Ch 3 I Don't Trust You...
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but
because of those who look on and do nothing.”
-WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?-
That was basically the first words to come out of my mind in what seemed like forever, a sudden realization of mental processes outside my own that started me from my seemingly eternal slumber. Sorta like being put on ice, but golden apples keep the body of species such as myself warm and hydrated for a very, very long time.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention my eternal prison was a golden apple. No matter, it's not like anyone care-Ah shoot, what am I doing just talking about surviving? I was clearly inside the mind of some idiot who ate the apple. Which incidentally was kinda the point since the apple couldn't be opened from the inside, hence it looked so tasty and fresh that anyone that looked at it would desire to chomp it all down in one gulp, thus freeing the occupant.
A bit dangerous considering sometimes the 'host' might accidentally bite apple in half, but we could regenerate after a few days once upon fully connected to the brain stem. Checking myself over, I could tell that nothing seemed to be out of place, any battle scars or bruises healed up rather nicely. Tail spikes were kinda embedded into the though out of shock than anything, which basically meant I was stuck here for a few days. Oh well...may as well test this model out for a ride before it regains conciousness. Mental screams could lay out a host for hours on end to make them more passive for limb control, but I preferred to take control when they were sleeping to do a bit of heavy reading at night.
"Open eyes."
Okay, vision was partially augmented by prescription goggles. Host must be near-sighted or something. Still, I landed in a freaking diamond cavern? I'm just glad the apple wasn't skewered by the random stone 'pikes' growing from the floor. Interesting fact about diamonds, they're actually quite common, it's the corporations that fund the mining that boost prices to thousands of bits when they should be less than a hundred. Well, save for the ones that are made of different colors, those are rare and worth millions at least.
Let's see now...flexing and moving joints now. A flap of wings shows I had somehow been eaten by a fathead...how thrilling, Still, better than a colt, I suppose given the physique was in good shape if not a bit thin. Should I read his memories to see how long I've been asleep? Nah. Unlike most of my kind, I don't like to mess with my host mind too much or keep them completely under my control as I act and speak for them, it's sorta a moral code if anything.
"Well...time to head out then. Let's see now..." Glancing around the open cavern, I spotted where I suspected my unexpected savior fell from, a skull-and-bone cistern tunnel of sorts made of the remnants of various equine species. 'What could have caused this?' I wondered, 'and why does my face feel so constrict-oh, gas mask. Weird.'
I felt the mask with my hoof, as I began to draw the wind beneath me, moving forward with the current as I test-flapped a few times and then tucked legs close as I began to fly upwards through the narrow, yet somewhat spacious tunnel into...well, bones as far as my host's eyes could see, surrounded by a massive dome made of the same material. Okay, may have stumbled upon a smuggling operation of some sort, ivory is something that many zebras acquire, even if it means slaying their own brethren. Not sure why though, medicine purposes maybe?
"Theheheheheheere's thehehe punk! Hehehehehe just popped back out of thehehehehe hole!" A rather crude, snarling voice caught my attention as I hovered in place observing the structure of this strange environment. Said voice belonged to what I could only assume was a hyena...if hyenas could stand on two legs, be missing chunks of fur, be rather built upper-body wise and missing a chunk of their noses, awhile wearing rags and ammo belts for the strapped-on weapons in their flexible pawed claws. Did I mention there was more than one of those demented, cross-eyed stinky mutts now aiming rather nasty-looking machine guns at me?
"Ah, hello there. Might you gentlemen know the way out? I'm a bit lost you see and I would appreciate it if none of you targeted me." I said, attempting to be polite as I racked my mind for a plan. Laser pistol...check, but in holster, they'd blast me full of holes before I could draw it. Of course, that's when my host involuntarily did the one thing I hated most. He farted. Which, as everypony knows, is lethal helium gas in close proximity.
