Fallout Equestria: Icicle

by PlagenShiki

Chapter 22 - Old World Goods

Checkpoint 3-84, a former military checkpoint that served as an inspection point for goods going between Manehatten and Canterlot. Before that, it was a railyard. Now, the perimeter fence is now rusted and flimsy, but has been fortified with wrecked train cars, sky carriages, and rotting shipment crates. The checkpoint consists of four buildings, a lodging structure, two maintenance garages, and a tool shed.

Standing on a small hill to the southwest of the checkpoint, I can make out that much. We are just far enough away they shouldn’t be aware of us yet, but it also makes it hard for us to get good look as well. Well, all of us aside from Cora, that is. She insisted on an optics upgrade so she could properly use her sniper rifle.

“The tool shed is locked, chained up pretty tight too,” Cora tells us. “Four of them seem to patrol around the checkpoint, inside the fence, all wearing power armor. Two are on makeshift towers looking out into the wasteland, only one is in armor. I see two more in the east maintenance garage, and three in the western garage. I don’t see anyone else.” She says, tilting her head.

Shrill clicks her tongue. “Seems they have their weapons locked up in the shed. Only reason I can see why they’d lock it,” She mutters.

“Let’s hope they don’t get a reason to open it,” I sigh. “Ok Shrill, get us inside,” I say, giving her a push on the shoulder. She sighs, but walks forward with the rest of us following behind. The plan is simple, have Shrill talk us in, and then talk to Saber.

It takes us a thirty minutes, but we finally near the makeshift gate, essentially two large pieces of plywood. The Junk Rat on the tower near it notices us immediately. “You lot there, what is your business here? If you wish to pass through this valley, you’ll pay our toll,” The buck bellows, his voice amplified by the power armor’s speaker.

His armor is mostly intact, but in some places it seems like it is welded together with odd bits of scrap metal. His gun is more impressive, a fairly high quality looking assault rifle. I was no expert, but it did shine a lot more than any other gun I’ve seen so far. Shrill lets out a loud, bored sigh and says, “It’s me, Shrill. Open it up.”

The buck seems to think that over for a moment. “Shrill...Shrill...Oh, that Discordia bitch? Yea, I remember you now,” he says, and I notice Shrill flinch at the word bitch. “Madam Saber said she’d think about your offer, didn’t she? Don’t you have better things to do? Maybe go slut it up with another gang or something?” The buck chuckles. I look over at Cygnus and see him with a hoof over his mouth shaking slightly.

Shrill’s face contorts into a messed up grin, and I notice her eyebrow twitching a little. “I have some new information I want to discuss,” she says, clearly very irritated, but trying to be polite. “So, if you would just open the gate and let us in…” Shrill trails off, expecting him to take the bait and open the gate.

“I don’t feel like it,” The buck says, stretching. “The gate is a pain to open. But...I’ll tell you what, my shift ends in about an hour. I’m sure Bruno would be more than happy to open it for you, probably,” he shrugs.

Shrill curses under her breath. “I swear, you underestimate a group’s intelligence once, and they never let you live it down,” she mutters, barely audible. “Look here,” Shrill says loudly, “Madam Saber will want to hear what I have to say, so just…” But the buck cuts her off.

“You can keep talking all you want, I’m not going to let you in. Let’s face it, you’re mouth is only good for one thing, and it sure isn’t good for convincing me to open this gate,” He tells her, and I hear Cygnus let out a chuckle before Shrill shoots him a glare and attempts to stifle his laughter. “But...Maybe I can make an exception. Maybe if you were to give us that power armor you’ve got there,” he says, motioning over to Cora.

Shrill has clearly become flustered and is no longer attempting to maintain her usual dignified manner of speech. “That’s...not really mine...to give,” she replies, looking off to the side. I clear my throat and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“I’m afraid I can’t give you that suit, but I do have something to offer that you might be interested in,” I tell him. “So, let us in and let me talk to your boss. Because if you look closely at this armor, you’ll see that it is a custom model that I built myself,” I add.

