//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Artefacts and Negotiations // Story: The War Machine // by Urimas Ebonheart //------------------------------// The War Machine Chapter 15: Artefacts and Negotiations After a few more hours of travel, we arrive at the small town of Appleloosa. Many of the ponies run at the sight of my Titan but a few stand still and even begin to approach. I stop the Titan and look down at the light gold-coloured stallion with a gamboge mane and tail with amber highlights and a stetson hat on who just stares back up at me. "W-Well howdy p-p-partner... ah don't s-suppose yer not here t-to enslave u-us are ya?" he asks me nervously. "Keep yer hat on cousin, he's here ta help us!" Applejack tells the stallion. The pony leans to the left and looks past me. "A-Applejack? Ah thought it would take ya at least another week ta get here?" he asks her. "Normally yes, but Adam here gave us a ride," Applejack replies and points at me. "Adam? Ya mean that mechanical fella ah've read about in the paper?" he asks looking up at me. "The one and only," she says as I jump down. He looks back at me significantly less nervous now. "Well, it's a pleasure meeting yer acquaintance! Allow me to introduce mahself, ah'm Braeburn an' yer in our delightful town of AAAaaAAAPPLEOOOooOOOSA!" he announces quite dramatically. "Likewise, but we have important matters to discuss with your town officials," I tell him. "Huh? Ah thought ya'll were just delivering an apple tree?" he asks. "We were cousin, but a bunch of buffalo tried to treenap Bloomberg on the way here," Applejack replies. "The buffalo?" He sighs and shakes his head. "Ever since we set up town here, them buffalo have been causing nothing but trouble fer us hard working pony folk... They ambush our supply caravans and try to tear down our orchard," he tells us. "Do you know why?" I ask him. "No, they won't answer us when we ask them; they just threaten us to leave or else," he replies. "Your orchard is apparently in the way of their ancestral stampeding grounds. In five days time, they're going to stampede through it whether or not it's still there," I tell him. "Oh," he says and his ears folded back. "but we need them trees ta live... without them the town'll starve," he remarks morosely. "They told us they'll be back in five days when their stampede begins, do you know where they are located?" I ask Braeburn. "Erm, yeah, they're to the south west; they always go that way once we see them near town," he tells me. "Very well, you all stay here, I'm going to talk to them," I reply and get my rifle out of the Tank. "I'll leave the Titan here to protect you while I'm gone," I tell everyone and activate my jet skates. "Be careful; I know they're not a threat to you, but please don't hurt them," Twilight says. "Don't worry, I'll just talk to them. If they get aggressive, I'll just leave," I reply and head out of town. Twenty Minutes Later After a bit of travelling, I come across a small settlement with tents, campfires, and other things like grindstones which they're using to sharpen their horns. Seems they're getting ready to attack the ponies. I place my rifle on my back and walk right up to the settlement where a few of the buffalo spot me, the males surround me while the females and young take shelter in the tents. "What are you doing here, outsider?" the Chief asks me with a frown. "I've come to negotiate," I reply. "Then you must face one of our Warriors in combat if you wish to speak with us outsider," he tells me. Processing... Task seems to be a traditional custom for the tribe. "Very well," I reply. A buffalo steps forward and snorts at me, he gets ready to charge and I get into a low crouch. "You must knock your opponent to the ground to declare victory," the Chief announces. "Begin!" The buffalo charges at me and I stand still with my legs apart and arms out ready to grab him by the horns. I reach out just as he is within reach and grasp both his horns which pushes me back an inch, I then twist his head to the side and lay him on the ground as gently as possible. I let go and look at the Chief. "I believe I have won," I tell him. "Then by tradition you may now speak. Why have you come?" he asks me. "I've come to ask for a compromise," I reply. "Unless you're here to say the ponies are removing their trees, then we have nothing to discuss," he tells me. "If the trees are taken down the town will starve, can you not just go around the town?" I reply and ask. He snorts and glares at me. "We have stampeded through this route for centuries, we shall not change our ways for some ponies who moved onto our lands!" he tells me sternly. Processing... "What if a path is made through the orchard and that you'll receive a portion of the apples as well?" I ask him. He frowns and looks down in thought. "The issue here is the trees are in the way correct? If a path is made through the orchard then there should be no problem at all, you’d even gain from it," I tell him again hoping to make him see the benefit. He looks back up to me and sighs. "Very well, if you can convince the ponies of this then we shall agree," he replies and holds a hoof out. I lean down slightly and shake his hoof. "Thank you, I'll also tell the ponies to talk to you before they expand or add something new to the town," I say and stand back up. He grunts in acknowledgement and turns back to the settlement. I walk away and when far enough, I activate my jets skates and head back to Appleloosa. About