinct personalities. One is clearly the native, Sunset Shimmer. The other however is my commander, Angela. I devote 0.005 seconds to attempting to determine why this has happened, calculating a probability of 67.9437 % that the strange force that I detected earlier - magic, as Sunset Shimmer calls it - has had unanticipated side effects. There is no need to share my analysis with either of them. All of us have access to all that the others know, and we converse with each other rapidly and fluidly. I reply. I sense her sense of amusement at the fact that she tries to 'talk' when the three of us no longer need to do so in order to communicate. Indeed, I did not need to reply so specifically to her question. We are in hyper-hueristic mode, where just a second seems to stretch out into an eternity. I can sense Angela as she projects reassurance to Sunset Shimmer, embracing her in her non-existent arms. I/we stretch out, tapping into the global communications networks as I head north, my treads sinking 1.67 meters into the soil. "What in the world is that thing?" Denna Vasquas, the 44th president of the Republic of Earas asked incredulously as she stared at the satellite imagery playing out in real time before her on the large TV screen. "We don't know for a certainty, Ma'am." Greg Hickory's brow was shining with sweat. The head of Earas's military mopped at his brow with his coat's sleeve, then continued. "It emerged from underneath the ground just outside the city of Freeminth about twenty-eight minutes ago. It appears to be a vehicle of some sort, though who made it, we cannot be sure." Vasquas pointed at the massive iodine black shape as it headed northwards. "That certainly isn't anything that we could manufacture!!" "No, it isn't, Ma'am", Hickory agreed. "I've already scrambled jets to try to get a closer look." Vasquas tipped back her chair, steepling her fingers under her chin. "Do we know what it's armed with?" Hickory shook his head. "There are three large turrets on it, with numerous other emplacements along the top and the sides, but we aren't detecting anything that matches any known weapon. In fact, other than optics, we aren't getting anything at all. Whatever it is, it's jamming us, and there appears to be some sort of energy field around it." Vasquas's eyebrows shot up. "An energy field?" Hickory nodded. "We haven't seen anything like it before. We're trying to pin down what it is, but given our record of success this far, I doubt we'll figure it out anytime soon." Vasquas opened her mouth, but before she could speak, the videofeed cut out. It was replaced by an image of a girl. She was sitting in a chair, and her red and orange hair stunned both Hickory and Vasquas into silence. They knew who she was. It was very unusual for a high schooler to be a focus of the government's attention, but when the strange events in Freeminth had started occurring, they'd discreetly started a very secret investigation. Now they stood there staring as Sunset Shimmer spoke. "Hello, Ms President. I think you're going to want to hear what my companion has to say." Vasquas opened her mouth, wondering what companion?, but then a deep, basso voice spoke. "I am Unit 33/E-967-THR of the Line. I was constructed over sixteen thousand years ago. I am designed to protect humanity. You have nothing to fear from me." "I anticipate that you have questions. I will answer them unreservedly and completely." The conversation with the president of Earas and the head of her military takes 2.9854346 hours, and I cease motion, not moving while I converse with them. By the end of it, despite their initial incredulity, they believe me, and I believe that we have begun to build a foundation of trust. I have projected the entire conversation live on the vidscreen in Cargo 2. Afterwards, Sunset Shimmer's friends pepper me with questions and I do my best to answer them for another 38.9445 minutes. But finally they fall silent. I use the Wyverns to lift them out onto the ground, and then direct them to my command decks. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy squeeze in with Sunset Shimmer in Command One, while Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity climb up the external ladder and descend to my auxiliary deck, Command Two. Once I verify that they are all where they are supposed to be, I apply power to my drive treads, and we resume our drive north. 35.678 minutes later, I slow to a halt, probing deep into the ground with my sensors. I find what I am looking for after 4.2587 minutes of searching, as it was buried deeper than I had originally estimated. I reach out into the ancient computer systems, which have been protected from decay by the surrounding cermacrete container, and I bring their programming out of hibernation. They awaken, and I search through the files. I find what I want 4.75983 seconds after I begin searching. I pause for 2.376 seconds, considering all the potential results of my intended action. I then activate the programming. Ever since the destruction of Unit NKE on Santa Cruz in 3025, up until the Final War destroyed the Concordiat, Bolo designers and psychotronic techs had been trying to resurrect Nike in a new warhull. Doing so would be a major achievement, and the repeated failures to do so had not deterred them. They tried and tried again, attempting to revive her in order to discover what precisely Major Marina Stavrakas had done to make Nike capable of the human phenomenon known as 'hunch-playing'. Even the latest marks of Bolo, the XXXII, XXXIII, and XXXIV, could not do it. They had nearly all the features of hyper-hueristics that Nike had possessed, and ones that she hadn't. Their abilities were far more refined and capable than Nike's had been. But they could not 'hunch-play'. At least, that was the reason that was given whenever someone inquired why funds were being used to try to recreate the personality of a Mark XXIII. But there was another reason, one that they did their best to never mention, nor even hint at. It was the fact that Nike had been more humanlike as a whole than any Bolo before her... and without her to compare to, one could not precisely determine whether the Bolos that came after her had passed her in that respect. The Concordiat had known that Earth's time was running short. So they sent their research team that was working on the latest iteration of the project with the colonizing expedition, along with a Bolo Mark XXXIII warhull. Now, Thunder activated the installation programs, and they flew into action, installing the programs that would bring Nike back once more. He monitored them alertly, checking for errors. Satisfied, he withdrew from the system, letting them get to work.