The buck seems to consider this for a moment. “Who are you? You don’t look like the last guards little miss slut had,” he asks.

“I’m new,” I say simply. “So. Are you going to let us in, or are you going to have to explain to your boss how you let someone with my knowledge walk away?” I ask him with a smile.

He growls, but says, “Fine. She’s in the usual place, Shrill knows.” Upon saying this, the gate begins to open. “Mind your manners this time, slut. We like to keep things classy,” he says as the four of us walk through the gate, Shrill giving him a death glare the entire time.

Shrill leads us towards the lodging building, and as we walk, some of the other Junk Rats patrolling the interior eye us suspiciously as we walk across the compound. Some of them chuckle and mutter things barely audible. No doubt, they are taking shots at Shrill. I wonder what exactly it was she did to earn their disapproval.

We reach the building without issue and Shrill opens the door and we go inside. Our entrance rouses a few of the Junk Rats from what they are doing, and they glance at us for a moment. Then they return to their business with light chuckles. Shrill lets out a sigh and we continue through the building.

The lodging building is more of a warehouse, really. At least before the war it would have been. During the war, it was probably transformed into a barracks for the occupying soldiers. It still has random wooden crates stacked up along the walls and in a few places they seem to be stacked to make something resembling rooms. Glancing into a few of these rooms, I see simple cots and other personal items.

Seems the Junk Rats each had their own box fort room in the building, but we walk past all of them and climb a set of stairs at the back. It leads us up to a large room overlooking the rest of the warehouse. The door has a place for a nameplate to be slid into it, but the old one is gone and replaced with the name Madam Saber. Shrill knocks on the door.

I hear a bit of rustling from inside the room, along with an angry growl and some cursing. The door flies open, almost hitting Shrill, and an angry looking mare shouts, “I thought I said not to disturb me!” She blinks a few times and eyes us over, glaring angrily. “Well, if it ain’t the whore,” She says with a twisted smile. “Don’t recognize the rest of you. You her guards this time around?” She asks, but shakes her head.

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” She says angrily. “You’re here now, you might as well come in,” The mare turns from the doorway and returns into the room, leaving the door open. “And shut the damn door, too,” She adds as we start to funnel into the room.

“Thank you, Madam Saber,” Shrills says, entering through first. Cygnus enters last and closes the door behind us. Meanwhile, Saber, trots over to an old forklift and sits down on it. It is an industrial model, wider than others. It is missing the wheels, and the lifting instruments, so it is basically a chair now. Though, I suppose it can be equated to a throne. Saber gestures to a few cushions in front of her and we walk over to them.

I take this opportunity to look about the room. Besides the throne, there is a fairly large bed in one corner as well. Like the rest of the wasteland though, it has clearly seen better days. Scrap metal litters the floor and shelves. Along the wall with the windows overlooking the rest of the building, is a desk with a working terminal on it. There is a very menacing looking rifle on the desk as well.

But what stands out the most, is the power armor that sits beside Saber’s throne. It is attached to a winch to support its weight, but it is polished and shines in the light of the setting sun. The armor is the most pristine power armor I’ve seen so far. Even the Rangers of Stable 36 didn’t have armor that looked this new.

The armor is trimmed with golden paint that makes it look very regal and important. It is equipped with two weapons, a flamer, also in good condition sits on the right side. On the left side is an augmented laser rifle. It is longer than normal rifles, and seems to be more streamline than any I’ve seen before. I wonder if she uses it for sniping.

Saber coughing snaps me from my wonderment. “Alright Shrill,” She begins. “What do you want this time? I already heard your proposal about joining Discordia, and I said I’d think about it. Well, I’m still thinking. I might be thinking for a few years, maybe the rest of my life if I feel like it,” Saber tells her with a glare. Clearly, Saber didn’t like the original proposal.

“Well,” Shrill says, tapping her hooves together. “I actually have a different proposal for you this time,” She says timidly. Her usual confident, arrogant self is gone. Saber runs a hoof through her yellow mane as she tilts her head. She doesn’t look amused. “Well, you see, I’m sort of...no longer with Discordia,” Shrill mutters almost inaudible.

