Chapter 17: Questioning
Horizon Hangar Bay B, October 15th, 23:01
Peter Van Thorne pressed the barrel of Amelia’s gun against her back. “Alright, we’re here. Open the door,” he ordered his men. Moments later, the rear chromehound door swung open with ease and blinded the crew inside with the lights of Horizon’s interior hangar bay.
The crew and their captive were greeted shortly after by a wave of soldiers and scientists covered from head to toe in bio-protective gear. “Hey, watch it!” The captive shoved a lab coat back which, then caused a small domino effect as the man stumbled into his mates. Amelia turned her head at the sound of a dozen mechanisms being activated, the soldiers surrounding her disengaging their safeties. Though the men couldn’t see under her helmet, she rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Don’t even bother!” Peter came to her ‘rescue’. “The only weapons in here that may have a chance of piercing this chick’s armor.” He tapped his knuckles on her pauldron. “Is this thingamajig.” He shook her handgun in the air. “And this doohickey.” He then held up her futuristic shotgun-thing.
Amelia took a short deep breath. “Even then.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It’d take a little more than a single shot to break through it.”
“Oh yeah, one last thing guys!” Peter said with fake enthusiasm, he pointed a finger at her. “She’s kind of a wiseass.” Once more, Amelia rolled her eyes, the men around her still unable to see the action. “Alright boys, I’m going to hand over all of my trust to you.” He tossed the handgun over to a marine and handed the shotgun to another. “If you ever recall elementary... or primary school for you easterners. You don’t point the barrel of that gun at your buddies, except for this girl m’kay?” He tapped the back of Amelia’s armor.
“Sir yes sir!”
“Alright then...” Peter pushed the girl forward and the two of them along with a few guards and labcoats began to make their way out of the hangar. “You said your name’s Amelia right?” Peter stepped beside the girl.
“The one and only,” She practically muttered and kept her vision forward.
“Knowing today’s standards you might be right on that.” Peter chuckled. “I’m going to trust that you won’t do anything stupid, right?”
Peter took a few steps back when the girl’s head slowly turned towards him. “Trust me, I would never do anything that could potentially cause any harm.” He could nearly taste the sarcasm in her voice.
The sergeant clicked his tongue. “Okay then, I have to report in for debriefing. So I’m going to leave you in the care of a good friend of mine.” He tapped her on the back.
Amelia’s eyes followed Peter as he drifted back into the crowd and out of sight. “And who would that be–” She started but was cut off by an overly joyful German.
“Mein Gott! Who is zis?” The German nearly squealed with excitement.
Amelia’s head faced forward and her pupils nearly shrunk when she saw the elderly man in a lab suit. “You can’t be serious...”
:[-]:
R&D, October 15th, 23:40
The elevator door to the R&D labs opened and Arin quickly made his way out. Dipping his way past guards and scientists he walked briskly to the interrogation room on the far end of the deck.
“Alright zen Ms. Convay,” Hassel said through a comms device. “I vill be activating zee decontamination process now. If you could please open your arms out vide.” Amelia was on the other end of a pane of glass in an airtight sealed room, plain and stark white. The room she was sealed in was only about five by ten feet, with her armor her head was practically touching the ceiling. Amelia tried her best to nod without bumping her helmet into the ceiling, following the doctor’s instructions. From all directions small nozzles slid out from the walls, locking in place before coating her in a white mist, fogging her visor and damping her armor. “Sank you.”
Arin burst through the door and stepped into the observation room Hassel was in, immediately he was set upon by two guards. “Hey! Hey, it’s me!” Arin shoved one of the marines out of the way.
The marine stumbled back and raised both his hands defensively. “Apologies, Sergeant.” He nodded his head towards the other to stand down.
Hassel chuckled and didn’t even bother to look away from the console he was standing at. “Next time, Sergeant, maybe you should knock.” He advised.
Arin dusted off the spots where the soldiers had grabbed him and walked up beside Hassel, peering into the glass. “I’ll think about it, Doc.”
“You do zat zen.”
Arin watched the woman behind the glass in awe. “Jesus... is that really her?”
“Vat do you mean?” Hassel tilted his head slightly to look at Arin, while also keeping an eye on the computer.
He looked at Hassel. “Is she really John’s daughter?”
Hassel shook his head. “Vee don’t haf enough information to actually decide on zat, she claims to share zee same last name, but... vee vill haf to look deeper into it.”
Arin nodded his head and turned his attention back to the girl inside the other room. “Alright, I can understand that.”
Hassel pressed a green button on the console and leaned into it. “Ms. Amelia, if you could please make your vay into zee room next door, I vould greatly appreciate it.”
The girl shrugged. “Okay,” She said, her voice sounding muffled as it came through the intercom.
Hassel smiled and stepped back from the console. “She’s very cooperative, zis one,” The old man said with a bit of pep in his voice, he reached over to the table beside the computer and grabbed a paper cup of water. He sipped from it. “And very nice.”
Arin snorted. “After hearing everything that happened out in the field she doesn’t sound like it.”
Hassel pulled the cup away and sighed with relief, he glanced at the water and smiled. “Zis is good vater.” He placed the cup down and started walking towards another console further down the room which sat in front of another pane of glass looking out at another room; the interrogation room. “Before vee began zese tests, vee had time to chat.”
“What did she say?”
“Not much, sough she does feel a bit bad for attacking Mr. Thorne and his men.” Hassel stopped at the console and began to make a few adjustments, Arin followed shortly behind. Hassel tapped the mic built into the console, testing to see if it was working. Satisfied he pressed a green button and leaned into the mic. “Ms. Amelia, if you could be so kind as to take a seat in zee chair behind zee table.”
Amelia glanced around the room, then at the table that had a chair occupying both sides. She frowned and pointed at the chair facing the mirror in the room (to her it was only a one sided window). “How the hell am I supposed to fit in that thing?” She said gesturing to herself and her height. “I might as well sit on the floor.”
Arin reached past the doctor and pressed the talk button. “Just sit in the chair, Amy.”
