Chapter 16 - The Request
“Let’s retake the old world.”
===~+~===
The following morning, gather in the hotel lobby. As I look us over, you wouldn’t guess we came so close to dying almost two weeks ago. The Ranger’s armor looks clean and shiny, no damage to it anywhere. There is some welding marks where I can tell it has been repaired, however.
Thunder once again has a minigun at his side, but he’s also added that missile launcher to his other side. It looks belt-fed from inside his armor too, like his minigun. Lightning and Arrow also seem ready to head out.
Cygnus, thankfully, has a new set of light armor. I told him that I wanted him to at least have some protection if we get caught off guard. He also seems to have picked up a 10mm pistol and is wearing the holster at his side. Last, but not least, he exchanged his makeshift bag for actual saddlebags.
That leaves me, clad in my stitched up barding and wrapped ever so lovingly in my lab coat, with Forgiveness at my side. I join up with the others, having just returned from talking with Chief Wrecker regarding the safer routes though the ruins. He offered to send some guards with us, but I turned him down.
We are a team, and if we get attacked, we need to make sure we can handle it before we get too far. Lightning’s legs are still occasionally giving him trouble, but they seem a lot better, and Arrow’s aim isn’t as precise as she’d like it to be. However, we can’t put off returning any longer and we are as healthy as we are going to get.
After double checking we have all our gear, we thank the Hotel staff and leave. We walk though the town towards the dock the ferry sits at that will take us back across the water and into the ruins. As we near the dock, I see a few finely dressed ponies standing around.
We approach them when one of them calls out to us. “You there, Steel Rangers,” a buck says. He sounds really...prissy. We stop and turn towards him and two associates. “Ah, yes, good. We have a job for you, yes,” he tells us.
“Yes, yes, just for you,” a mare at his side says in a sing-songy voice. “We do hope that you will accept,” she says with a smile.
“Yes, darling, we do,” the buck coos at the mare. “You see, my good ponies, we need you to clear out a building for us. Just that, remove the inhabitants and tell us when the job is done,” he informs us.
“They are a bunch of ne’er-do-wells. Monsters, really,” the second mare chimes in. “Positively dreadful, disgusting,” she says, turning up her muzzle.
“Oh quite!” The buck agrees. “You’d be doing both us, and society a favor by removing them really,” he tells us. “We won’t even make you clean up after you are done, we have ponies for that,” he says with a smile.
They are kind of...obnoxious. We haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise, until now. “What exactly, do you want us to do?” I ask them, raising an eyebrow. They all roll their eyes.
“We just told you, clear out Tenpony for us,” the second mare says with a sigh. “This is why commoners are so dreadful,” she mutters.
“But you never said…” I begin, but am cut off by the buck.
“Yes, Tenpony Tower, you know it, right? Only building in Manehatten still standing in pristine condition?” He says as though talking to foals.
“Actually, that’s the…” Again, I’m cut off, this time, by the first mare.
“Of course they know, Darling. Everyone knows,” she says, shaking her head. “They are just being difficult.”
“Ah yes my love, I’m sure,” the buck says to her. “Will you do it or are you like the rest of these commoners in this so called town, content with this sad excuse for living arrangements?” He says.
“Why don’t you clear it yourselves?” Cygnus asks, clearly getting annoyed by them.
They all scoff and look horrified at the though. “Us?” The buck says. “Are you saying we should get our hooves dirty when you commoners can do it for us?” He asks us. And with that, there is no doubt in my mind these are the ponies Star Paladin Lily was talking about.
“We’ve sent ponies there before,” the second mare says, shaking her head. “Of course, we paid them a portion of the caps ahead of time, but they never returned. Common thieves, they are. Cut and run, no doubt,” She says, shaking her head as the other two do the same.
“Alright, I’m out. These ponies are pissing me off,” Cygnus says, walking down to the dock. The others go to follow him, but I stay there, thinking. They said, Tenpony, right?
“Just a moment everyone,” I call after them, then turn to the prissy ponies and say, “Give me just a moment, I need to find something out.” They roll their eyes as I walk a short distance away and pull my PipBuck up.
“Hey CORA, you remember anything about Tenpony? Could it have survived a Megaspell?” I ask her. I don’t recall it having any sort of defences like that.
After a moment, CORA appears in my vision. “Hmmm, I don’t think so, Ratchet. If it is still standing, and in pristine condition like they say, I can’t say why,” CORA tells me.