Saber tilts her head even further and I hear her neck pop a few times. “Ahhhh,” Saber says in pleasure. “That’s the best,” She says, itching her mane a bit. Her purple eyes are dark and threatening, piercing into Shrill. “So, no longer in Discordia then, hu?” She says, shifting her weight and resting her head on her hoof. “You want to join the Junk Rats then?” Saber asks, seeming disgusted at the thought.

“That’s not it, it is actually sort of…” Shrill trails off, looking down at the ground. Saber lets out a sigh and points a her other hoof at Shrill.

“Will you fucking stop that already?” Saber growls at her. “You did the same thing the first time you were here. Acting all pathetic and cute, it is disgusting. You even mistook me for a buck when I was in my armor and tried to get me in bed. We know this is all an act, so just be your damn self,” She declares.

Shrills eyes go wide, “What, no, I…” She narrows her eyes and clicks her tongue. “Even if I knew you were a mare, I’d have tried to get you into bed,” She says in her usual tone, but quickly turns to me. “But that was a long time ago, Ratchet dear! You’re all I want now!” Saber laughs, and Shrill turns back to her. “You want our new proposal? I’m not the one to give it. Ratchet is in charge, she can tell you,” She says, giving me the floor.

“Ratchet, huh?” Saber mutters, looking at me boredly. “She doesn’t look special. Actually kind of looks like a scribe, all nerdy and shit. You left Discordia for her, huh?” Saber tilts her head again and puts her hooves in front of her. “Let’s hear it then! What is your proposal!” She says with glee and a manic smile.

I look into her eyes and tell her simply, “I want you to join Discordia, as a spy for me.” Saber looks at me with her expression unchanging for a good minute before she moves again. She jerks her head to its normal position and points to the door.

“Get out,” Saber says, her smile gone and her eyes dark. “I don’t work for anyone, left that shit behind when I left the Steel Rangers,” She says. Her expression says she will kill us all of we don’t leave, but I’m not ready to quit yet.

“We can help each other. But, let’s talk about that in a moment,” I tell her. “You don’t strike me as a bad pony, and I think that has something to do with why you left the Steel Rangers and are here now. Besides, I have some things you might be interested in,” I say, not taking my eyes off of her.

“You don’t know a thing about me,” Saber replies, growling. “But what could you possibly have to offer me?” She asks, seeming to settle down a little. I fiddle with my PipBuck for a moment, pulling up the schematics.

“These,” I say, turning my leg so she can look at the designs. I flip through a few before pulling my leg back. “Schematics and upgrades for power armor. You seem to be building and repairing suits. These schematics can help you with that, and even make the suits better.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Just who are you?” She asks. I chuckle a bit. I’ve always wanted to do something like this. Make myself seem important. And it just so happens, I can do just that now!

“I am a Chief Researcher for the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, and a Scribe Crusader of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. My name is Ratchet, the mare from before the war. It is nice to meet you,” I say, puffing out my chest. Saber bawks at me, raising an eyebrow.

After a moment, she seems to compose herself. “I’ve heard of Chief Researchers, sure. But a Scribe Crusader? What the fuck. And you’re supposedly from before the war? Get the fuck out,” She says, shaking her head.

I smile, I knew she wouldn’t believe me. “If you had the rosters of all current Steel Rangers, you would find my name on it, and my special rank. But I’ll tell you about it for now. I’m equivalent to at least a Paladin, but with the freedom of a Star Paladin. My rank was appointed by Ministry Mare Applejack herself due to my tinkering with power armor and sharing my upgrades with her. Of course, if you can’t check the register, you have no way of knowing for sure if I’m telling the truth,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“Similarly, how can I be from before the war? I look so young! What if I told you I’m actually over fifty years old? You look like you were born after the war, so I can’t convince you of the truth behind this. But just look at these schematics, could a normal pony make these?” I ask her. “Someone from after the war who has no military knowledge?” I add.