What happened next followed an awkward silence. Amelia’s frown deepened at the sound of the new, yet familiar voice. Not to mention whoever was in the other room used her nickname, not many people called her by that name anymore. Not ever since the... she decided not to dwell on it. She walked over to the chair and slid it out from behind the table and sat down, the metal foldout groaning in protest due to her weight.
“Why didn’t you guys have her take that ridiculous set of armor off?” Arin asked.
Hassel sighed. “Out of everysing she allowed us to examine, her veapons, equipment, etc. She refuses to take off zat peculiar set of armor, claiming zat she doesn’t trust us enough yet,” The doctor explained.
“So she willingly gives us her weapons, but doesn’t take the armor off because of trust issues?” Arin raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I see the logic in that, but okay.”
Hassel shook his head. “Actually, I do.” He looked up from the console and pointed a finger at Amelia who was sitting awkwardly in her chair. “Zat is no ordinary suit of armor, no, it’s somesing more special zen zat.”
“Doctor,” A woman’s voice came from behind the two men. Hassel looked over and saw a young woman in a lab coat standing before them. “Admiral Watson is on his way down here. He should be here within the next couple of minutes.”
“Sank you, Alice, I’ll let zee subject know.” Hassel turned to Arin and smiled. “Hopefully zis time vee vill get some answers.”
:[-]:
Interrogation, October 16th, 24:00
“Alright zen, Vatson, eversing is ready.” Hassel said, his voice coming through a speaker built into the wall right behind Watson. The old man was standing by the entrance of the interrogation room, beside him were two armed guards. In front of Watson was a metal table bolted into the floor with a chair on each side. Sitting awkwardly in one of these chairs was Amelia Conway still dressed in her medieval-like attire.
Watson looked to both guards and nodded his head before making his way to the unoccupied chair across from her. He pulled it out and sat down. “Do you mind telling me who and what you are?” He asked cutting right to the chase.
Amelia folded her hands and rested both elbows on the table as she leaned forward, her chair creaking in the process. “I told you guys, my name is Amelia Conway.”
Watson raised an eyebrow. “Conway, eh?” He smirked. “That’s interesting, you see, I know two men who both share that last name.”
Amelia tilted her head. “Really?”
Watson ignored her, he pointed at her outfit. “So what’s this? Some sort of Halloween costume?”
Amelia sighed and rested her arms flat on the table. “It’s my K-70A.”
“K-what?”
“It’s my power armor variant,” She said as if Watson was supposed to know this, “it was developed by a man named Marcus Kane, hence the K in the name: Kane-70A. It pretty much increases my strength and speed by a factor of twenty.” She chuckled and glanced around the room. “If I really wanted to, I could break out of this room and kill all of you without breaking a sweat.” Watson leaned back in his chair and glanced over at the two guards with wide eyes, the men stepped forward and switched the safeties of their guns off.
“That won’t be necessary,” Amellia continued when she noticed the guards’ advancement, “One, I don’t plan to do it. Two, if you haven’t noticed, nothing aside from my own weapons can pierce this armor. You see, what I’m wearing is made of something I bet none of you have ever heard of.”
Watson looked up at the camera in the corner of the room then returned his attention to the woman across from him. “And what would that be?”
“Magicillium-119.” She leaned back in her chair and rolled her wrist. “Or for short, we call it Magicite.”
“Care to elaborate?” Watson rested his arms on the table.
“Oh you've probably encountered it already if you’ve met the ponies.” She stopped her wrist in mid-roll and rested her hands on her lap. “You know the glow the unicorns make whenever they activate their powers? Yeah, that stuff.”
Watson raised an eyebrow out of intrigue. “So you guys were able to harness their power?” He asked.
The mood in the room instantly changed, Amelia sighed and lowered her head. “Yes... yes we did.”
Watson frowned. “Something tells me you aren’t proud of what you’ve done?”
Amelia’s head raised and she glared at him. “It’s not about what I did, it’s about what Kane did!”
“And what did Kane do?” He leaned forward, keeping a straight face. They were finally getting somewhere.
“What he did is the reason why I’m here in the first place,” She said, “I originally came here to warn the ponies of what was coming, however, with you guys here I might as well tell you.”
“What did he do, Amelia?”
“We humans do not posses the ability to mentally manipulate the power like the ponies can. However, Kane built a machine that replicates the membrane inside the unicorn’s brain. What it does is it literally sucks the power out of living organisms that possess the gift and stores it inside these crystals we call magicite.”
Watson was having trouble believing what he was hearing. “Wait a second, what happens after their power is taken?”
“They become something similar to a lifeless husk, at that point they are considered useless, so we dumped them overboard,” She said sadly, “It’s fucking terrible! Did you know a single magicite crystal about this size–” She held her thumb and index finger an inch apart “–can power my suit of armor for more than three centuries, that’s how much power these things posses.” Amellia turned around in her chair and pulled off her torn and burnt cape, behind it she revealed what looked like a small nuclear reactor giving off a blue pulsing light. “We already have thousands of these suits, weapons, and vehicles all powered by them. Not to mention he has the singularity”
Watson rested his face in his palm, all of this was giving him a headache. It was like he was listening to a Star Trek episode. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“The singularity is what powers the Leviathan, it’s a massive crystal that generates so much power that if we don’t contain it, it could potentially wipe out half the planet.”
“What the fuck? Why would you have.... how do you contain something like that?”
“Electromagnets.”
“If the Magicillium particle is exposed to an electromagnetic pulse it is forced into dormancy,” Amelia explained. “As long as the rings are in a constant orbit around the crystal we are safe.”
Watson turned and glared at the one-sided mirror, he stuck a hand out to it. “Hassel, are you recording all of this?”
“Ja!” His voice came from the other side.
The older navy man turned back to his captive. “As interesting, yet terrifying as this sounds. You mentioned that you came to warn us about something, what is it?”
“Kane’s gone insane with power.”
Watson raised an eyebrow. “The construction of a generator that can blow up half the planet tip you off?”
With the helmet still on, Watson wasn’t able to see Amelia’s flustered face, “It’s more than that, he he wields the power of the destructor.”
