Chapter 31 - Sitrep
“Don’t look at me. I was doing my job.”
===~+~===
“Let me get this straight. Bronze Star, you are the leader of the militia, correct?” I ask the bronze coated earth pony buck who was telling the story about the courier.
He coughs. “That’s...That’s correct,” Bronze tells me.
“And you, Bronze Star, are the one who decides the guard rotation to make sure no one gets in here without someone knowing, correct?” I ask. He starts to answer, but I cut him off. “Don’t talk, just nod.” he nods his head. “Ok. And you,” I say, gesturing at the brown unicorn mare with the scar on her muzzle. “Snowflake, you and Bronze were on guard duty, correct?” I ask her.
She rubs the back of her head and looks down at the ground. “We were…” She mutters.
“Well, I’m glad we’re getting to the bottom of things here. Now, around the time I arrived, Bronze and Snowflake decided to leave the entrance to find Hook and Hammer,” I say, gesturing to an earth pony mare and buck respectively. Hook and Hammer nod their heads slowly. “And, neither of you thought that, maybe, just maybe, you should tell them to get back to guarding the entrance?” I ask.
The two of them shake their heads. “So, the four of you went into the mass of storage crates to talk about Bronze’s encounter. An area, mind you, where you cannot see the entrance,” I say, receiving nods from the four ponies sitting in front of me. I let out a long sigh and facehoof.
“What part of any of that sounded like a good idea?” I ask them. Hammer opens his mouth, but I raise a hoof to silence him. “It was a rhetorical question. None of that was a good idea. If I was a zebra, hell, even a raider, you would all be dead. Four of you were sleeping, almost half of you were drunk, the only ones who weren’t drinking were you four, the three working on the tank, and the bartender,” I lecture them.
“This is supposed to be the militia, the ponies who are fighting the Fallen Legion right? Fucking act like it,” I tell them, glaring angrily at them. The other militia members are watching as well, along with the AIs and the survivors from Ebon. The militia let us in after it was clear that we weren’t a threat. I made it clear by telling them each where they were standing and what they were doing as I came in, as well as how I would have killed them without the others knowing. My offer of weapons, ammo, and supplies also didn’t hurt.
“Come on Ratchet,” Wick says, trying to hid a smile. “They explained the situation. All the ponies in charge died, right? None of them have any idea how to properly run things. No offence,” He says with a nod to Bronze Star.
“None taken,” Bronze replies.
“It doesn’t take a genius to realize you need to keep things guarded,” I counter them. “So, listen up. From now on, at all times two guards will be at the entrance. Bronze, decide who watches it when. There are enough of us here to where we can do two hour long shifts. Now then, Snowflake, you are like the second in command, right?” I ask her. She nods.
“Ok then. Bronze, don’t schedule the two of you on guard duty at the same time. Try to keep you two on opposite hours of the day. That way, there is always someone who is in charge that will be awake. Got it?” I ask. Bronze nods. “Alright then. Bronze, go do that. Meanwhile, Snowflake, why don’t you introduce me to everyone?” I ask her.
“Yea, sure,” She tells me with a nod.
“Thank you. Hook, Hammer, would you two watch the entrance until Bronze gets the schedule in order?” I ask.
“No problem,” Hammer says, and Hook nods in agreement.
I clap my hooves together. “Excellent. After you, Snowflake,” I tell her, gesturing with a hoof. She stands up and starts walking towards the closest militia ponies. I believe these are the three that were working on the tank when I came in.
“Ratchet, these three here are our maintenance team. They work on our weapons, armor, and the tank,” Snowflake says. “This is our chief engineer, Ember,” She gestures to the red unicorn mare wearing blue overalls.
Ember wipes her hoof across her muzzle, smearing some grease on it as a result, and then extends her hoof to me. I extend mine as well and shake her hoof. “Hiya!” She says with a beaming smile. “We were running low on spare parts before you lot came along. Now, I suppose we can just use the weapons you brought us.”
“Not a problem,” I tell her. “I hope what we brought is enough to give us a fighting chance against the legion.”
“My thoughts exactly!” Ember says happily.
