//------------------------------// // Bad Company // Story: Fallout: Equestria - Empty Quiver // by thefurryrailfan //------------------------------// ----- “Alright, come on, get up lighting flanks!” I sat up in bed suddenly, bumping my head firmly against the old ceiling. Gwuh, I’d rather not make that gun bash any worse, thank you... I rubbed the lump on my head before climbing down the short ladder of the firehouse’s bunk bed, heading out of the sleeping quarters towards the kitchen. Night Strike was standing by the pole leading down into the garage, waving me over. Wearing a grin, she took hold of the pole, jumping and sliding down the hole into the floor below. I peered through, but she had already zipped through, leaving me behind. I yawned, wrapping my hooves around the pole before slipping down myself, stumbling a bit upon the landing. Night Strike was sitting on the mini-tank that was parked next to an old fire cart loaded with tanks of water and hoses, her hooves at Boomer’s controls. “You’d make a really bad firepony, you know. You’re supposed to hurry when there’s an emergency.” I rolled my eyes, trotting over to the crank connected to the garage door by a long chain. “I’ve got the ax, that’s good enough. Is there a reason you’re in such a rush? I don’t hear any gunfire,” I said, a little confused. Night Strike leaned against Boomer, shaking her head as I began to slowly crank up the heavy door. The metal screeched loudly as it ascended, myself giving it a few more turns for some extra clearance before I locked the winch in place. “Not really, I was bored and you were taking too long to get up. Crash Dive doesn’t want any of us to be somewhere alone because of that threat yesterday, so I stuck around while they went out scavenging for some food. You’d think a firehouse would have been pretty well stocked, but I think we really cleared the place out last time we were here. Figured we could go exploring the town a bit too, now you’re up. Oh, and uh, you really didn’t need to raise the garage door. Much as I like this thing, it’s kind of a dead giveaway we’re here, probably best to leave it kind of hidden.” Shooting the pegasus a look as she hopped off of the half-track and trotted for the side doorway, I undid the lock on the crank, lowering the garage door again. Well, you could’ve at least said something before I lifted that heavy thing... Our hooves left tracks in the soft snow as we ventured through the town, the prints left by Aerith, Crash Dive, and Scouring turning away to head towards the manufacturing district. The buildings grew smaller as Night Strike and I wandered through the streets, and we soon found ourselves in a residential area of Gemdale. The houses were beaten and weathered, a few having had their windows shattered from the blast of the bombs years ago. We both trotted up the steps of one of the houses, myself peering in through the dirty cracked glass to see inside. “Uch, who picks out yellow carpet and green wallpaper? Looks like a bloatsprite vomited in there.” I stepped back from the window, heading around to the front door where Night Strike was trying to pull open. “Guh, stupid thing’s locked, hold on.” She pulled Thumper off of her back, slipping a 40mm slug into its breech before snapping it shut, myself taking a step back and releasing a sigh - of course. Pointing the barrel at the lock, she gave a swift pull of the trigger, the door slamming open on its hinges with the knob flying back and skidding against the floor. She stepped inside with myself following, both of us flicking on our Pip-Buck's screen lights as we entered. “Aw, you never let me get to break down the doors and do my psycho impersonation.” I said with mock glumness. Night Strike shook her head, trying to hide a grin as we made our way through the house. As we stepped into the kitchen, I heard a soft squeaking noise as my hoof touched metal. Looking down, I noticed a large round pressure plate I had just set off. There was the sound of small doors swinging open to my left, and I stepped back out of fright. However, as the cage opened, it was revealed only contain the skeletal remains of a few dogs, and scratch marks on the inside of the metal door. I wandered over to the cage, poking one of the skeletons. “Huh, well, I guess it would be kind of hard to keep a guard dog fed after the bombs fall. Be careful, it looks like this house might've been rigged a bit.” Night Strike leaned through the doorway to see what I had meant as I opened up the fridge, finding a few bottles of Sunrise Sarsaparilla inside. Popping the cap off of one, I chugged it down and dropped the other in my saddlebags, shutting the fridge behind myself. I stepped back into the main room, where Night Strike was dangling a small painting she’d taken off of the wall over a bear trap in front of the stairs leading to the basement. She dropped the frame onto the pressure pad in the center, the trap immediately snapping shut with a loud squeal of rusted metal, and crushing the wood in its jagged teeth. Turning to look back towards me, she wore a smirk, popping Thumper's breech open and swapping the spent shell for a fresh shotgun-type one. “May as well see what this guy was trying to hide, eh?” She opened the door and began to head down the stairs. I followed closely behind, tossing the empty bottle of soda back up the steps and hearing it clink on the wooden foor. “If he’s hiding anything. Might just have been a paranoid lunatic.” Night Strike shrugged at my comment, reaching the bottom of the steps. There was a sudden loud retort of gunfire, and the pegasus in front of me buckled, flopping to the floor. Oh, shit! I hurried down the steps, Night Strike pushing herself onto her hindquarters and gingerly holding her foreleg with a grunt of pain. Her jacket was riddled with buckshot, and I could see a now cut tripwire connected up to a rigged shotgun. “Are you alright?” I asked, bending down to get a better look at her leg. “Nggnh, fuck, yeah, I think so. Could’ve been worse.” She tried to stand up, but her leg buckled again. “Guh, fuck... I think those shells were some kind of magnum shot, not quite slug but bigger than pellets. Feels like they cut right through..." With a wince of pain, Night Strike pulled back her sleeve, a few deformed chunks of metal falling out of it on the opposite side of her foreleg. She shivered, myself joining her, as blood poured from teh fresh wounds, drawing in a sharp breath as she puled her sleeve back fully, another chunk of metal that had barely gotten through coming with it. Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick... Night Strike turned to look towards myself, or at least look away from her hoof - I really don't blame her. She looked around for a moment, dragging her duffel bag over beside her, myself helping her pull the zipper open on it before she started to go through it, her shot hoof dripping blood on the dirt floor. "Ah, crap, I think the healing potions are back with the mini-tank... hm...” She paused before reaching into her saddlebags, pulling out a bottle of RAD. She brought it to her mouth, popping the cap off, the glowing soda illuminating the area around us. Giving a small glance towards myself, she looked back to the bottle, letting off a sigh “Well, let’s see how much my genes can do to help. Sparkle-Cola, don't fail me now...” She began to drink the iridescent soda, her skin starting to stitch itself back over the wounds, the bloodflow narrowing to a trickle. Her coat began to slowly grow over the fresh skin, muscle and tendons knitting themselves together on the inside. She carefully stood up, shifting weight onto her leg gingerly, looking down at it with her eyes glowing a faint deep green. “Sheesh, if that wasn’t so helpful I’d say you should be a lot more concerned about posessing such a huge mutation.” I said, looking at her healed up leg, the pegasus going through her duffel bag and pulling out a bottle of water, starting to wash the blood off of her hoof. She pulled her sleeve back down afterwards, giving her hoof a few stomps and letting off a small sigh, picking her duffel bag back up. “Well, if you're alright, I suppose now we just need something to patch up those holes in your sleeve, then. Really, would've thought that there'd be more holes in it by this point...” She finished off the glowing soda and tossed the bottle behind her with a shrug, which bounced up against another bear trap that shattered the glass with a loud and sudden squeak. Both now looking over to the now-disarmed bear trap, we spotted a large cabinet with one of its doors sitting ajar, exchanging a glance. We walked up to it, stepping over the broken bottle and pulling the door open, the hinges creaking with rust and age. The back of the cupboard had been removed, and now lead into a crudely dug tunnel, lightbulbs dangling from wires secured to the roof of the tunnel illuminating it every twenty feet or so. I looked to Night Strike, who shrugged and stepped into the cupboard, bending her head to be able to trot through the crawlspace. Our hooves kicked up some frozen dirt as we made our way through the tunnel, keeping an eye out for any more traps. The pathway twisted this way and that, feeling as if it looped in on itself several times over. “Jeez, just how paranoid was this guy?” Night Strike asked, ducking under yet another lightbulb as we continued onward. After what felt like an hour, the tunnel suddenly opened up into a large room, our Pip-Bucks flooding the area with light as the Geiger counters on our Pip-Bucks began to tick slowly, us both stepping inside. The room, unlike the tunnel we had just crawled through, was a stony cavern, our hoofsteps echoing down a path to our right. As we trotted a little further forward, I spotted a huge pile of rubble and stepped up to it. A skeletal hoof dangled out from between the rocks, a rusty pickaxe still clutched in its pearly grip. “Hey Static, check this out!” Night Strike called from behind me. I turned to see her standing in front of an odd collection of furniture, myself blinking a few times. A large, cushy armchair sat next to an end table bearing several magazines, and radio sat up on rows of shelves along with several cans of food and bottles of wine. Night Strike walked sideways, the light of her Pip-Buck revealing an ornate painting of Princess Celestia as well. All of this was sitting on several rolls of carpeting that had been rolled out across the rocky floor. “I don’t know if I should be laughing because of how he thought he could survive the apocalypse down here, or impressed he managed to drag all this crap through that tiny tunnel.” “Not to mention his attempts at expanding this place.” I said, looking back down at the skeleton crushed beneath the cave-in. “This is a pretty structurally sound cave for some random pony, though. You think he might've actually dug his way all the way into the quarry?” I asked. Night Strike flipped through a copy of Guns and Bullets as I pulled a bottle of wine off of the rack, looking over the label. Wow, 2030? I bet I could get free meals for life for such aged wine like this... well, assuming it isn’t too heavily irradiated. Eh, I'll sell it to Maple Station, the ghouls there probably wouldn't mind it. I dropped a few of the bottles into my saddlebags as Night Strike pocketed some of the magazines and tins of beans, before walking towards the other end of the passage. “I dunno, it’s possible, I guess. I’d rather not go exploring ground zero of a megaspell detonation today, though, even if we are probably a few miles underground at this point.” I nodded in agreement, glancing down at the dial on my Pip-Buck’s Geiger counter as we headed back towards the dirt tunnel. Night Strike ducked down and began to slowly walk back through, myself following suit. The clicking died down as we left the radiation behind, following the strink of uncovered lights. It wasn’t too long before we were hopping back out of the cupboard, myself tripping a little on the bear trap. We headed upstairs and back outside, the slight chill of the air still feeling welcoming after the cold of the mines below. Starting to wander through the town, we passed by a few more houses, before we came to a small electronics shop. Night Strike followed me inside, looking a little confused. “Uh, what’re we doing inside an old repair shop? We don’t need anything to fix up as far as I know.” I shrugged in response, picking up a conductor off of the shelves to inspect it. “Figured there might be something useful in here. Maybe they’ve got some small repair talismans we can fit into the mini-tank or something, those might be helpful, at least.” I set the bit of metal back down, moving down and through the aisles as Night Strike headed towards the cash register to rummage around inside for a few spare bottlecaps. As I made my way through the store, I spotted a small pile of worn leaflets scattered across a display table near the back. Picking one up, I could just make out a picture of the small Stable Tec Colt grinning in front of a line of ponies all heading towards a large gear shaped door embedded in the side of a mountain. ‘Register your spot today and keep your family safe!’ the pamphlet read. I unfolded the page, the interior pages only slightly better preserved than the rest of the paper. ‘Stable-Tec has three Stables in your area, be sure to contact your nearest Stable-Tec representative to find the spot closest to you!’ A faded map of the Vanhoover area was drawn out, along with little cogs to mark the Stables’ locations. Stable 95 was high up in the mountains past Maple Station… that’s the one Scouring said the Steel Rangers had moved into, maybe, right? I scanned the rest of the map, spotting another Stable nestled in the mountain range to the east. The number 117 was stamped on it, along with a short description on standard amenities next to the map marker. Night Strike was inspecting a few radio tubes as I noticed the third Stable symbol planted right over top of Vanhoover. “Hey, did you ever hear about some Stable in Vanhoover the last times we were there?” Night Strike looked up from the electronics, trotting over to look at where I was pointing on the map. “Huh. Nope, that’s kind of weird... wait, hold on.” She took the map from me, flipping a page in the pamphlet to reveal a close up of Vanhoover, allowing us to see where in the city the Stable was located. The little icon was in the dead center of the uptown area, inside some kind of jewelry shop. “Looks like it’s smack in the middle of where the bombs hit, that whole place is flooded with radiation. And probably seawater too, I doubt it was just the downpour that made us wade through chest high sludge when Aerith and I went digging around there last time." The pegasus paused for thought, a smirk forming on her muzzle. "I guess we could still try and go digging around in there if you wanted to, we could convince Ripple to drive Trout around in the flooded basin and let us dive there. The suits would probably work pretty well against radiation with some Rad-X, too~” I grimaced, tucking the pamphlet away for future reference. “It was hard enough to see when we went diving out in the ocean, and that wasn’t full of building debris. Not to mention what the rads in that place could have done to anything that swam upstream into the basin.” I shuddered, remembering the large beast that had crawled across the submarine when we were retrieving the gold. We looked around inside the electronic shop for a few more minutes, but could find nothing of significant value, so we headed back outside. “Oh, fine, but think of how much money you could make from all the tech inside!” Night Strike said with a chuckle as we began to make our way back towards the firehouse. I raised an eyebrow, Night Strike pausing witha smirk. “Okay, so maybe a lot would be water damaged, but the Stables are probably water tight! It’d still be neat to explore.” I rolled my eyes, shivering a bit as the air grew colder as the sun made its descent in the sky. As we approached the fire station, we could see a few sihlouettes moving about in the upstairs window. One’s head turned to spot us before disappearing. Soon Aerith was trotting out of the door, flashing up a sign. ‘There you are, took you long enough to get back here. Crash Dive was starting to get worried... not that I think she’ll admit that.’ We followed her back inside, where Crash Dive and Scouring were already loading up the trailer of the mini-tank. Aerith’s horn lit up as she began to crank the garage door open, myself hopping into the driver’s seat as Night Strike climbed up to Boomer’s controls. “We found some more food in an ol' warehouse, think it might have been some kind o' soup kitchen before the war. What 'ere you two up to?” Scouring asked, dropping a crate of canned beets into the trailer before climbing in himself. Hopping into the driver's seat, I switched on the tank, the engine rumbling to life as Crash Dive organized some of the procured foodstuffs. Aerith fluttered onto the trailer as I pulled out of the garage, turning to head along the north road to Maple Station. Night Strike leaned against Boomer, turning back to face the others. “Oh, yeah, you’re not going to believe what we found in somepony’s basement…” --- “Uuuuuuh, no, no there was not a nest of Hellhounds, nor were we ever swimming through radioactive waste.” I contested Night Strike’s story as the edge of Maple Station appeared over the horizon, the collection of railcars and buildings illuminated in that soft blue of the railyard lights. “Really, Night Strike? A paranoid pony digging a couple miles underground to make a bunker in the quarry wasn’t a weird enough story?” The pegasus slumped over in a huff, crossing her hooves as I slowed down, the half-track bouncing over a few rails as we entered the station. “Oh, you’re no fun. They wouldn’t ever have to know, and I would have given you some cool bits in my story too, if you didn’t stop me. You were the brave, valiant hero who rescued me from the hordes of ghouls with shotguns chasing after us!” She paused for a beat, before continuing. “Nah, yeah, they probably wouldn’t have bought that.” She stuck her tongue out playfully as I sighed, weaving my way through the various train cars. I eventually found an opening and was able to make my way to the large repair shed that housed all of the ghouls’ tanks. As I pulled up into it, I could see two of the tank ghouls and a few of the mechanics gathered around a table playing cards. They looked up as we entered, Rheinmetall pushing back from the small table to come greet us, a smile upon his muzzle. “Ah, good to see you again! What’re you doing back here, if I may ask?” I powered off the mini-tank and hopped out as the old ghoul trotted over. The others climbed off of the back, Rangefinder looking back towards us for a moment before leaning over to where Rheinmetall was sitting on the table. “Just passing through for the night. We heard about some airbase towards the east that’s having some sort of leadership trouble, and we thought it’d be a good place to look for a generator for our plane, seeing how we still haven’t found one yet.” Night Strike responded. Rhienmetall nodded in response, one of the ponies calling him back over to the game. He gave a slightly exasperated sigh, turning to head back over to them. “Ja, ja, I’m coming. I would’ve thought you wouldn’t want me back after I’ve been taking your caps all night.” He gave a small chuckle, looking back over his shoulder at us. “Well, you guys should stop by tomorrow, Sensha und Jack are out on patrol and I'm sure they’d like to say hello again.” He sat back down at his seat, the rest of us heading back outside. There was just enough time between the last of us stepping outside and the door shutting behind to hear Rheinmetall shout out, “Alright, which one of you dummkopfs decided to switch my cards around?” We trotted through the town towards The Roundhouse, passing by a few drunk ponies before we stepped inside. The Roundhouse gave off its general cheery atmosphere as we wandered through the crowds towards the stage booths. As we walked past a surprisingly empty table, we suddenly heard a shout from the bar. Turning to look, we saw Royce stagger forward, a bottle of whiskey clutched in her talon. “Heeeeeeeeey, Vanhoover Five! Aw, it’s so nice to shee you guys again.” She flopped forward, sticking her empty claw out to grab onto Scouring’s shoulder for balance. “Aw, you shoulda seen it, when those raiders came in, they didn’ *hic*, didn' know wha' hit ‘em! I was shootin’ off my gun all over the place, and Merls was lobbin’ grenades an shootin' his rifle, aw, it was so sweet, and the town… they…” She sniffed, taking a swig of whiskey as we watched on. “Aw, they called us heroes an', an' I thought, hey, this is what those guys are like… then I thought, aw, shit, the boss’s gonna send some guys after me then, and I figured, ah, what’re they gonna do? I mean, we couldn’t take care of you, and we’re the best guys those guys had! I bet the guys they send can’t even reload a gun.” She waved a talon dismissively before stumbling back to the bar. “So… that happened.” Night Strike said flatly, us all continuing on. We trotted up to an empty booth near the back of the roundhouse, a waiter coming over quickly to take our drink orders. As we settled ourselves in, the lights began to dim, a pony trotting out onto the stage in a fancy tuxedo as a muted trumpet played alone. “Good evening and welcome to the Roundhouse dinner theater. I hope you enjoy our production of Chicacolt tonight, and, please, try not to make too many obscene remarks or interrupt the performance. The only fake things about the guns are the ammunition.” He turned around, pulling a baton out of his jacket. A small jazz band readied their instruments, the conductor counting off before the band started to play a loud swinging tune. Well, this'll be interesting... ----- "...and aaaaaalll, thaaaat, Jaaaaaazz!" The stage lights cut out, returning the dinner theater at the Roundhouse to the soft lighting by the tables as the audience erupted in applause. All of us had joined them, Scouring and Crash Dive having to hold back on account of the heavy weight of their armor, the lights fading back on on the stage as the cast took their bows, myself sitting back down in the booth with a wide smile. Well, it wasn't a gripping pitch-black comedy about a total megaspell exchange with end music provided by the great Vera Lynn, but I'm pretty sure I'm still gonna wind up humming a few of those songs over the next few days regardless... The Roundhouse calmed back down after a few moments, Static letting off a snicker as he slid himself out of the booth with myself following, us all starting to head with the crowd moving towards the doors. He passed on a grin as I kept close beside him, giving my legs a few small stretches. "You know, I dunno why Roxie's husband was so glum about not being seen, sounds like a pretty good issue to have if it means you can get around without getting shot at easier." "Aw, but then I wouldn't be able to see those cute flanks of yours, Sparky. Or should I start calling you mister cellophane now?" Letting off a chuckle, we finally passed through the doors and out into the snowy blue-lit railyard, the residents dispersing out to the shops and other structures that made up Maple Station. Static answered with a light roll of his eyes, the hoofsteps behind us sounding heavier as the rest of the Vanhoover Five caught up, Aerith wearing a wide grin of her own - well, can't say I'm surprised you enjoyed the play too, Miss Suit and Tommy Gun. "Yeah, yeah, if we ever do any sneaky spy stuff, that can be my code name. Come on, let's go and get settled in for the night, got stuff to do tomorrow. Least I kind of doubt the mercenaries would try attacking us while we're here." The earth pony loked about the sky for a moment before continuing forth, us all following in behind him. Oh, yeah, I forgot about them... probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ask the tank ghouls if they could keep an eye out for any gryphons, and subsequently blast them on sight with the main guns. Well, I mean, besides Royce and Merlin... huh, wouldn't be a bad idea to ask them if they knew anything, either. It didn't take particularly long before we arrived back to the hotel, Static getting the room keys from the pony at the desk as I muffled a yawn with my hoof. Mmh, sheesh, maybe getting up that early wasn't the smartest of ideas after all... Celestia forbid I'm actually building up a tolerance to Sparkle-Cola RAD. We all made way to our separate rooms, myself trotting inside past Crash Dive and Aerith to flop onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow. Tomorrow's a new day, just gotta make it through tonight first. --- "Okay... next time you want a little firendly chat, I'll try and not drink my body weight in Wild Pegasus the night before... ow." Royce rested with her talon-leg-thing covering over her eyes in hers and Merlin's hotel room, the blinds drawn shut to block out the bright sun reflecting off of the snow outside. Crash Dive and Scouring had gone off to see what was needing doing in town, leaving myself, Static, and Aerith to track down Royce and Merlin. Well, one of two isn't bad... even if she can't really look at anything without wincing in pain. "What're you here for, anyways? Please don't tell me I made that much of an ass of myself last night." "Ah, no, not exactly. We're here because, well, it kind of seems like we're really popular when it comes to having bounties placed on our heads. When we came up here, Jericho Beach was trashed with the mini-reactor blown open and the barracks painted with a warning addressed to us, and as far as we could gather it was another group of gryphon mercs. We were hoping you might be able to tell us who else operates around here, so we know if we should be worried or not." I adjusted myself on my hooves as Royce shuffled herself back on the bed, rubbing her forehead for a moment with her eyes clenched shut. Yeah, I think I'll stick with Sparkle-Cola hangovers... She let off a grunt, looking over us. "Hrm... well, you guys kind of wiped out a lot of the cheap and mid-range mercs from Vanhoover, so it could be muscle from down south, proper Talon Company or something. Though considering they actually were stupid enough to let you know, couldn't say..." She rubbed at her eyes, looking around the room for a moment before grabbing a bottle of water off of the nightstand, starting to gulp it down. Okay, worst case situation, a bunch of highly-trained and well organized mercenaries with the best weapons they could get, save for a couple morons in the group that leave behind calling cards. Best case, a bunch of incompetents... that still have access to hardware that can blow a miniature arcane reactor apart and tear a military barrack in half. Great. Rubbing her beak dry, Royce let off a sigh, thinking. "Dunno what you guys did besides setting off all those bombs and stuff, those guys working for Cerberus sure seemed like they wanted you dead to be paying out as much as they were. Thinking back, I probably should've recognized the black armor and glowing eyes shtick as the GPE power armor..." The gryphon blunk for a few moments, looking up to us. "Hey, doesn't one of you wear Enclave power armor? What's the deal with that, I thought the Enclave was supposed to be pretty unified up until what's-her-face ended them, or something like that." Static passed me a worrying glance, which I returned, Aerith wearing a grimace of her own. The earth pony cleared his throat, Royce rubbing at her temples. "Ahm, yeah, we kind of have a pretty good suspicion that the guys that were paying you were the same ones that were part of Crash Dive's old squadron... and have access to at least three fighter air craft armed with tesla cannons and possibly fuel-air bombs." ...huh, haven't seen that face in a while. Royce blunk a few times, beak agape, Static having gone quiet to think. "Hm... Night Strike, the sub we found, it's payload was meant for helping with something called Project Cerberus. You don't think that's connected to it, do you?" "If it is, then I can definitely see why they want to kill us now, Sparky. Just had to go for all of that gol-mmfh!" I blunk in surprise as a pillow found it's way to being shoved against my face, Static releasing a weak chuckle as I pushed back at it. Euch, tastes like sweaty feathers... Shooting the earth pony a glare, I gave my eyes a roll, looking back to Royce. "Anyways, point is Project Cerberus was pre-war as far as we can guess, and on top of that it was being funded by the zebras. If it's the same thing, then that means somepony really well off came across it, took up the name, and is now working in cahoots with the remnants of a trio of Enclave soldiers with flying death machines to get it working again. Well, that, or..." 