Watson, his brow having settled, raised again “Come again?”
“The Archangel.”
Watson reared, the shock getting to him, followed by the implications, and then doubt at the ludicrous claim. Leaning forward, Watson ground out, “That’s impossible, no man could control that–”
“Kane is no man, at least not anymore.”
“What does he want with Archangel?”
“Revenge. Believe it or not, Admiral.” She glanced towards the soldiers, the glass, then back at Watson. “The Archangel still rages on like he always has.”
Watson’s left eye twitched. “A-and he wants to kill him?” Amellia slowly nodded her head. Watson gulped and shook his head, he tossed a hand to the air. “Well, that’s fine by me!” He said, he was clearly in a state of denial “Let the two go at it!”
“I wish I could,” Amellia muttered, “However,” she raised her voice, “He doesn’t just plan at stopping after our destructor is dealt with. Kane plans on destroying and harvesting everything he has created, and that includes the ponies, dragons, everything on this Earth that isn’t human.”
Watson looked her in the eyes. “He’s going to go on a planetary genocide.”
“Recreating the exact same thing our destructor did to us; Admiral, deny it all you want, but history is beginning to repeat itself.” Amelia’s voice was flat and cold, never once did she break eye contact with Watson. For nearly a minute the two sat there in silence, staring at each other.
On the other end of the table Watson was having trouble comprehending everything he’d heard. First off, the Archangel was still alive? Yes, the first time Commander William and his men went down to Earth they saw photographs with a familiar creature in them but... those were just pictures. They could have been fakes, but this... was she even telling him the truth? All of what he heard just didn’t sound right, a crystal about the size of a pinkie finger that could power a suit of special armor for three centuries! Or what about the massive one that could cripple the entire planet, it was absurd!
Yet he couldn’t help but feel that she was telling him the truth. Watson’s forehead returned to his palm and he groaned quietly. “Jesus Christ... if what you’re saying is true... how the hell could we stop someone like that?”
Watson received the worst answer he thought imaginable, a shrug. “I don’t know,” Amellia said, “I only came here to spread word to the species of this continent. With the ponies and their magic, the dragons with their strength, if all the species united against Kane there could be a slim chance of them making it through this.”
“How slim are we talking here?”
“About a five percent chance.”
“What if my crew and I were to assist?”
Amellia tilted her head and gazed up at the light above as she did the math in her head. “Judging by what I see, you guys never really advanced much in the way of science or engineering. So compared to what Kane has in his hands I’d bump it up to about a five point five percent chance of being able to stop Kane.”
Watson snorted and gave the girl a smile. “That sounds good enough to me.”
“Are you positive about that?” Amellia sounded a tad concerned.
Watson laughed. “Lady, I may be old but I survived the apocalypse once already, and I think I can do it again.” He stood up from his chair. “I think we’re done here for now.”
“Can I ask you a question, Admiral?” Amellia said stopping Watson in the middle of pushing his chair in.
“Sure, why not.”
“Is my father still alive?”
Watson froze completely, he then took a deep breath and straightened himself out. “I could use some specifics, what’s his name?”
“John. His name is Jonathon Lee Conway,” She said quietly, her gaze going to the floor.
Watson gave her a small smile, quietly he said, “Yes he is.” He turned and left the room before he could see her reaction.
:[-]:
Canterlot Castle, October 16th, 03:45
Luna sat back in her sister’s throne and buzzed her lips, her eyes constantly flickering about the room, she ruffled her wings. “Is something bothering you, M’lady?” Captain Kebler asked his mistress.
The night princess bit her bottom lip and laid back on the throne. “Yes, my knight,” She replied quietly, “but I do not know what it is. I have a sort of a sinking feeling in my gut. Like something that isn’t good is about to happen.” Her stomach then growled, she winced.
Kebler cracked a smile and stood up from his haunches. “Maybe that’s just your stomach speaking, may I go request a servant to fetch you something to eat?”
“Please do.”
“What do you want me to ask them to grab?”
“Just a hay sandwich, nothing too fancy.” Luna suddenly sat up, her eyes wide with a smile, “Oh and one of those jelly filled scones, they are most delicious!”
“Certainly.” Kerbler nodded his head and went over to the door. He opened it. “You there,” He said to the guard standing beside it, quickly relaying the princess’s request to him, the guard saluted and set off for the kitchen.
Princess Luna sighed at the sound of her stomach’s pleas for food, she buzzed her lips once more and glanced over at the stained glass along the outer walls. She eyed the piece displaying Discord being contained by the elements specifically, Luna had a hunch. A bad hunch, that Discord may be involved in everything that has been happening recently. However, not directly, she suspected he was using more of a light touch, which was worrying. She felt as though he may have possibly set this up in a way, not quite planning it out. Most likely, he had flicked a proverbial domino over eons ago, and was now sitting back and watching everything play out in a chain reaction.
But that was just a hunch, nothing more and nothing less. Although Luna couldn’t help but think that it was odd that Discord hadn’t shown up at all within the past week, ever since the Human’s arrival it was like he just up and vanished. It was most strange.
A flash of light appeared in front of Luna and out from it fell a scroll with a red seal. The parchment landed at the foot of the throne, Luna picked up the scroll with her magic, floating it towards her. “Tis nothing but a letter from an upset noblemen...” She muttered to herself, there was no possible way she could know exactly who it was from. But throughout the various nights she and Celestia had been receiving numerous letters of strange sightings, ominous noises, and even break-ins. Ever since the ‘meteor shower’, panic across the land had rose by a tenfold, most of her and Celestia’s subjects didn’t even know that the humans even existed. Most believed it was nothing more than a spell that had gone wrong and caused a piece of the moon to smash into the planet. Luna cracked a grin at that thought, there was no way in Tartarus she would screw up the spell that raised the moon.
Luna giggled at the impossibility and undid the seal on the scroll and began to read:
Dear Princesses:
I do not have much time to explain everything, but I believe I can help you and everypony else. Believe me when I say that I possess information that could help shed more light on the humans. If you, or anypony you send find me in Manehatten I promise that I can be a valuable asset to your research team.