Snowflake coughs to get our attention. “And these two are Ember’s assistants. Eclipse and Peppermint,” She says, gesturing at a black earth pony buck and a white earth pony mare respectively.
“Nice to meet you,” They echo.
“I think we will all get along nicely,” I tell them. “Cora and I will try to help you get the tank up and running. Judging by the size and the barrel, it is an Ursa Major, correct?” I ask.
Eclipse nods. “That’s right. The engine is having problems generating enough power to move the tank. We’ve been tinkering with various things to try and get it to work,” He tells me.
Peppermint shrugs. “Yea, but unfortunately, it didn’t come with an instruction manual. Not that Ember would even read it if we had one,” She says, shooting Ember a glance.
Ember sticks out her tongue. “Why read about something when you can take it apart yourself and learn how it works for yourself?” She states.
“Because sometimes when you take things apart,” Peppermint says, “you forget to write down how things go back together.”
“Oh, that has happened like once,” Ember says, waving a hoof.
“Five times,” Eclipse states. “This month.”
“Anyhow,” Snowflake says, stomping her hoof. “Shall we continue, Ratchet?” She asks.
“Sure, I’ll talk to you three later,” I say, waving a hoof as Snowflake and I continue to over to the bar, where the bartender and his five patrons are gathered.
“The unicorn behind the bar is Medkit. He is our doctor, but he pulls double duty as a bartender,” Snowflake tells me.
“Why a bartender?” I ask him.
Medkit chuckles. “Sometimes the best medicine is a good dose of alcohol. When not treating life-threatening injury, that is,” He says with a sly grin. “But, in all seriousness, some of these ponies would drink all day if I let them. As a doctor, I make sure they don’t over indulge themselves. As the bartender, I can regulate who gets alcohol and who doesn’t.”
“That makes sense, I suppose,” I reply. “Okay, how about everyone else then?”
“These five are a few of our fighters. From left to right, Shimmer, Rain Shower, Solstice, Sky Shaker, and Bluegrass. Sky is also our only pegasus member,” Snowflake informs me. Shimmer is a purple unicorn mare, Rain is a dark blue earth pony buck, Solstice is a golden yellow unicorn mare, Sky, like Snowflake said, is a grey pegasus, and Bluegrass is an older green earth pony buck.
“Nice to meet you all,” I say with a smile. We exchange pleasantries for a moment before continuing on to four ponies sitting at a table.
“This group here is our more experienced fighters,” Snowflake says as we get up to the table. She gestures to each one and tells me their names. “Scarlet, Brisk, Jackpot, and Onyx.” Scarlet is a pink unicorn mare, the others are all earth ponies. Brisk and Onyx have black coats and Jackpot has a golden coat.
“What makes you four more experienced than the others?” I ask them.
“We are the last of the original militia members, that’s what,” Scarlet tells me. “Snowflake and Bronze Star, too,” She adds. “Everyone else joined later.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I tell them with a frown.
“Don’t worry about it,” Brisk says. “They died striking a blow against the legion, but sadly it wasn’t as big a blow as we would have liked.”
“Indeed,” Jackpot agrees. “But, with the new weapons and supplies you brought in, we just might have a fighting chance. For a while, anyway. I can’t see us defeating them completely,” he says with a frown.
“We have a plan for that, actually. But, we can talk about that later,” I tell them.
Onyx raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, I can’t wait to hear it,” He tells me.
“There is still a little bit to make up for it, but we have the major parts decided,” I tell him. “I look forward to working with you all.”
“I’ll introduce you to our sleeping members when they wake up,” Snowflake tells me, leading away. “For now…” She lets out a sigh as we approach the two earth ponies bucks in face paint. “I suppose I can introduce you to these two clowns…” She says, her voice filled with irritation. She points at the bigger one. “Jay,” She says, and then points at the skinny one. “Shaggy. That’s it, let’s go.”
“Ay, ay, ay. Why you gotta be like that Flakey?” Shaggy says, holding up his hooves, like he is offended. Then he looks at me. “What up ninja?” He asks.
“N-Ninja?” I question.
