Act 2 Part 8 - Is Anyone Listening?
“... and you see, I just feel like my friends don’t always appreciate the importance of aesthetic design!” Rarity finished as Donut continued painting her hooves.
The two of them had already spent a few minutes having their makeover session, and already Rarity had managed to return some of her mane’s original pizazz. The pair of them had gotten along quite well in their short time together. Rarity learned that Donut was currently training to be something called a “Recovery Agent,” and that he wanted to pursue a career in interior design.
“I know exactly how you feel Rarity... back in the canyon, I used to always come to Sarge with ideas to make things around the base look nicer,” Donut said. “Scented candles, some nice drapes, and more lace on our armor, but Sarge shot me down. Said my ideas were ‘impractical,’ ‘against regulation,’ and ‘just plain weird’; in that order. I know functionality is important, but it can’t be everything!”
“Exactly! That’s what I keep telling Applejack and Rainbow Dash!” Rarity smiled. “Well, I’m sure once you leave the army, you’ll make a great designer! Why, if you wanted to come to Equestria, we could form an interior design branch of Carousel Boutique! Just imagine! I can make ponies beautiful while you make their homes beautiful!”
“That would be awesome!”
“Hey girls!” Both Rarity and Donut turned to look at Tucker as he approached them. “I need both of you alert and ready, we’re going to have company in a minute!”
Donut stood at attention, leaving Rarity’s left forehoof tragically half-finished.
“Donut, I need you to go get Eberle and let her know,” Tucker ordered.
“Yes sir, Tucker!” Donut proclaimed, giving his superior a salute before giving Rarity a nod, silently telling her they’ll resume where they left off later.
As Donut sprinted down into the sandy ruins, Rarity followed Tucker as he walked along the line of parked vehicles. Despite Rarity’s newfound fondness for Donut, her disdain for Tucker seemed almost to increase. Donut had told her about how Tucker always hit on and made inappropriate comments to every female he came into contact with. If there was one thing Rarity hated, it was stallions who didn’t treat ladies with respect! He’s almost as bad as a certain Prince…
Regardless, Rarity continued to walk in Tucker’s shadow. Not only was she curious about what was going on, but she didn’t feel safe being left alone with those… Elite things prowling around. The pair soon reached an open plot of desert not too far from the main human encampment. Rainbow Dash was there waiting for them along with a few human soldiers.
“Do you know what’s going on, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked upon their rendezvous.
“There’s more guys coming in a ship,” Rainbow explained. “We might be getting a ride out of here with them!”
“Well, that’s good!” Rarity exclaimed with a sigh of relief. This arid climate was not doing her any favors. Still, I’ll have to make sure to say goodbye to Donut before leaving.
“I’m kinda disappointed, actually,” Rainbow said. “I really wanted to see what was in these temples!”
The ponies didn’t have much time to dwell on these facts, as the loud whine of a ship’s engines began to fill the air. Soon enough, a ship appeared over the distant wall that connected the massive black towers surrounding the ruins. As it drew closer, Rarity immediately saw that it was very different from the “Pelicans” that she had seen crash in Equestria.
The approaching ship was still the same olive drab green color, only it was bulkier. Instead of resembling a large whale, this ship more closely resembled a great flying box like the crates back at the main campsite. As it got closer, Rarity could see a cargo bay open on the sides, where several more vehicles were strapped in. The most eye-grabbing feature of the ship was not actually the ship itself.
Dangling below the approaching ship, suspended by a few strong cables, was a massive land vehicle with four sets of two very large treads. As the ship carefully lowered altitude to set the vehicle down, Rarity was able to get a better look at the beast. It had a ramp leading into a large rear bed that looked large enough to fit a tank. It was equipped with a large crane on one side, as well as a chaingun turret beside what looked like the driver’s cabin. The image of a brown bear with its rear end sticking out was painted on the side, with the word “Behemoth” below it.
Once the large vehicle was safely set down, the cables holding it to the ship were disconnected and the ship landed in the sand beside it, letting down three ramps on the sides of the cargo section. Immediately, men in white armor with various colored shoulder details began to disembark, yelling to each other as they brought out crates and vehicles. Rarity saw that Tucker was watching them carefully. Soon, a soldier in brown armor with white detail hopped out of the ship and began making his way toward them.
His armor was significantly different than any of the armor Rarity had seen thus far, mostly because of the helmet. While the other soldiers Rarity had seen all wore helmets with chrome visors taking up the entire “face,” this helmet seemed to possess a face of its own. A white piece on the front served as the nose and mouth of the otherwise brown headgear, while two small chrome windows comprised the eyes. The helmet gave the soldier an appearance of grim intensity.
“Would you be Sergeant Tucker?” the man asked with a voice that matched his helmet.
“Yeah. You CT?” Tucker responded.
The man’s grim helmet bobbed up and down, “That’s right. Your CO…?”
“Is coming,” Tucker added a quick “bow chicka bow wow” under his breath, but Rarity heard it and was not amused. “So, what the fuck is all of this?” Tucker gestured to the massive vehicle and the soldiers scrambling around it.
“This is the equipment that was requested: one M312 HRV - we like to call it the Elephant - three M12 LRVs, one squad equipped with small arms, heavy weapons…”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Tucker said, waving his hands. “Why the hell would we need all of this?”
CT shrugged, “Don’t ask me. You’re the ones who ordered it!”
“We didn’t order shit!”
Seeing an escalating shouting match, Rarity decided to step in. “Now now, gentlemen. The woman in charge will be along shortly, and all of these troublesome details will be sorted out!”
CT turned and looked down at Rarity, those tiny windows on his helmet somehow looking surprised. Seeing this, Tucker tried to make an introduction.
“Oh yeah, uh… CT, this is Rarity. She’s a unicorn, apparently…”
CT simply continued staring at the little white unicorn. “You…”
Rarity cleared her throat, “Um, beg your pardon?” There was something decidedly ominous about the way CT addressed her. Why does he seem to recognize me?
As if suddenly remembering where he was, CT broke eye contact with Rarity and gave his head a little shake before returning his attention to Tucker.
“So... how’s the dig progressing?”
A gust of wind sent chills through Twilight as she looked at the overgrown ruins around her. It hadn’t been long since she, Sarge, and Fluttershy had appeared in the middle of a dense jungle that they stumbled upon an old paved road that parted the thick trees. They followed the road for hours with no signs of life, nor of their other two companions. Despite having teleported them here along with the others, Sunny and her M.I Tex were nowhere to be seen. Fluttershy had been content to travel in silence while Sarge would frequently grumble about the “dirty Blues.”
They had eventually come across a worn looking road sign that said “New Voi Water Purification Facility: 2 Miles.” The trio of travelers continued to follow the road with renewed hope that they would find some sort of civilization, but Twilight had her doubts. The road was worn, with all manner of weeds and plants snaking up through the cracks. It looked like it hadn’t been used in some time.
Twilight’s suspicions were aided after they reached a dark, man-made tunnel. Twilight and Sarge lit the way with her horn and a pair of helmet mounted lights respectively. Fluttershy was practically glued to Twilight the whole time. They eventually came to a dead end where the tunnel had collapsed. Twilight spotted an exposed pipeline as they doubled back. It was big enough for even Sarge to stand in, and though mildly unpleasant, the group was able to follow the pipe until it came out to its destination: the Purification Facility.
What little hope they had at finding other people here became as dead as the facility: nature had evidently reclaimed it long ago. What once must have been pure white concrete was now a mossy green and overgrown with vines. The three or four story tall buildings were partially collapsed. To their left, Twilight noticed a particularly large structure with a cylindrical glass dome roof. A fully grown tree had pushed its way up through the glass from within, creating a weird juxtaposition between nature and civilization.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Twilight called out on the off chance that Sunny and Tex were around. But the only answer she got were the groans and creaks of the desolate buildings in the wind.
The more Tex and her pony host failed to make an appearance, the more on edge Twilight became. Twilight didn’t consider herself a petty pony, but nevertheless, she disliked Tex almost the instant they first met. It wasn’t just that Tex was harsh and cold, but Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that Tex knew more than she was letting on. Her explanation of their current mission was incredibly vague, and Twilight more often found herself wondering whether the dark M.I. could be trusted.