What happened next didn't come out once, as the beasts slowly one by one lowered their weapons, rolled up their eyes, hacked out their lungs fiercely and finally dropped dead onto the bone floor. If I didn't know better, I'd have to say they suffocated somehow...weird. And from what my host's ears were picking up, more of those slobbering beasts were coming.
Twisting around, I noticed a rather big hole roughly my size burnt through the layers of zebra and elephant bones in the ceiling. Perhaps how he was able to come into this place to start off with, despite the fact I was still uncertain what had occurred to mutate hyenas like that. With a quick flap, I dashed on air through the opening just as bullets flew all around me, ricohetting against the bones and grazing the side of my host's left flank. Tch...
Did I mention how glad I was that the host's nerve connections were not in sync with mine? Either way, that was annoying. And since when the heck are hyenas able to use guns? Wait...
WHAT THE HECK? Who did this to the terrain? Why was it as all gray and dusty when it was once a green savanna with trees all around? Even the bonobos are all shriveled up and broken down and-
The sight of a tri-formed set of jaws with multiple Pegasus-slewing fangs snapped me out of the sight of the Zebrarian landscape all barren and burnt-out, as I quickly flew forward to avoid the snapping that could have easily engulfed me.
Twisting around in mid-flight, and noting the graze had cut somewhat to draw blood, I could plainly see what could only be known as a Tatzelwyrm...though I am a bit puzzled by the slimy grobules latched to it's gray-skinned leathery body, or the fact it's 'mane' was pitch-black with yellow dots. The foul beast screeched with it's tri-jaw in frustration, just as more of it's kind burst from the ground with mouths bloating with toxic goo.
"That can't be good." I muttered, diving down to take the hordes off-track and essentially flew around them as corny as that seems. But hey, their primitive minds couldn't distern friend from foe, so they spat at each other and their hides almost automatically turned a sickly green upon contact with the liquid gunk that narrowly missed my host.
And yet, they actively pursued me as I flew like mad to gain some distance between us, taking note of the barren landscape that was once a rich, luxurious grassland. Here and there, places that once had small huts were turned to ashes and soot, their inhabitants blackened shadows on the floor. Even the sky below me, the freaking sky was all purplish-green clouds crackling with electricity.
'This is nuts, no, insane even. The entire world was just fine when I fell into the abyss.' I thought, narrowly barrel-rolling past a vertically launched tri-jaw from below as I began to rise higher and higher due to pocket thermals. I temporarily dismissed the thoughts of panic and thought more upon surviving the onslaught of mutated wyrms that were tearing up the countryside just to snarf me up like a biscuit.
And the feeling of a slimy, greasy tongue on my left hind hoof yanked me back, followed by two more on my rapidly flapping wings, binding them upwards. Crud, crud, crud! Even with this body, the tendrils could only be broken by strong magic or maybe a few magnum rounds. And I was really not looking forward to being digested for a hundred years inside those creatures, not even a chance to hack since their brains were guppy-sized.
The tri-jaw widened considerably as I watched dozens of new fangs sprout around the mouth rims, dripping with noxious poison gel that could make any soldier numb and ill. No time to grab the blaster and switch off the safety...wait, what's that rumbling noise?
TSSSSSSEEEEEW! TSEEEEEEEEEEW! "SSSSCCCCCREEEEEEEEE!" Two high-intensity Sunburst beams burnt through the tendrils seconds before I reared my head to snatch the pistol with my mouth, launching me forward from the sudden momentum as the Taztalwyrm screeched in anger behind me. Series of more and more sunburst blasts followed after to bombard and scorch the hide of the creatures nearby, damaging the bloated green bubbles on the skin and forcing them to pop streams of purple goop.
Soon enough, all the Tatzalwyrms were chowing down on the open wounds of each other, lost in their cannibalistic shark-like craze as I now flew roughly a few miles over them, breathing a brief sigh of relief. The tendril slime slowly dripped away from my hind leg and wings, yet I was still shaking from the utter grossness of being touched by those things. No doubt my host may feel the same should I decide to share my memories with him, though that'd be a while off depending on trust.