“It is best to just ignore them,” Snowflake says as she starts to turn away.
“Shiiiit. Why you gotta play Flakey?” Jay says, giving her a smirk. “For real, you need to get youself some dick. Cuz you up tighter than a motha fucka.”
“Fuck, she can come get this dick, ya know what I’m sayin’?” Shaggy interjects, puckering up his lips and reaching a hoof under the table to emphasise the word ‘dick’.
“Motha fucka, she fixin ta catch something she get on yo dick,” Jay says with a chuckle.
Shaggy pulls his head back and grimaces. “Ay yo, fuck you. Bitch ass motha fucka. The only neden you gettin is fuckin ghoul bitches,” He replies. “They the only ones who can bear to look at yo ugly punk ass.”
Jay gets up off the box he is sitting on, and pulls an axe out of the larger crate the two are playing cards on, somehow managing to hold it in his hoof. “Man, fuck you Shaggy, man,” He yells, holding out the axe in a threatening manner.
Shaggy follows suit and pulls out the second axe in the crate, and raises up on his rear legs. “Right now muhfucka, right now? Afta all the shit we been though?”
“Why da fuck not?” Jay counters. “You ain’t shit.”
“Uh, guys…” I say, trying to get their attention, but they don’t pay any attention to me.
“Aight den bitch! Say hi to da Wraith for me!” Shaggy yells. Then the two of them swing their axes back. My eyes go wide as they start swinging straight towards each other. Just before they hit each other, I clench my eyes shut. An instant later, I hear the sound of the axes cutting into wood. This is followed by raspy, hardy laughter. Slowly, I open my eyes. The two of them are perfectly fine. Their axes are wedged back into the crate between them. “Ay yo Jay, you see the look on this bitch’s face? Fuckin’ priceless yo,” Shaggy laughs.
“Calm down, we only clownin,” Jay chuckles. “All ya’ll bitches so fuckin up tight.”
“Ya’ll need to fuckin breath or we all gona get axed,” Shaggy says, picking up some cards in his hooves. “Oh shit,” He mutters, then lays the cards on the table, revealing six different cards, but all of them are jokers. “Royal flush!” He declares.
Jay throws his cards on the table. “Man, fuck you. This is why I don’t play this shit with your bitch ass. You fuckin’ cheat,” He says, shaking his head.
“Fuck all that, this shits legit,” Shaggy replies, gesturing at the cards.
Jay adjusts his weight on the crate, setting an elbow on the one between them and using that leg to lean in. “First off, a royal flush is five fucking cards. Not six. Second, you’re not even supposed to have that many card. Third, we ain’t even fucking playing poker,” He says as he stares at Shaggy.
Shaggy looks at him calmly for a few moments with his forehooves crossed in his lap. And then in the next moment he flips the crate over, sending cards, beer bottles, and caps flying. “Well we ain’t playin shit now!” He yells.
“Every fucking time…”Jay mutters as he leans down and picks up a still burning cigar. He takes a puff and then blows the smoke in Shaggy’s face while saying, “Biiiitchhh.” Then the two of them burst out laughing and Shaggy flips the crate back over. “Deal my ass in,” Jay says with the cigar sticking out of his mouth.
“Deal my ass in,” Shaggy says, poorly imitating Jay as he piles up the cards and picks them up. He tosses the cards on the table and starts walking away. “Deal yo own ass in, ima take a fuckin leak,” He says.
Jay shakes his head as he starts dealing cards. “I’m tellin you man, you’re pissin way too much. Have the fuckin doc check yo ass out before you start pissin blood,” He calls after Shaggy.
“So he can stick a hoof up my ass? Man, fuck that,” Shaggy calls back.
Jay grins around the cigar and looks over at me. “You ladies playin?” He asks, gesturing to the cards on the crate.
“No,” Snowflake says flatly.
“Maybe next time,” I tell him.
“Suit yoselves,” He says as we walk away from him.
“Like I said,” Snowflake says after we are a ways away, “ignore them.”
“They seem...odd. But they don’t seem too bad,” I tell her. They certainly are an interesting pair. “Anyway, thank you for introducing me to everyone.”