Taking a breath, Twilight pressed forward, determined to see if there was anything within the decaying ruins. She entered the shadows between the large building with the tree growing out of it to her left and another to her right.
“Twilight, I don’t like this…” Fluttershy whimpered as she followed close behind, “I don’t like this at all!”
“Don’t worry, anything we find has to get through the front end of Mr. Blasty!” Sarge exclaimed, holding his shotgun proudly.
“And what if our attacker isn’t blue?” Twilight snarked.
“Well, then he wouldn’t be much of a threat. Or even an attacker!”
Twilight sighed as they passed under decaying wooden scaffolding. The street forced them to turn right, and the trio continued walking, passing by part of a large concrete pipe and under a couple of rusted metal walkways attached to the upper floors of the surrounding buildings. Twilight had to admit, the place did kind of give her the creeps. Looking around, there were a lot of dark nooks and crannies all around them that they could be ambushed from. Fluttershy kept whimpering as she looked every which way.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy. You don’t have to jump at every shadow you see!”
Nevertheless, Twilight kept her head on a swivel until they reached a small intersection. The entrance to a small warehouse was off to their left while the street continued off into the distance to their right. Twilight stopped to consider their next course of action. Fluttershy and Sarge did the same.
“Okay, so what now? I don’t think we’re going to find anything here,” Twilight said.
“I agree, Twisight! This place is a ghost town!” Sarge said.
Twilight rubbed her face and groaned. “Listen Sarge, if we’re going to be traveling together for a while let’s get one thing straight: my name is Twilight!”
“I know that!”
“Then why don’t you call me ‘Twilight?’”
“I don’t? What have I been callin’ you this whole time?”
“Twibright, Twisight, Twifright. Everything but Twilight!”
Sarge studied her for a moment. “... are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, well excuse me if yer fancy pony name is too hard to remember, Twilight Sprinkle!”
If Twilight had suffered an aneurism right then and there, she might have been okay with that. Instead, a loud gasp from Fluttershy caused an already on edge Twilight to jump.
“Fluttershy! If you keep jumping at every shadow you see, how are we going to know when you actually see something?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy however was just staring at Twilight with wide, terrified eyes. The yellow pony was trembling significantly. This wasn’t like the other times Fluttershy got scared over nothing. There was something very wrong here.
“I-it’s the… M-m-m-m-m…” Fluttershy stuttered.
“The what? The mildew?” Sarge asked.
All of a sudden, Twilight knew that Fluttershy wasn’t just jumping at shadows again as she realized Fluttershy wasn’t staring at her in fear, but at something behind her! The sound of something crashing caused Twilight to whirl around. What she saw was enough to justify Fluttershy’s reaction. A hulking bipedal figure in white armor and brown detail was inside the warehouse they were standing just in front of.
Without even thinking, Twilight dove behind cover off to the side where they came from, crawling between a few pillars holding up a lip on the building’s facade. Fluttershy hastily followed, and seeing that Sarge hadn’t moved from his spot in the middle of the intersection, Twilight picked him up in her magic and roughly levitated him to where they were hiding.
“What in Sam Hill’s the big…?” Sarge was cut off as Twilight promptly jumped on him and pressed a hoof down on his visor.
“Shh…” she whispered as she got off and carefully tiptoed to peek around the corner.
A small ramp led up to the interior from the entrance. From her position, Twilight could see the building’s occupant. The Meta had its back turned and emitted a low, subdued growl as it rummaged through several crates. By all appearances it hadn’t seen them. Twilight tried not to think about what could have happened if Fluttershy hadn’t noticed it and the Meta had turned around when they were still out in the open.
“I don’t think it knows we’re here,” Twilight whispered.
Twilight continued to study the Meta from the shadows around the corner. There was something morbidly fascinating about watching it; a feeling akin to observing a dangerous predator in the wild. Twilight didn’t want to risk getting into a confrontation with that thing without the rest of the Elements by her side, but it might be good to study it for weaknesses. Fluttershy tapping her on the back almost caused Twilight to shriek.
“T-Twilight? Can we please go now?” Fluttershy croaked, on the verge of terrified tears.
Twilight took her gaze off the Meta and returned to cover. “Okay Fluttershy. There’s no point in trying to face that thing without the other Elements of Harmony!”
“Heh, heh,” Sarge chuckled as he cocked his shotgun. “Missy, we only need one element: the element of surprise!”
Sarge took a step forward, but Twilight stood on her hind legs and held him back. “Sarge no!”
Twilight shoved Sarge back. The man in red stumbled into a large oil drum, causing it to tip over. Twilight’s ears folded back at the hollow metal WONG it made upon hitting the pavement. It might as well have been a gunshot. A loud, furious and inhuman snarl echoed through the warehouse behind them. Twilight chanced another peek inside and her heart began to race when she saw that the Meta was no longer there.
“Quick! We have to hide!” Twilight whispered urgently as she quickly and quietly ran back the way they came, Fluttershy and Sarge right behind her.
Twilight knew that the Meta would see them if they stayed out in the open, so she ducked off to the right as soon as she was able, hiding inside a narrow passageway comprised of brick arches following the street. Fluttershy and Sarge kept pace behind her as she made her way through, coming up to a hole in the side of the building at the end of the street.
They weren’t inside the building proper, but beneath the floor. It was dark, dank and dirty in there, but it was pretty well hidden, so Twilight decided it was safe to stop and assess the situation. She gave the others a “quiet” gesture as her ears stood straight up, listening. At first her finely tuned hearing didn’t pick up more than the distant songs of exotic birds, but then she started hearing other noises. Dripping liquids, leaves and small bits of paper blowing in the wind, groaning metal, but nothing that would indicate the Meta’s whereabouts.
Her ears then flicked as she heard what sounded like shifting stones, and her heartbeat increased. The sound was close… directly above them close! More stones shifted and Twilight’s breaths quickened. Suddenly she heard a thump as something landed behind her. With a terrified gasp, Twilight spun around and fired up her horn.
She then immediately stopped casting when she saw the familiar face illuminated in the darkness, the dog tags around her neck glinting in the light.
“This way!” Sunny whispered hurriedly.
Twilight exchanged a quick glance with Fluttershy and Sarge before following the white armored pony through the structure’s underbelly. As they passed a series of great roots, Twilight realized they must have been inside the building with the large tree growing through the roof.
A piece of the first floor was collapsed above them, forming a ramp. Twilight and the others followed Sunny up, and they soon found themselves on what looked like the main floor of the water treatment plant. The building was just as decayed inside as it was outside. There were several holes in the cracked floor like the one they had just climbed out of. Several pillars occupied the room, a couple of which were on their side. In the center was the tree, seeming to part the building itself as it rose through it. Oddly enough, Twilight noticed what appeared to be a computer screen attached to the trunk.
The screen didn’t display anything: it was as dead as the rest of the facility. At least it was until Twilight stepped closer. As if responding to her presence, the image of a blue triangular symbol appeared in the center of the screen. The logo promptly shrunk and moved to the top corners of the screen to make room for several windows filled with lines of information. What really drew Twilight’s eye was a sequence of five letters along the top of the screen: F.I.L.S.S.
“Hello,” an incredibly familiar, pleasant female voice emerged from tiny speakers within the screen. “This is a private facility. Visitors are not welcome.” To help emphasize this fact, the word “visitors” appeared in one of the windows and was quickly covered by a red circle with a line going through it.
“Oh, wow! A talking tree!” Fluttershy exclaimed, suddenly devoid of any signs of fear. “I’ve always wanted to talk to a tree! I have so many questions!”
“Please leave immediately, or we will be forced to take lethal measures to ensure the safety of our property,” the tree-mounted computer responded.
For a moment Twilight forgot all about the imminent danger as her mind suddenly filled with questions. Number one among them was the fact that she’d heard the voice of this computer somewhere before. Taking another look at the letters at the top of the screen, Twilight suddenly realized where she’d heard the pleasant female monotone.
“FILSS?” she asked. “Why are you here? How are you here? I thought you were on the ship back in Equestria!”
“You have thirty seconds to comply, or die. Have a nice day!”