'Seriously, what is with all this? And who fir-' My line of thought was cut off by a Vertibuck suddenly shimmering into existence, an older model by the look of it, hidden by some sort of cloaking technology? Had the Enclave somehow found a way around the Stealthbuck prototype to hide their ships? Extraordinary!
"Oi, you! Shady! Stop gawking like a noob and get in, you're 3 hours late for the rendezvous and we were about to leave you behind! Move your tailfeathers in here!" The side-door opened to reveal a rather irritated trooper in fully-automated power armor, the tail for some reason like a metallic scorpion stinger.
"Um...okay?" Gliding down for a soft descent inside the Raptor, my hooves touched the red plush carpet just as the soldier closed the door behind him with a resounding thud. Looking around, it appeared that only he and a rather muscular pilot were the only ones aboard this makeshift craft that looked like it'd been recently mothballed from storage.
"The Luckless is aboard, let's get back to HQ for debriefing. Strap in." The pilot nodded at that, switching on the cloaking and switching thrusters back to primary horizontal launch, as the Raptor shot forward sending me falling backwards against a padded wall with shoulder straps and safety belts.
"Tch, mangy mongels those Laughing Dogs are." One of the pilots scoffed as a fierce barrage of bullets raked the sides and bottom of the Raptor's shields, bouncing off as if they were BBs. Moving the throttle forward, I felt the pull of multiple G's through my host's nostrils as the aircraft suddenly shot upwards like a rocket, accelerating hundreds of feet in under a minute.
"Command, this is Missile Lock. We have the Luckless in our custody, looks a bit beat-up, so have a medic on stand-by by the drop-zone area 1CA. Open Gates Password: 'The Sea and the Land may always clash, but the Sky is Limitless.'" Missile Lock exclaimed into his radio transmitter, and just like that, the gray clouds slowly opened to reveal rays of bright sunlight down upon us.
I've seen Thunderhead-class ships before, but this was something overly dwarfing them entirely, a ebon-black floating 'Top' in the sky surrounded by a swirling mass of black clouds along the bottom. Like a gigantic drill with buildings and houses, constantly spinning in place at the bottom awhile the top part stayed motionless. I'd say it was roughly 1/3 the size of the Skyward Tower, which was one of my pet projects with Twilight, and I could plainly see Thunderheads and Raptors docking along the sides of the cloud swirl with their occupants flying through various sliding panel doors. In the center of this colossal 'flying fortress', there was a rather large golden statue in the center that caught the sun's rays, shining brightly over the area, one of a majestic Griffon with wings that stretched far for about a mile upwards, with a over-sized gleaming metal cannon the size of Dragonlord Ember. Come to think of it...I wonder if he was safe from whatever caused all this irradiation and desolation.
"It's a beaut, ain't it? Hammer calls it the Ziz, after some ancient Griffon that was friends with Celestia after banishing her sister. Of course, to us, it's home seeing that 70% of the Enclave Armada was originally stationed here for the war. Took us 60 years to fully restore all of them back to working order and raise them high into the cloudbanks for reconnection. After that though, we haven't done much other than drills and those war games we hear you do so well, thought you'd been contaminated by now. Which reminds me." Bringing out what seemed to be a hand vacuum after his explanation, Missile waved it in front of me for a few minutes than looked at the back of it. "Huh...weird. Only a small amount of rads on ya. Boneyard must've been well-shielded."
"Rads?" I blinked, a bit confused by the term as the pilot frowned, going into his side-satchel to bring out a odd plastic tube with cap.
"Radiation, dude. It's mostly background stuff compared to what we have back home. Here, got some RadAway. Should clear it up before you grow a third nostril or something." He said, in which I accepted the gesture and drank up. Oddly enough, I could feel my host felt a tad disgusted, something about oranges? That reminds me...