As of currently I am stationed in the Lucky Horse Shoe, room number 15AB. When you arrive the chosen words are: “I was hoping you could spare some gambling advice.” Acceptance would then be, “Always bet on the House.”
–Anonymous
Luna lowered the parchment and looked at it with a raised eyebrow. “Sir Knight?” She called Kebler over.
“What is it your highness?” He sat down beside the throne.
Luna levitated the paper over to him. “I just received an anonymous letter with strange writings in it.”
Kebler took the letter in his own magic and skimmed over it, he frowned. “These are strange indeed... like here there’s a comma where there shouldn’t be one.” He pointed at the paper with a hoof.
Luna rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m just jesting.” He looked over the letter again. “But you’re right, this is odd. Is this the first time this has happened?” He gave the letter back to her, Luna simply replied with a nod. “Should I send a group to investigate?”
Luna bit the bottom of her lip. “Let me discuss this with my sister first then we’ll decide–”
A second flash interrupted the princess. “Princess Luna!” She heard Twilight call out.
Luna’s head snapped forward and in the center of the room was a very distressed looking princess and her groggy dragon. “Princess Twilight!” Luna stood up judging by the look her sister’s former student was giving her only made that sinking feeling in her stomach grow deeper. “What’s wrong?”
Twilight approached the princess and magicked a small paper bag out of thin air. “Fluttershy’s house had been broken into.” Luna raised an eyebrow, this wasn’t the first time she heard this report. “The entire place was in ruins when I arrived, one of her pets had been killed, and I found these at the scene.” Twilight opened the paper bag and fished out a set of empty casings.
“Those are–”
“From the humans’ weapons,” Twilight finished for her, “But it doesn’t end there, during Spike and I’s investigation, a pony posing as one of the royal guard stumbled in on us.”
“A counterfeit guard?” Luna and her guard shared a confused look.
“I chased her down and was able to cut her off, she refused to answer any of my questions,” Twilight continued to ramble on without taking a single breath, “finally I finished by asking if she was there because of the humans, and she threatened me!”
Luna sat back down slowly and mulled over everything she just heard. “Not the first time I’ve heard a report of a break in. However, the murder of one's pet and a counterfeit guard... that is indeed news to my ears.”
“If you’d like, Princess.” Kebler stood up and walked over to Twilight. “I could have a small squad of my stallions dispatched to Ponyville and continue your investigation.”
“Not only that,” Luna added, “It should also provide more protection for the residents in case this were to happen again.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight agreed then frowned, “But what about the residents, wouldn’t the establishment of more guards raise concerns?”
“Certainly it will,” Luna said, “however, with the recent events that have transpired over the week I’m sure they’ll understand.” She faced the captain. “Make sure that goes for Manehatten and Phillydelphia, right now we need to let this nation know that we are here to look after its citizens.”
Kebler bowed. “I’ll get right to it, m’lady.” He turned and left the room.
When the throne room door closed Luna let off a sigh and focused her attention back on the letter. “Strange...” She muttered.
“What is that?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask.
“Tis an anonymous letter, whoever it is they claim to have valuable information on the humans.” Luna set it aside and looked at Twilight. “I plan to have a discussion later with Celestia if we should look into it or not.”
Twilight pursed her lips, more information on the humans? Twilight was never one to bypass an opportunity that’d allow her to learn something new. “Do you mind if I take a look at that?” She pointed with her hoof at the letter.
“Of course, Twilight.” Luna floated the paper over to her, Twilight snatched it out of the air and quickly skimmed over it while Luna continued on talking, “Something tells me that this is but a prank some filly is playing on us. However, it doesn’t explain how they got past our mail moderation.”
Twilight frowned slightly and lowered the paper, she looked at Luna. “Princess, if you don’t want to take the time to investigate into this, I’m certain my friends and I would be able to look into it for you.”
Luna leaned forward in her seat. “But what about the book, or the shells, wouldn’t this interfere with your research time?”
Twilight shook her head. “Princess, I do nothing but research, and maybe the occasional world saving. But I digress, I can always pass it over to somepony else here in Canterlot or maybe even the research division down in Phillydelphia. I’m positive they’ll be more than happy to look into it.” The alicorn smiled. “And who knows, this might just be a legitimate source.”
Luna thought it over for a minute then nodded. “Alright, Twilight, then I guess I’ll leave this matter to you, keep the letter you’re going to need it.”
Twilight bowed. “Thank you, Princess, I’m honored.”
“One last thing before you go, Twilight,” Luna said, “Once you arrive in Manehatten and retrieve whomever wrote that letter, I expect a brief report detailing your visit, whether the letter was a farce or otherwise.”
Twilight remained in her bowed state. “I understand, Princess.”
“And Twilight, you do not need to bow to me anymore.” Luna smiled.
Twilight straightened herself out. “S-sorry, still trying to break that habit.”
“I bet you are, goodnight Twilight.”
“Goodnight, Luna.”
:[-]:
Horizon Quarantine, October 16th, 05:23
Amelia sat on the floor with her back against the wall, her eyes focused on the door in front of her. She patted her hands on her armor’s knee pads rhythmically to a song she could only hear in her head, every now and again she would hum quietly to herself while she waited. What was she waiting for? She didn’t know. After the interrogation (if you could even call it one) she was rounded up again by the boys who were playing army and stuffed inside this air tight sealed room.
Again they tried to have her take off the armor and she nearly broke a man’s hand just by grabbing it when he touched her connection cord sticking out the back of her head. Of course that provoked the guards, but again she had to remind them there was no point. She sighed and hung her head back. “These people are so incompetent.” And they called themselves mankind's last hope, they could hardly keep her prisoner. Like she said in the interrogation chamber, she could easily break out of here and escape.
So why hadn’t she? She already warned them about Kane, so why not just leave?
“Conway, eh?” He smirked. “That’s interesting, you see I know two men who both share that last name.”
“Dad’s still alive?” Amy whispered.
A hiss came from her left and she looked over. Beside her was a large one inch thick pane of glass that showed another carbon copy of the room she was in. The door in there opened and two men who were restraining a black man fought against him as they tried to force him into the room.