“That is what I thought. But if it is...it could be useful as an outpost in the ruins, right?” I mutter. Then thought strikes me. “Hey CORA, Tenpony has broadcasting equipment, right? It should cover a large area, shouldn’t it?” I ask her.
She’s quiet for a moment, but answers, “I believe so, if it remains functional. It may even cover a good portion of Equestira. The signal could also be bounced around using other towers to expand the range,” she informs me.
“Ok, good. Thanks, CORA,” I tell her. She smiles, then blinks out of my vision again. I turn back to the prissy ponies and walk over to them.
“I’ll help you,” I tell them. They roll their eyes again. They seem a little, ungrateful that I agreed to help.
“It took you long enough. Very well, return to us when Tenpony is safe, and collect your 2,000 caps,” the buck tells me. “And don’t try to lie about it, we have a mercenary watching the building, so we will know if you do,” he says, narrowing his eyes.
“Yea, yea,” I tell him. “But I have one condition,” I begin. “Once I clear it out, you let DJ Pon3 move into the broadcasting station up top,” I say.
They look between each other, and the buck shrugs. “We have no use for that equipment, and the DJ seems like a decent follow. We agree to your condition,” he agrees.
“And just so we are clear, he is a permanent resident as long as he wants to be, right? You can’t just kick him out on a whim,” I tell them. They roll their eyes, but nod. “Good. Well then, we’ll return once we have some good news,” I say with a smile.
“Yes, yes, on your way. If you don’t hurry, we’ll hire someone else. We have waited long enough,” the second mare calls after me as I join the others at the dock.
Cygnus glares at me as I catch up. “Really? We’re going to help those stuck up snobs?” He asks.
“Well, helping to secure a safe haven in the midst of the Manehatten Ruins will be helpful for future travel. Not to mention, it will give the DJ a wider audience. Tenpony is outfitted with a broadcasting station, so he’ll be able to give the news to more ponies, and that means things can be safer,” I explain.
“Yes, but,” Lightning cuts in. “If those ponies are going to be in charge, I don’t see things going as smoothly as you think. They might try to set up their own personal paradise,” he suggests.
I furrow my brow. “That is always a possibility. But, even if they were to do that, they’d be hiring security to protect the tower and themselves. Meaning, the area around Tenpony should get safer,” I say, trying to find a silver lining.
“Anyhow,” I say as we board the ferry, “we should probably check it out first.”
===~+~===
The route Wrecker gave me is completely uneventful. I guess since the scavengers use it frequently, they clear away most of the threats. Because of this, we make good time though the city. We approach a fallen highway, that slopes up and has a pretty good sight over the surrounding buildings. I think Tenpony is only a few blocks away now.
“Let’s go up this highway and scope out Tenpony, see what we are up against,” I suggest. We walk up the road and look out across the destroyed city. Just as the prissy ponies said, a lone tower rises above the other collapsing buildings. It looks almost pristine, aside from the decay of time. It is like the Megaspell blast didn’t touch it at all.
“Can I borrow your rifle, Arrow?” I ask her. She nods, and hoofs it over to me. Cygnus summons a rifle of his own and the two of us look through the scopes at the tower. “Let’s see…” I mutter, looking around. “The outside looks pretty clear, nothing there. Oh damn, are those...ghouls in the first floor?” I ask.
“Ratchet,” Cygnus says in a serious tone, “look at the second floor.” I move the rifle scope up and look at the second floor.
“There’s no way,” I mutter. “There has to be a dozen ghouls in there,” I say in disbelief. “That’s just what I can see, too.” From where we are, we are looking at a corner of the building, so we can see though windows on two sides of it.
“Keeping looking up,” Cygnus tells me. I move the scope up and look at floor after floor of the tower.
“Every floor!?” I call out. “How are there that many on each floor?” I ask, not expecting an answer. “There as to be at least one hundred of them in total. I think we might need more firepower,” I tell them. I let each of the Rangers take a look through the scope as well.
“Even with this new missile launcher, this will be a bit of a workout,” Thunder mutters. “What’s the plan, boss?” He asks me.
I look out towards the tower, thinking about it. “It’s not going anywhere, let’s go back to Stable 36, see if they have anything on Grimoire yet. Then, I can also finish up my armor and that will give us a good edge,” I decide. They nod in agreement, and we begin walking back down the ruined highway.