To emphasize this fact, a timer appeared on screen that began counting down from 30. It was at this moment that the other question on Twilight’s mind made itself known.
“Wait, what?! Why do you want to kill us?!” Twilight asked.
“Is it because we as a society haven’t been as kind to the environment as we should be?” Fluttershy asked. “Because, um… I’ve planted plenty of new trees during my time as animal caretaker of Ponyville…”
“Protocol dictates that the assets of Project Freelancer must be protected at all costs. You now have twenty seconds to comply.”
“Now wait a second, tree lady! There’s a big-bad-bastard out fer our blood right now!” Sarge exclaimed. “Surely you wouldn’t mind if a couple a’ dames and their handsome and intelligent friend lay low here for a while?”
Twilight meanwhile looked around in confusion. “Wait, this is a Freelancer facility?! But it looks like its been abandoned for years! Decades even!”
“That’s exactly the point!”
Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw Sunny approaching, but she wasn’t the one who spoke. With a whoosh, the spectral form of M.I. Tex appeared in front of the computer screen.
“Oh! Welcome back, Agent Texas.” The countdown that was now at 10 stopped and disappeared. “How may I be of assistance?”
“We need to enter the storage facility, now!” Tex ordered.
“Acknowledged.”
Twilight heard the sound of concrete sliding against concrete as a wall shifted aside. Twilight and the others turned around to see the otherwise inconspicuous wall at the back of the building opening up to reveal a dark metal passageway.
“Watch your step!”
“Come on!” Tex exclaimed as her avatar vanished.
Sunny raced toward the newly opened passage and stopped just in front of it, watching the room’s other entrances as Twilight and the others stepped through. Once everyone was inside, the walls closed off again, leaving the group with nowhere to go but forward. Twilight and the others followed Sunny and Tex down the dimly lit but well-maintained passage.
Tex looked up to address the facility’s A.I. “FILSS, Agent Maine is on the premises. It’s likely he’s trying to gain access to this facility. I need you to make sure that doesn’t happen!”
FILSS’ voice echoed through the hall, seeming to come out of the walls themselves. “Affirmative. Initiating lockdown sequence.”
“Um, who’s Agent Maine?” Fluttershy asked.
“The Meta…” Twilight said, suddenly remembering something Church had mentioned to her the night before. According to Washington, the Meta was just another of Project Freelancer’s agents before. She looked at Tex with no shortage of distrust. Now was a good time to test whether the M.I. knew more than she was telling.
“Tex?” Twilight asked, stopping. The M.I. in question turned to look at her. “Was the Meta really just another Freelancer like you?”
“Well, not exactly like me, but yeah. Before he was a monster, he was Agent Maine,” Tex answered.
Twilight wanted to know more. “What happened?”
Tex hesitated before answering, “Sigma happened.”
At the confused stares of everyone else, Tex elaborated, “As you know, each Freelancer was paired with an A.I. I had Omega, Wash had Epsilon, and Maine… Maine had Sigma.
“Ever since the day he was created, Sigma was… curious. He wanted to know more about the nature of his existence. Like the others, he always raised questions about the Alpha. What set him apart from the others was that his curiosity didn’t stop there. He was especially fascinated with the prospect of Rampancy, and often brought it up in totally unrelated briefings.” Tex grunted, “Personally, I don’t know how this behavior didn’t raise all kinds of red flags to the Director.”
“Rampancy?” Twilight asked.
“Smart A.I.s don’t have a very long lifespan. They usually only get seven years before A.I. Rampancy starts to set in. Fact is, a person’s mind can only retain so much information at once, and Smart A.I.s are designed to continue acquiring new information, even to their detriment. A Rampant A.I. essentially drowns in its own thoughts.”
Twilight shivered at the prospect. As a pony who greatly valued her thoughts, the idea of such a fate scared her a little more than it probably should have.
“Rampancy comes in four stages,” Tex continued. “Rage, Melancholia, Jealousy and Metastability. Sigma was especially fascinated by the Meta stage: a theoretical stage in which an A.I. can be considered fully human.”
That explains the name, Twilight thought, thinking back to what was inscribed on the side of the ship in Dodge City. Sigma must have been collecting the other Alpha fragments to become Metastable! But one thing was still bugging Twilight. “You said Meta is only theoretical…?”
“That’s right: no A.I. has ever achieved Metastability. It should be impossible!”
“Why’s that?”
“I’m no expert, but from what I learned, in order to survive Rampancy and become fully human, the A.I. needs to let go. Data needs to be purged to make room; information, even memories. But discarding information like that goes against an A.I.’s very nature!”
Twilight could understand that. She’d spent years of her life learning new things on her own, from her teachers, from Princess Celestia and—perhaps most importantly—from her friends. Twilight wasn’t sure she’d be able to give any of that up if she had to. It would seem artificial constructs and people had at least one thing in common: they all had trouble letting go.
“What the fuck is all of this?!” Eberle shouted as Donut led her to the landing zone where CT’s men were still unloading. Rarity sat down in the sand in a position where she could watch the ensuing confrontation unfold, ready to step in if need be. Rainbow Dash sat down beside her, though Rarity figured she was watching for an entirely different reason.
“That’s what I said!” Tucker exclaimed.
“Oh, cool! What’s that?” Donut asked as he looked at the Elephant in wonder. “It looks like a giant mobile home! Ooh! Ooh! Who wants to go on a family road trip?”
“Shut up, Donut!” Tucker responded at once.
“Don’t be so skeptical, guys! Road trips are great for family bonding time! Not to mention avoiding uncomfortable questions about your love life!” Donut’s voice suddenly grew desperately higher-pitched. “Leave me alone, Mom! I’ll get a girlfriend when I’m ready! No, I wasn’t looking at Hunky Firemen Monthly! I just like the magazine’s layout!”
Tucker gave an exaggerated sigh. “Oh my God! If I have to listen to anymore stories from your sad childhood, I might actually get depression and kill myself!”
CT was standing a fair distance away from the new ship and the quickly growing row of vehicles beside it, watching the men under his command as they unloaded more equipment. When he heard the bickering voices, he turned and walked towards the group.
“Are you the one in charge here?” he asked, looking at Captain Eberle.
“Yes, and I didn’t send for any additional materials!”
“Well, someone here ordered this equipment,” CT stated. “Unless Command made a mistake?”
“Mistake? Try a foreign relations disaster!” Eberle exclaimed, moving closer to CT to speak in a low voice. “Tensions between us and the Elites are high enough as is. Tell me, how do you think they’ll interpret the unexpected arrival of another human ship? Let alone a ship with that written on it!”
Eberle gestured to the proverbial horse CT rode in on. Rarity looked over at the ship, but she didn’t see anything but the words “Covenant Killer Mk C” painted on the side. Was there some meaning to the words she wasn’t seeing? CT, however, must have known exactly what the words inferred as he gave a single laugh.
“Oh right. Guess it hasn’t been repainted since the war!”
“I’m going to put in a call to Command and find out what the hell happened here. Wait right there,” Eberle said, turning around. “And I suggest you tell your men to stop unloading. You’ll just be loading up again shortly.”
“Oh, of course!” CT said with a wide arm gesture, “I wouldn’t want to create any… unnecessary trouble!”
Eberle rejoined Tucker and Donut, speaking to them in a low voice, “Donut, I want you to get on a Mongoose and scout out the Insurrectionist camp.”
“You mean the Unicorn? Yes sir! Uh, any particular reason why?”
“Hopefully just me being paranoid…”
Regardless, Donut made to do just that. Eberle made her way toward the main human camp, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all but forgotten. The pair of ponies took advantage of this fact and followed her, interested to see how this little mystery would unfold. Eberle briefly stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, perfect…” Eberle grumbled as a particularly large Elite wearing armor of a golden color approached her from the camp. Eberle went to meet it halfway and the ponies followed.
The gold Elite said something in its queer alien tongue as it made a few furious gestures to the newly arrived ship. As she got closer, Rarity realized this Elite had a large scar running through the front of his face that even cut through his armor. Additionally, his helmet had more “fins” than the others of his kind. Perhaps this was their leader?
“Don’t worry about them, Abraham. They’ll be gone soon enough,” Eberle reassured. “Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?”