“I told you, I’m clean!” A muffled shout came from the room.
“Bullshit!” Both marines said simultaneously as they threw the detainee onto the bed.
“But I am! You saw the papers, I’m fucking clean!” The black man got up from the bed and approached the front leading marine. He got in his face. “I have no right to be in here!”
The marine placed a hand on the man’s chest and shoved him back. “Lt. Shawn Bell, you were released a day ago after recovering from your injuries, however, recent witness reports and recorded footage say that you are far from recovery.”
“I did nothing wro–”
“Should I remind you that you were wandering around the engine bay with a loaded firearm. What were you even doing down there anyways? That’s a restricted area, only a few individuals and engineers are allowed access.”
Amelia focused her attention on the men in the other room, she turned to face them. Her eyes trained on the man who was being scolded, she frowned at the sight of him. Something wasn’t right with him. No, he was far from being okay. Quite frankly, she knew exactly what was wrong.
She got up and approached the glass. “He’s being indoctrinated,” She said loud enough so that the men could hear her through the glass.
The three faced the glass. The black man was the first to speak, “Now who the fuck are–”
Amelia glared at him. “You better shut your mouth before I break through this glass and rip your jaw off.” She looked at the two marines. “He’s undergoing indoctrination.”
“What are you talking about?” The marine towards the front asked.
“Trust me I’ve seen this hundreds of thousands of times.” She wasn’t lying, Amelia raised a finger at the detained man. “Do not believe anything this man has to say, better yet, you’ll have a much easier time killing him.”
“Wait what?!” The detainee blurted.
The two marines looked at each other nervously. “Yeah... I don’t think we’re going to do that.”
“Why not? You can’t save him, it’s only a matter of time before he starts hearing ‘voices’ again and he ends up harming someone,” Amy stated. “You said it yourselves, he was down in the engine bay with a loaded gun. Most likely he was down there getting ready to either overload the system or blow us all to kingdom come.”
“Lies!” The Black man walked to the glass. “You’re fucking lying!”
“Enough!” The marine grabbed the man’s shoulder and yanked him back.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” The detainee whirled around and swung his fist at him. The marine easily dodged it and rammed his own fist into the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. “Put some cuffs on him and lock him to the bed,” He said, leaving the man to crawl on the floor gasping for breath. Stepping into the airlock he turned and faced Amelia and nodded towards her right as the door closed.
“Damn.” The second marine finally spoke, he reached back and fished out a pair of handcuffs. “That there sounds like some scary shit you were saying.” He reached down and snatched the man’s hand and wrapped one of the rings around his wrist and clicked it shut, he took the other end and attached it the base of the cot. “Sounds almost like the Sleeper virus...” He straightened out his back and popped it. “How’d you know so much about... this indoctrination shit?”
Amelia lowered her head and snorted, though the man couldn’t see it a large smile appeared on her lips. She raised her head back up and looked at him. “Because I’m also indoctrinated.”
:[-]:
“Did you get all of that?” Watson asked Hassel.
“Every single bit.” The old scientist gazed wide eyed into the camera footage.
Amelia stepped back from the glass, she chuckled lightly to herself and went back to her wall and sat down, patting her knee pads to whatever song was in her head.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” Watson muttered.
“If vat she says about zis indoctrination is true... zen zat means...”
“She’s a goddamn sleeper,” Watson finished for him.
“Now I see vy she doesn’t vant to take off zee suit.” Hassel gulped, “She’d infect all of us if she did.”
Watson stepped away from the console and went over to the water cooler, he poured himself a cup and took a sip. “If she’s a fucking sleeper, doc, that means every last person on that goddamn warship is a fucking sleeper.”
“Vat I don’t understand is vy is she not showing any symptoms. Vy isn’t she showing any aggression? Any lack of intelligence... she just sounds like a normal young adult.” Hassel scratched his head and turned away from the computer, he joined Watson at the cooler.
“That’s not the point doctor, she’s a threat to all of us. We need to get rid of her.”
“And how do you plan on doing zat, Vatson, are veapons can’t pierce her armor.”
Watson shook his head. “I’m not saying we kill her, we just need to get rid of–”
The door behind Watson opened. “Sir, you can’t just–”
“Sergeant Conway, I told you I’ll do whatever pleases me!” Horizon council member Takanao stated.
Watson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He placed his cup aside and turned to face the Japanese man. “This is a surprise, Mr. Takanao coming down to be with us grunts? Who’da thought.”
Takanao sighed. “Spare me the sarcasm, Admiral,” He said, “I just wanted to come down and see this ‘subject’ Delta and Bravo brought back for the good doctor.”
Watson raised an eyebrow and looked over the man’s shoulder, Arin stood behind him and shrugged. He sighed. “Alright then, Takanao, take a peek.” He gestured with a swing of his arm over to the glass.
The man nodded his head. “Thank you, Admiral.” He walked over to the glass behind the console. Upon laying eyes on the girl in the other room he gasped. “Oh my, what do we have here?” He adjusted the glasses that rested on his face and leaned forward. “She’s... human?”
“So it seems.” Watson joined him by the glass and the two of them watched the girl as she patted her knees to an unknown rhythm. “Just a ten foot tall girl–”
“Who can kick all of our asses if she wanted to,” Arin piped up, he immediately shut his mouth. “Oh shit... sorry sir, didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
Watson shook his head. “I heard about that,” Takanao said, “seven men and three women were taken out by this girl?”
“Yes,” Watson said, “however we suffered no casualties, just a few bruises and broken bones.”
“One of zem also has a concussion and vill be out for a few veeks,” Hassel added.
Takanao eyes widened. “Jesus.” He looked at Watson while keeping a finger pointed at her. “Is she still a threat?”
Watson took a in a quick breath as two choices came to mind. The first choice was to tell him no, that the girl claimed she had no intention on fighting them; but was instead here to warn them. The second however, was to tell Takanao the truth. Yes the previous statement was in fact true, she may not actually be there to hurt them. But the fact that she is (or was) ‘Indoctrinated’ which may or may not be same thing as the sleeper virus, meant that she may in fact be a threat to them.