The rest of the journey out of the ruins is relatively uneventful. We spot a few creatures here and there, but nothing that poses an actual threat. With such a smooth journey, I fear we might get too lax. Remembering the raider-town we encountered on our way here, I decide we should check it out, and possibly clear the raiders from it.
When we arrive on the outskirt of the city, something seems off about it. A lot more smoke is rising from the city than there was before. We climb a nearby hill and peak over the wall. What we see, none of us expect.
The town’s buildings are on fire and dead raiders cover the streets. Other raiders hang from the flaming roofs and some are dangling from spikes planted in the ground. Often, the raiders have been decapitated or disemboweled. It is a gruesome sight, and no one seems to be alive in the town.
“Let’s make sure no one is still alive,” I tell the others as we make our way down the hill towards the town. “They could have had captives, like the raiders from Ponyville,” I add. The town’s gates are open and we walk through without an issue.
We split up to search what buildings we can, but it soon becomes apparent that there are no survivors. As we begin to regroup, I notice Cygnus off on his own, staring at the side of a building. The rest of us head over to him.
As I near the building, I can see words on the building. Once fully in sight, I can read them properly, “They refused to join. -Discordia”. As I look over the characters painted in red, it become apparently they were written with the blood of the raiders.
“What in Tartarus…” I mutter as I contemplate the words, the dead raiders, and the burning town.
“What is, Discordia?” Cygnus asks suddenly. He brings up a good point. Was it some name? A pony? A gang? No, wait…
“I think it might be what Grimoire calls his army. He said he wants to replace Discord, so it is kind of fitting,” I suggest.
“If that’s the case,” Lightning begins, “I don’t think it is his army’s name. It sounds more like a nation, like Equestria. Didn’t you say he wants to take everything over and what not? You don’t take over the world as an army, but as a nation. An army is just part of it.”
“So, Grimoire’s Discordia, hu?” I mutter. “Well, I think it is safe to assume he was attempting to get these raiders to join him, but they refused and killed them all,” I conclude.
“Seems that way,” Thunder agrees. “Why burn the town, though? Wouldn’t he want this message to be seen? This building isn’t on fire yet, but it won’t be long with all these embers.” He states.
I look closer at the building with the words on it, the only building in town not yet on fire. It looks almost...wet. I though a hoof to the wooden building, and my hoof grows damp. “They covered the building in water, or something. It’s completely wet, they must have done it to keep it from burning down, or at least keep it around long enough for someone to see the message,” I tell them as I wipe my hoof on my barding.
“They wasted water just so they could send a message?” Lightning mutters, appalled by the thought.
Thunder chuckles. “Ratchet did say, ‘or something’, they could have spit or pissed on it. Anything to get it wet, right?” He says with a grin.
Lightning rolls his eyes. “Whatever the case, this had to have been done recently. The town hasn’t burned up too bad yet. I’d guess they left less than an hour ago,” Lightning says. “What should we do, Ratchet? Burn this building too?” He asks.
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
“Well, this is meant as a scare tactic, something to intimidate ponies into joining up with Grimoire. Do we want to leave it and let knowledge of him, and his intimidation spread? Or, should we destroy it to keep ponies from panicking?” Lightning elaborates.
I contemplate this for a moment. Not many know of Grimoire or is plans yet, this might help get the word out. But, it might also move ponies to join him. However…”The DJ’s reach covers this area. He agreed to tell his listeners about Grimoire, so they won’t need this warning. Let’s get rid of this,” I decide.
“Alright boss,” Thunder says. “How we gona do it? Whole building, or just the words?” He asks.
Cygnus coughs, and mutters something way too fast for me to catch. “I got this,” He says, as a flamethrower appears in his hooves. “I’ll pour on the flames till the message is gone, then what happens to the building, happens. You sure about this, Ratchet?,” He asks, glancing at me and waiting for confirmation.
I nod and tell him, “Burn it down.” He nods, and flames erupt from his flamethrower, covering the words on the wall. After a few minutes, the wood dries and begins to catch fire. As we leave the town, the building has a flaming hole where the words once were.
===~+~===
“And now the news!” DJ Pon3’s voice comes over my radio. We are nearing the edge of his range, and I wanted to listen a bit before we left it. “Remember the mare I met a week or so back? The one who strolled through Raider Alley and came out on the other side? Well, my sources say she’s heading back into the wasteland, and no raider is going to stand in her way. You remember that town of raiders, off to the west of the Manehatten Ruins? Our friend has apparently cleared the raiders out and burned their town to the ground!” He declares.