“No problem. I’m just glad someone is taking charge and actually doing something,” She tells me.
“You and Bronze are in charge, not me,” I tell her. “I’m just helping things along.”
She shakes her head. “Honestly, if you wanted to take over for us, we’d let you. We have no experience leading ponies. We are just the ones who the positions fell to,” She says. “Since the two of us landed ourselves in charge, we haven’t really done anything.”
“Well, let’s change that,” I say, giving her a smile.
Just then, Hammer calls out my name. “Ratchet! We need you at the entrance. There are some ponies who say that they know you!” Ponies that say that they know me? That...can’t be.
I look to Snowflake. “Let’s go. I wasn’t expecting company,” I tell her, and then quickly trot over to the entrance. Hook is standing in the doorway talking to someone as Hammer waits for me to get there. “So...who is it?” I ask him.
“Says his name is Lance, son of some mare named Saber?” He says with a shrug. I don’t know anyone named Lance. But...Saber? It...couldn’t be, could it? I walk past Hammer and tap Hook on the side to get her to move. On the other side of the doorway, is an earth pony buck in nearly perfect condition power armor, aside from some patch up work.
“Ah, there you are, Ratchet!” The buck says as he sees me. “You are Ratchet, correct? You look as mother described you, well, aside from your mane, but that lab coat is a dead giveaway,” He tells me with a broad smile.
“I’m Ratchet...but...who are you?” I ask, and then look past him at the half dozen ponies in way worse looking power armor. Most of it looks like it is made out of scrap metal, like road signs. “And who are they?” I add.
The buck chuckles. “My name is Lance, you knew my mother, Saber. And we are the second generation of Junk Rats.”
===~+~===
After welcoming the Junk Rats in and assuring the militia members that they weren’t a threat, Lance quickly explained what they were doing here. A courier delivered a letter to Saber a few weeks ago. It told her that I was back in the Wasteland and that a zebra army was attacking Hoofington. It requested any help she could offer me and gave her the location of the militia’s hideout.
Like all of the recent courier letters, this one didn’t name a sender. But it was able to tell Saber enough about me and the fighting with Grimoire that she was convinced that it was from someone who knew and was helping me.
Of course, given Saber’s age she wasn’t able to make the journey herself. Most of the other original members I knew are in the same situation, and stayed behind to watch their home. Apparently, the Junk Rats had been accepting new recruits and now span three generations of ponies. But since the third generation isn’t too old yet, only half of the second generation was able to make the journey to help out.
Other than Lance, the other Junk Rats’ power armor suits range from having some original armor remaining to suits constructed completely out of rusted and worn scrap metal. More than a few look almost haphazardly thrown together, but somehow they stay intact as the ponies move around in them. But, I suppose even thrown together power armor is better than normal barding or no armor at all.
By the I finish meeting everyone and the Junk Rats get settled in, it is just past eight at night. I decide that tomorrow we can over over the plan and then Cora and I can take a look at the tank as well. Bronze finished making the guard rotation a few hours ago, so now we will have two guards watching the entrance at all times. Snowflake is staying up in the night while Bronze is going to sleep. If anything happens during the night, Snowflake will try to handle it, or wake us all up. But, if too many more ponies end up finding this place, I’ll have to seriously consider the security of this location.
The night passes without issue, however. The following morning, before those who were up during the night go to sleep, I gather everyone for a meeting to go over the plan. Together, with Cora, the two of us go over Cora’s plan. The primary stuff, and then some specifics. Most of the lightly armored or unarmored ponies will stay near the tank to use it as cover. Meanwhile, the AIs and Junk Rats will push from another side. I’m trusting Lance and Cora being able to act on their own away from the larger group. The two of them shouldn’t have a problem. Lance is taking over as the Junk Rat’s leader once Saber decides to step down.
I will be leading a group with Bronze that will advancing in front of the tank while it gives us support. Of course, we won’t be directly in front of it so we don’t get in its way. Our group will be made up of the four elite members, Sky Shaker, Hook and Hammer as well as Jay and Shaggy. If the tank runs into any trouble mechanically, I will run back to help if I am able.