Abraham took another suspicious look at the large ship, before leaning close to Eberle and saying something in low blargs.
Eberle gasped. “Wait, you opened it?”
Abraham honked.
“Oh, not you? Then who…?”
Abraham gave a low, cautious blarg.
“Dammit. What’s he doing down there?”
Abraham let out a questioning honk.
“No, just keep holding him. I’ll be right there to sort it out.”
Abraham turned and headed back down to the main temple as Eberle turned around. Rarity tried to figure out who they could be talking about when it occurred to her: she hadn’t seen Caboose around in a while.
“Sergeant Tucker, stay here and keep an eye on our guests. And see if you can get in touch with Command,” Eberle ordered before hopping into one of the parked jeeps and driving to the other end of the ruins.
Although she wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, Rarity couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Captain Eberle. The hectic manner under which she was forced to operate brought back memories of many a sleepless night trying to complete dress commissions. And if Eberle had as much on the line as Donut had told her, she arguably had it even worse than Rarity. The fashionista silently wished the woman luck before turning to ask Rainbow Dash what she wanted to do now.
But the pegasus was no longer standing beside her. Rarity looked around, but didn’t spot her multi-colored friend anywhere. Must have gone to the bathroom or something. Rarity found her attention drifting to the mysterious new arrival. CT was once again facing his ship as his men continued to work. Oddly enough, he hadn’t told any of them to stop unloading as Eberle had suggested. But that wasn’t what was bugging Rarity.
CT’s reaction to her upon their first meeting kept nagging at her. It was for this reason that Rarity took a calming breath and walked towards him.
“Excuse me, Mr. CT?” Rarity asked as she stood behind him.
CT didn’t make any move to respond. He just kept standing there, fixated on the activity of his troops.
“Um, I was wondering why you reacted to me the way you did earlier.”
CT didn’t move, nor did he reply. Is he even listening?
“Have you met other ponies before?” Rarity asked, but CT remained fixed in place, suddenly as still as a statue.
Puffing out her cheeks in frustration, Rarity circled around the man in brown armor until she was directly in front of him. She glared up into his helmet’s eyes.
“Hello? Anyone home?” Rarity waved a hoof above her head, but CT didn’t even acknowledge her. He just kept staring past her.
Rarity finally got fed up. “Mr. CT, it’s rude to ignore someone who’s talking to you!” Rarity attempted a light shove to CT’s stomach, but something unusual happened.
Her hoof passed right through him, as if CT wasn’t there at all. “What the…?”
CT suddenly started to flicker, like a candle starting to go out. CT flickered in place for a few moments before disappearing entirely. It then occurred to Rarity that she’d seen something just like this before: the illusions created by Captain Mirage in Dodge City.
Several cracks of gunfire suddenly echoed in the distance. They came from the direction of the main temple where everyone was gathered.
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
“Hello, and welcome to the Freelancer Offsite Storage Facility,” FILSS’ voice resonated through the halls after Tex allowed her to run something called a ‘tutorial program’. “Project Freelancer is a state of the art scientific endeavor with one goal in mind: to ensure the security of humanity in a harsh and violent galaxy. This bunker was constructed to continue the operations of our program in the event of a primary facility loss…”
As the A.I. continued, Twilight looked out into the vast space. The passageway they had entered from outside lead to several flights of stairs going down. When the group reached the bottom, they came out into a vast storage chamber. The ceiling stretched high above them and the floor was the size of a hoofball field. Large green containers were stacked all over the chamber, and various other smaller objects were scattered around as well. As Twilight listened to FILSS continue, a thought occurred to her.
Twilight looked over at Tex. “Wait a minute, if this is a backup facility, does that mean…?”
“No, we won’t find the Alpha here,” Tex stated, putting an end to that line of thought. “This facility has everything Project Freelancer needs to continue its experiments except for the A.I.s themselves.”
Tex’s avatar vanished and Sunny descended a short flight of stairs leading down to the warehouse’s main floor. Seeing no other options, Twilight, Fluttershy and Sarge followed.
“So, um… if the Alpha isn’t here, then… why are we?” Fluttershy asked. The pegasus was nervously looking around, picking out ideal hiding places for when she inevitably got startled.
“Aside from hiding from a giant crazy person,” Sarge pointed out. “Or rather several crazy people, all occupying one crazy body… crazily!”
“Tex wants to pick up a few things we’ll need for our assault on Freelancer Command,” Sunny answered. “I suggest you three look around for anything you think we might need.”
With that, Sunny turned and began walking deeper into the vast bunker. Before she was gone, Tex briefly appeared in front of Twilight and the others.
“Oh, and don’t go exploring,” she said before disappearing again.
Twilight squinted at the space Tex had been. She didn’t like the M.I.’s tone. Tex talked down to her like her parents did when Twilight was a filly, whenever they wanted to keep her away from something. Twilight didn’t like being kept in the dark then, and she certainly didn’t like it now.
As Fluttershy began idly shifting through an open crate full of equipment, Twilight turned to her ally in red armor. “Hey Sarge? Do you have much experience with Tex?”
Sarge grunted, “Missy, my whole team has had more experience with Tex than we really cared to!”
“Is she always this… secretive?”
“Well, secrecy does seem to come with the whole ‘Freelancer’ gig.” Sarge scratched his helmet. “Though, usually she isn’t this… hush-hush. Usually she’d just beat the crap out of us. Especially Grif.” Sarge gave a wistful sigh, “Truly those were better days…”
“Well I’m sick of it!” Twilight stomped a hoof down on the metal floor, the sound echoing through the chamber.
“Sick of what, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, looking up from a crate full of rifles.
“Tex and her secrets!” Twilight looked around to make sure the M.I. in question or her pony lackey weren’t around before leaning in closer to Fluttershy and Sarge. “She knows something about what’s going on here, but she won’t tell us anything!”
Twilight turned and began walking further into the bunker in a separate direction from the one Tex and Sunny went.
“Where are you going, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked. “Tex said not to…”
“Exactly! There’s something in this facility Tex doesn’t want us to see, and I’m going to find out what it is!”
Twilight didn’t stick around to hear whatever protests Fluttershy or Sarge may have had. She simply kept going until she disappeared around a container. It wasn’t long before the little purple unicorn reached the end of the vast storage chamber and ascended a small flight of stairs leading to another network of hallways. She wandered around for a bit, checking various weapons lockers and other rooms until she came upon something much more promising.
A thick metal door rested at the end of a dark hallway. The door itself was well illuminated, and something about it drew Twilight closer. The door was fitted with several elaborate looking locking mechanisms, and looked very sturdy. It could probably withstand even the heaviest weapons Twilight had seen when she was last here. A blue image appeared on a terminal beside the door as Twilight approached.
“I’m sorry, this area is restricted,” FILSS stated, her voice coming from the terminal rather than the very walls themselves. “Only the Director himself may gain access to this entry. I am sure you understand, the nature of our experiments is such that secrecy is of utmost importance.”
“Okay, FILSS. I’m only going to ask you this once,” Twilight said, glaring at the computer terminal dangerously. “Let me in, now!”
“I’m sorry, but only the Director himself may allow unauthorized individuals into this area.”
Twilight growled and studied the door again. It looked sturdy, but it wasn’t impenetrable; she just had to get creative. Twilight’s horn started to glow as she focused magical energy into it. She summoned forth a spell that she had learned in her junior years under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. She never expected she would use it for something like this.
The area around the door grew warmer as Twilight focused the temperature changing spell on it. She’d only ever used it to make minor adjustments to the temperature around herself on particularly cold nights, but she’d have to work it into overdrive for what she was doing. Twilight closed her eyes and focused more energy into increasing the temperature around the door. Only when she increased the heat to around thirteen-hundred degrees celsius did Twilight allow herself to open her eyes and check on her progress. The metal door was glowing a vivid orange, the waves of heat distorting it.
“What are you doing?” FILSS asked, a hint of worry entering the A.I.’s eternally pleasant tone.
Twilight merely continued to further increase the temperature around the door until she finally started getting the results she wanted. The top of the door began to slowly fold in on itself as the metal began to melt.
“Stop what you are doing at once, or I will be forced to take drastic measures!”