He released the breath and reached down to the console, he placed his hand on the touch pad and opened up the video tab. He clicked play on the most recent video.
“How’d you know so much about... this indoctrination shit?”
“Because I’m also indoctrinated.”
The girl turned away and sat with her back against the wall right as the video ended. An eerie silence fell over the room, Watson took a deep breath and looked at Takanao. The man’s face held a look of fear with also a bit of confusion.
“Does that answer your question?” Watson asked, Takanao didn’t say a word, but he did nod his head very slowly. Watson took a deep breath and closed down the tab, he turned his attention back to the window. “I’ve already mentioned it to Hassel that I plan on letting her go–”
“No.”
Watson stopped dead in his tracks, his head snapping back to Takanao. “Wait, what?!”
Takanao glared at Watson. “I said no. We are not getting rid of her, we’re keeping her here.”
Hassel glanced between the two men utterly confused, Arin along with him. Watson turned his whole body to face the council member. “Takanao, I don’t know if you hit your head when we came down for a landing and you might be a little hard of hearing. But can you just try and listen to yourself for a few seconds.”
“Admiral,” Takanao said in a professional manner, “I am fully aware of what I’m saying.”
Watson held his hands up about a foot away from each other and leaned towards the man. “She’s. Fucking. Infected!”
“Do you think I can’t see that?!” Takanao roared, he threw an arm out in the direction of the woman. “Don’t you see Admiral, if we let her go, who’s to say she doesn’t go and alert that sleeper army about our opposition!” He shook his head and sighed, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Quietly he said, “Our best bet is to keep her here, or kill her.”
“Even zen,” Hassel spoke up, “ I can’t say zis enough, none of our veapons can pierce her armor so efen if vee tried it’d be pointless.”
“But that’s where you’re wrong doctor.” Takanao turned to look at him. “She handed her weapons over to us, why not use them?”
“Zat is a possibility yes–”
“However,” Takanao cut him off, “I’m saying we only do this as a last resort. I want that armor intact and studied, same goes for the weapons and that girl.” He took a step towards the German. “Doctor, I want you to learn everything you can about her, if she’s as cooperative as you say she is–”
“Takanao, this is entirely out of your reach.” Watson stepped towards the man. “You do not have the authority–”
“Then I’ll get the council to agree with me, Admiral. That woman is in a room made of two inch thick steel, she has no way out, nor does she have her weapons. Trust me, Watson, the knowledge we can gain from not just her, but her gear, the weapons she has; within weeks, maybe even a month we can replicate them, same for her armor.”
Watson rolled his eyes as he recalled what the girl said they were made of. “Magicillieum 119, or for short we call it Magicite.” As of now they can’t even harness that power, so how could they possibly replicate them?
“Takanao, I’m afraid you don’t understand. These... things, posses the same abilities the equines have. They can do things far beyond our comprehension–”
“Far the more reason to study her then, Admiral!” Takanao exclaimed. “If she and her people have the ability to warp physics and thoughts like the equines can why can’t we? They were once human too, remember?”
Watson facepalmed. “That’s not what I’m...”
“I’m aware of what you’re saying, Admiral. If they can do it why can’t we?” He brushed past Watson and walked to the door. “Think of the bigger picture, Watson, if we can harness their power. Just think of what we can accomplish, we’d be unstoppable. Not even the Archangel could get in our way!” He faced them again and gestured with his arms out wide. “Humanity would once again be the dominant race!” With that he turned and went out the door with a small skip in his step.
Once the door was closed silence fell over the three men who remained. Watson heard Hassel take a deep breath and say, “I really hate zat man.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
653 users online
855,902 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Who the hell signs his name with -Anonymous? And if that's his name I'm bailing right now.
So, being infected halts aging then? Not sure how they could still be alive after all this time.
6372312 anonymous is term you use when you don't want to give out your real name doe.
6372328 cryostasis chambers look back at the diplomacy cahapter, chapter two and four and the last chapter. It was stated multiple times that the humans in the vaults (and recently the Leviathan) would have stasis chambers. ;)
6372312
He's actually just a troll from /b/.
I do apologize, I have knee-jerk reaction to Anon fics....
Further proof that bureaucrats are pricks.
Magicite you say?
Damn, that's the biggest scifi movie cliché ever: A leader aspiring to greatness makes a reasonable logical conclusion(they did it, so can we) that should push his species forward but doesn't, because he either has wicked intentions or isn't playing nice. Do you think cavemen ever had works of fiction where one caveman was declared a power hungry monster by the others of his group for daring to propose the utilization of fire for cooking, warmth at night, and *gasp* defense against other humans? I like this story so far, it really evokes emotion, I just hate this cliché with a fiery passion.
It dosnt matter how strong energy reinforced armour is, if it fails at an event horizon due to space time curvature, then all you need to destroy it is a fast enough rock. If youre wondering what future weapons implies, Ive seen theoretical designs for the LHC using plasma wave acceleration that would make the machine at most truck mountable. It hits as hard momentum wise as a high speed train, and its energy level is enough to reach theoretical lower limit of event horizon generation.
I would hope weapons after another hundreds years at most, to be far more capable. If money was thrown at it, we would have SCCAMM missiles. A cross between a warpcore breach and an overloaded Acubierre drive, with a large thermonuclear charge just to mess things up.
I wonder if Discord is contained in the Leviathans crystal?
Please confirm. Did you you model Amy's armour on a Brotherhood of Nod, Blackhand Trooper's armour from Command & Conquer 3?
Does anyone actually care about any of the humans in this? Any at all? I care for them as a whole, but as individuals? Nah. You are spreading their details too thin and between too many to get attached. I'm not the only one who feels this way, right?
6372715 nope never played cac 3 nor the others. Closest I could describe it would be Ornstein from Dark Souls 1.
Actually, in that case it's TOTALLY FUCKING WORTH IT, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ONE fucking pony life is able to sustain pretty much 3 super-soldiers (assuming they live to approximately 120, and suits are reused after death), and the crystals themselves are tiny. This is an engineering feat of epic proportions! Marcus Kane should be given a fucking medal! The ability to convert all the potential energy of a being's existence (including future energy not yet even used) into another form of immediately usable hyper-efficient energy source? That's what we need right now.