The tank crew itself will be made up of Ember, Eclipse, and Peppermint, as well as three of the ponies from Ebon. Ember will be commanding what everyone does and working the radio to keep in contact with me and Cora’s groups, while also making sure the tank continues to function properly. Eclipse will be driving while Peppermint controls the main turret. The ponies from Ebon will load the main turret and use the machine guns built into the tank. Medkit, the doctor, will ride on the back of the tank, taking cover from the majority of the fighting and only leaving his spot if someone needs help.
That leaves Snowflake, Wick, and everyone else. The remaining ponies from Ebon will ride on the tank, as they still aren’t at full strength. They will be protecting the tank and covering everyone around it that the tank can’t hit. Everyone else will be waiting until the tank gets close to the city. When that happens, they will join in the fighting using buildings as cover. Snowflake will be leading this group while the tank continues towards a clearing in Neighton, where it should be able to provide support for everyone.
“Remember,” Cora announces, “The Fallen Legion doesn’t keep slaves here. Everything in Neighton is an enemy. That means you don’t have to pull any punches. And don’t forget about the ponies who joined them. They paint themselves like zebras, so don’t let them catch you off guard.”
“Right,” I agree with a nod. “Keeping this in mind, Ember, it might be hard for you to concentrate on individual targets. Instead, focus on large groups. If there aren’t any large groups, level a few buildings. If they don’t have anywhere to hide, they can’t catch us by surprise when we enter the city,” I tell her.
“Got it!” She calls out, raising up a hoof.
“Just make sure you all watch out for each other. And keep in mind that some of the zebras have stealth technology. If you see anything shimmering, or think you see something moving, shoot at it, just to be safe,” Cora adds.
“I can see through their stealth with my thermal sensors, so I will be focusing on that on our side,” Soar says as she stands up and waves a hoof. “But the rest of you should stay sharp, just in case.”
“So then, any questions? If not, we’re done here,” I say as I look over the ponies sitting in front of me. No one raises a hoof or speaks up. “Alright then, we’ll go over things one more time before the fight, but until then, we’re done.” The ponies slowly stand up and break off into groups. A few stagger off to the beds.
Cora and I make our way over to Ember, Eclipse, and Peppermint who have started working on the tank once again. “Try it again, Eclipse!” Ember calls from behind the tank. A moment later, I hear the engine of the tank trying to turn over, followed by Ember’s, “EEP!” and her shouting, “STOP! STOP! STOP!” Eclipse stops and a few moments later, Ember pulls herself out from behindthe tank, covered in grease and other engine fluids. She wipes a hoof on her coveralls and then across her face to get rid of all the gunk covering it. “That wasn’t it…” She mutters.
“Maybe if I reseal the gaskets, tweak the fuel intake, and reroute the exhaust?” She mutters, putting a hoof to her chin.
“We tried that, remember?” Peppermint tells her as she shakes her head.
“Well, what about going over the ignition system? Maybe something came loose?” Ember suggests next.
“Checked it over yesterday,” Eclipse tells her. “So, unless you did something to it, it should be fine.”
“Um, mind if we take a look?” I ask as we step up to them.
The three of them exchange glances and then nod in agreement. “Knock yourselves out,” Ember tells me. I take my lab coat off and set it aside and then Cora and I make our way behind the tank to look at the engine. “Do either of you know anything about tanks? Or engines, for that matter?” She asks, walking around to join us.
“Not specifically,” I tell her as I look over the engine. “But we do know a thing or two about pre-war technology and a bit about mechanics and the like. Never worked on a tank though,” I say as I check a connection. “Hey Cora, aren’t there usually-” She cuts me off.
“Right there, Ratchet,” Cora says, gesturing towards the engine’s computer connection port.
“Ah, right,” I mutter as I pull out my PipBuck’s cable and make the connection. Then I look through the systems and see if I can find any issues. “Cora, check the fuel filter?” I suggest. She pops out her fingers, grabs some tools, and then reaches deep into the engine. After some thrashing around, she pulls the filter back up with her.