Ignoring FILSS, Twilight pushed forward. Deciding the door had reached melting point, Twilight stopped casting her temperature altering spell and fired up her horn to cast another. Twilight shot forth a concentrated blast of pure magical force, knocking back the top of the melting door and creating a decently sized hole.
FILSS’ voice suddenly echoed through the halls as it was broadcast throughout the facility, “Alarm! Security breach, level Alpha! Unauthorized personnel attempting to gain access to primary laboratory. Response teams, move into position!”
The announcement gave Twilight pause for a brief moment; until she realized she made it all the way into the heart of this facility and hadn’t seen a single Freelancer soldier. The Offsite Facility was empty.
“Nice try, FILSS!” Twilight exclaimed as she hit the door with another blast.
The door crumpled back some more, leaving the entire upper half of the doorframe open. It only took a couple more blasts of magic for Twilight to knock the melted hunk of metal off its hinges. With the way forward open, Twilight stepped through the portal, panting and sweating from the immense magical exertion.
“Alarm! Security breach, level Alpha! Unauthorized personnel has gained access to primary laboratory…” FILSS’ voice was mere background noise as Twilight pressed forward.
The hallway beyond the door looked different. The metal on the floor and walls was more smooth and advanced looking. Little blue lights dotted the walls around Twilight, who shivered. The temperature in this hallway was noticeably colder than the rest of the facility. Twilight turned a corner and found herself looking into the primary laboratory.
At the sight of what occupied the large featureless room, Twilight quickly dove back into the hallway she came from. It was only after several moments passed and nothing happened that Twilight chanced a peek back into the lab. The large army of several dozen armored soldiers hadn’t moved from where they were standing when Twilight first entered. The statuesque nature of the figures lead Twilight to believe that they weren’t alive, and so gave her the courage to enter the room proper.
A layer of white fog permeated the large, freezing room, and it was so cold Twilight could see her breath. As she got closer to the immobile suits of armor, Twilight was struck by a sudden sense of familiarity. Every single armored figure in the room was wearing advanced cobalt blue armor identical to Church’s. Twilight figured her friend from Blood Gulch wasn’t the only one with armor like that, but even so, there was something uncanny about the still figures around her.
“What the Hell are you doing in here?!” a livid voice behind her made Twilight jump and spin around.
Sunny was standing in the entryway to the lab. She had a green duffel bag slung across her back and a furious looking M.I. floating beside her. “I thought I told you: no exploring!” Tex exclaimed.
Only then did it occur to Twilight that FILSS’ broadcasts would have alerted Tex to what she was up to. At that moment, Twilight didn’t care.
“What is all of this?” she asked, stepping closer to Sunny and Tex. “These… things all look just like Church!”
Tex was silent.
“I know you know what’s going on here!” Twilight gestured back to the army of Church look-alikes. “What does it all mean? How does it relate to Equestria? I am tired of all of these secrets and lies!” Twilight looked at the pony playing host to Tex. “Sunny, surely you must want to know what all of this is about!”
“Ms. Sparkle, I am a soldier. It’s my job to follow orders, not question them!” Sunny stated coldly. “Besides, there aren’t many secrets between me and Tex. It comes with the whole ‘sharing minds’ thing!”
“Listen kid, you’re just going to have to trust me when I say there are things you can’t know yet.” Tex told Twilight.
“Why not?”
Tex’s avatar suddenly grew to twice its normal size and tinted red. “Because it’s personal to me!”
It was at that moment, looking at Tex’s enraged image that Twilight remembered exactly who’s ex-girlfriend she was talking to.
“It’s Church, isn’t it? He’s at the center of all of this!”
At that, Tex’s avatar shrank back down to its normal size and hue. Tex looked at Twilight for a long time before answering, “I don’t want to have to do this, okay? I just wanted to leave Church alone so he could live out his days in peace. But Wash said this is the only way, and… it’ll kill Church when he finds out…”
Twilight took a step closer. “Finds out what?”
Tex’s avatar just floated there in silence. She seemed to be battling with herself on what to say next. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to come to a decision.
“Um… excuse me?” a small, meek voice said behind Sunny and Tex. Fluttershy stood in the hall outside the cold storage lab scuffing a hoof against the metal floor.
“Yes Fluttershy, what is it?” Twilight had trouble holding back the disappointment in her voice.
“Um, Mr. Sarge and I found something you might want to see!”
From the shadows of the ruins, Rainbow Dash looked down at the scene below. As soon as she heard that someone had opened the main temple, Rainbow wasted no time in sneaking her way to the far side of the ruins. She knew that she’d likely get in trouble if she was caught, but curiosity won out over caution.
A long tunnel made a straight line through the ruins from the main human camp directly to the temple’s entrance, coming out the other side several feet above the ground. Rainbow was able to use this tunnel to get close to the entrance without being seen. From her vantage point, Rainbow was able to see the entrance to the main temple across an open sandy area.
Sure enough, the entrance was wide open, the tall thin entryway leading into a dark chamber. Just to the right of the entrance was a blue holographic symbol floating in place. If Rainbow had to guess, it was the switch that opened the temple door. Both humans and Elites alike were already moving equipment into the open temple. Against the wall directly below Rainbow Dash was Caboose, who looked blissfully cheery as he was watched by three very angry looking Elites, among which was the leader “Abraham.” Rainbow heard the sound of a Warthog engine as Captain Eberle pulled up and got out.
“What exactly happened here?” she asked as she walked towards where the Elites were keeping Caboose.
“Well, I was hanging out with all of Crunchbite’s friends when they dug up a cool glowy symbol beside the big door there,” Caboose cheerfully explained.
“That must have been just after I left…” Eberle mused before Caboose continued.
“Yeah, the aliens kept trying to push the glowy button, but it wasn’t doing anything. And then I thought: If that button doesn’t do anything then that means I can senselessly press it with no negative consequences!”
Eberle glanced back at the temple entrance. “Of course… Forerunner tech only responds to humans…”
“Yeah… the aliens were pretty mad at me after that. But I got to push a button, so I think I came out on top!”
To Rainbow’s surprise, Captain Eberle actually laughed. “Well, however you look at it, the temple’s open!” Eberle addressed the Elites watching Caboose, “It’s okay, you can leave him with me!”
With a grunt, Abraham turned and walked towards the temple, the two Elites with him following. With that, Eberle gave another chuckle. It was like all of the stress and tension in her voice was being released.
“Looks like things are finally going our way!”
A slow series of claps suddenly prevailed over the silence. The troops moving equipment into the temple stopped and everyone’s gaze was drawn to the sound. Rainbow Dash looked to her right along with the others to find CT looking down at them from up on a hill of sand. The man in brown armor was slowly clapping.
“Well, well… you actually opened it!” he said smugly. “Nice work, Captain. That should make my job much easier!” CT then placed a finger on the side of his helmet. “Smith! Now!”
Another noise soon overtook the ruins: an unusual low hum that quickly grew louder. All of a sudden, a large ship descended, floating in place just behind CT. This ship looked nothing like any of the others; instead of a military olive green, the ship was comprised of bright purple colors. Where the other ships Rainbow Dash had seen were bulky and utilitarian, this ship was made of smooth metal, the thing reminding Rainbow of a flying, colorful tortoise not unlike Tank.
“Shit! Enemy Phantom!” Eberle yelled as the sides of the ship in question opened up and more Elites jumped out.
CT raised a Battle Rifle and fired a well placed shot that took out one of Eberle’s men, then all Tartarus broke loose. The Elites with CT opened fire with various smooth purple weapons that shot colorful bursts of plasma. Abraham’s Elites, along with the human soldiers, responded in kind. The alien “Phantom” spacecraft dropped a vehicle onto the battlefield: one that looked similar in design to the alien vehicle that Tucker showed the ponies.
The gray metal of the vehicle formed blades in many places, hovered just above the sand and appeared to be operated by a crew of two Elites. The driver was reclined in the back while another Elite operated a rotating plasma turret at the front. The vehicle charged forward, scattering the humans and Elites under Eberle’s command. An Elite wearing purple armor stepped beside CT, and with a wave of its hand sent the rest of CT’s Elites charging forward, plasma weapons blazing. CT stood back, taking shots with his rifle.