“Anyone could have stumbled across those designs in some pre-war ruin,” Saber counters. “Just because you have them, it doesn’t mean you made them.” I nod.

“That’s true. But, take a look at this one,” I say, pulling up the wiring design Cora created. “Does this make sense to you?” I ask her, she shakes her head. “It works. It is what is currently being used in my friend’s body right here,” I tell her, motioning over to Cora. “She’s the one who designed that specific schematic. And I’m the one who created her. Hey Cora, open up, will you?” I ask her.

“Of course!” Cora replies and turns her back to Saber. After a moment, the armor opens, revealing the fact it is hollow inside. Saber’s eyes go wide. Cora moves around a bit while the armor is open to give Saber a good look inside.

“It’s...empty?” She gasps. “How’s it moving? Talking? What is it, some sort of robot?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Close, but so far,” I tell her. “You can close up now, Cora,” I say, tapping Cora’s armor with a hoof. “Cora is an AI I made myself. She’s integrated into the armor, and with a variety of servos, gyros, and the like, she’s able to move it around. Of course, it is a lighter model of power armor to maximize her energy usage,” I say proudly.

Saber tilts her head again. “I see, interesting,” She grins menacingly again. “Let’s say I believe you for now. You wanted us to join Discordia and spy for you, you say?” She asks. I nod. “Why?” Saber asks simply.

“Discordia, and their leader Grimoire needs to be stopped. Grimoire plans to destroy everything, bring chaos to the world. I want to stop him,” I tell her.

“You don’t say,” Saber mutters. “I thought that Shrill’s whole spiel was kind of messed up. But to think he wants to destroy everything,” She smiles wider. “Tell me more,” She says. I tell her everything I know. Grimoire’s plans, Discordia, everything. At the end of it all, she chuckles.

“And you want us to spy on Discordia’s activities for you? Maybe you should tell me exactly what you want us to do,” Saber suggests, rolling her head around to rest it on her hoof once more.

“Grimoire is a mystery. If you can find out anything about him, that would be great. But, for the most part, I want to know when Discordia is planning something. Given their fragmented nature, you probably won’t have to do much unless something big happens. Right Shrill?” I ask her for confirmation and she nods.

“So, we act all cozy with them, get on their good side, and when they have something big planned we run to you?” Saber summarizes. I nod. She gives a wide, toothy grin and declares, “Well that just sounds fucking fantastic! Guarding this pass is only so entertaining, and I’d like to see exactly what us Junk Rats can do.”

“You’ll help us then?” I ask. Saber’s attitude really reminds me of Twinkle. Twinkle follow a sense of duty though, where as it seems Saber just does what she wants.

Saber nods. “I think it will be fun! Sure, I could join Discordia and kill innocents, but where’s the fun in that? I like a challenge, and if they number in the thousands like you say, this will be one hell of a challenge. Of course, I want those armor schematics,” She tells me.

“Of course. I’ll download them onto your terminal before we leave. There is just a bit more I want to discuss first. Remember I said that I don’t think you are a bad pony? Well, I want to confirm that. Why did you leave the Steel Rangers?” I ask her.

“Ha! How is that going to tell you if I am good or bad? You’re from before the war, right? You know them as the military. So me going AWOL must not sit right with you, hu?” She asks with a snarl.

“That’s not it,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I met some rangers after the war, from Stable 36. They got me up to speed, told me about the other contingents of the Rangers. How they attacked innocents or stayed in their bunkers and haven’t come out yet. I know how bad they are. So. Tell me why,” I ask her again.

Saber sighs. “You see this armor?” She gestures at her power armor. “This is the armor I wore as a Ranger, as a Star Paladin,” She tells me, shaking her head. “My contingent, more than two hundred soldiers and one hundred scribes, are nothing but cowards. Our bunker is in the frozen north. A ways north of the Crystal Empire. Just far enough away from it, we didn’t get hit with much radiation when the bombs fell,” She says.

I feel my face make a shocked expression. “You mean, the Crystal Empire got hit too?” I ask her. Saber nods. “Then, you came all the down here, from there?” I ask.