halfway between the town and buffalo I pick up a radio signal, I turn on my radio interceptor and listen in. "It's here somewhere, keep digging! The artefact is around here so find it!" a male voice yells out. "Yes sir!" a few others reply. This is a gryphon signal. I change course and draw my assault rifle, at least I now have both types of ammunition for my rifle at the ready. I turn off my skates and slide across the ground and jog the rest of the way, I take cover behind a few rocks and see twenty gyphons and two Tanks. Looks like an excavation site on what looks like an old burial ground. "Keep looking you idiots! If we don't bring the artefact back, Jackaal will have our tails for our failure!" a gryphon in more decorated armour yells out to the others. I connect to my Titan and use it's radio to contact Luna. "Luna, do you read me? Over," I ask her. A bit of static later and Luna replies. "Yes I can hear you, over," "I've located a squad of twenty gryphons with two Tanks at an old buffalo burial ground. They appear to be digging for an artefact, over," I tell her. "An artefact? I shall inform Tia about this. In the meantime, keep watch on them; if they find the artefact, you have permission to retrieve it by any means necessary... Oh, over," she informs me. "Roger that," I reply and keep watching. After seventeen minutes of nothing, Luna contacts me again. "Adam? Tia believes the artefact is a dream watcher, a totem that allows anyone holding it to enter the dreams of another... It can also look into memories in the form of dreams as well. The buffalo use it as a means for the dead to watch over their loved ones, over," she tells me. "So Jackaal could use it to interrogate anyone he captures? Over," I theorize. "I believe so, you must get it before they take it away, over," she says. "Roger that," I reply and keep watching, I can take out the Tanks with a few Micro-Missiles each and then gun down the gryphons afterwards. Two Hours and Forty-Six minutes Later "I found it!" a gryphon yells out and I turn to see him holding a totem that looks like a Buffalo standing upright with its eyes closed and its forelegs spread out to its sides. "Good job! Now let's get outta this dump before we're discovered," the leader orders. Processing... Time to attack. I stand up and aim a Missile Launcher at each of the Tanks and fire off five Micro-Missiles at each of them. The sides are ripped out as the crew inside are torn to shreds from the shrapnel. "We're under attack! Get the artefact back to Gryphonstone!" the leader orders and the one holding the artefact takes off into the air. I quickly aim my rifle and calculate his heading and wind speed. I fire a triple burst of 7.62 tungsten rounds at the fleeing gryphon and each shot finds their mark; the gryphon lets out a cry of pain and drops to the ground. Activating my jet skates I dash forward and before the gryphons could react, I grab the artefact and turn to face the remaining gryphons. "It's the metal monster!" a frightened gryphon shouts out. I aim at the leader and fire off five rounds into him, the shots easily pierce his armour and he drops dead. Their bullets are deflected by my Titansteel Plating and I systematically take out the gryphons one by one. Four of them try to take off and flee, but a missile into each of them prevents that. Once they're all dead, I spend ten minutes ripping the Tank remains into pieces to prevent them being salvaged. I then pile up the corpses and set them alight with the fabric of the command tent and a torch. I look around one last time and then at the artefact in my left hand; how could a mouldy wooden totem allow one to view another's dreams? As I am an A.I, and as such I do not dream, I shall never know. "Luna, I have the artefact and the gryphons are dead and their Tanks destroyed, over," I tell her over the Radio. "Well done, Tia wants you to return the artefact to the buffalos and ask them to hide it or allow us to keep it safe... over," she replies. "Roger that," I activate my jet skates and head back to the buffalo settlement. After nine minutes I'm back and the Chief walks up to me again. "Why have you returned so soon?" he asks confused. I hold out the totem making him gasp. "A squad of gryphons were digging up an old burial ground in search of this artefact. I believe they intended to use it to gather information from captured Equestrians to use against us," I tell him. "Gryphons? Why would they be this far south from their borders..." he mumbles. "Are there any more of these nearby? Or is this the only one?" I ask him. He shakes his head and looks at me. "This is the only one, as the burial ground runs deep and wide... These gryphons have violated our ancestors resting place! They shall pay for their sacrilege!" he snorts in anger. "I have already killed them all and burned their bodies, but I suggest hiding this or allow me to lock it away," I tell him. He looks at the totem for awhile and sighs. "We'll hide it for now, we need it to communicate with our ancestors’ spirits," he says so I hold it out for him. "Please be careful, the gryphons are using deadly weapons and vehicles; similar to mine and could easily overrun you," I warn him. "Thank you, what is your name?" he asks me as he tucks the small idol away behind his headdress. "Adam. I shall return in a few days with the ponies answer," I reply and start walking away. Twenty-Two Minutes Later I return to Appleloosa and meet up with the others and the town sheriff, I then explain