"Potassium iodide?" I asked calmly, in which the pilot shrugged in ignorance as he guided the craft over to a nearby Heli-Pad on one of the storm cloud spirals. Come to think of it, Oboro said he was making some progress on some miracle potion that removes radiation in a prior conversation. Something still seemed off about all this, but I couldn't put my antennae on it.
Then again, even though I was supposed to know things, I certainly didn't know about Ziz. Or who this Hammer was, despite the fact I knew just about everyone in the Enclave Personnel records. We bounced a few feet on landing, the engine switched off and the copter blades stopped whirring. Door slid open, and with a subtle nod from the pilot, I flew out to a makeshift sliding Vault Door on the side of the towering structure.
Once inside though, I could plainly see that I was all alone in a dimly lit terminal with grayish-green honeycomb-like walls and a far, far away rotating ceiling. Now and then, as I walked on cracked porcelain tile, I could see a Pegasus flap past in a hurry into the various narrow tunnels leading outside or into different rooms. Obviously, none of them greeted or even acknowledged my host, which could be either good or bad depending on the situation. And that's when a patch of floor glowed blue as I walked on it, which sent me upwards all of a sudden at high speeds.
'Was this a elevator?' I wondered, feeling the G's pile up as I rose mile by mile per second, as Pegasi stopped or curved around mid-flight to avoid being smashed or battered by collision impact. Bracing knees, I felt the gravity push down upon me for a minute or so before the rising floor pad, just as suddenly, froze up just a few inches from the ceiling. Two side-panels slid open to reveal a hexagon-like hole, in which a rather bored unicorn mare with a gray bob stared down at me as I panted and wheezed, disoriented and slightly wobbly from the trip.
"Amateur...well, come on, they're waiting for debrief." She bitterly growled at my host before turning away.
After a bit of hopping through the entrance, which sealed up right behind me, I found myself in awe at the state of the room I was in. Half of it was a frozen wasteland with icicles on the metallic ceiling and snow that reached up to my host's neck, with a rough chill that made the hairs on my thorax stand on end. The other side was a barren desert of sand and zebra skulls littered about, with a few cacti here and there, and the walls and ceiling made of a peculiar form of glass that caused that part of the room to stay at a perfect 98 degrees. The grey unicorn mare was typing away at her terminal, sitting calmly in her seat in the desert area without a drop of sweat on her brow.
"Umm...why am I here?" I asked as casually as I could, earning only a short shrug from the receptionist, right before a gust of hot and then cold air struck me on both sides of the room, as two rather buff-looking pegasi stallions in full Wonderbolt Power Armor. Of course, the only difference between them was their manes in which one seemed to be on literal fire but not affecting the stallion himself, the other with a transparent, frosty spiked haircut.
"You're here, BOY, because of your actions to free a general without the permission of the Council. If anything, your punishment will be swift and painful to say the least. Maybe even a demotion and a proper Dashite branding?" The flameheaded stallion sneered, as the temperature seemed to rise uncomfortably in the room. Of course, I didn't know what he was talking about or what a Dashite was, but because I could ask, the other one took over.
"Now, now, dear brother. As much as I enjoy a good punishment to set this one in line, he did retrieve the general before that abominable Unira came by roughly a half hour later. And did it without so much as a single causality on our side."
"You always take his side, Polar Vortex. Despite his rank, he's a no good lowlife who wastes his time taking down raiders instead of fortifying our position to conquer this measly continent. Not to mention he wastes valuable funds on scarce food supplies instead of the cheap MRE bars and Hardtack that our forces normally consume." The flame-haired Pegasus sneered, causing the room to go up several degrees for some reason. Even inside this guy's head, I was sweating a tad.