'Or whoever/whatever Cerberus is was part of the project before the war.' Aerith flashed up a screen, the usual light bluish text replaced with a darker shade, still visible in the low light, and probably more comfortable for Royce. We all looked at her, the gryphon in the bed scratching at her herad, the alicorn glancing around at us. 'What? Come on, if we found a pre-war AI supercomputer obsessed with science that's still alive and around, why's it such a stretch? They're probably a ghoul, or something.' "Dad's story about NEAMO Crater did say that the place it was before it went up was run by a ghoul, it could be that. Heh, think he'll be proud of me for creating Cerberus Crater down here? I only need, what, a couple megaspells in the multi-megaton range to do it." Wearing a smirk, Static released a sigh, raising a hoof to cover his face. Hey, if this thing turns out to have the same kaboom potential as what caused NEAMO Crater to come into existence, I wanna be the one to set it off and see it! Royce was staring silently at myself, her bloodshot eyes wide as she could manage. "What?" "Have I said I'm so glad we aren't going after you guys anymore? Because I am -so- glad we aren't going after you guys anymore." The gryphon lifted herself from the bed, rubbing at her sore eyes and with a talon holding her forehead, shuffling around us to head for the small kitchenette area of the room. The door on the mini-fridge swung open, and she pulled another bottle of water from it, starting to drink that down as well. "Mmh, well, sorry I couldn't be of more help, all the mercs down here are different and have different ways in how they do stuff. You guys seem capable, I'm sure you won't have much issues with them if you're throwing balefire eggs and twenty mil AT rounds around, or something." I shared a glance with Aerith and Static, slightly confused. Huh, I mean, I know the fifty is a big round, but I didn't think it could be confused with a twenty millimeter. And past that, where'd she learn what a twenty mil round's damage effects looked like, anyways? Royce re-capped the water bottle, shutting the mini-fridge door and looking back towards us. "Ah, last I checked the only high velocity thing we had was War Crime, and she's chambered for fifty MG. Recoil's bad enough with that..." Royce scratched at her head for a moment before returning a shrug, heading back over to the bed and sitting herself down on it's edge. "Huh, thought it was a bigger round than that, going from the hole ya left in Merlin's wing. Used to know someone who used a twenty mil autocannon, Hispano I think her name was, another merc that came through here. She really looked ridiculous going around with that thing by her side, was damn near as big as she was." Well, that certainly wasn't exactly pleasant news to learn about when you're being hunted down by gryphon mercenaries. Just what we needed, someone with half of Featherweight's -light- battle saddle as their primary gun... I've seen what those things do to raiders, and ghouls, there's not a lot left afterwards besides a fine red mist and a few giblets stuck on the walls. Royce flopped back against the pillows, taking another sip from the water bottle before continuing. "Dunno what happened to her, though, this was around ten years back. Was a nice kid, kinda doubt she's one of the ones after you, though. She wasn't dumb enough to throw away the element of surprise like what those guys did, for one, and last I saw her I think she was going south with a group of settlers or something." Static let off a small sigh beside me, myself joining him - well, no twenty millimeter autocannon-weilding mercs to have to face down, that's good to hear, at least. Probably. Royce let off a long sigh of her own, looking over towards us. "Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful, been too long since I was last in Vanhoover and we didn't really mingle with the high-grade mercs. I'm sure you guys'll be fine, just, I dunno, throw a megaspell at 'em or something. That's what you do, right?" "We really try to not go throwing them around all the time, mainly because at least four of us are more mentally stable than the fifth." Static shot me a small glance as he spoke, myself answering him with a roll of my eyes. Just because straddling a megaspell is an awesome way to die doesn't mean I'm going to go do it in any hurry, Sparky. "Anyways, well, could you at least keep an eye out for any mercs that pass through for us? Ask them who they're after, maybe, I dunno, shoot them up for us?" Royce let off a small chuff through her beak, looking both of us over. "I can't say you haven't been tracked by mercs before, but you guys do have some things to learn about how mercenaries work. A merc'll do whatever it takes to kill their target, and try to not draw too much attention to themselves in doing it, either. Keeps themselves from getting killed. Me and my brother might not be in the mercenary business anymore, but we won't go killing other mercs in cold blood just because somepony asked us to. They attack Maple Station, raise hell here, then yeah, we'll kill 'em. They come through without that? My gun's staying holstered." Her talon-leg-things covered her chest feathers as she crossed them over, the gryphon wincing and rubbing against her head after a moment. "Nnf, fucking head... Look, if you're so worried, ask the tank ghouls or something. Yanno, or pay us to kill 'em for ya. Sure wouldn't mind that..." Static's face pretty much went just as you'd expect at that last suggestion, the wide-eyed stare of 'not gonna happen'. "Ask the tank ghouls, got it. C'mon Night Strike, Aerith, let's leave Royce alone, gotta get over to their shed, after all, eheh..." The earth pony started making his way for the door of the hotel room, Royce watching him for a moment with a hard glare, before sticking two of her fingers in the air in a V-shaped gesture. with the back of her talons towards Static. O...kay then. Aerith scratched at her head in response, following after Static, myself taking up the rear. We stepped out into the hallway, Static releasing a sigh and shaking his head, as Aerith brought up a sign. 'Well... that probably could have gone better.' --- The enthusiastic singing came through the railshed door as we filtered into the building that held the Tank Ghouls' tanks, Mad Jack's helmeted head sticking out of the commander's hatch on Avery as the side door closed noisily behind us. Static made his way over to the Mini-tank and trailer, leaving myself and Aerith to greet the rest of the group, the old wartime ghoul wearing a wide grin as he trotted over. "Night Strike, Aerith, fantastic seein' you two again! Been chipper as a woodpecker since those radiation storms started rolling through again, same with a lot of the town. Would say it's a shame that the Battered-Sea had to go, but it was a bit of an eyesore all alone on the coast with those two gantry cranes, even before the war." He let off a chuckle and gave our hooves a shake, trotting beside us as Rangefinder and Rheinmetall both joined up. "So, just a social visit, or are you lookin' to go robot-vaporizing again with our help?" They all broke out in a light laughter which I joined them in for a few moments, lightly shaking my head in response. "Not quite, unfortunately. We wanted to ask if you all could do something for us, with your tanks. It's..." I let off a sigh, the group notably much less cheerful than they were a moment ago. "We've got more mercenaries sent after us, and they've got some pretty heavy weaponry with them. We came across a warning, or threat or something, painted on the non-obliterated half of a barracks building at Jericho Beach while we were coming up here. We just wanted to know if you could maybe, I dunno, keep an eye out for them, whoever they are, and get 'em off our backs if possible." Mad Jack looked to Rheinmetall and Rangefinder for a moment, before stomping a hoof against the concrete floor and giving a curt nod. "If those mercenaries are looking for a fight, then we'll be sure to give them all one they won't be soon to forget. You've our word that we'll keep all eyes peeled for anyone coming through this town that seems to be on the war path, and by Celestia above the moment they set hoof inside our firing ranges we'll send them straight to hell in tin cans!" A wide smile held on his face as he shook his hoof in determination, Rangefinder trotting over to myself to rest one of her own aged hooves on my shoulder, a smirk apparent on her face. "You guys have enough on your plate as it is, what with the flying machines crashing and megaspells to set off, we can totally cover for ya. 'sides, it'd be nice to get featured on Radio KAOS again, 'Tank Ghouls Save Vanhoover Five, blast mercenaries apart!' Has a nice ring, don't it?" Myself letting loose a chuckle as the pegasus ghoul gave my shoulder a few taps, I responded with a nod, noticing Aerith having trotted over to the far end of the railshed. Rheinmetall adjusted his glasses beside Rangefinder and cleared his throat, wearing a light smile himself. "Yes, vell, I'm certain between the four of us we should be more than capable of handling a few mercenaries. We'll have the ammunition supply cart working overtime, and we ought to have a large enough store of thirty und fifty-caliber rounds to feed our tanks' maschinengewehrs." The unicorn ghoul paused and seemed to think for a moment, tapping a hoof against his chin. "Matter of fact, we have a rather astonishing amount of the fifty caliber rounds in storage as it stands now... and I do unfortunately think I know why. If we might be able to ask something in return-" "Please tell me you heard my message over the radio!" Sensha skidded herself to a stop in front of the group, myself staring blankly at the Zony. Message over the radio? Uh... I hope she didn't mean Radio KAOS, because I can't even remember the last time I even tuned in, and I definitely don't remember a message. Sensha stared at me for a moment longer before choking back a few tears, rubbing them from her eyes with a hoof. "It-it was about Caution Tape, he didn't return home by the time that he should have and-and he's been missing for longer than you've even been here. None of us can go far from Maple Station to look for him, and I can only assume you didn't come across him when you left for the shore... please, please try and find him when you leave this time, I... I..." The zony broke out into tears, pressing her face against Aerith's chest and loosely wrapping her hooves around one of the alicorn's legs, Aerith blinking in surprise. She gently moved to stroke Sensha's back with her free hoof, the other tank ghouls lowering their heads. Rheinmetall looked up at myself, letting loose a sigh. "Just what I was going to ask. Caution Tape may not have had the best tank of us all, but his Deathtrap had the most raw firepower of any of us, no less than seven machine guns chambered for fifty caliber. We're all worried about him, we would have searched when he didn't return but issues piled up here in Maple Station and we simply couldn't spare the tanks for it." "Only reason we could think of as to why he's so late getting back, his tank broke down somewhere, got bogged up in mud or something. Usually between Mad Jack and Rhymey's tanks we could get him fixed and moving, but if Deathtrap threw a track again or something there's no way he could fix it by himself." Rangefinder let off a sigh, heading back over to her tank, but not before suddenly and loudly kicking a wrench across the floor. "I should've been the one on that caravan, not him, Celestia-damnit. Of course I got sick that day and couldn't do it, I, just, erugh!" The ghoul pegasus seemed to throw herself up to the turret of her tank, dropping into the commander's hatch and loudly slamming it shut behind her. Aerith had sat herself down to properly hug Sensha, who was now just whimpering, as Rheinmetall released a sigh and headed back to his own tank, Mad Jack pulling his helmet off. "Never seemed to have a bad day, Caution Tape. Really helped us stick together with his mood, all of us'd greatly appreciate it if you could try and find him, help him out with whatever he needed. Don't want to imagine the worst..." The ghoul stallion trotted over to Sensha, resting a hoof on her shoulder, the zony looking up at him and rubbing her muzzle. She rose to her hooves, starting to trot back towards her tank, Mad Jack passing on a slight frown and damp eyes for a moment before accompanying Sensha. Aerith picked her own self up onto her