What? I didn’t do that, and we just left there a few hours ago, how did I know about it already?
“Not only that, but she did it in style, sporting a spotless white labcoat. Labcoat...hey, I like that. I think I just found her new nickname folks! So, if you are traveling west of Manehatten and come across the ashy remains of a town, thank Labcoat for making your travels just a little bit safer. That’s all for the news, my little ponies. Stay safe out there,” he concludes.
“Why did he say that? And he didn’t mention any of you either…” I mutter in confusion.
Cygnus shrugs. “I can only assume, but from what he’s been broadcasting, and what you’ve told me of him, he is trying to give ponies hope. It is possible that he missed Discordia’s display in the town, and only saw us walk out of it. Putting two and two together, it would make sense if we were the ones who did it,” he tells me.
“I guess, but why not say ‘her and her friends’ or something? It make it seem like you all aren’t here,” I ask.
Lightning chuckles. “What sounds better,” he asks, “a lone pony taking out a town of raiders, or a group of ponies including three Steel Rangers? I can see why he does it, and you are the leader here.”
I furrow my brow. “It still doesn’t feel right,” I mutter. “He’s making me out to be some sort of...hero. Some amazing pony that I’m not. I can barely hit my shots!” I point out. “I wish he would just tell ponies about Grimoire, like I asked,” I shake my head with a sigh.
“What you seem to be forgetting,” Cygnus says, “is that we are barely one generation from when the world almost ended. Some of us are old enough to remember what it was like before. I only knew a small part of the world, but for others, it might seem like this world is hopeless.”
Thunder nods. “He has a point,” He agrees. “The three of us were born after, so we are used to this. But the elders, our parents, sometimes they look like they are slowly losing hope. I’m sure plenty of raiders turned to crime because they thought normal life was hopeless. The DJ seems to get it, ponies need hope,” Thunder states.
I blink at him in shock. “Thunder...that was...unusually deep for you,” I say, giving him a teasing grin.
He smirks and shakes his head. “Even I can get lucky with words sometimes, Ratchet. But, don’t worry about the whole DJ thing. It isn’t anything you should fret over, Labcoat,” he says the nickname teasingly.
The others laugh as I put a hoof to my face. “Labcoat...really? That’s just an observation on what I’m wearing…” I say, puffing out my cheeks.
“But a fitting name, never-the-less,” Lightning tells me. “You were a scientist before, right? And your labcoat does make you stand out. Seeing it might even make some raiders run away, if they heard the DJ’s broadcast,” he suggests.
“I guess…” I mutter as we keep walking. Resigned to the fate of the nickname Labcoat, we continue on with only the sound of the music from the radio between us. After a bit, the music starts to get staticy, and soon turns into complete static.
===~+~===
Our trip is long, but relatively uneventful. We never see another pony as we make our way back to Stable 36, and only run into a few easily dealt with creatures. It is as though we are the only ones in the wasteland. But I can’t help fighting off a growing feeling of dread.
Are we alone because no one is here, or did Grimoire kill or assimilate everyone already? I really hope that Grimoire has nothing to do with this, and I’m just being paranoid. Lost in thought, I barely realize we are about to pass my lab.
I shake myself from my thoughts and bring us to a halt. “Hey, do you think you guys can go on ahead to let the Elder know our status and see if he’s found out anything about Grimoire? I’d like to finish my armor quickly so we can clear out Tenpony. I’ll bring Cygnus with me, the other Rangers might not like us bringing another stranger home,” I say.
“Not a problem,” Lightning says, nodding his head. “We’ll head to your lab if Elder Archimedes hasn’t found anything on Grimoire yet. If he has, we’ll radio you and you can head over to us. Sound good?” He asks.
“Perfect,” I agree. I bid them goodbye and lead Cygnus to the nearby shed. We enter the lab’s tunnel entrance and pass through the bulkheads.
“Huh, this is a lot more fortified than my lab is,” Cygnus points out. We continue and eventually end up in the chamber with my cryo-pod. “This is...one of those, isn’t it?” He asks, stopping at the room’s entrance.
“Yea, my prototype. The one you were in was modified and improved by Miss Sparkle, but the concept is similar,” I tell him as I plug my PipBuck into the system. “Hey CORA, we’re home. You want to take control while we’re here?” I ask her.