"Shut it, Dust Haboob. The reason why we haven't taken over is because we lack the resources of fuel and crystals. Two of which he is known to provide from time to time. In any case, what's done is done. Great-grandfather will be the one judging you." Polar sneered, as the temperature dropped several degrees causing the boogers in my host's nose to freeze. Naturally, I ended up sneezing and getting ice shards in the gas mask as a result. Disgusting, really, but it was probably my host who will be more grossed out.
Of course, seconds later, I was sprawled out on the floor with my host's legs stretched out by a sudden burst of gravity pressure, slamming the skull hard into the floor and knocking me about within. Thankfully, the skull was rather roomy though I was dazed for a couple seconds as he walked in. And by he, I mean the putrid-smelling, green-skinned zombie pony in Admiral-level Wonderbolt Power Armor emitting a pinkish smoke around it's body. The other two seemed unaffected though as the zombie strolled in, though I admit, even I was a bit frightened by his presence.
'Though I admit, Osebo may have a field day dissecting him given his breath emits traces of balefire powder.' I noted, just as the sudden shockwave subsided over my host body.
"Pathetic. Even though I picked you from a list of suitable candidates to properly set the wheels of this nation into motion, you can't handle my weakest of killing intent." The creature growled in a raspy voice, as if it's lungs were burning constantly from taking far too many cigarettes (and just for the record, those items are toxic since they have road tar inside them). "Well? Have you nothing to explain your actions? Not even a apology for wasting equipment and putting your soldiers at risk waiting on you in hostile territory for hours? By their debrief, it was believed you panicked and fled the battle instead of finishing off the last of those mangy mutts."
"Ummm....sorry? I honestly have no idea what you're taking about. All I know is that I was knocked out and escaped what I assume was a pack of hyenas walking upstraight via Vertibuck. Otherwise, I really can't defend my actions." I said cautiously, sweating on the inside as I just realized this zombie Pegasus was overloaded with magical power, possibly almost as strong as Princess Luna. So it shocked me then that he got closer to me, studying my face impassively with his bloodshot, dead eyes.
"Hmm....strange. Both of you, go back to your duties on the bridge and line up a shot against that boneyard, just so this doesn't happen again." He stated firmly to the two stallions, who wordlessly walked off down one of the nearby hallways obediently like trained dogs. Turning back to me, he smirked in a casual fashion. "Admirals or not, those two may learn a thing from your reckless attitude. But then again, given your complete lack of memory, I can say someone else is behind the wheel, eh? Gamma-Omega Clearance: 1323774-837GH."
"Clearance: Accepted." I murmured, confirming my existence to the rather crafty zombie, whom I now realize has prior knowledge of what to look for when a Bookworm takes a host that is unconscious. "Ministry of Magic Head Chief Magiscientist Anansi reporting. But....who are you to know me? There should be only a select few in Zebrica who can tell the difference."
"Obviously for most, but even back then, I was just a low level Enclave Sanition Worker on a Thunderhead ship 200 years ago-"
"200 years, has it really been so long?" I feel the jarring slam of gravity strike me down to the floor again, just for a micro-second, as the zombie snorted green smoke from his nostrils.
"Don't interrupt, that's rude. If anything, I'm rounding up since after the war, calendars were in incredibly short supply and even Pipbucks had trouble telling how many years have passed. Anyways, I was a sanitation dreg when I stumbled into a secret meeting between a Vice Admiral and a lone bookworm known as Olmec, who crawled into the stallion's earlobe. I was well-hidden of course, but somehow I was caught and was forced to sign confidentiality black ops papers putting my entire life as collateral should I spill the beans. From there on, I was under Olmec's supervision as a groomed Lieutenant, making my way thru the ranks until we came across the Ziz. Cloudsdayle demanded we claim it for them, I refused due to Olmec's rather odd instructions, and BOOM! The entire airship was struck by a malfunctioning Balefire missile, crashing into the Zebrician Continent and somehow changing me into what I am today. Olmec, on the other hand, was crushed to death attempting to leave his host, leaving me as the Fleet Admiral in charge of the Enclave African Armada." He paused, as if savoring his memories, "Ever since then, the world changed in a flash, with Rainbow Dash being a traitor, the major cities in Equestria being blown up, and Celestia One sealed by the idiot Lightning Dust and her cronies, leaving me to get things in working order and rally all the survivors, ghoul or otherwise, to rebuild our Thunderheads and the Ziz. So yea, you may have been gone for a very, very long time, especially when you're the first one I've seen in 200 years."