hooves, moving up alongside myself as we headed back to the mini-tank, finding Static munching on snack cakes. Of course... He looked up at us from the trailer, swallowing down the mouthful he had and brushing some of the powdered sugar off of his muzzle, climbing out. "Mmh, so, what's the deal? They're gonna help us with the mercenaries, right?" Glancing between us, Static rubbed at the back of his head for a moment, myself biting at my lip. Aerith looke down at her suit and vest, rubbing some of the tears out of the fabric. "...right?" "Yeah, they are gonna keep watch and open fire if they see them for us. We're going to have to keep an eye out for a TOG-sized broken-down tank when we head off towards the east, though, because we have to find Caution Tape for them." Static scratched at his head again, looking more confused than anything. Come on, you were eating so loudly you didn't hear the crying? "We gotta find him, Static. He's apparently been missing for even longer than we've been down here for." "O...kay, yeah, that makes sense. Eyes peeled for tank-shaped things while we head east, got it." He gave a short nod, Aerith's magic levitating out a pair of the bomb-bottles full of Sparkle-Cola that we packed for the trip, giving one off to me while keeping the other. I popped open the cap, the fizzy soda settling after a moment, my brain starting to switch over to lighter stuff, remembering something about Sparkle-Cola while we're up here... Heh, oh, yeah, how'd I forget about that... "As long as we're not expected to have to tow him back, anyways... Not sure a mini-tank can tow a tank-tank that easily." "Well, we pretty much proved that it can tow half a trailer's worth of soda all along the coast, so don't doubt it too much." Letting off a chuckle, I took a long sip from the bottle, letting the cold nectar of the goddesses flow over my tongue and down into my stomach. Ah, now that's making me feel better... Static gave his eyes a roll, turning to head for the door, myself still looking at the half-track. "Speaking of, there's still half a trailer more we need to get, and I think you'd probably want to do it during the day, right? Burning sunlight, Sparky~" The earth pony froze in his tracks for a moment, before dropping his head with a sigh and turning around, hopping into the driver's seat of the mini-tank. I let off a small giggle, taking my usual spot behind Boomer - oh, how I love when I do good with the talky-word stuff... goddess-damnit, brain. --- The sun was hanging in the western sky as the half-track trundled back into the tank shed, the wagon behind me clinking lightly with the sound of half a trailer's worth of Sparkle-Cola inside of it, along with a few stacks of old movie film reels. The motor purred to a stop as Static turned it off, myself hopping away from Boomer and under the tarp to grab one of the new bottles. It opened with a satisfying hiss, a wide grin on my muzzle as I started drinking down the aged, frigid soda - ah, just like back home. Static hopped to the concrete floor, looking up towards myself. "Satisfied now?" Mouth still full of the nectar of the goddesses, I gave a quick nod, feeling the soda starting to fizz up from the shaking before swallowing it down. Ewuh, that's an odd feeling... "Alright, I'm gonna see if I can't ask the tank ghouls to watch over this stuff too while we're gone to the east, don't exactly want to have a literal ton of glass to worry about if we have to make a fast getaway." "Sounds like a plan. I'll go find Aerith, hopefully she's found Scouring and Crash Dive by now so we can get ourselves ready for setting off tomorrow." The earth pony gave me a nod, trotting off towards the tanks as I hovered to the floor, holding on to the bomb-bottle. Stepping through the smaller utility door beside the main shed ones, the snow-covered railyard expanded out before me, another quarter of the soda in the bottle disappearing into my stomach as I gave my wings a ruffle. Whoof, I get these bottles are cold but I've never felt it cold through my jacket before... oh, wait, right, bullet holes. Guh. Looking down at my right sleeve for a moment, I let off a sigh, taking to the air and starting to fly into the town. Hopefully that seamster place can fix... whatever this thing's made of. Leather, or something? Flying over Maple Station for a while, neither the black suit of the alicorn nor the glint of the afternoon sun reflecting off of power armor caught my attention, myself releasing a sigh and turning to head for the passenger train parked at the station. The old floorboards creaked as I touched down upon them, trotting up onto the platform at the end of the carriage and heading through the doorway into the rest of the railcar. The small bell gave a light ring, the ghoul behind the counter looking up with a smile. "Oh, nice to see you again! I take it your friend's been enjoying her new clothes?" Answering him with a nod, I trotted myself over to the counter, the unicorn closing the book he was reading and setting it aside. "Considering she hasn't worn anything else since we were last here, I'd certainly think so. She might be letting it get to her head a little, though, I think she's thinking about reviving the Silver Shroud." Letting off a chuckle, Singer joined in with a light snicker of his own, myself lifting a hoof to undo the zipper on my jacket. The heavy material hung loose, myself blinking a little as something fuzzy vrushed against my chest - oh, right, the plushie of dad... "Ahm, I'm actually here for myself today, do you do repairs? Kind of took a magnum shotgun blast to the leg yesterday, cut a few holes in and the draft is driving me nuts." Singer's eyes went wide for a moment, before he looked down to my jacket's sleeve, and the leg inside. Slipping my right leg out, I quickly grabbed the plushie from the interior pocket, fishing around for a moment and retreiving a few spare 40mm grenades as well - how'd I forget I had those? "Ahm, yes, of course, I do repairs as well. Do you know what material it's made out of?" Slipping my wings out and fully pulling the jacket off, I held it up for him, the unicorn taking it in his magic and adjusting his glasses to better examine it. "Honestly haven't a clue. I think it's leather, but... eh. Usually Cross Stitch would fix it back up back home, he never mentioned what it was made from. Always seemed good as new, though." I idly scratched at the back of my head as the old ghoul spread out the damaged sleeve, looking over the segments where it was cut straight through by the large bullet fragments. How Cross managed that without any visible stitches or patches, now that was a very good question... I think I might've gotten shot at a little too often back home. Then again, down here hasn't exactly been peaceful, either... Singer levitated over a maginfying glass, starting to look at the sleeve in greater detail, his eyes narrowing slightly as an unsure look came upon his muzzle. "Hm... this is actually rather intriguing. Dear, I believe your jacket may be made out of a material known as Dragonskin." I blunk a few times, leaning in to look through the magnifying glass with him. The brown material seemed to glisten slightly in the light, no odd threads sticking out from where they were cut through as I had expected. I looked up at Singer in confusion, the seamster returning a surprised expression of his own. "I've seen it used in some partial body armor before, and I even used a similar material to it to make the vest for your friend's suit, but I've never seen it used to make a whole winter coat. Where did you get this from?" "Um..." Scratching at the back of my head with a hoof, I tried to remember. Hm... man, I've had it since I was a filly, did I really never think about this before now? "Can't really remember, honestly. I think it was a gift from Minty and Cross Stitch or something, or maybe Knight Fringe? I've had it since I was a filly... damn, if Minty and Cross actually killed and skinned a dragon for it, I really didn't peg them for being that badass." Trying to picture the two augmented unicorns shooting up a dragon, Minty with Jolts and Cross plinking away at it with that .45 Welrod, Singer let off a light chuckle, breaking me out of it and giving his head a shake. "Heh, sorry to say that's just the name of the material, it was developed before the war artificially to serve as discrete body armor for military and law enforcement applications. It's rather effective against low-velocity rounds, pistols and that sort of thing, and downright impervious to lasers and blunt weapons. Larger rifle rounds are able to get through it, and I think plasma might do some damage as well, however." Singer levitated up the jacket, rolling the sleeve back to look at the interior lining, checking out the holes cut into it. Huh, so this old thing is actually that good for body armor? Who'd have guessed... well, whoever gave it to me, probably. "Still, to have an entire insulated jacket made out of it, that's something quite impressive all it's own. I should be able to repair these holes without any fuss, it's effectively the same as how your friend can fix her own vest should she get it damaged." Answering him with a nod, the unicorn looked to the jacket, rolling the sleeve back into place and lowering his horn to touch the material. He seemed to focus, his horn flaring with magic for a quick moment before a bright flash of greenish-white light took hold of the places where the rounds had cut through, fading away to reveal the freshly-repaired jacket. I blunk a few times to get my eyes back - guh, stupid ghosting - eventuakly being able to see as Singer lifted the sleeve up to the light, looking it over. Rubbing at my eyes still, the ghoul seamster wore a smile, levitating my jacket back over to me. "There you are, good as new. Don't usually get repairs that are this easy to do, how's fifty caps sound to cover it?" Huh, only that much? Well, between the fix and letting me know that all I need to repair it from now on is Aerith and her wonderful long horn, that's pretty reasonable. Slipping the jacket back on and refilling the pockets with my stuff, I dug through them again, before freezing. Oh... crap, I left my duffel bag back with the mini-tank. Singer's smile faltered, looking at myself as I chewed on my lip. "Ahm, something wrong?" "Eh... kind of. Just realized I flew over here without any bottlecaps on me... ah, I can go get what I need from the half-track, just need a few minutes, eheh." Rubbing at the back of my head with a hoof, I wore a weak smile, Singer releasing a small chuff as he brought a hoof against his chin and tapped it a few times, thinking. Smooth, Strikey, real smooth... "I-It's just in the Tank Ghouls' shed, I promise I'll come right back after I get it." The ghoul seamster thought for a few more moments before shrugging, passing on a nod. "Sounds reasonable, and from how much your friend paid for her outfit I know you're good for it. Just come right back, a stallion's got to make a living, after all, heh." Passing on a smile, I turned and quickly made way for the end of the carriage, the door shutting closed behind me. Leaping off the deck at the end of the railcar on the side that wasn't facing the station, I spread my wings... or, tried to. Apparently they work a lot better when you actually bother to slip them through the two slots specifically made for them. Having just about enough time to realize that I couldn't feel the crisp air under my wings, the next moment my muzzle was quite thoroughly buried in the snowbank beside the tracks, a muffled grunt escaping me. Stupid sturdily-built jacket... --- "You really couldn't have just gotten the info about your jacket from him without giving him a hundred caps? Especially the part about Aerith being more than able to fix it herself?" I gave my head a shake as Static pushed open the door to the Roundhouse, all of us shuffling inside, the sun disappearing behind the hills off towards the west. It was decidedly less crowded inside than last night, allowing us to actually be able to move around without bumping into anypony else - and, mercifully, one of the people that wasn't there was a certain gryphon with a taste for whiskey. "I mean, come on Strikey, we aren't made of caps!" "Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I forgot that I wasn't supposed to do nice gestures if it meant giving away caps, especially amounts that are less than half of a percent of what we have." Shooting the earth pony a look, he let off a small chuff, trotting for a booth near the wall, as usual. We all shuffled in with him, myself slipping in beside him as Aerith, Scouring, and Crash Dive moved to the other side. I let off a sigh, putting on a smal grin and nudging Static in the side. "C'mon, you spent more on those pancakes back at Maple Creek, and I'm sure we can probably take one of those flak guns Contrail mentioned from the airbase too to sell off somewhere. Besides, not like I'm going to have to go back to him to get more repairs done, and pay him for those, right?" Static let off a small sigh, leaning forwards on the table beside me, a small smile coming to his muzzle. "Fine, fine, but you owe me for it. I'm sure I can think of some way for you to pay me back if you can't get the caps..." A light chuckle escaped him as he gave my cheek a light peck, a blush forming on my face soon afterwards. I gave off a giggle of my own, shaking my head - knowing you, Sparky, I dunno if I want to know what you've got planned. The power armored pegasus across from us let off a chuckle of her own, both myself and Static looking up as a waiter passed out menus. "You guys really are a cute couple, yanno. Already have the bickering down right." I think that comment had us both blushing now, everyone ordering their drinks as a soft melody played. The waiter