After a moment, the system’s monitors all display her smiling face. “Ahh, it’s good to be home!” She declares as she smiles at us. “I’ll run the routine checks and make sure everything is up to code!” She declares as text starts scrolling behind her face.
“Thanks, as always,” I tell her, and turn back to Cygnus, who is still standing in the doorway. To be honest, I want CORA in the system as a security precaution. This is the first time I’ve been alone with Cygnus since getting him out. I still am not sure if I fully trust him, the last incident in his lab lingering in my mind.
This will be a good opportunity to clear that up, but first, he looks a bit, uncomfortable, and I think I know why. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to put you in there. If you want to sleep, we have sleeping quarters. Besides, this pod is mine, and mine alone,” I declare, putting a hoof to my chest, proudly.
He smiles a bit at that. “Thanks, those pods kind of make me...nervous.” Cygnus tells me.
“Understandable, since you were put into one by force. I got into mine of my own volition. For now,” I suggest, “let’s go to my workshop. I want to get started on my armor.” He nods, and I lead us though the halls, pointing out the various rooms along the way, until we get to the workshop. I sit down on my stool and point to another for Cygnus to use. I look over the armor for a moment, before facing him.
“Say Cygnus,” I begin, “I can trust you, right?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow as I look at him. He tilts his head, looking surprised.
“Of course, you are the one who let me out, after all. And I’m following you because I want to,” Cygnus explains.
I let out a sigh and purse my lips for a moment. “It’s just…” I trail off for a moment. “I read about the incidents that led to your project being shut down. The first two seemed like accidents, but the last one was different,” I say. Cygnus shifts on his stool uncomfortably. He clearly doesn’t like this subject.
“I don’t like to talk about them...” Cygnus tells me, looking away.
I nod. “I understand, but I’m not sure I can trust you unless I clarify something. Your father said it seemed like you, were happy after the last incident. You were smiling, but still crying. He wrote it off as him imagining things, but I’m curious if that is the case,” I tell him. “Cygnus, what really happened?” I ask.
“And you won’t...trust me...unless I tell you?” Cygnus asks, looking at me sheepishly. I nod and he looks at the ground between us, taking a deep breath. “I killed Static, on purpose. I was happy that she was dead,” he tells me, not moving his eyes off the floor.
I swallow. I thought this might be the case, but what comes next is what’s important. “Why?” I ask him. He shakes momentarily at the question.
“She…” Cygnus pauses, taking another breath. “She was one of the initial staff. Everything was fine at first, when I was physically young. But, after a few years, once my body and mind matured to what would roughly be a teenager, things changed,” he says with a shaky voice.
“Static...she was always so kind, probably because she was the youngest of the staff, in her late twenties. But one night she...forced herself on me,” Cygnus tells me. My eyes grow wide as I process this information.
I clear my throat. “So, she raped you?” I ask him. He nods.
“I was young and naive, I had no idea what was going on. But as I learned more, I realized what she was doing. I asked her to stop a few times, but she got angry, threatened to start giving me bad reviews on my tests if I refused or told anyone, and if I didn’t do what she wanted, she would hit me. But, she never left any marks,” he tells me.
“The first incident is when I learned about what she was actually doing to me. The second, is when she began threatening me. I couldn’t think straight, and lost control. Finally, when I was no longer able to deal with it, I killed her. I knew father would think it just another accident,” Cygnus explains, never taking his eyes off the ground.
“I can understand if you don’t trust me anymore,” He tells me. I get to my hooves and walk over to him. “And if you think I should be killed for what I’ve done, I’ll let you,” he adds. I put my hooves around his head, and pull him into a hug.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him. “I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked, I should have just trusted you. But it is alright now, I trust you. Everything will be alright now, it wasn’t your fault,” I tell him, hugging him tighter.
“Ratchet…” Cygnus mutters. “Thank...thank you,” he says, hugging me back. After a few moments, and a bit of awkwardness, we finally get back to normal.
“So,” Cygnus says, clapping his front hooves together, “what are you working on exactly?”
“Power Armor,” I reply. “More precisely, a custom model for me. The framework is done, I just need to finish the wiring and then test the system to see if there are any bugs in the coding. I’ll also have to get CORA so we can test out Raptor Blood,” I explain.
“Raptor Blood?” Cygnus asks, raising an eyebrow.
“It is the name of that gauss rifle mounted on the back. Well, that plate on your side that should swing over the back and set into place along with the rest of the armor,” I tell him.