“Of course. I didn’t want them to find me easily. Had to walk through the snow, which is all irradiated, by the way. Had to go through at least a dozen rad away just to make it through. Also ran into a few wyrms on the way as well. For whatever reason, they are swarming up there. But let’s not get off subject. My contingent plans to stay cooped up in the bunker for quite some time,” She says.

Saber clears her throat and says in an odd voice, “Until things outside are more normal.” She twists her face in disgust. “That’s what our Elder says. I kept probing her to let us out, to help, to do anything, but she kept refusing. I finally said fuck it, and left. I doubt the cowards will come after me, it has been years already. They probably didn’t even think about it, just abandoned me out here.” Saber chuckles.

“So here I am!” She yells. “Leader of the Junk Rats, charging ponies a toll just to go through this valley! Some brave ranger I turned out to be, hu?” She says, shaking her head.

I smile. “From what Shrill says, you are. You don’t just charge them for passage, but you also kill anything hostile in the valley, right? You make it safe. And, if I had to guess, you acting like a gang is an act to deter ponies who are weak willed from entering Manehatten, which is full of raiders and other monsters. Am I wrong,” I ask her.

“Tsk, you’re pretty sharp, you know that?” Saber says with a less intimidating grin. “With that out of the way, how do you want us to contact you? Radio signals only travel so far, and you don’t strike me as the type of mare to tell us where you live,” She says with a sly grin. She wasn’t wrong, I’ve been thinking about this for a while as well.

“You know where Ponyville is?” I ask her and she nods. “Good. The buck running things there is named Gunsmoke. I’ve talked with him, and he wants to help us as well. If you find anything out, let him know. He’ll get in touch with us. Though, I’ll have to set that up as well. That’s the plan though,” I tell her. I just hope Gunsmoke agrees to be a go between.

Saber nods. “I suppose I can send a runner if necessary. Now then, any more business to discuss, or will you be putting those schematics on my terminal? I was planning on getting some beauty sleep before you arrived, but I suppose I’ll be pulling an all nighter tinkering with armor thanks to you,” She chuckles.

“That should be all,” I tell her, standing up. “I’ll put them on the terminal for you. Would you mind logging into it?” I ask her. She nods and we walk over to the terminal and she types in her password while I plug my PipBuck into it. After a few moments, the transfer is complete and Saber begins looking over the files.

“Huh, interesting...very interesting. Are you sure this one works?” She asks, looking at the circuitry Cora designed.

“Yea, it is currently what’s running Cora’s armor. Just follow it closely, and it should work. Oh, by the way. Would you mind if we stay here for the night? We’re heading into Manehatten to talk with another gang as well,” I ask her.

“Hm? Oh, yea, sure,” Saber mutters. She seems engrossed in looking at the schematics. “Make yourselves at home. Piss anyone off, it’s your own fault,” She adds. With that, we leave the room and go back downstairs.

“Geez,” Shrill says in frustration. “If they knew I was acting, they should have just told me the first time. How dare they make me look like a fool,” She stomps her hoof.

“We’ll, now you don’t have to act. Dono why you would act anyway,” I tell her. “Your normal personality would probably work better at making ponies want to join you.”

“I tried that a few times, but raiders let their guard down when they think you are pathetic and weak. Like I said, the Junk Rats are intelligent. It didn’t work on them,” She says.

I suppose that’s true. Saber does seem like she’s pretty smart. The other members though…? I look around at a few of them. Two are deep into a game of chess with more than a few pieces replaced with caps or other scrap items. One is reading a Scientific Equestria magazine. Ok, maybe they were all pretty smart.

Though, I guess to build and maintain power armor, even if it is built from scrap, isn’t something just anypony can do. One of the bucks playing chess glances over at us and says, “Oh, you’re right. It is that slut, hu?”

Shrill immediately turns on him and shouts, “Bite your navel and die!” The bucks playing chess just laugh.