gave a nod, myself looking towards the stage, catching that brunette mane resting in bobs on the shoulders of that wonderful ghoulified dame, wearing a soft blue dress with a red poppy and waiting for her cue. As her voice began ringing out true and filling the hall, well... it was certainly an appropriate melody, to say the least. "I'm in the mood for love Simply because you're near me. Funny, but when you're near me I'm in the mood for love~" ----- The wind bit at our exposed coats the next morning as we stepped out of the hotel. The servos in Scouring’s armor whirred as we walked along, our hooves making soft prints in the thick layer of snow that covered the ground, frigid and faintly reminding me of back home. We trotted towards the shed at the far side fo the yard, the trainyard full of ponies heading about their daily errands. Stopping momentarily in front of a set of tracks, a large team of stallions could be seen tugging a boxcar along behind them, a pair of fillies looking out of a window cut into the side as their house clacked along the metal rails. Stepping over the train tracks, we soon made our way towards the tank garage, the door creaking as it swung open. Rangefinder stood looking over the treads of her tank, fiddling with something on the wheels it ran on. She glanced over her shoulder as we entered, grinning and tossing an oily rag up onto the metal front track cover. “Heya, guys! Heading back out already? Mad Jack’d probably want to say goodbye too, but I think he got a little too excited with his winnings last night.” She nodded over towards said ghoul’s tank, where snoring could be heard even through the thick metal plating. Night Strike nodded as Aerith headed over to the mini-tank, hopping in and giving her guns an inspection. “Yeah, setting off for the east, I think if Static stays in one place for too long he gets cranky.” I rolled my eyes as Rangefinder shrugged, hoisting herself up onto the front of her tank and picking the rag back up. She began to polish the long barrel sticking from the turret, Night Strike trotting around to get a better look at it. As she did, her ears perked up slightly. “Oh, hey, would you happen to know anything about Stable… shoot, what was it, Static?” Night Strike asked, turning to me. I tossed her the pamphlet and the riffled through it quickly. “Oh, yeah, a Stable 117? Apparently it was built in the mountain range to the southeast of here, somewhere near the Basin Overlook mines it looks like, but we haven't heard anypony talk about it.” Rangefinder scratched at her chin, squinting a little as she thought. “Hm… no, not that I’ve ever heard of. Though I really don’t know much about Stables in this area either, I was down by Baltimare when the bombs hit and came across Fyre a little while after that, eventually wandered up to here. Didn't bother to go anywhere besides places where ponies lived.” The ghoulified pegasus gave a shrug, as I hopped into the driver’s seat of the smal half-track, flicking on the engine. The motor behind me began to rumble as I turned the tank around to face the large garage doors, the wheels of the wagon squeaking as they rolled along behind. Night Strike passed on a shrug to Rangefinder, climbing onto the back as the others boarded as well. “Huh, ah well. Thanks anyways.” The two pegasi passed on waves to each other as I headed out of the main doors, driving along the rows of boxcars towards the edge of town. We passed underneath a pre-war crane, where a guard could be seen sitting in the small operating box, the barrel of a hunting rifle leaned up against the frame of an open window. The trainyard soon disappeared behind us, a lone set of tracks heading eastward towards the mountains barely visible through the snow. I followed the tracks for a while, having no road to drive along as we powered onwards through the bare fields, looking towards the tree-covered mountains. The mini-tank chugged as the ground began to slope upwards, the tracks turning south and following a ridge that grew steadily taller as we followed them. I slowed a little to better wend my way through the fallen boulders that blocked the roads along the line, occasionally having to drive on the tracks themselves. Yeesh, whose idea was it to build a railroad so close to these cliffs, anyways? The mini-tank bounced up as the wheel rolled over the tracks again, myself letting off a cloudy sigh and eventually just driving between the rails - not like we have to worry about trains or anything. The ground to our right fell away sharply, leaving us slowly trundling up the tracks along the side of the mountain. Scouring looked over the edge nervously, before leaning back to the side of the trailer away from the drop-off. The tracks leveled off slightly, leading to a small switchback. I carefully maneuvered the tank around the loop, my heart jumping to my throat as a few rocks tumbled down the side of the cliff. “Eheheh, y'sure you don’t see some other way up 'round here? One hell of a drop, inn't it?..." I only gulped, keeping the mini-tank rolling carefully along the track heading upwards. The outcrop of the cliff steadily inclined, twisting its way around the mountain. Higher and higher we climbed, the top of the mountain never seeming to draw any nearer as we followed the tracks. To my relief, however, the ground finally began to level out slightly again as we crested one of the smaller mountains in the range. Looking down, the tracks ran through a small town, before continuing eastward. I slowed the tank as we passed down the smaller slope on the other side of the first mountain, stopping in front of a small station on the side of the track. “I… uh… I think I need a bit of a break after that cliff… guh, at least there’s less of a chance of rockslide here.” My hooves shook a little as I climbed out of the mini-tank, still shaking as I landed on the frigid snow that had piled on the platform. Scouring climbed out of the trailer, looking equally shaken, even through his power armor. Aerith looked over to Night Strike, shrugging as Scouring and I stepped into the station, myself catching my breath. The station had a few benches sitting in a small waiting room, the old ticket booth gated off. I wandered over to the door of the ticket booth, finding it locked as the others stepped into the station behind me. Aerith wandered over to a shelf full of old magazines, flipping through a couple as I pulled the ax out from under the strap of my saddlebags. I carefully placed the blade above the knob of the door, biting down on the handle. A crack filled the air as I swung down rapidly, the rotting wood easily snapping away, the rusty knob breaking apart as the door swung open. Stowing the ax, I stepped into the cashier’s room, punching one of the keys down on the cash register. The drawer popped open with a ding, revealing a few stacks of pre-war bits. I scooped them up into my saddlebags before trotting back into the main room of the station - well, if nothing else, at least we got a few caps back out of this... guh, earth ponies and heights just don't mix. Crash Dive pushed open a door into a small side room where a skeleton lay in a cramped jail cell, its hoof reaching out of the bars towards a discarded bottle of water. Eesh, at least the guards got the quick death of megaspell blast. Night Strike stepped over the skeleton’s hoof, digging around inside a desk. She tossed aside a few pencils before coming across a deck of cards, which she promptly slipped into the pocket of her jacket. Well, it's something, I suppose... Having nothing else to do, we headed back outside, looking over the town that lay before us... though calling it a 'town' was probably being quite generous. Other than the station, there was only a general store and a small inn that looked barely big enough for three rooms that made up the stop. “Jeez, I know some places are small, but this is pretty ridiculous.” Night Strike said as we trotted between the two buildings, the ground cold and hard beneath our hooves. “Think it’s jus' supposed to be a rest stop. Y’know, some place the ponies workin' the railroad could stop between distant stations... actually…” Scouring trailed off, turning and trotting to look around the store, looking towards the mountain range as it continued to the east. “Huh, think that might be Mountain Springs, out that way.” He pointed off in the distance. I squinted, shielding my eyes from the sun with my hoof. “Nae, no, more left, there!” He tried to direct my gaze, but I couldn’t spot anything in the underlying ground except a small ravine carved into the rocky terrain. Scouring waved his hoof, giving an exasperated sigh. “Ah, forget it. Not like we’d be going there anyway, I doubt the Elder’d be happy if I turned up without my company, especially after sendin' us out on a wild goose chase anyways.” We made our way back towards the mini-tank, and I hopped into the driver’s seat, the others taking their usual positions as I started up the engine once more. I was able to drive away from the railroad tracks a bit as we headed further eastward, deeper into the snowy mountains. As we drove along, Night Strike pulled out the deck of cards she’d found, carefully laying it on the back of the tank. “Anyone up for blackjack?” I hit a rock on the ground, the cards scattering out into an uneven pile that only barely all stayed on the back. “Or, um… go fish?” --- “Got any… queens?” Night Strike asked, looking over to Aerith. The alicorn shook her head, and Night Strike drew from the now small pile lying before her. Scouring leaned up against the front of the trailer, looking down at the cards held in his magic. The railway had turned south long ago, leaving us driving across the rocky ground of the mountains with no guide besides the compass on our Pip-Bucks. The ground dipped slightly as we drove closer to the second line of mountains on the ridge, crumbling away into a dried riverbed. A thin stream of water flowed through the bottom of the chasm, tumbling over the large rocks that the large spring stream would have easily shifted. I scanned the riverbed, my brow furrowing a little as I tried to spot someplace we’d be able to cross. The ground before us was starting to slope up once again, quickly growing steeper as the ravine turned into a large pothole, the stream of water cascading down the side of the mountain into the pool of the ravine. I brought the mini-tank to a stop on the edge of the riverbed, looking out across the low water. “Uhh… anypony have any idea how we’re supposed to get across this? I don’t think I’m going to be able to drive this thing up that mountain ridge.” The others looked up from their game, glancing around to see the canyon. Crash Dive lowered her hand of cards, flicking her headlamp on to get a better view in the dimming light. “You sure we didn’t pass a bridge? I can’t see a good way to get this thing across.” I shook my head, Aerith’s horn lighting up as she conjured up a sign. ‘Scouring and I might be able to levitate the tank and the trailer over one at a time, it’s not too wide. Unless you want to head all the way back to the tracks and see if there’s a bridge crossing there, I think that’s our best bet.’ I tilted my head, not really liking either scenario. Night Strike bent down and snatched up a rock from the ground as we thought. She tossed it in her hoof before taking careful aim and chucking it towards the edge of the ravine. The stone landed with a crack against a large rock embedded into the wall of the riverbed. The rock shifted before tumbling down, sending up a cloud of dust as it knocked more stones loose on its way to the bottom of the ravine. Night Strike and Scouring looked at each other, a little grin crossing Night Strike’s face. Oh, I really don’t like that kind of grin... Scouring began to pick out a few bricks of C4 from the trailer, passing them over to Night Strike. She took the explosives, her wings flaring out as she took to the air, flapping over to the other side of the ravine. Carefully digging away at the side of the dusty cliff, she squeezed two of the bricks into the newly formed hole before returning to our side to do the same. Flying back up to the mini-tank, she gave Scouring a nod, who promptly presented his detonator and pressed the trigger. The explosion echoed through the canyon, rocks tumbling away as a dense fog of dust and dirt was kicked up into the air. I covered my mouth, coughing a bit as my goggles thankfully shielded my eyes from the debris. As the sound of tumbling rocks subsided, I looked over to see a newly created bridge of dust and stone, the river splashing up against the makeshift dam. “There we go, made a bridge. Only took ten seconds, eleven, tops.. I’d hurry up if I were you, who knows how long until the river shakes the rocks loose again.” Night Strike said, wearing a smirk. I shook my head, turning the tank around to face the pile of rubble. Jeez, why can’t there just be a problem we can’t solve with explosives for once? I drove down the blown apart section of the wall, the treads knocking a few stones down into the riverbed as it trundled along the path. Water splashed up against the wall of rocks, a little bit trickling out the other end to continue flowing down the path. The tank strained a little as it reached the other end, the ramp of dirt still a little steep for it. I twisted the throttle, the engine roaring as the treads spun in the mud, eventually catching and dragging us forward up onto level ground again. “I really don’t think that should have worked.” I said, picking up the speed as we headed south along the side of the cliffs. Night Strike waved a hoof dismissively, leaning back up against Boomer as she glanced back down at her cards. As we continued southwards, I spotted a large collection of buildings in the distance. As we approached, I could spot a large Ferris