Not liking the way the battle was turning, Eberle fell back to her Warthog. “I’m going to call for reinforcements! Keep them away from the temple!”
With that, Eberle drove off, leaving the battle below. Rainbow Dash looked on, hooves glued to the ground. The fighting had grown so chaotic that Rainbow could hardly distinguish between the sides anymore. All she saw were Elites killing each other and men in gray armor dying. The Phantom hovered above the battlefield raining heavy plasma seemingly at random, and the alien vehicle made another pass, firing its turret. Caboose stood in the middle of the carnage, firing his assault rifle at anything and everything.
Then three Warthogs came around the same corner Eberle disappeared around, each one carrying three of CT’s soldiers in white armor. Their chainguns rang out, mowing down Elites left and right. If there were sides in this conflict, Rainbow Dash couldn’t identify them. Everyone was just killing everyone. One thing was clear in Rainbow’s mind: CT was the bad guy, and Daring Do never let the bad guy get the treasure first!
Rainbow Dash crouched and spread her wings before taking off from her perch within the ruins. She flew straight towards one of the Warthogs, its white and red gunner training his sights on Caboose. Rainbow outstretched her hooves and knocked the soldier clean off the back of the jeep before touching down on top of him. One of Eberle’s gray soldiers fell next to her, accompanied by the sound of a Battle Rifle. Rainbow Dash looked over to CT, the man in brown armor reloading his weapon from atop the hill of sand.
Seeing her next target, Rainbow Dash flew straight up into the air until she could see the ruins in their entirety. She then dove straight down towards the brown speck on the edge of the battlefield. Going at incredible speed, Rainbow Dash brought all four hooves down on top of CT just as he was lining up another shot. The brown deceiver was brought straight down into the sand. Thinking victory was in her hooves, Rainbow Dash allowed herself a moment to try and come up with some sort of one-liner.
“It belongs in a museum, C…!”
Rainbow was cut off by a brown elbow connecting with her face, knocking her over into the sand. Rubbing her aching nose, Rainbow looked over at her opponent. CT rose to his feet, cursing. Not liking her chances against a fully armored human soldier, Rainbow Dash elected to flap her wings and take off in search of another target to dive-bomb, CT firing at her all the while. Unfortunately, she apparently underestimated his marksmanship.
“AUGH!” Rainbow cried out as a sudden sharp, searing pain coursed through her right wing and sent her crashing to the sand in front of the open temple.
Wincing, Rainbow Dash bit her lip as she rose to her hooves and looked over at her wing as it burned with horrible pain. She was unable to hold back a whimper as she noticed the amount of blood covering blue feathers.
“Hi Rainbow!”
It was at that moment that Rainbow realized she had landed right at Caboose’s feet.
“Caboose!”
“Ugh… there you are!”
Rainbow turned around and found herself looking at the soldier in white armor with red detail she’d knocked from the Warthog.
“Quick! Shoot him, Caboose!” Rainbow yelled.
“I can’t. Ran out of ammo trying to hit that bird.”
“What bird?”
“The rainbow one.”
Rainbow took another look at her bleeding wing before directing a glare at Caboose. “I think I might hate you.”
The white soldier was raising his own rifle at Rainbow Dash and this time - thanks to Caboose - she couldn’t escape by flying away. As it turned out, she didn’t have to, as the soldier was promptly beaten down by an Elite in blue armor. The alien turned to look at Rainbow Dash and (much to her surprise) nodded.
It suddenly occurred to Rainbow Dash that she may have met this particular Elite before. “Joey?”
The Elite’s response was to continue to stare at the rainbow pegasus. Much to her alarm, the alien started to drool.
“Joey! Stop thinking about eating me! There’s bad guys, remember?”
That snapped Joey out of it, and just in time. An Elite in dark red armor charged straight toward the friendly one in blue. Joey raised a strange, one-handed weapon with several pink crystalline objects on top. Joey pulled the trigger and a few pink needles hit the Elite in red. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, and the enemy Elite got close enough to smack Joey across the face with its own weapon. Joey tried to retaliate with a wild, uncoordinated punch, but the red Elite simply blocked it and used Joey’s own momentum to throw the blue alien to the ground beside Rainbow Dash. Joey spat out a bit of dark blue blood from his mandibled mouth.
“Y’know… I can see why the other Elites don’t think highly of you,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
The Elite in red armor walked toward the wounded pony and the beaten blue Elite, and then dove out of the way of a spiky alien vehicle with two large wheels on its front. The vehicle continued right into one of CT’s Warthogs, its spiky wheels grinding the jeep into pieces, resulting in an explosion and the likely deaths of the men inside. Tucker hopped out of the driver’s seat in the back while Rainbow Dash, Caboose and Joey stared on in awe.
“Hold your applause, please!” Tucker said nonchalantly.
The Elite in red armor that had narrowly avoided the same fate as the Warthog climbed back to its feet. It let loose a mighty roar in Tucker’s direction, opening its four mandibles to give him a good look at its many teeth.
“Come at me, squid mouth!” Tucker called out, beckoning the creature forward with a hand gesture.
The Elite obliged, and Tucker took a step back before reaching for a device on his hip. With the press of a button, a dual-pronged blade of white energy appeared around Tucker’s right hand.
“Swish!” Tucker swung the energy sword as the Elite reached him, knocking the alien to the sand with a big, cauterized slash across its chest.
For a sweet moment, Rainbow Dash forgot all about the crippling pain in her wing. “That. Was. Awesome!”
Rainbow Dash suddenly noticed just how quiet the battle had become. Looking around, she saw that most of Eberle’s forces were already dead. The only fighting still going on was a one on one duel between Abraham and the Elite in purple armor Rainbow Dash saw commanding the Elites on CT’s side. The pair of them were circling each other within a ring of onlooking Elites. Each combatant was already scarred in several places from the battle. They each breathed heavily; this fight had apparently been going on for some time now.
The purple Elite charged toward Abraham, but the gold Elite was patient and let his opponent come to him. Abraham avoided and blocked the purple Elite’s assault, and the two large aliens locked arms, staring each other down. It was at this point that Rainbow Dash noticed that the purple Elite was wearing a helmet that covered its entire face, unlike the others of its kind.
The struggle went on for some time before Abraham headbutted the purple Elite, knocking him off balance. Abraham followed up by spinning his opponent around himself before delivering a strong kick to the purple Elite’s back, knocking him face first into the sand. Abraham gave an unimpressed snort as he allowed the purple Elite to pull himself to his feet.
Just as it seemed like the two big bipeds were about to go at it again, the familiar sound of a three-burst rifle rang out and Abraham dropped to the ground, blue blood forming a puddle in the sand below his head. The purple Elite and his companions making up the combat circle all turned to look at CT, who was reloading his rifle as he casually made his way down the hill. The Elites all honked and blarged their disapproval of CT’s actions. Even Rainbow Dash could tell some very big code of honor was just broken.
“Oh, quit complaining, Smith. You weren’t going to win that fight anyway!” CT said to the purple Elite as he passed him.
CT walked out into the center of the field as Rainbow Dash and the others looked around. To their right was the rest of CT’s forces, having just arrived on foot. To their left was Smith and his Elites. The Phantom they arrived in hovered menacingly above the four figures. They were surrounded with their backs against the open temple.
“Well, Tucker. You’re the only ones standing between me and my prize,” CT said. “So what’ll it be? Are you going to step aside and let us through? Or should we kill you along with all the others?”
Looking around again, Rainbow Dash was not liking their chances. Between her injured wing and the fact that they had Caboose and Joey on their side, it was looking like Tucker was the only one with any fighting capability. And even he couldn’t fight off a whole army by himself. Tucker on the other hand, seemed to disagree. At least, that was what his chuckle after a brief glance to the side seemed to indicate.
“Actually, let me correct you on something: you should have said ‘kill you along with almost all the others!’”
Before CT could inquire about Tucker’s meaning, a deep blast rang out as a projectile passed over Smith’s Elites and CT, reducing a Warthog among CT’s men to burning slag. Rainbow looked up past Smith’s Elites and saw that there was a tank now sitting just behind them. Another blast from the tank caused Smith’s Elites to scatter, and before anyone knew it, there was chaos in front of the temple again. The Phantom swooped over the tank and started firing at it with its plasma cannon, but the tank was undeterred, putting one shell after another into the alien ship.