“Huh, so, this all folds up to look like the other Rangers?” He asks. I nod, gluing in some of the wires along the armor’s interior. “Are you sure it will, you know, fit together?” He asks. I roll my eyes.
“Of course!” I say, but add, “Probably. I started out with it being a whole suit that I modified, and just cut it apart so it could close around me and my PipBuck. But, I’ve not tested it closing yet,” I admit.
“Uh-hu. Don’t you think, you know, you should test that before you deal with all the wiring?” Cygnus asks. Geez, was he always this full of questions?
“I could, but I am 99% sure it will work. I have a knack for this sort of thing,” I tell him.
He seems to ponder this for a moment. “Well, you did make the cryo-pods…” Cygnus mutters. “It just seems like a waste of time and effort wiring the whole thing up if it isn’t going to close properly. Just saying,” he comments.
“I told you, I’m like 90% sure it will work. Seriously, let it go,” I tell him, getting annoyed.
“Didn’t you just say you were 99% sure? Are you starting to doubt yourself? Maybe you really should test it before…” Cygnus mutters.
“Alright! That’s it!” I yell. “Why don’t you like, go...do...that...well….ANYTHING ELSE!” I shout. “Clean or something, poke around, make something useful, I don’t know. You’re not helping,” I tell him as I glare at him.
He tosses up his hooves and slides off his stool onto the ground. “Alright, I’ll go find something to do, maybe I’ll take a nap. Good luck with your armor, Ratchet,” Cygnus tells me as he walks away.
I shake my head and keep working. “It is going to work! You’ll see!” I call after him.
“Whatever you say!” Cygnus calls back. Oh. It. Is. On. I can’t mess this up now, time to work twice, no, thrice as hard! I pour myself into my work.
===~+~===
A few hours pass, and I’m close to finishing up. As I’m about to, Lightning pokes his head in. “We’re back, Ratchet. No word on Grimoire’s movements yet. Though, Elder Archimedes confirmed our theory about Discordia being his nation. He sent Senior Paladin Twinkle out with her squad to search for more clues to his plans or location,” he informs me.
I stop working and turn to face him. “I see. Well, that gives us time to deal with Tenpony,” I say.
“Indeed,” Lightning agrees. “Elder says good initiative on that, by the way. Anyhow, about Discordia, apparently their influence has spread quite a bit. No large areas so far, but pockets of them here and there. From Los Pegasus to Baltimare, a number of raider gangs have joined him. Others have simply disappeared completely,” he tells me.
“That means he will be hard to pinpoint,” I mutter. “If it was centered around a certain area, we would at least have a place to start,” I sigh.
“Yea. Twinkle suggested we attack the nearest group and interrogate them, but Lily made the argument we would be showing our hand too early. As you can see, the Elder agreed with Lily. It will be rough, but we’ll find something,” Lightning says with a smile.
“Of course!” I smile back. “Now, would you mind getting everyone together here? I’m almost done with the armor, and I want to show it off. Especially to that neigh-sayer Cygnus,” I ask him with a slightly sadistic smile.
Lightning lets out a chuckle. “No problem, I’ll be right back,” he tells me, turning and walking down the hall.
Excellent. Now, first thing’s first. I need CORA. I walk over to the nearby terminal and bring her back into my PipBuck. “You ready for this?” I ask her as I sit down on the stool once again.
“Of course Ratchet! I estimate you have an 89% chance of success!” CORA tells me with a smile. I flinch, the percentage went down again…
I quickly finish the interior, covering the wiring with padding and checking over everything one last time. I nod at my handiwork as the others arrive. “Ah, just in time!” I declare, as I turn to greet them. “Prepare to witness the amazing technology of the great and brilliant Ratchet!” I yell as they gather around me and the armor.
“Here we go!” I say as I put my rear hooves into the back of the armor and fall forward into the rest of it. My torso falls into the padded chestpiece and my front legs slip into their places. “Alright, and…” I say as I put my head into the bottom half of the helmet and press a button with my tongue.
Suddenly, the armor begins to move as it is supplied with power. First, the top two halves of the helmet snap together, followed by the neck plates. Since the right front leg isn’t in multiple pieces, only the other three legs move as they cover my limbs. The front left fits snuggly around my PipBuck. Finally, the back sides up from the sides and connects everything together.
For a moment, nothing else happens. Then, my visor kicks on and displays me a pantheon of new information. Briefly, text scrolls across my vision regarding the firmware/software versions and it even displays the status of my various armor pieces. This information disappears and is replaced with what is the visor’s actual HUD.