wheel standing over the buildings, along with a old rollercoaster running around the perimeter of the park. A high fence ran around the buildings, forcing me to drive alongside it towards what looked like the entry gate. “Six games in a row? I’m starting to think you’re cheating.” Night Strike said as Aerith beamed, gathering up the cards to slip them back into her pocket. She turned to face the front as I drove around the corner of the fence, pulling up beside the front gate. Another set of train tracks ran by a small platform near the gate before turning to head down the side of the mountain, back towards the lakes in the large basin below. Lettering across the gate read ‘Vanhoover Mt. Fairgrounds’, the pegasus behind me scratching at her head. “Huh, what’s a fair doing all the way up here? Seems pretty far from any towns to get much business.” I shrugged in response, pulling up closer to the entrance. “Cheap land, probably. Not to mention they could pretty much expand however they’d want up here, so long as they had access to the railway.” Night Strike hopped off of the back of the tank, heading towards the narrow gaps of the ticket booth. I turned off the engine and climbed out after her, the others following suit. The sun was dipping low over the far mountains to the west, the long shadows cast by them giving us only barely enough light to properly navigate the pathway. Scouring slipped on his helmet and switched on his own headlamp as Night Strike and I turned on our Pip-Buck lights to better see in the dark, Crash Dive's visor glowing that eerie red. “Hopefully they have some trailers parked around here somewhere to sleep in. Kind of doubt we'll be reaching the next town on the way tonight.” Crash Dive said, the beam of her headlamp sweeping across the various food stands stationed near the entrance. Ooh, caramel apples, cotton candy, cheese curds, funnel cake… my stomach growled loudly, causing me to blush and reach into my saddlebags for one of the few remaining cans of Cram we’d swiped from the military base. Crash Dive looked over to see my scarf down some of the low grade hay before looking forward and shaking her head. “Hmh, maybe you -would- have fit better in the Enclave, if you can eat that stuff so easily. Or maybe earth ponies are just able to stomach flavored preservatives...” I only scooped out some more, swallowing the first bite. Hay is hay, who cares what’s in it? Tossing the empty tin into a trashcan as we passed by, I glanced around, looking for someplace we’d be able to stop for the night. We passed by a large animal barn, the sound of buckets suddenly clattering to the floor filling the air. We all stopped in place, turning to look at the barn door, keeping quiet. The power armored unicorn trotted up to it, Night Strike pulling out Thumper as he did. The door creaked as it swing open, Scouring and Crash Dive’s lights cutting through the inky blackness. We couldn’t spot anything in the barn, and Scouring simply backed up, leaving the door ajar. “Prob’ly just a rat or somethin'.” He muttered before we continued through the park. The air seemed unnaturally quiet after the noise of the buckets falling, all of us a little on edge. We came up to a large barn, a sign beside the doors reading ‘Expo center’. We ducked inside, the door closing behind us with a thud. My hoof ran along the wall, looking for a switch as Night Strike wandered down one of the rows of tables. Finding something, I pressed the switch and lights began to flicker on. Almost immediately after the hal fully illuminated, I heard Night Strike scream, followed by an explosion and several gunshots as she fired off Thumper and War Crime wildly. “AAAaaaah, killitkillitkillitkillitkillitkiiiilliiiiiit!” She cried, stumbling backwards. I rushed over, whipping out my umbrella only to find Night Strike emptying her weapons haphazardly at a display where a large animatronic manticore stood, grinning widely, one of its paws curled into a thumbs up. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me... “Really, Night Strike?” I passed on a glare as the pegasus sat herself up, having fallen onto her back from the panic. She simply loaded another grenade into Thumper as War Crime sat empty beside her, but I snatched the rifle from her before she could do anything further with it. “For Celestia’s sake, it’s a robot without power, what’s it going to-“ I was cut off as Thumper suddenly fired as the breech snapped shut, the grenade flying off into a display of a taffy stretching machine and the grenade rifle flying out of my hoof and bouncing off the ground. I shook my head, Night Strike getting back to her hooves and glaring at me. “Hey, they're creepy as hell, alright? Now gimmie Thumper back so I can send this thing back to the depths of Tartarus where it belongs...” I rolled my eyes as she snatched up the grenade rifle and War Crime, myself trotting back to the rest of the group with Night Strike eventually following. Let’s just hope whatever it was that knocked down the buckets decided to walk away from the explosions instead of investigating... Night Strike slung her prized grenade rifle over her back and put her automatic sniper rifle into her duffel bag, before hopping into the wagon and turning to Scouring. “Come on, help me set up some more bricks of C4 around this building. We’re not leaving until that thing’s a pile of fine dust.” I sighed, following her back outside as Scouring let of a weak chuckle, Crash Dive sharing in my annoyance. It's just a flipping animatronic... As we approached the gate, I spotted a trio of ponies looking over the trailer, all talking quietly amongst themselves. I picked up my pace, drawing my umbrella, the end buzzing with some electricity. “Hey, back off!” I shouted through the handle, charging forwards with Night Strike flying beside. One of the ponies looked up and gave a small shout of surprise, before the others ducked down behind the trailer. Aerith drew her tommy gun as we approached, Crash Dive’s light illuminating the mini-tank. A grenade arced into the air from the mini-tank, Aerith quickly letting loose a spray of bullets towards it, the grenade exploding mid-air. Scouring pulled out Sunburst, the rocket launcher extending out as he jumped out around the trailer. Before he could react, though, one of the ponies leapt out and pinned him to the ground, myself feeling the heavy thud from a few meters away - sheesh, what kind of pony was that heavy!? Scouring struggled for a moment before he suddenly stopped, staring up at the pony, who I could now see was in Steel Rangers power armor. “Scourin'? The hell’re you doing here?” The pony quickly stepped off of Scouring, helping him back up to his hooves. “Me? What about you, why're you all wanderin' around in the middle of nowhere? Thought you guys were heading back to Vanhoover t' get drunk.” I lowered my umbrella, thoroughly confused. Aerith’s magic faded as she holstered her gun, walking up beside Scouring. Crash Dive hung back, no doubt skeptical as Night Strike trotted up with me. “Aw, well... Okay, ya got us, we kinda got bored, and Crimson over here said we ought'a think about headin' back to base. We, uh, just kinda got sidetracked... apparently there's a great golf course right down on the northeast side of the reservior though, heh.” The earth pony stallion, who wore a grey-green hat over his brown mane, turned to face us as two others stood up behind the trailer. “And, uh, who’re these guys?” Scouring gave a bit of a nervous chuckle, looking back and forth between everypony. “Ah, right... ahm, guys, like you t' meet my old squadron, B Company.” ----- Blinking a few times in disbelief, I slipped Thumper back onto my back, Scouring's squadmates trotting out from behind the mini-tank's wagon. The one who'd tackled Scouring initially moved to grab a pretty sizable rocket launcher from the ground, attaching it to his armor, as the brown-coated earth pony ranger trotted over and managed a quick salute before extending an armored hoof towards me. "Knight-Sergeant Crimson Wagon, of the Mountain Springs steel rangers. These two idiots with me are Knight Sweet Water and Knight Decisive Strike, guessing you're the group we've been hearing about, Vanhoover Five, right?" Shaking his hoof with a whir of servos, I answered with a nod, Static looking over the three-pronged energy-weapon-thing that was attached to the side of his armor. "Ah, yup, that's us, heh. I'm Night Strike, this is Static Charge, Aerith, and Crash Dive. Vanhoover Five, in the flesh..." Nodding towards everyone, the ranger with the missile launcher looked up from where he was, looking towards me in minor confusion. What's up with... 'Knight' Strike. Oh boy, that's probably gonna get confusing before too long. Crimson Wagon gave a nod, a blue-coat power armored unicorn with a combat helmet and glasses on - ehm, must be Sweet Water, I guess - trotting over beside him. "Hey, uh, so, if you guys ah cool with it, could you give us a lift, maybe? We kinda wanna get outta this place fast, yanno, really book it to somewhere that... well, isn't here, eheh." He wore a weak smile, looking out towards the fairgrounds as myself and Aerith looked at him in confusion, Static eventually noticing the annoyed look Crimson Wagon was giving him for examining his weapon and moving back up alongside me. Sweet Water gave a quick glance back at Decisive Strike, before leaning in closer. "And, yanno, if you don't have space of all three of us, just me and Crimson are fine, we can leave Strike and nopony'd bat an eye. Just get me outta here..." "Aw, Sweets, you're breakin' my heart over here!" I took a small step backwards as Decisive Strike came over, tapping against Sweet Water's combat helmet a few times and knocking the unicorn's glasses out of place. He settled back onto his hooves, the elbow of his armored foreleg clanking against the side of the unicorn's power armor. "Don't mind him, he's just jumpy on account'a what we got set up in this here park. See, we found this great boxcar-thing on the tracks around here, and as it turns out what it's got inside was a little more fun than just some shipment of dried fruit. Can't wait to see how big one o' those warheads is gonna go up..." "Can ya at least do us the favor of waiting until we're out of the freakin' blast zone, Strike? I didn't sign up to B Company to be Balefire-broiled!" Sweet Water looked over at Strike with an exasperated look in his eyes, adjusting his glasses on his muzzle. Crimson, for his part, just let off a sigh and gave his head a shake, while my own eyes opened wide. A balefire warhead, in that theme park, in relatively close proximity to that Celestia-forsaken animatronic manticore? Hearth's Warming has come early... Crimson stepped forwards, clearing his throat and getting the attention of both Sweet Water and Decisive Strike. "Sweet Water, if I'm remembering things right I was the only one who actually signed up for B Company. You're here because you let that pre-war virus get onto our databanks." The unicorn wore a small grimace, dropping his head, Decisive Strike letting off a chuckle. Crimson turned to face us, releasing a cloudy chuff into the air. "Much as I hate to admit it, we do need some help getting out of here. Strike found an old rail garrison missile car, some sort of mobile MRBM silo or something, and we're trying to do somethin' good for a change and get rid of the damned thing. Problem is, with Scouring having all our C4 to take care of that pizza place down in the south, best we could come up with to properly destroy it was to rig one of the warheads themselves to go off via detonator." "...and we don't have any way of getting the hell outta dodge fast, all the Vertibucks we got are grounded and the nearest place we can just rest for the night that isn't here is around an hour or two away on hoof. I don't trust Strike to wait for much longer before pulling the trigger..." Wearing a wide grin in my muzzle, I looked over to Satic, the earth pony sharing an uneasy look of his own - oh, c'mon, you can't blame me for this one! That's 'Knight' Strike's fault... Static let off a sigh, trotting over to the mini-tank. "Alright, hop in the back trailer, I'll get the engine started. Just tell me where we need to go." The earth pony hefted himself up into the driver's seat as I hovered over to land on the back behind Boomer, Sweet Water trotting over to give Static directions. Aerith scooched over to allow Strike and Crimson to climb on the back wagon as well, Scouring following them and the suspension creaking under their weight. C'mon, you carried fifteen tons of thermobaric bombs to the lighthouse, you can handle a few tons of power armor ya stupid wagon. Sweet Water trotted around to the back, stopping to take aim with his... ehm, crap, know I've seen that thing somewhere before... Gatling laser! That's it. Yeah, stopped to aim his gatling laser at... Crash Dive. Oh, for the love of... "S-Sarge? GPE unit, twelve-o-clock, permission to engage?" Letting off a sigh and giving my head a shake, I jumped off of the back of the mini-tank, landing in front of the nervous steel ranger. Sheesh, no wonder this guy's in B Company... his eyes refocused to meet mine, as did his aim, Crash Dive trotting up behind me with her helmet on. Oh, come on Crash Dive, I thought you were getting better with talking first and shooting later when it comes to meeting new ponies now. "Uh, how about we -not- shoot each other? This is Crash Dive, she's ex-Enclave and beyond that, one of the longest-serving members of the Vanhoover Five. Or to put it in other words, you shoot her, I have a fifty cal automatic and forty mil shotgun, and about as low a tolerance for being shot at as she does. Got it?" The power armored unicorn responded with a shaky nod, giving one last glance to Crash Dive before rushing over to the wagon