“SHIT! JONES! ROCKETS!” CT yelled over the explosions
“Quick! Everyone in the temple!” Tucker ordered.
CT was yelling at his forces to attack Tucker and the others while Smith yelled something in Sangheili at his Elites right before the Phantom crashed down to the sand in a fiery blue explosion of plasma. Caboose wasted no time entering the temple followed by Joey. Tucker approached the ancient alien console projecting the holographic door controls and slashed it in half with his energy sword. The tall metal orange door shifted in the stone and began to lower.
“Wait, what about Rarity?! We can’t just leave her out there!” Rainbow exclaimed as the door descended.
“We have no choice! We can’t let them into the temple!” Tucker countered.
A shot from a Battle Rifle impacted on stone just above Rainbow Dash’s head, causing the pony to start.
“No, hold your fire!” CT chastised the soldier that fired. “Kill the others if you have to, but I want the Equestrians alive!”
Taking one last look from CT’s charging forces and the almost-shut door, Rainbow Dash grunted in pain from her wing as she entered the temple. Tucker was the last one in, stopping briefly to use his sword on an Elite that tried to rush into the temple before it shut. A hollow boom echoed through the ruins as the temple door shut completely, locking Rainbow and the others in. The sounds of battle outside were reduced to muffled gunshots and explosions. One final explosion made its boom... and everything outside was silent again.
It wasn’t long after the sounds of distant battle began that Rarity and Tucker spotted Eberle’s Warthog driving back toward them through the sandy ruins.
“What’s going on over there, Captain?” Rarity asked as Eberle’s jeep pulled up
“Yeah!” Tucker exclaimed. “First that CT guy just vanishes into thin air, then we hear gunfire at the temple, then all of the guys unloading the ship just drop what they’re doing, climb into jeeps, and drive out there!”
Rarity had never seen a group of individuals move so quickly at the drop of a hat.
“The whole thing was a ruse! CT and another group of Elites are attacking the temple!” Eberle explained as she hopped out of the jeep and sprinted straight through the stone arch to the camp. “Tucker, get on a line with Command. Get reinforcements down here now!”
“I’ll try, but I didn’t get a response when I tried earlier!” Tucker wasted no time in rushing to the radio set as gunfire continued to echo in the distance. Eberle ran around a corner and disappeared.
“Hello? Come in Command.” Tucker released the transmit button and waited. When he didn’t receive an answer, he held down the button again. “Come in Command! Command, do you read?” No answer. “This is a distress call. Mayday, and all that shit! Why isn’t anyone answering?” Tucker waited for a response. None came. “We found it. It’s in the sand! Send help now!”
Before Tucker could take his finger off the button, Rarity nudged him. “Tucker! Watch out!”
Rarity was almost drowned out by the loud whine of a ship’s engines starting up. The pony and the human looked up to find the large ship that CT arrived in lifting off the ground. Several more soldiers in white armor were standing in the open cargo bay, rifles trained on them. Rarity looked around for something to hide behind, but there was no adequate cover within range.
Just then, a loud boom rumbled across the desert and a powerful projectile slammed into one of the ship’s engines. The white soldiers on board lost their balance and fell over, a couple even fell right out of the ship. A second blast destroyed the engine completely, and the ship began to plummet to the ground, black smoke emanating from it. It hit the ground next to the stone arch hard, sending up a plume of dust and sand.
Tucker and Rarity turned around and saw a tank sitting in place, its gun barrel tilted up where the ship had been. The driver’s hatch opened and Eberle hopped out.
“Is Command sending reinforcements?” she asked, running over to them.
“I don’t know, I couldn’t reach them!” Tucker answered.
“Damn!” Eberle stomped a foot. “Tucker, get down there and secure the temple!”
“On it, boss!” Tucker ran over to where the vehicles were parked and went straight for the strangely shaped vehicle he showed Rarity and Rainbow Dash earlier. It made a loud, uncomfortable noise as the engine started up. Tucker drove down toward the battle, the big front wheels pulling the vehicle along, the back end hovering in place. Soon enough, Tucker was gone.
Eberle, meanwhile, stepped up beside Rarity and adjusted the radio’s frequency. “Come in, Recovery Fourteen! Recovery Fourteen, do you read?”
Eberle had much more luck than Tucker. “Oh heeEEeey Captain!” Donut cheerfully answered. “I reached the place where the Insurrectionists are camped out, and guess what? There’s nobody here! Looks like they all just packed up and left!”
“That’s what I thought…” Eberle muttered.
“What now? Should I head back?”
“No. We’re under attack and can’t reach Command. I need you to head to the nearest base you can find and try to make contact from there! The code phrase is ‘we found it, it’s in the sand!’”
“Can do, Cappy! Good luck!”
With that, Eberle switched off the radio.
“What do we do now?” Rarity asked.
“I’m getting the tank and going back to the temple,” Eberle said, her normally firm voice letting slip one that was softer. “You should find your friends and get out of here. You guys have nothing to do with all of this. It doesn’t make sense for you to die here too.”
Eberle walked over to one of the Warthogs, reached in and pushed the starter. “Take this and fill it with a few water canteens. You’ll need them to cross the desert.” Eberle grabbed the steering wheel and showed Rarity how to turn it. “You use this to steer. The pedals on the floor control the acceleration. Don’t ask me why there’s six of them!”
By this point all of the firm authority in Eberle’s voice was gone, and it occurred to Rarity just how quiet it had gotten. The Captain gave a sad little sigh and much to Rarity’s surprise, scratched her behind the ear. It wasn’t entirely unwelcome: in fact it felt kind of good, and Rarity let herself melt in the armored hand for a moment.
“You know… I always wanted a pony when I was a kid…”
Eberle let go of Rarity just as quickly as she had grabbed her, and all of a sudden the stoic and authoritative soldier returned. She ran to the parked tank, climbed into the driver’s seat and the large armored vehicle turned in place before driving towards the now deadly silent battlefield.
Rarity just stood and watched the tank go. The whole time she was here, Rarity only thought of these soldiers as her enemy. They were working for Project Freelancer after all, and needed to be stopped. But then she actually got to know them, realizing Donut, Eberle and even Tucker weren’t bad people. But this CT and the ones who followed him were. They needed to be stopped from killing anyone else.
So with great haste, Rarity climbed into the driver’s seat of the Warthog that Eberle started for her. Right away Rarity realized that her hind legs wouldn’t reach the pedals. She’d have to use her magic to control them. Brushing aside a strand of purple hair, Rarity activated the gas and drove the Warthog across the sand. It was tricky to get the feel of steering a vehicle, but fortunately she was in a desert, and open space was plentiful.
Rarity did not dwell on learning the finer points of driving, though. She drove straight to the other end of the ruins, where more loud blasts were going off. Rarity turned a corner and spotted Eberle’s tank exchanging fire with a large purple ship. The tank hit the already damaged looking vessel with one final shell before it exploded into blinding blue flames, its pieces crashing into the hill of sand making up the ruins’ perimeter. Then much to Rarity’s horror, a rocket collided with the front of the already smoking tank, causing it to explode and catch fire.
Without even thinking, Rarity brought the Warthog to a stop beside the wreckage and got out. To her relief, an armored hand pushed open the driver’s hatch. Unfortunately, that was all the occupant seemed to have the strength for. Firing up her horn, Rarity encased Eberle in her blue magical aura and - with some effort - dragged her out of the destroyed tank. Eberle’s white armor was charred black in many places, and there was a lot of blood around her midsection, but she seemed to be breathing.
Rarity’s ear flicked as she heard the clicks of weaponry behind her. She turned and found herself looking up at a large group of armored humans and Elites both, all pointing weapons at her. Rainbow Dash and the others were nowhere in sight.
“Well, what do ya think?” Sarge asked, gesturing dramatically to the hangar behind him. “Climb aboard Air Sarge: non-stop flight to murder!”