"To be honest, that summarization may require a bit of background research and I may not be the first, given we normally hide out in the minds of talented intellectuals. But either way, still glad to be alive." I answered, not quite sure what to think if everything and everypony I've ever known is dead and gone. I mean, if that's true, what happened to Twilight? Or the FlimFlam brothers whom I gave at least 50 million bits to for the advancement of Flux and cloning?
"It's odd to know such a relic of the past is in the head of one of my apprentices. Does he even know you're in there?" His tone turned more eerie and dark then, as if the zombie suspected I took the Pegasus by force.
"No, but I will introduce myself when his inner psyche heals. Waking up caused him to collapse, and my instincts to switch on his body turned on automatically. Otherwise, the two of us would have been stranded in that cave for days." I answered casually, hoping to be done with this ordeal so I could get onto a cloud terminal and look up everything in the history archives.
"Hmm...just be sure not to cause trouble when he does wake up. Commander Shady Smog isn't the type to take orders from anypony, and he especially hates those who leech off his authority. Anyways, any other questions before I send you off?"
"Yes, how long exactly was that elephant graveyard site here? As far as I'm aware, the last thing I recall was a conference in Congait that me and my comrades were going to, and I fell into a crevice and blacked out." Naturally, I kept the whole 'betrayal' and 'whistleblowing' to myself, just in case this ancient ghoul frowned upon it.
"Well, if I had to guess given I've heard of a conference like that which was overrun by a horde of maniac zebras with machetes and scythes descended on a bunch of reporters and politicans, followed by that infamous Legate. They beheaded the reporters and news crew and stuck heads on pikes to show that no pony was safe from their star judgement. But as your host knows, we're in a 5 way battle against the deadly armies of this continent." He muttered softly, as if trying to recall the problem at hand.
"The Legate?"
"Hay no, it's far worse than those Stripes, even though your host has no issue with them. No, I'm talking about five peculiar armies that have taken over the lands of Zebrica and essentially divided them up, making it hard to create normal factories and labs to manufacture vehicles and the like. The Blood Diamond trade is one of their bonding issues, as well as the rampant diseases they immunize themselves to and then spread them in the general populace to spread fear and distrust to outsiders like us, making villages dependent on those armies. But that's for a later time. Now, I want to speak to my subordinate and get you two acquainted, since despite his deterrence to authority, he does respect me enough to go along with what I have planned." He smirked, as if he had a grudge against my host.
"Fair enough. Switch on." Inside the skull, I tapped the base of my stinger and twisted it, triggering the mind exchange but still allowing me to see through my host's eyes.
-----Shady Smog's POV------
"Arrrrrggh....my tongue is all sandpapery and dry." Was basically the first things that I said after waking up, or rather snapping out of a dreamless-state of nothingness upon seeing that weird creature scream at me. Blinking a few times, I could definitely tell with my expanded sight that I was clearly not in a cavern system nor in the graveyard of bones. Rather, I was in the last place I wanted to be in (save the Zebrican Cradle), Fleet Admiral Biscuit Hammer's office. Even now, his rather tsundere secretary Harsh Word was typing away on her terminal nearby, unfazed by the atmospheric change of air building around the old ghoul.
"So you're awake now, Commander Shady Smog? You gave all of us quite a fright when our retrieval team found you and brought you over to me." The Fleet Admiral smirked, which was unusual since he was normally quite grumpy when I saw him at meetings, "Still, despite the advice of my great-great grandcolts, I've decided not to punish you for disregarding orders to not directly engage with the Laughing Dogs and retrieve our general. Be grateful to still be alive and unbranded."