the agreement with the buffalo to them. "That does sound acceptable, their stampede would even help us gather apples when they come through with the ground shaking," Braeburn says. "But how are we going to move nearly one-hundred apple trees by the time they come?" the sheriff asks. "I shall aid in transporting the trees to another location. I can lift the trees myself and place them onto a cart pulled by the Titan," I reply. "And we thank ya kindly fer yer assistance partner," Braeburn replies with a smile. Twilight then walks over to me. "Were the gryphons really looking for a buffalo artefact?" she asks me with an unsure expression. "Correct, but I wiped them out and reclaimed the artefact. It is now back with the buffalo. With any luck, the gryphons will think I still have it," I reply. "I guess all we can do now is wait then," she says and follows the others out. Three Days Later We've finished the path through the orchard and have replanted half the trees, the other half are being cared for while we continue to plant them. "That should do it," Braeburn says wiping the sweat from his brow. "Indeed, I shall head back to the buffalo and tell them it is done," I reply and start heading back to the buffalo settlement. I arrive to find a horrifying sight, buffalo lay dead in droves on the ground and the settlement in ruins. I connect to my Titan and use its radio to contact the others. "Twilight! Are you there?" I demand, working my way through the bodies for potential survivors. "Adam? Is something wrong?" she asks. "The settlement has been raided and the buffalo killed, though it doesn't look like all of them, over," I reply as I see tracks leading north. "Oh Celestia, no... I'll contact the Princesses, you find the ones who did it and bring them to justice!" she replies. "Roger that," I say and follow the tracks, even if there are survivors here I don't know buffalo biology to render first aid. For twenty minutes I follow the tracks of both buffalo and gryphon and catch up to a convoy with the surviving buffalo in chains. I see thirty buffalo: seven males including the Chieftain, twelve females, and eleven children. There are also fifty gryphons and four Tanks. In the distance is a wooden outpost with gryphons flying around it. Calculating distance... Titan Tank 7.40 miles from outpost... Calculating angle and wind velocity... Target acquired, firing main guns. A whistling sound is heard in the air which confuses the gryphons. The two shells hit the outpost which blows up two of the buildings, I'm half guessing, half hoping they were the Barracks and Commanders Quarters. The gryphons panic after watching their outpost come under attack from an unseen force. I fire two more shells into the outpost as I launch two missiles from my launchers into each of the four Tanks, blowing off their turrets and making them useless. I then quickly toss two flashbangs into the group, I'll apologise to the buffalo later but it's better to be blinded than dead. I draw my assault weapon and start gunning down the gryphons as the next two shells hit the outpost. I reload once I've dropped all of the gryphons and run over to the buffalo to cover them until their sight is back. I continue to rain shells down on the outpost with the Titan and the gryphons in the outpost begin to flee. Two gryphon Tanks exit the outpost and aim at me. I holster my rifle and prepare to fire three missiles at each of them. Two more shells hit the outpost as the Tanks fire their own at me. I watch the wrought iron shells soar towards me and I use my forearm plates to deflect them. It took one-hundred millimetre titansteel shells to blow my arm and leg off before I arrived here, these low calibre iron shells won't do much more than dent my plating. The force of the shells hitting me causes me to stumble back but the buffalo are safe as the shells hit the ground to the left and right. "Head to Appleloosa now! I'll cover you!" I tell the buffalo and they start running the other way back to refuge. I fire off six missiles and destroy the two Tanks. "Twilight, thirty buffalo are heading back to Appleloosa. I've located the gryphon outpost and have begun my assault, over," I inform Twilight as I find the artefact and bring my foot down on it. It shatters and a light blue mist escapes it; I'd rather have it destroyed than risk the gryphons getting their hands on it. "Is that why the Tank suddenly started firing?" she asks. "Correct, I am now heading into the outpost to finish them off, over," I reply. "Okay, I've told Celestia and she's sending a squad of guards here, erm... over?" she tells me. "Roger that," I reply and I draw my two Tac-90 Pistols and charge into the burning outpost while shooting any surviving gryphons. A gryphon jumps at me but I head butt him in the face which knocks him out, I'm taking him back alive for questioning. Once the outpost is cleared, I tie up my captive and search for any documents or reports. "Twilight, the outpost is cleared and I have a prisoner. I'm now searching to find any evidence and documentation, over," I inform the unicorn. "Oh erm, Roger that?" she replies. I find a torn report under some debris and open it. ...forces are on route to Ponyville to capture the Lunar Princess while the machine is away to the west. They should be ready to capture her within five days, until then the artefac... I quickly grab my captive and order my Titan to meet me halfway so I can head back to Ponyville as soon as possible. I won't let them take Luna.