Twilight had to admit, the ship sure looked impressive sitting in the hangar like that. Still, Twilight had already seen two of these “Pelican” dropships before, and each one ended up crashing spectacularly. Twilight didn’t trust it for a moment and it seemed that Tex was in agreement on the matter. The small black M.I. floated around the Pelican as she inspected it from all angles.
While Tex did that, Twilight’s attention was drawn to the olive green duffel bag that Sunny had with her. Curious to see what the pony and M.I. had gathered, Twilight reached forward with a hoof to peek inside, but was pushed back by Sunny.
“Don’t,” the armored mare warned.
“Why? More secrets between you and Tex?” Twilight asked with no lack of venom in her voice.
“Trust me, the crater you’ll leave if you mess with this bag won’t be very secret!”
At that moment, Tex reappeared in front of the group. “Hmm… it’s mostly in shape, but the ignition coil looks like it’s about to fall apart!”
“Can you fix it?” Fluttershy asked.
Tex sighed. “No. Of all the things we covered in Freelancer training, ship maintenance wasn’t one of them.”
“So you can fix the Blues’ tank every time that breaks, but when we find a perfectly good ship we can use?” Sarge sighed. “That figures…”
“A ship like this would be perfect for getting us into Command, but in a state like this, we’re just as likely to die in a crash before even making it that far!”
“And I’d prefer not to die until after we’ve destroyed Project Freelancer!” Sunny added.
“So… we’re leaving the ship?” Fluttershy asked with a touch of hopefulness. It would seem she was in no hurry to ride in one.
Twilight took another look at the large space vessel. She remembered what it was like to try and escape from Freelancer Command before. Not only had she been lucky, but Project Freelancer had probably doubled security at their Command Center since she escaped.
“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t see any way we’ll be getting into Freelancer Command from the ground. This ship is our best option!”
Tex disappeared and reappeared in front of Twilight. “Well, unless you know anyone who can fix it…”
“Heh heh…” Sarge laughed, and everyone turned their attention to the man in red. “Now the ball’s in Sarge’s court! And he’s goin’ for a slam dunk!”
“Don’t tell me you know how to fix a ship, Sarge!”
“Oh, I don’t! But I know someone who just might!” Sarge exclaimed. “Pack yer travel kits everyone! We’re goin’ home!”
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Okay, I did a thing. Is it working now?
5032171 Eeyup, it is working now.
Good
"Air sarge; the non-stop flight to murder!" He he he....
5035421 Ah, the days before I had an editor. Truly those were dark times.
Y'know, I'm starting to think this whole thing has had a bad influence on Twilight, and I'm finding myself liking her less and less.
On another note; GREAT job so far! I loved every part of this, and I can't wait for more!
I can't wait for Lopez to see that they've returned.
Agreed with the Grey Paladin. Twilight seems almost too vengeful here. Heck, the scene with Tex finally letting loose some of her feelings should have made her more understanding.
New Challenger!
Lopéz!
5042954 I never realized I had such trouble with led and lead! I may have to go back and fix all of my old chapters after I finish the current act.
5043641 Psst, two more adding to the list.
I wonder, will we ever meet a private tuggy/Jones, a recovery agent Zech, or captain Duncleman? It seems like something this world would have what with the various RT people crossovers present in the world. Great chapter as always, keep goin and stay golden^^
5050358 I'll admit: I thought about using one of the other RT/RWBY ladies when writing this chapter but it occurred to me: we already have a soldier for Lindsay, Barbara and Arryn in the actual show (Kimball, Jensen and Dr. Gray respectively), but they're all a part of the Chorus arc, and I'm trying to stick to the Freelancer arc for this story! As far as I know, Kara is the only one of the main RWBY girls that hasn't had a roll in RvB yet.
5050502
So I'm guessing there won't be a team RWBY team up in this story any time soon...?
5051849 No, but that'd be one Hell of a crossover!
twi youve got two choices.
1 stop being a bitch
2 explode while being a bitch
Flynt Coal, if you had any super power; what would it be?
5069251 X-ray vision. So I can see crime, but do nothing to prevent it. Just like my favourite hero!
media.tumblr.com/52ff46be06d0bbb59b7f488314e1db58/tumblr_inline_ms83vwHEZQ1qz4rgp.png
5075096
Those two are gonna have a cartoon now. How they activate their powers? They touch knobs
Also, what a
in the latest chapter! Really puts things into perspective.
Looking back at the chapter titles I can't help but notice that each one is titled from the name of a Trocadero or Jeff Williams song, album or lyric.
Lets recap what we've got so far.
Intro
Blood Gulch Blues
Good Fight
Contact
Keep Moving
Land of Enemies
On Your Knees
Big Prize
Preparation
Your Middle Name Is Danger
Return
Colors
Funny Farm
I Wonder Where You Are (Lyric from 'Half Life')
Twins
Whole Again (Lyric from 'Spiritual')
When We're Together (Lyric from 'Colors' and album)
Am I Transmitting? (Lyric from 'Contact')
Is Anyone Listening? (Lyric from 'Contact')
So far we got sixteen from Trocadero and three from Jeff Williams.
5092668 Your knowledge of Rooster Teeth music is impressive. Kudos!
media2.giphy.com/media/b9aScKLxdv0Y0/giphy.gif
Now, the real challenge is figuring out how each song title/lyric relates thematically to the chapter!
i know what sarge mean
5093051 Thanks! I am a very big fan of their music.
Here's my assumptions what each chapter title refers to:
Intro - The introduction to the story. Duh!
Blood Gulch Blues - Twilight's unpleasant first experience in Blood Gulch
Good Fight - A Red vs. Blue battle.
Contact - Vic's cameo.
Keep Moving - The Reds, Blues and Twilight move out to the new bases
Land of Enemies - Twilight on the run from the military
On Your Knees - Tex vs. Ponies.
Big Prize - Twilight's a target for Project Freelancer
Preparation - Twilight, the Blues and Wash prepare to assist the Zanzibar Blues. Meanwhile Tex and the Mane 4 with the help of Sunset Shimmer prepare to get Omega out of Pinkie
Your Middle Name Is Danger - The Meta in Equestria
Return - Twilight returns to Equestria with the Blues tagging along.
Colors - The Reds and Blues in world filled with technicolor ponies, with the Reds landing to style.
Funny Farm - The Red unconventional methods of running an apple harvest.
I Wonder Where You Are - Twilight and Church searching Tex's ship
Twins - Referring to the Dakota Twins or to Caboose and Pinkie's common personalities and newly formed friendship, much to Church's misfortune having to deal with two now...
Whole Again - The Meta obtains Omega leaving only Alpha, Beta and Epsilon left.
When We're Together - The Mane 6, the Blues, Sarge and Tex/Sunny Side set off on an adventure while Grif, Simmons and Spike stay behind, only to get separated from each other.
Am I Transmitting? - C.T. transmitting for permission to land.
Is Anyone Listening? - Tucker sends a distress call hoping anyone would listen to it
5053001 She's with the red's and blue's dude, especially with Church. I think its safe to say that spending time with them caused her to be a bit....bitchy.
To people saying Twilight's acting like a bitch
....Have you forgotten the red (and mostly blue) soldiers she's been traveling with for all these chapters?
....Have you forgotten that Project Freelancer tried to capture her numerous times??
....Have you forgotten that The Meta tried to kill her and her friends???
Seriously guys, I think we all knew, deep down inside of us, that she would act like this the moment she landed in Blood Gulch!
That brings up the question, the vision/flashback that Twi had, what does it mean?
Great story so far by the way!
“Hey girls!” Both Rarity and Donut turned to look at Tucker
Pfft, poor Tucker. The only female figures around is his aggressive commanding officer, a horse, and a guy.
[-]
"I am a soldier. It’s my job to follow orders, not question them!"
One psycho analysis level problem at a time please, especially given the recent Chorus Arc.
[-]
"I just wanted to leave Church alone so he could live out his days in peace."
It's easy to convey when something feels genuinely funny, (Some form of counter-joke statement) or genuinely intriguing, (Stuff like science hypothesises) but less so for different parts that elicit emotions, or sections that just felt particularly well written. Especially when nearly everything feels particularly well written.
[-]
It hit the ground next to the stone arch hard
Love the map setups with the two ships.
Well Tex is Useless and Rainbow is bleeding to death.