"I am...I guess. I'm guessing from the atmospheric change I'm on your overbloated, mismatched airship that can barely fly, much less move about with all those Thunderhead-class ships clinging to it for constant repairs?" Saying this instantly caused me to get smashed by a invisible force of gale wind into a wall, as the Admiral went full-serious on me. "Watch your tone, colt. My authority outranks you, so it be best to be respectful on this ship. In any case, despite your act of recklessness, I've decided to use your latest act of war to begin the annexation of the Zebrican Continent and eliminate the competition known as the Five Armies." He snapped, almost freezing my heart solid out of panic given what he was asking me to do, which was suicide by itself. "Wait...wait..." Celestia, this hangover was getting to me because apparently I was hearing things, "You want me to do that? What happened to Head Commander Meteor Shower?" Glancing down, the Fleet Admiral scraped a bit of rust off the floor before responding, "Eaten by the Guerilla Hordes, once they realized he won't cooperate even with his wings severed. Apparently those tailless freaks are developing a taste for us. But that's not important, I won't be sending you into the field without something that can even the odds. Or rather someone." "I'm not following, what could possibly make the long, exhausting mission for me go better considering every commander that even tries to take on those armies have died horribly? I mean, I know I'm good with war games, but I'm still a noob finding my way around this continent." I said, given I wasn't really used to have that sort of power backing me up. It wasn't like I was one of those Wasteland Heroes making friends to topple one powerful enemy at a time. And with the GPS on my Pipbuck still acting up, I wouldn't be able to fast travel on a daily basis if I had thousands of soldiers under my command.
"Hmmph...you have been selected by a special creature that up to this day has been resined in time, one that you have awaken from dormancy. Also known as a Bookworm, it has the power to recall and store information, especially certain secrets on Zebrica and the land around it. It also acts as a personal GPS."
Flashes of the demonic mountain-eating bug came to mind, as I forcibly held back the bile building up in my throat which threated to kill me should I attempt to throw up, "Wait, you mean, you put a worm inside me? How can I be sure it's not some sort of mind-controlling parasite?"
The Fleet Admiral merely turned around, not even bothering to show me the distain for my fearful attitude in general, as a sliding door opened up into a dark corridor in back of him. "One, it's rude to call them parasites, they have no direct control over you, they just feed you information and act as a translator, something you may need given the hundreds of dialects spoken in this land. Two, consider it a temporary gift given I expect you to conquer this place within a year or so with it's help, but in a good way. I will not tolerate insubordination otherwise, and I expect the two of you to work well together. You do not want me to punish you otherwise. Dismissed."
With that, the room's lighting turned off and I found myself minutes later downstairs by the main cafeteria. "Lousy, stupid....I can't believe he put something like a Bookworm in my head." I hissed, cursing the fact that I was about to perform something that was next to impossible with the small amount of resources the Zebrican Enclave Outpost had. We barely had any airtanks!
"-It's no picnic for me either, bub. And the name is Anansi. I can't leave your head even if I wanted to at the moment, so we'll just have to do as that zombie pony asks to save my comrades. So...what's first on the agenda?-" A noiseless array of words popped up in my head, making me sigh knowing that I'll probably sound crazy if I talked to this Bookworm in the open. Even so, I proceeded to trot towards the door leading to the hangar where a Vertibuck was probably waiting for me.
"Great, it's using telepathy. Sigh...well, now that I'm assigned to head the main task force, I'll have to find a fuel source and fortify it so we'll have a place to keep our airtanks and Raptors fully charged. Carbon Dioxide isn't exactly plentiful here given most of the trees have been radiated or mutated, not to mention the desert's constant expansion." During this, I noted carts loaded with lightning in bottles, as well as Twittermites, getting shipped back and forth, seeing that they were used as a way to keep the Ziz from falling like a rock 200 mph into the ground below. I'd probably explore this place later, but from I've heard, it's like a giant hollow turnip with buildings on top which were for sleeping quarters. Not even a decent firing range or a weapon armory, though I admit the cannon was based off the Cloudsdayle Weather Machine.