“Finally acting like your actual self, hu?” The other buck says. “I like it! In fact, if you keep acting normal, we won’t call you slut anymore. We’ll actually call you Shrill. Though the others might still call ya a slut, but just yell at ‘em like you did us, and they’ll stop,” he chuckles.

“Hey!” Saber calls out from above us. I turn to look up at her. “There are some extra cots in the storage garage. Bruno! Stop slacking off and show them to it!” She orders, and the buck reading the Scientific Equestria grumbles and puts the magazine down.

“Yea, yea. Whatever you say, Madam,” Bruno says as he walks over to us. “Follow me,” the blue buck says. He starts walking towards the exit, and we follow along. We are led outside and to one of the maintenance garages, the one that appeared to have no one in it. “Here it is,” Bruno tell us, opening the door and flipping on the light switch.

The lights slowly flicker to light, and slowly a gigantic mass is revealed. It is almost as long as the garage and nearly as high and rested on the tracks with dozens of wheels. It was a train, a magnificent, horrible, train. Heavily armored and equipped with a giant cannon. Two flack cannons are on the back of it, but have long since rusted beyond use. In fact, the whole thing seems to have been eaten away by rust.

Bruno notices us staring at it. “Oh, yea. That thing. Apparently they used it during the war, it was a prototype or something, never made it into production. I think it was called the Great Celestia. We use it for scrap metal now. Quite a few of our suits have metal from it,” He tells us.

“Anyhow, the cots are over here. There isn’t too much room,” Bruno says, unphased. “With all the scrap and components we’ve collected, it gets messy. Oh, and don’t think of taking anything,” He says, glaring at us. I tear my attention away from the large gun.

“Thanks,” I tell him and help him to unfold the old cots. Cora and Shrill come to help us as well, but Cygnus seems entranced by the train. “Hey, Cygnus, you alright?” I ask, looking at him in concern.

Without taking his eyes from the train, he asks, “It it fixable?” I raise an eyebrow. Did he really want to fix it or something?

Bruno chuckles. “Nah. We had the same though when we first found it. The engine is completely rusted away, the barrel’s rifling has been damaged, and most of the wheels can’t be saved. There is no ammo for the gun anyway,” He explains.

Cygnus puts a hoof against the train’s hull. “Do you know if there is a manual or anything for it?” He asks, sounding forlorn.

Our guide seems to think for a moment, before walking over to a shelf. He pulls out a crazy thick book with his mouth and walks over to Cygnus, who takes it in his. “This is the only thing regarding the train. It appears to be an all inclusive manual that includes schematics and specifications,” Bruno tells him. “Now then, I’m going back to the lodge. I’ve only got a few minutes before my shift starts up,” He says, and leave us in the garage alone.

Cygnus has already opened the book and is reading the contents anxiously. “It weighs almost fifteen hundred tons, the barrel is over one hundred feet, and its bore is thirty one inches. It can’t move too fast, but the ammo is destructive. The effective range is twenty four miles!?” He mumbles.

The rest of us set up our cots and settle in for the night. “Hey, Cygnus, don’t stay up all night reading that, alright?” I call over to him, but he doesn’t even respond. I let out a sigh. “Cora, watch him. And make sure we aren’t going to be ambushed by the Junk Rats, ok? Still not sure I trust them,” I tell her.

“Ok, Ratchet. No problem!” Cora says happily, sitting down and staring at my face. Ok, this might be hard to get to sleep if she keeps staring at me. I wait for her to move, or do something else. But, after a few minutes, I realize she isn’t going to move.

I clear my throat. “Hey Cora, could you, maybe not, you know, stare at me while I’m trying to sleep?” I ask her.

“Hehe,” She giggles. “Sorry about that,” She says as she stands up and goes somewhere else to sit.

“Maybe give Cygnus some light to read by, and turn off the other lights?” I suggest.

“Sounds like a plan!” She replies, turning off the lights overhead and illuminating her visor even more. It bathes us in a cool blue glow. Cygnus says nothing as he continues to read with Cora looking over his shoulder.

Quest Updated!

-Firepower: Complete!

Level Up!

+25 Science
+5 Speech