After looking it over, she says, “Yea, looks like it needs some cleaning. But it isn’t so bad it would kill the whole engine. Something else must be wrong.”
“Hey Ember, you said the ignition system was fine, right?” I ask.
“Yea, we checked it yesterday, like Eclipse said,” Ember tells me.
“Though we fixed it up for the first time around a week ago,” Eclipse says from the front of the tank.
“Okay, I think it still had an error in the system because of that. I’ll clear that out for now,” I mutter as I go through commands on my PipBuck. Then I poke around in the engine for a moment before finding the spark batteries. Charged, that’s good. They must have replaced them when they found the tank. I dig around a bit more and then reference the system status screen on my PipBuck. “These connector cables might be a bit too old and corroded. Cora, do we have any spare cables?” I ask her.
“What kind?” She replies, looking over the the side of the engine I’m on. I point a hoof at the cables. “Oh, maybe. Let me go check,” She says and digs through her bags. “A few.”
“Okay then. Ember, can you clean the fuel filter while Cora and I start replacing these cables?” I ask.
“Not a problem!” She picks it up in her magic and walks around to the other side of the tank.
“There is a lot of things that look wrong,” Cora says after she leaves.
“Yea. The others did mention she likes to take things apart and sometimes doesn’t remember how they go back together,” I murmur. “We should probably go over everything to make sure it is as it should be. This is going to take a while.”
===~+~===
It takes us two days to go over the entire engine to check it for problems. A good amount of it is improper placement, which Ember admits to being responsible for. But it isn’t just her fault. A lot needs proper cleaning, some gaskets are completely worn out and a lot of cables and pipes are corroded. The five of us set about patching everything up and putting everything where it should be. Thankfully, the system interface on my PipBuck is a huge help with this. Warning and errors fade away when we do something correctly, but a lot of it is guesswork.
Finally, when Eclipse hits the ignition, the engine turns over and hums to life. It isn’t the most pleasant sounding engine, clearly it is just barely functioning. But, Eclipse manages to maneuver the tank a little bit, though given the size of the cave, he only moves it a few feet and rotates it. The fact is though, that it is working.
With the tank running again, we load it will ammunition and supplies. The militia managed to find and transport around sixty 120mm shells and around seven boxes of machinegun ammo. The interior of the tank is roomy enough to fit all of it and still have enough room for all of the occupants. It will be a bit cramped, though.
Ember and her team took care of the exterior of the tank pretty well. They patched up any holes and the like weeks before we arrived. If this tank still had its repair talisman, it would be nearly unstoppable. But as it sits now, in a few places the armor is only a few layers of scrap metal thick, barely enough to stop larger caliber rounds, let alone missiles or anti-machine rounds.
Once the tank’s preparation is finally complete, we wake everyone up and hold another meeting. Tomorrow, we will travel to, and attack Neighton to drive the zebras back. It will take us around six hours to get there, maybe more depending upon how fast the tank is able to travel. Because of the travel time, we will leave around four in the morning to make sure we reach the town before nightfall. Stealth technology is especially deadly in the dark, after all.
We go over the plan one more time and make sure that everyone knows what to do. We also pass out the weapons and supplies we brought to those that need them. Bronze, Snowflake, Wick, and Lance make sure that all of the ponies getting new guns make sure they know how to properly use them and have enough ammunition for the fight.
When everything is ready and everyone has everything that they need, Cora, Soar, and Macro volunteer to guard the entrance while everyone else sleeps for the night. There are not enough beds to go around, but all the ponies from Ebon get a bed, except Wick who settles in a corner between two empty crates. The other beds fill up and the others all find their own places to settle in for the night.
Me? I find a secluded place to lay down, but I don’t sleep. Despite me telling everyone what to do, knowing about the fight that will take place tomorrow...I can’t stop shaking. We are going to be fighting zebra soldiers. Not just some unorganized raiders. Everything I ever read or heard about the zebras come flooding back. Zebras are monsters. Zebras are cruel. Zebras want nothing but destruction. Zebras will kill you.
Am I...going to survive tomorrow’s battle?