"-Actually....there is one place that you could get almost unlimited CO2. Though it may be a bit dangerous. Lake Nyas (Nyos) over in Cameloon. I would have to say it's one of the three most highly concentrated gas pockets on the planet, though hazardous given ten years before I was encased, it released a noxious volcanic-like burp that killed over 3,500 inhabitants in a matter of hours. It should be well-protected by a Ministry of Magic settlement, which is where I come in. Get me there and I'll let you refuel your forces for whatever hair-brained plan you may have to unite this backwoods place. For with your military know-how and my vast wealth of knowledge before and during the war, we may have a small shot.-" Okay....that actually sounded like good news for once. Perhaps this weird bug could come In handy if he knew where to get the resources needed to rebuild our fleet so I could just carpet-bomb the armies in small dosages. But I still didn't trust it one iota if it planned to take over my body somehow.
Still, even as I crossed the threshold into the main glass-dome hangar surrounded by rusting or currently dormant Vertibucks and Raptors that were under constant maintenance, something still bothered me. "That's what worries me, but might as well try given I don't want Biscuit Hammer air bursting me into a bloody pulp like that village full of Anubis Jackals a while back. Speaking of which, 3....2....1..." Outside the glass windows, the main cannon roared with tremendous impact, firing off a single burst of concentrated ice the size of a football stadium in the direction where the Elephant Graveyard was located. Did I mention how happy I was that those mangy mutts get their just desserts for getting me in this mess?
Heh, no matter, it was still awesome seeing the cannon in action given it can fire just about anything like a Junk Jet, even elemental shots. That shot just now was probably Polar Vortex's doing given he's responsible for keeping the southern ice caps from melting all the way, awhile his twin brother Dust Haboob works on making the desert regions almost uninhabitable for the ghouls to live in. Ah, and there was a open Vertibuck with a stepladder and a 'Reserved for Shady Smog' sign next to a bunch of ammo packs and a month's worth of Grass MRE bars. There was even a makeshift 'Workshop' package in the back, which would come in handy I suppose. Getting inside, I set in the coordinates of Lake Nyas.....oddly enough, that name sounded familiar to me though I couldn't put my hoof on it.
"-I am so lost right now....you mind filling me in on these Five Armies along the way-" The sneaky bookworm who apparently wanted to be called Anansi asked, as I adjusted my safety belt and switched on the auto-pilot, setting a direct course to Cameloon.
"Eh, sure, why not. We have plenty of time, I suppose." I muttered, relieving some of my stress in the process as we took off down the runaway and towards a uncertain destination of possible death. From a comfortable life of luxury to grunt duty in absolute squalor with a parasite in my brain working to unify and peacefully conquer a country. Luna, my life stinks...
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Level Up! Land N' Flap- (Shady Smog) Your flight ability has improved dramatically to swerve and dodge in mid-flight, even to fly backwards in a pinch.
Level Up! Rep To Maintain- (Anansi) Even after 2 centuries, you're well-known to those who have lived that long in the Military. As such, upon completion of quests, your host will have access to more and more equipment, soldiers and supplies. Just be careful not to fail a lot as it's his neck that will be on the chopping block.
"-My, my, so you've awaken, hmm? Do not fret, Anansi...the terrors of this world are just beginning. Just as they're starting to begin for you....voyeur. And for the record, Lake Nyos is a real place, which killed over 1,500 people in Africa due to a CO2 Eruption. Kinda scary, don't you think, given air is such a limited resource on your planet as long as you keep destroying the things that create it? Hehehehe......-"