and clambering himself in. I let off a sigh, repositioning myself behind Boomer, as Crash Dive climbed onto the back seat of the mini-tank, the suspension bowing a little with her weight. Crimson looked over to Sweet Water for a moment before turning to face us, taking a lingering moment to look at Crash Dive, the engine of the mini-tank rumbling to life beneath me. "Gonna have to forgive Sweet Water, before he was transferred he was a scribe, doubt he ever handled a Gatling laser a day in his life before getting thrown into B Company. Should've known one of you was former Enclave, have been listening to the radio broadcasts for a while." The cool mountain air started to blow through our manes as we got moving, Crash Dive looking up towards myself with the faintest bits of a smile, while Crimson's own eyes narrowed. "Though I do hope that you aren't actually planning on turning what weapons you've got on the troops under my command, because I'll make sure it doesn't end well for you either." Blinking a few times in surprise, I let off a weak laugh, rubbing at my neck and trying to hide a grimace with a slight smile. Oh yeah, maybe threatening a military powerhouse like the Steel Rangers isn't the best of ideas... I waved a hoof dismissedly in the air in front of me, adjusting myself against Boomer slightly. "N-no, 'course not, that's... not my style. We're just protective of our own, yanno? Don't want anypony to get hurt unless they shoot first, eheh..." Crimson held his gaze on me for a few more moments, before releasing a cloudy sigh and giving his head a shake. Smooth, Strikey, real smooth... "Look, the thing is, we're the only ones in this wasteland who've been really caring about Crash Dive here. We don't want her getting hurt any more than she already is, same as you don't want your squad getting themselves hurt. You understand that, right?" Crimson paused for a moment, seeming to just look at the space between him and Aerith, before letting off another sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I understand that. Not gonna do any of us good if we're at each other's throats, if we're traveling together now." Giving him a nod, we conginued speeding onwards through the crisp night, Static rubbing a hoof against his tired eyes. C'mon Sparky, I know you can manage at least this... and if not, well, I'm sure I can spare a Sparkle-Cola RAD or two to force down your throat. Or, yanno, have you drink wilingly, whatever works. --- A short while of following the tracks that ran in front of the theme park later had us slowing down in front of another waystation, Static turning the mini-tank and wagon to bring them off of the rails and stop us in front of the hotel. The engine rumbled to a stop as he switched it off, myself letting off a long yawn as everypony disembarked and started heading inside. Mmf, okay, maybe Sparkle-Cola RAD can only carry someone so far... then again, I do drink a lot of the stuff as it is. Static stumbled in the snow as his hooves landed, eventually managing to catch himself and head up in through the hotel door, myself slipping off of my perch behind Boomer as Crash Dive likewise picked herself up off of the mini-tank's rear seat. We shared a glance at each other before continuing on inside, moving in behind B Company. 'Well, not the nicest-looking place, but it's better than nothing. How we going to split this, three-ish to a room?' Aerith looked towards us as we entered, myself responding with a tired shrug. Hey, as long as it gets me into a bed sooner than later... Static nodded, tossing some old keys over to myself and Crimson, and trotting up next to Scouring with a set in his own hoof. "Yeah, might... might be best, do it like we have been. You three take one, me and Scouring take two, and B Company has three, that work with everyone?" A long yawn escaped Static as he finished up, before Scouring let off a small chuckle, trotting up alongside the other steel rangers and passing on a weak smile. I blunk in a little confusion, the power armored unicorn's aura retreiving a fourth set of room keys. "Uh... huh?" "Aye, hope ye don't mind, jus' think it might be worthwhile t' get used to spendin' more time with my old Comp'ny now they've shown up. 'sides, doubt there's three beds to a room in this place, anyways. Sound alright t' you, Static?" The earth pony blunk a few times, before looking towards myself for a moment, answering with a tired shrug. So, only two to a room, then... Well, I suppose I could use something cute and snuggly to cuddle tonight... I tossed the keys I had in my hoof over to Aerith, the alicorn catching them in her aura and wearing a small knowing smile. "As long as we're getting some sleep sooner rather than later, whatever works. Let's just find our rooms already." Responding with short nods, we all started to shuffle around to the few rooms that made up the hotel, Aerith and Crash Dive taking the first one while myself and Static slipped into the second. The old sheets on the bed held a small layer of dust that I had to try and beat off of them, flapping my wings madly to get the clouds to move off to the side and make it at least somewhat reasonable. Beating on an old pillow, Static eventually threw it back onto the bed, climbing up and flopping down against it with myself beside him, us both helping to tug the heavy covers back over. I let off a small shiver, nuzzling into the earth pony's warm neck, his own forelegs wrapping around me to tug me closer against him. It wasn't too long before we both quietly drifted off to sleep, holding each other close - not the greatest end to a day, but at least we're still together... --- "So, betting you already know Scourin's story, and could'a guessed how Sweet Water screwed up to get into this lovely Company, how about we tell ya our stories, eh Sarge?" Decisive Strike let off a small laugh from his spot in the back wagon, the early morning light of dawn hidden behind the far mountains off in the east. We were winding towards the southeast for a while, en route to an old ski lodge, apparently, to watch the explosion from - So this is, what, the second time a megaspell of some description has been used to utterly vaporize something related to that celestia-forsaken pizzeria? Heh, here's hoping we can keep the trend going... Strike wore a grin, scooching over closer to the mini-tank in the wagon. "Well, guess I'll start. I used to be part o' some ranger group further to the northeast before I got transferred. Apparently it's frowned upon to cause the largest pre-war ammo dump this side of the Crystal Empire to go and explode, but I'll be damned if that wasn't the single most beautiful sight ah've ever had the pleasure of seein' with my own eyes!" He let off a chuckle, myself staring at him as Crimson brought an armored hoof to his forehead. So that lone pony detonated an absoutely massive cache of explosives... yanno, I have to start wondering if the name 'Strike' happens to predestine somepony for a love of explosions. Hell, and to think the fact that he was gonna set off a megaspell warhead was enough to get me to like him before... "Yeah, after that he wound up on a run for his life in his old power armor, turned up at Mountain Springs while we were investigating the new mushroom cloud that'd popped up in the direction he came from. Already had all the usual training and we were lacking a heavy demolitions expert at the time, so we took him in without a second thought. Probably was a lapse of judgement on our part..." Crimson let off a small chuckle, resting back in the wagon, while Strike settled back in his place across from Sweet Water. The Knight-Sergeant let off a cloudy breath that was caught on the air, looking across the mountains for a moment. Okay, so we got one pony that wrecked a vertibird into an armored motorwagon, another that let a pre-war virus onto a secure network, and a third that blew up an ammunition facility loaded so much that it caused a mushroom cloud... how bad did somepony of his rank have to screw up? "As for myself, I transferred to B Company willingly. They needed someone to lead 'em, and I struck a deal with the Elder. For teh transfer to the Company, I'd finally get a bit of leave time after all's said and done, come back as an in-stable tactician so I wouldn't have to be out in the field anymore. I reckon by the time we head back, I'll only have a few days or so left, then it's finally a chance for me to ditch this power armor and plasma caster for a nice fishing rod and lake to call my own." Crimson leaned his head back, wearing a smile on his muzzle and closing his eyes. "Sure as hell been an interesting time going around with these idiots, though. Don't want to say I'll miss 'em, but..." "Aw, Sarge, you're really too kind. We're gonna miss you too when all's over, though does beg the question of who's gonna be taking over for you when your term with us is up. Last thing we need is some hard-ass former spec ops guy that, I dunno, wears a ghillie suit on over his power armor or somethin', acts like he's supposed to be a sniper on some covert assassin operation." Sweet Water spoke up from his seat, the mountain roads giving way to a small valley, the theme park and waystation far behind us at this point. Hope we'll stil be able to see the flash from here... "Then again, on the otha hoof that might bump B Company's infamous mortality rates to a less disheartening level, so it wouldn't be all bad. Still wouldn't be nearly as nice a time without ya, Sarge." A small chuckle escaped Crimson as we continued onwards, Static having to constantly downshift to keep us moving over the steep grades in the terrain. "Actually, have been putting some thought into that. Scouring Charge's the next closest I consider to having some actual decent seniority over you two, when I'm kicking my hooves up with a fishing rod in one and a bottle of Wild Pegasus in the other, he's gonna be the one taking over for me." The power armored unicorn's eyes went wide at that statement, along with those of his squadmates. "Hey now, what makes ye think I'm good enough at leadin' to take over for you? Haven't noticed, I've pretty much jus' been followin' since I stayed behind t' blow up that Molly Manticore's place, and even before then!" "That may be, but hell, you at least have something resembling common sense going 'round in your head, more than I'd consider these two having. Doubt we'll be going back to Mountain Springs anytime soon anyhow, at least not after blowing this thing." A chill mountain breeze blasted us with white powder, everyone ducking down in the wagon as it passed over, myself rubbing at the lens of the goggles to clear it. So, Scouring's getting a promotion when he goes back home... huh. Yanno, didn't really think about what's gonna happen when we leave, when the Vanhoover Five have to disperse and go back to being, well, us. I guess... all things considered, it could be worse. Aerith has her armored suit and, well, the Silver Shroud, I guess, Crash Dive's coming home with us, Scouring's going back to his unit. Huh... The mini-tank came to a stop as we came around the side of a mountain pass, Static staring off into the distance. Taking a glance myself, the sight of a large building in the valley caught my eyes, with large cables suspended from trusses and chairs hanging from them leading up the various slopes, away from what was presumably the lodge. Down by the entrance, a few ponies milled about, along with some larger pony-shaped objects that looked like they'd just come out of a horrible accident with a scrap yard. I blunk a few times, pushing the welding goggles up to try and get a better view, as Static shut off the engine and looked back. "Not liking the look of that place, guys, you sure this is where we're gonna watch it from?" Sweet Water hopped out from the wagon, everyone else following him, Aerith landing herself down by the front of the mini-tank and pulling out her rifle. The power armored unicorn rifled through a pouch above his gatling laser, producing a pair of binoculars and holding them in front of his glasses. "Yup, Twin Peaks Lodge, that's the place alright. Far enough away from the blast that we oughta be alright, and supposed to have some stuff to cause controlled avalanches there too, which I probably don't have to explain why Strike here is interested in getting. Bit far away to tell, but it just looks like raiders, nothin' a bit of sneaking and strategically placed explosives couldn't change fast." "Aw, c'mon Sweets, you're never doin' things the fun way! We got a tank... motorcycle... thing, we got some pegasuses to provide air support, and these are just some drugged outta their minds raiders. I say we go for a full headon assault, yanno, shock and awe and stuff like that." Myself, Crash Dive, and Static were all staring at Decisive Strike as he started to argue with Sweet Water, a certain expression of disbelief taking my face. Static's forehead thumped loudly against the handlebars as he let off a sigh, Crash Dive wearing a weak smirk and shaking her head, the alicorn trotting herself over to us as she stowed her rifle. 