Yeah. That's called revenge, bitch. If you're concerned about ethics and all that, just call it karma. But I'm behind Kane-boy 120% on this.
The humans or the ponies?
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/mtg/images/8/89/Boros_Logo.png/revision/latest?cb=20150515150437
Whoop whoop.
6372715
Okay I just looked up that unit and damn... that's very close to what I was going for.
6373235
Takanao was referring to the Sleepers (humans).
Also:
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbuvlrXjvn1rcktu3o1_500.png
HUMANITY!
6372379 Well lucky for you this isn't an Anon fic. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The interesting part to this new chapter to me is Amy's statement of in her interrogation.
Discord certainly doesn't seem to be Raging. That's provided Discord is the Archangel.
Though the revelation of the Sleeper virus is also a bit disturbing. It certainly makes you wonder about this Kane. Considering what we're seeing of the two in the cells, I'm wondering if a human was trying to bottle Discord's power of brainwashing for their own goals and Discord got loose on them while covered in the stuff.
6373421
I might have misinterpreted the phrase "raging on". I was just trying to fancy up the phrase "Yeah he's still alive."
6373504 Okay, that makes more sense.
Takanao certainly isn't painting humanity in a high morality and ethical light. It's almost like he perfectly fits Discord's description on humans.
6373514
Well not everyone in the human race is a friendly ethical person. Takanao is character designed to do anything that'd help humanity succeed, or expand. He's also the type that defies anything who opposes his race and its progression.
In a shorter response he's a bit selfish, but not only to himself but instead his species as a whole. If that makes any sense.
Did you seriously use ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) twice in your author's notes? I'm pretty sure that's a felony.
6373421
If Discord is the Archangel, then yeah, I'm in full support of an all out Magitech-style war to kill him. The equivalent of an "oops, my bad" doesn't quite excuse him the near genocide of an entire species. Assuming he did it intentionally and without provocation.
6372771 ah ok, well your description to me screamed this vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/cnc/images/4/4d/Black_Hand_TW3.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20061222141110
6373235 No, just no.
I hope you aren't serious.
Say that again when you are the man pressing the buttons and leavers and watching someone's life energy being ripped from their body to power a war machine. Then drag their body to the edge of the ship and throw them overboard. Go back into the factory, look the next pony in the yes and do it again. Not a machine to help mankind, but to power more death and destruction. Not in self defense, not to protect others, but purely for big dick waving and revenge.
How many action movies about revenge make the main character feel better? Not many, and most end up with all that they love destroyed.
As for your "it's totally worth it," phrase. Maybe if there was a way to harvest the energy upon death of the pony, then it would be worth it. Hell, even if it was for death row inmates it would be more worthwhile. If the power lasts 3 centuries they could wait for someone to die or get a life sentence. It's still completely wrong.
What's the point of living if all you focus on is revenge? What does that even get you? What if MLP was just about Twilight finding tirek or Chrysalis and killing them? Why?
6372649 Id rather spend money on space travel technology, healthcare, new energy, basically anything else. Don't get me wrong, weapons can be cool, but some day I hope we can stop being fucking violent selfish thugs and become a closer society driven by better goals. Obviously not in my lifetime, but it would be cool.
6372312 I don't even.
6374017
As a personal opinion, I'd probably watch the shit out of that. xD
6374293 Fair enough.
But there is a reason I like watching the show, and over the top dark violence is not one of them. Why do you think I read stuff here sometimes?
6373387
6374017 Closure.
6375004 I just have a thing for revenge stories, same goes for romantic comedies those get me too. Okay I can't forget about underdog stories, y'know the stuff about one man rising up. Or one man taking down the system, that kinda stuff.
6375063 I have some people I really hate. I used to think I would go pummel them if I knew where they were. Now I don't care because I was able to spend my resources having fun and doing other things that probably won't get me arrested. It's too much effort and wasted time. Trust me, I was nearly out for blood and it just made me tired and lash out at the people who cared about me.
Now I just feel bad that the people who did these things probably had a shitty life leading to the point of having no morals.
Even if I did find them, and was standing over their beaten form, I can't make them feel bad. Id rather talk to them to death into admitting they were wrong.
6375095 Well, talking someone into death is always fun as well. In fact, I would argue it's more fun. More psychologically tormenting to them.
Yeah, I get off to some weird stuff. But who are you to tell me what fetishes I have?
6375163 Go ahead and do whatever. I'm just letting you know what I have learned.
I'm getting a kinda fallout power armour vibe from that suit (Except... ya know MAAAGGGIIICCCCC!)
33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m82tp1vd2M1r6xtlgo1_r1_400.gif
6374017
...It get's you the satisfaction of knowing that the creature responsible for the deaths of everyone you've known and loved has come to an abrupt and brutal end? When a person kills seven billion people justice should really come into play at some point and sometimes justice and revenge coincide. In this case it also gives you a sense of security in knowing that an unrepentant, mass-murdering, sociopathic reality warper can't kill you anymore. Preservation of yourself and your species should take precedence over all else.
In the early chapters of this story I thought Hassel was nothing more than an immoral holier than thou scientist. I read his personality totally wrong, he's actually pretty awesome.
6375790
i.imgur.com/NXGeBvc.gif
psshh... nothing personnel, kid...
6372312
i.warosu.org/data/ck/img/0067/90/1439968186960.png
6375778 Really? For me it's 40K.
6375790 Tru dat, brother.
6375796 Dude...I don't...that reference/meme went so far over my head that it's in orbit.
6375790 But that's not what Tonaka or whatever his name is said he wants. He wants power and control at all costs. It's different say in an action movie where the main character gets some guns and takes down a crime boss's lair, but when you get civilians involved, and hurt the same people you want to protect it's not worth it.
Hell even in WW2 things crossed the line at killing thousands of innocent people outside the conflict zone, and that was a retaliatory strike. Justice is a manhunt, revenge is often murder that burns a path through anyone near. Also it won't bring them back.