In addition to what my PipBuck normally displays, I see a power gauge for the current spark batteries, and remaining ammo for my miniguns and Raptor Blood. The PipBuck’s compass feature also now shows four blue, friendly bars, thanks to the armor’s targeting spell matrix.
“CORA, status check,” I order her.
“All systems green, spark power seems stable, sort of, and my manual overrides appear functional. Unlocking Raptor Blood,” CORA announces, her voice amplified through the armor’s speaker.
“Thank you CORA,” I tell her as I begin to move around the room. “Let me know of any power fluctuations or any other abnormalities,” I tell her. While I test out the mobility and flexibility of the armor, CORA tests out the range of Raptor Blood, rotating it as I move to make sure she can avoid hitting me with it.
“Ratchet, duck!” CORA says, and I lower my head to the ground as she sweeps the barrel over my head. “Perfect. 360 degree horizontal mobility is confirmed. Angle of elevation is 63 degrees. Angle of depression is 41 degrees. All within estimated parameters,” she concludes.
“Good,” I tell her. Things seem good on my end. “Now then, one last thing to test out. CORA, begin manual transition.” I command her.
“Manual transition initiated,” CORA states. “Download complete, ejecting pilot,” She says as the armor opens and I step out of it. It closes once again and a blue glow shines from the visor. “Manual transition successful, I have complete control,” CORA says as the armor moves around.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Lightning calls out. “How it is moving on it’s own?” He asks.
“Oh, that’s easy,” I tell him as I walk up along side everyone, turning to face the moving armor. “CORA’s moving it. As you can see, she can’t move it as freely as I can,” I nod to the armor, moving around slowly.
“I went ahead and added in some basic robotics to it so she could move it. But, due to the lack of proper space for both me and the components, I had to sacrifice the ability for her to be able to move it quickly or in difficult positions,” I explain. “She can walk, climb stairs, and recover from a fall, but she won’t be able to run or jump,” I inform them.
“I see, that’s impressive,” Lightning says, blinking at CORA walking around. The others appear to be in just as much shock as him.
“This addition was actually CORA’s idea. She wanted to be able to help us out more. She did most of the coding and design, I just put it together,” I tell them. “Ok CORA,” I call out to her, “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
“Aww, ok Ratchet. Pilot Transition initiated,” She says sadly as the armor opens back up. I attach my PipBuck to it and retrieve CORA from the armor.
“Ok,” I say. “Let’s go over what we learned. First,” I look over as Cygnus, “is that I rock,” I tell him. He rolls his eyes with a chuckle. “Second, due to the weight as size, I will be less mobile than you three in your armor, but I will be more protected and pack more firepower. Lastly, CORA, what was that about the power stability?” I ask her.
“Well, we go through power quite quickly. Almost quadruple what we estimated. The usage is stable, but it is just excessive. I can’t seem to find the cause of it yet, but with time, I think I can get to the bottom of it,” CORA replies.
“Quadruple? Any idea how long it will take to fix?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No, it looks like it will be tough. Perhaps a week or two?” She suggests. “Given the current power usage, and the state of our spark batteries, we can power the armor for two hours,” CORA tells me.
“Two hours hu?” I mutter. “Well, that might be just enough to clear out Tenpony,” I conjecture.
Thunder clears his throat. “Yes, aside from the fact it takes a few days to walk there,” he points out. “Unless you course you plan on having one of us carry...it...for...you do, don’t you?” He asks me with a stoic expression.
I smile at him. “Thank’s for volunteering Thunder! That’s just the kind of can-do attitude I like! We’ll head out the day after tomorrow, so take tonight and tomorrow to rest up. CORA and I will tinker with the armor, see if we can get some better energy useage out of it,” I tell them.
Thunder sighs, resigned to his fate. “Fine, but you owe me,” he says.
“Of course!” I tell him, beaming a smile. “Anything you want, as long as you don’t drop it,” I add. After a few more questions about the armor’s innerworkings, the others to back to what they were doing.
“Alright CORA, let’s get the armor ready for its field test. I think we need some nice detail work on it. I’m thinking...an icy blue stripe down the middle? Maybe touch up the Lynx Squad logo a bit too? Hehehe, this is going to be fun…”
===~+~===
Quest Updated!
An Arrogant Request:
Target: Tenpony Tower
Goal: Clear the Tower of Hostiles