'Well, I didn't see anything in the way of heavy long-range guns, and all the weapons they seem to have are only good at short to mid-range engagement distances. We could probably take out the external patrols from long range and then charge in, kind of want to see just what you mean by 'the fun way', Night Strike. I can do a fly-over of it just in case, if you guys think we need a fuller picture.' Leaving the two members of B Company to argue with themselves, Aerith wore a smile as her text scrolled across her screen, us all reading it out. Sneaky on the outside, loud and fast inside, I can dig that. A white cloud chuffed from beside me, myself looking to see Crimson reading it with us, giving a nod. Turning himself about, he looked towards Strike and Sweet Water, drawing in a breath. "Alright, enough! These guys have a plan, and we're gonna follow it. Gonna be fast, quick, and easy, but we need all the intel we can get first. We'll hold position meanwhile, got it?" The bickering stopped, and both rangers nodded in agreement, Crimson turning to face towards us again. Off to a good start, I suppose... "We'll follow your lead, you give the word, we'll head in." Passing on a nod, I turned to face towards Aerith, the alicorn wearing a smile as her horn flared slightly with magic. "Alright then, we'll start picking them off when you get back. We hear any shooting though, we're going in and wreckng the place, so... try to not get shot at." Myself letting off a chuckle, Aerith answered with a smirk and a nod, disappearing from view. The light snow that covered the mountain was buffeted by the wind from her wings as she took to the sky, the small trail left in her wake dissipating as I leaned forwards against Boomer, looking down at my foreleg. Well, gonna be a while, what's on Radio KAOS... "-e Tank Ghouls of Maple Station are on high alert today after receiving word from the Vanhoover Five themselves that they're being pursued by more mercenaries, with two tanks on guard at any given time at all entrances, and loaded with high explosive ammunition. These new mercenaries are only known for certain to utilize some especially heavy weapons of their own, apparently capable of blowing a pre-war small generator apart, as well as destroying an entire wall of an old military shack, at least as far as I've been told. If anyone has any information on who these mercenaries are, and more importantly who in our wasteland seems to want the Vanhoover Five dead so badly, yet apparently not badly enough that they'll do it themselves, please do call it in so that more people can be made aware, and assist the Five if asked. I'd say if any mercenaries are seen traveling through Maple Station, well, I doubt they'll survive long enough to make it through the gate. "It's a nice bright Vanhoover day out there today, and you're tuned into Radio KAOS. Up next are a couple songs I've put together over the years, in a little collection I like to call 'Music to Fuck Shit Up to'. But, naturally, this is a professional station, I can't say those words to describe it... whoops. Heh heh, enjoy, Vanhoover Wasteland..." --- "Alright, perimeter guard is pretty well mapped out, no visible major alert systems, and we've more than got the element of surprise going for us... I dunno about you guys, but I'm just about ready to rock on this thing." Wearing a smirk, the bolt for War Crime was pulled back by my hoof, accepting a new point-five-o caliber round in the chamber. I settled the forward hoof rest on the back of the Mini-tank, focusing in my sight, Aerith doing the same with her rifle as Radio KAOS played out in the background. "Range to target... 700, 750 meters?" '750 extending to 800, slight wind flowing north-south in the valley, too. You focus down their robots as a primary, that .50 MG will tear 'em apart.' Passing Aerith a nod as she settled with her eye peering down her scope, I adjusted the dials slightly on mine, the crosshairs lining up neatly on the front gate after a little fiddling. Alright then, Vanhoover Five Sniping Co., at your service... 'Weapons free, start finding targets.' Scanning for only a moment, my crosshairs focused on the body of what I think was an old sentry bot - hard to tell with all the junk welded on it - hoof moving to squeeze the trigger lever. It clicked against the stock as I pulled it back fully, the hammer releasing and flying forwards to strike the primer in the base of the brass casing, the gunpowder inside the massive machine gun round rapidly deflagrating and expanding in the chamber, propelling the first bullet out and downrange as the pressure forced the bolt and barrel back, ejecting the first casing and accepting a new one in the span of only a few seconds as the heavy hydraulic recouperators inside took the brunt of the recoil. Oh, yeah, I really love this gun... The next round was already downrange by the time the first impacted, the jacketed bullet pinging against the armor with a large metallic spark as it bored inside, breakng ceramic plating and forcing it's way clean through to interior components. I let War Crime have a four-round burst on target, the sentry bot below spraying hydraulic fluid out into the snow and starting to become engulfed in flames because of it, spinning and moving about wildly as it searched for a target. I wore a smirk as I heard Aerith's rifle retorting beside me, scanning over just in time to see a raider's head disappear in an explosion of red mist as the thirty-caliber round bored straight through skin and skull to impart energy onto the squishy squelchy grey matter inside, rapidly turning it outside. Still haven't spotted us yet... Switching targets, I scanned for another sentry bot, taking a moment to empty two rounds into a raider that was just turning the corner on his patrol route, painting the fence made out of junk and snow immediately in front of it a nice goopy red. Eventually another one of the scrap-modified robots rolled into view, my croshairs lining up on the torso and putting four more shots through the plating and into the vulnerable electronics underneath. The robot sparked wildly for a few moments, whirring on it's four wheeled legs before the red light in the eyes flickered out, an acrid smoke coming from under the chassis. Thank you, soft outer 'armor' causing the bullets to bite in better... intimidating in theory, hindering in practice. Aerith's rifle sounded out four more times before the clip ejected from it with a loud clang of metal, three more raiders falling outside, as War Crime spat out five more two-round bursts as well. Scanning the exterior of the lodge for a moment more, no obvious movement caught our eyes, myself sitting up and wearing a grin. Two sentry bots and a whole mess of raiders scratched, not a bad way to start things off... "Alright, phase one of Operation Fysu is complete, on to phase two... and I'm gonna need a power armor helmet. Sooner I get one, sooner we get started." Looking towards B Company, they all glanced between each other for a moment, before looking at me in confusion. Knight Strike reached for his after a moment, checking the inside before tossing it to me. Giving him a nod and smile, I moved over to the front of the mini-tank where Static sat, the earth pony wearing an equally confused look that was quickly replaced by the imposing stare of a Steel Ranger power armor helmet, him flailing his hooves a little as it fitted on and sat on his shoulders. I let out a small chuckle as he finally settled, looking towards me. "Hey, thought you might like not having to worry about accidentally catching a bullet with your cute face. Can't say I'm not considerate, Sparky~" "Eugh, fine, better than nothing... even if it's gonna chafe a little." The engine of the mini-tank turned over to a quiet rumble as the earth pony started it up, the four Steel Rangers climbing into the back wagon with Aerith as myself and Crash Dive settled on the back of the mini-tank. The power armored pegasus slipped on her helmet as I took place behind Boomer, hefting War Crime up and slipping her large box clip out to replace it with a fresh one, before slipping a Solar Burst into Thumper's breech and carefully closing it shut. Right, locked and loaded... "So, what's the plan, I'm going to get us close and you all jump off to break through?" "And have you miss out on all the fun, Sparky? You wish. I'll blow in the gate with Thumper before we get there, you just have to keep us going at full speed and drive us around the courtyard while we handle the rest. Boomer's gonna get some love today." A slightly annoyed sigh came through the helmet's speaker, myself letting off a small chuckle. The engine of the mini-tank revved underneath me as Static shifted us into gear, the snowy hilside getting kicked up by the tracks before it bit and we started to move. It didn't take us too long before we were moving at full pelt, Static keeping us in high gear as I brought Thumper around, the lodge off in the distance drawing closer. "That one was titled The Wanderer, and this next one, heh, this next song goes out to anypony that might be doing something over-the-top, stupid, and otherwise just plain crazy. Vanhoover Five, hope you Shoot to Thrill..." ...you know, I don't wanna say that DJs are omnipotent, buuut... ah, fuck it, not like it isn't expected of us by this point. Play us in, Radio KAOS! The engine of the mini-tank roared underneath as I shouldered Thumper, the wind making my eyes water as I sighted down the barrel. Almost... almost... Thumper resounded with his usual thump, sending the black and golden ball of doom flying off towards the scrap door where it quickly exploded in a blinding white flash, leaving a mushroom cloud rising in front of us as the music properly kicked off. Setting Thumper down across my legs, I took control of Boomer with my left hoof while my right hefted up War Crime, holding her stock close against my chest. Aw, hell yeah... The cloud caused our geiger counters to click from the residual radiation as we plowed clean through the now-opened gate, myself wasting no time in opening up with Boomer as we breached inside. Aerith's Chicacolt Typewriter likewise opened up, along with all of B Company's arsenal, Static turning us hard right to avoid plowing into the lodge's front. Firey explosions rang out in the valley as the snow and dust was kicked up into the air, causing quite a dense cloud, bullets errantly whizzing by my head and pinging off of the metal on the sides of the mini-tank, the radio playing out clear and loud in my ears as I released Boomer's trigger handle to start hosing stuff down with War Crime. "I'm gonna take you down, Down, down, down, So don't you fool around, I'm gonna pull it, pull it, Pull the trigger!" The dust began to start settling slightly as Boomer's explosions were taken out of the mix, a gleeful cackle escaping me as I held down War Crime's trigger, spraying at anything that looked even removely pony-like as we drove around the front yard. After a good long burst from her, I switched hooves back over to Boomer, starting to do less aiming and more flat-out spraying with the big automatic grenade machine gun. The smell of ozone lingered every time Sweet Water opened up with his gatling laser, Strike's quad-barrel bazooka sounding off with Scouring's Sunburst while balls of green goop flew out from Crimson's plasma-thing, the whizz of bullets in the air soon quieting down as everyone paused for a breath, and to reload, myself finding even Boomer clicking on empty. Static brought the mini-tank to a halt, the dust finally being allowed to settle in the courtyard, allowing us a look at the carnage. Craters littered the area around us, entire sections of fencing completely destroyed from the concussive blasts of a whole lot of explosives, everything just helping that stupid grin on my face stay nice and wide as I leaned against Boomer's top, feeling the warmth from both the mini-tank's engine and the massive machine gun. Strike was hollering loudly in the wagon behind me, myself unable to help myself from giggling at the sight of a raider's head pinned to a concrete column by a length of rebar, the rest of his body decidedly absent in the form of a pile of glowing green goop. Oh, boy, yeah, this was one hell of a ride... The song had even quited down a little, the clatter of magazines being swapped and replaced filling the air as I did the same as everyone else, breaking open Thumper to swap the spent casing out for a fresh dragon's breath shell. Looking to the front of the mini-tank, Static was slumped back in the chair, his chest heaving heavily as he rested a foreleg across it, catching his breath - aw, what'sa matter, can't handle all this excitement, Sparky? I thought you were better in bed than that~ "Alright... I hope... I hope that's it..." Giving my head a shake and letting off a chuckle, I took a few slow breaths of my own, resting the now-loaded grenade rifle on my legs and leaning with my back against Boomer... or, trying to. Darn wings sticking out... oh, this was so awesome... we need to do this again sometime. A section of the junk fencing that was miraculously still standing was suddenly broken apart by something, however, myself jumping slightly at the sound and immediately grabbing for Thumper. Looking towards it, we were afforded the sight of... uh... is that thing supposed to be junk power armor, or something? I mean.. huh... the pony inside of it let off an angry yell, charging towards us, myself emptying Thumper out into their helmet as a reflex. Some of the burning flechettes seemed to get through, though not enough to deter the... the power armored raider, Sweet Water's gatling laser and Crimson's Goop Caster opening up as well, Crash Dive sending a few bars of rebar at them, not being able to entirely stop them, however. Sheesh, how many drugs does this pony have going through them!? The barrage was kept up, myself pickng up War Crime to empty whatever was left in the clip into the junk power armor, the pony inside finally starting to stumble as bits and pieces were knocked off, goopified, or otherwise removed from the frame underneath. A long shaft of rebar pierced through the helmet, the body twitching for a moment before falling hard against the blasted snow in the heavy frame, the song playing on Radio KAOS finally wrapping itself up. Everyone seemed to start to take a breather, again, Static pulling the helmet off and letting it rest in his lap, looking down at the dead power-armored raider. "Okay... not gonna say it again and jynx us, but, yeah... whoo..."