Even today, capital punishment is being questioned. After 9 black people were shot at church for a hate crime, the majority called for unity and remembrance, not blood. Once again we are seeing more improvements for civil liberties of the poor and blacks.
After 911, countries were standing at the ready to support the US in a time of sorrow, then we invaded an unrelated country and claimed it was for justice, for revenge. Look where that got us? The US may never be able to fully leave the middle east and we probably perpetuated more terrorists than we ever stopped. Other countries laugh at our foreign policy and many of them pulled back their helping hands. It could have been a moment of unity, but violence won out.
You kill someone; their son, or their father, or their friends want you dead too. That or they kill you future family for what you did. Just look at history and see what revenge does. That's exactly what happened to war torn countries today. That's exactly how gang violence continues.
6375979
Have you gotten revenge? Because I just feel cold and bitter afterword. Nothing changes.
6376617
It's Kane who wants revenge(see below),
“Revenge. Believe it or not, Admiral.” She glanced towards the soldiers, the glass, then back at Watson. “The Archangel still rages on like he always has.”
My main problem with this statement is how wrong it seems to conflate either part, or all, of World War 2 or nearly any war to justice or vengeance. Both concepts are wholly inadequate in describing the political and moral landscape that's also a part of war, not to mention the greater underlying reasons: protecting ones home and family, stoping the destruction of a people, and a fight for survival against an implacable enemy. World War 2 was about a hell of a lot more than revenge or justice. If You don't buy that reasoning though then we could always ask what would have happened if America didn't join the war in retaliation of the assault on Pearl Harbor.
You don't think that any of the survivors would testify against him in court and get him a life sentence(nobody said that either revenge or justice had to lead to death. I would be fine with discord being imprisoned in stone for a trillion years in a vault several miles beneath the earths crust), or that it would be warranted for the safety of others?
Rather than revenge or justice I feel that what they're laughing at, as you pointed out, was America invading the wrong country. That and the fact that it was a terrorist cell, rather than a foreign military, to blame for the act.
To be honest, the main problem I have with your stance is that it's just totally unrealistic, in that for it to function both parties would have to show each other unconditional mercy and understanding. If we forgave Hitler would he have stopped, If the Americans showed complete mercy do you think that opposing foreign powers would have seen it as anything other than weakness? There's a time for mercy and a time for justice and it takes wisdom to know when to apply them.
6379307 I know it's Kane, but I was responding to another comment about it being worth the sacrifice of other lives to power war. It's not justifiable (in my opinion) for Tanaka or Kane to be doing what they want.
I'm not talking about forgiving Hitler. I can agree that some justice can come with vengeance, but vengeance and justice are two different things.
Skinning Hitler's fingers then raping and dismembering his body before burning him alive could be someone's revenge. A swift execution and proclamation of his crimes against humanity is different. It's swift justice.
As for "protecting homes and families," how does destroying another county's people who probably want the same thing (talking citizens here) make any sense, let alone how is that justified without being hypocritical or two faced? I never said all of WW2 was about vengeance. You are putting a lot of words in my mouth in your comment. I'm just saying that while the bombing may have ended the war, it was not rightly justified in my opinion and went against rules of engagement. Also, most wars are caused by vengeance. Attack, retaliate, rinse repeat. Future generations are pit against the offspring of the enemy for old blood in the water.
As for survivors not testifying, there are people who forgive their attackers or murdered of their loved ones. Of course the criminal is almost always in prison at this point, which they rightly should be, but holding onto hate forever is self destructive.
As for being unrealistic, yes, I am. Vengeance is hardwired into mankind. Humans get an adrenaline rush and increased blood flow to the brain when they see someone being punished. There is a reason public executions were so popular. However, I choose to fight these instincts and make peace. That doesn't mean I think we should all hold hands with terrorists and murderers. I just think the blood in people's eyes often gets in the way of justice.
Killing supernatural villains aside, innocent sacrifice is begging for a bleak future.
PS:This has gone on long enough. We should go to PMs so Mr. Author doesn't get annoyed.
6379626 Yes please take this somewhere else, I only want this comment section to be relative to the story. If you're going to start bleeding into capital punishment and what not please go. Aside from that try to keep the conversations related to what is being shown. We don't want this to start looking like youtube.
who she saw:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/FuturamaProfessorFarnsworth.png
6380786 You're right. Even if he did serve time for genocide, I don't think a few thousand years would cut it. I don't know why I said that is did. I would consider each human death at least a lifetime in jail, so a few billion would up his time to a few hundred billion years he needs to be stoned. Might as well just execute him, if it was possible of course. I only hope that when the time comes he doesn't manage to make the ponies sympathetic to his cause, somehow, and only give him a slap on the wrist. After all, even if he just stood by and watched, that is still genocide by omission.
I'm just scared that the author will somehow make a 'plot twist' that he wasn't responsible, or that he 'wasn't in his right mind', or that he 'was just a child at the time' and has grown up since then. I would be done if any of that happens.
6375790
<--This would be "justice". Going after the one that actually committed the crime is what justice is all about.
That said, what Kane did:
What did the ponies do to justify that sort of treatment? THEY didn't wipe out humanity! They had NO part in it! They were simply born after the fall of humanity.
Discord was the one that wiped out humanity! Or perhaps his dad?
That ISN'T "justice".
It's not even qualified to be called "revenge".
It's no different from what the Nazis did with their slave labor camps: working Jews and other "undesirables" to death for "blood libel".
It's sadism.
It's just plain evil.
Period.
6380909
No, they do not. Where did you even get this figure? What do you even mean by 'brain function'? Do you mean body to brain size ratio? Do you mean neural density? Do you mean oxygen consumed per neuron? What. Do. You. Mean? Brains are highly specialized organs that work differently for each creature that has one, so you need to be more specific as to what you mean exactly.
6381191 There was a bit of miscommunication in my previous comments, I believed that the aforementioned revenge in the comment he replied to was directed solely on Discord rather than the whole planet(because why would revenge be directed on innocents?).