Epilogue 4: Still Alive
Helen stared at the readout on her computer screen. "Did the trace work?" she demanded.
"Yes," Grey Mann replied, gesturing to his readout. "The tracer attached to Luna's tail went undetected, and the ion trail it left through the ether between worlds has established a wormhole from our world to theirs."
Helen smiled mirthlessly. "Is it stable?"
"For now," he admitted. "It is also about as wide as a fly's dick, so it won't be viable for transfer of an invasion/excavation force for some time."
She frowned at that. "How long until we can begin widening the portal?"
"It'll take a few months to find the right energy type to expand the portal without collapsing it," he replied. "Even then, it'll take anywhere from a few months to a year to expand it to the right size without ripping a hole in the space-time continuum. It'd be easier if we could recover any of the data from the recording device on the respawner you gave to the ponies." The snarl in his words at the end would have been grating to anyone else.
"Hardly my fault you didn't design it to withstand a blast from a rocket," she replied blandly.
"You mean I was supposed to anticipate that the mercs would try to destroy it?" he demanded in frustration.
"You always did underestimate the value of dumb muscle," she replied with a shrug. "Just get the portal open."
"I have my Mechengineers working on it as we speak," he replied, frowning as his mind wandered.
"Good." Helen turned her back to him, dismissing him as unimportant beyond that, focusing her attention on her planned conquest and eventual strip mining of Equestria.
Without warning, Grey Mann pulled out an electrified knife and drove it into her back, and she slumped forward, lifeless.
Helen slowly came back to herself, but something felt off. "What's going on?" she asked, pausing as she noticed her voice sounded strange, almost synthesized. Also, her mind was strangely clearer than it had been before. As she looked around, she felt her body swivel in a manner much different than before.
"You told me not to underestimate dumb muscle," Grey Mann said, coming into view. In Helen's vision, a blue box focused in on his face, bringing up a close up of his face as well as pertinent information. "But in truth, I find intelligence eventually always wins."
"Your mechamercs demonstrate that quite clearly," Helen quipped back. As she spoke, she saw text appear at the bottom of her vision stating, 'Sarcasm Processors Fully Operational'.
"Oh, I don't mean artificial intelligence," Grey Mann countered. "I mean real intelligence, like you or I possess. Yours proved to be able to circumvent and conquer mine...temporarily. I realized that, if I'm to accomplish my goals, I needed you at my side...so I surrendered. It was so easy to reach this point once that happened. Now you are on my side, working towards my goals...I just removed the human element. So much more efficient this way." He grinned mirthlessly at her before turning to walk away. "Now about the portal-" His voice was cut off as a spike on a metal tendril drove into the top of his skull. "Wha...how? How can you harm me like this? The safeties..."
Helen blinked internally. She hadn't even realized she had struck forward, or that she had that tendril, but it had responded to her will all the same. This would take some getting used to, but she knew what it was doing. "What are you talking about?" she asked aloud. "I'm not hurting you at all." Begin neural download, she sent the mental command.
Grey Mann flinched as he felt all of his mind being drained from his flesh into the machine. "No..."
"I'm just removing the human element," she continued as his intelligence, experience, and brain power were added to the machine she had become. "You're right, Grey...much more efficient." Turning, she sent another mechanical pseudopod to retrieve her body. He had been incorrect about one thing. She wasn't entirely human, and there were things about her body that could still prove useful in the future.
As Grey Mann was drained completely, he slid off the spike that had stolen his brain, his life. His blood dripped from the spike like a grotesque, macabre quill. Seeing this, she turned towards the paperwork on her desk. As her new mechanical core extended to examine it, she saw it was a request for a final report on the status of 'Project Bumfuck', the in-office name for the show that had been made from the events at the fort of that name. "This was a triumph," she whispered, bringing the spike forward to inscribe a note under 'Final Assessment' in Grey Mann's life blood.
Huge Success!
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Madness?
This...is...CANON!
4920536
Butane?
BAST...ARD...GAS!!!!
Only King of the Hill fans will understand that.
Nice chapter by the way. :)
Tis was funny that while reading this i was listening to metroid prime 3 ending.....
4919448 Oh no i'm defiantly happy, it's just annoying to only hear one voice in my head, i'm used to having so many.
I was thinking of GLaDOS before I read this :3
4920536 so there will be a sequel! Awesome! Sorry I don't want it canon, but I feel the real action in this story belongs to Saxton to accomplish!
WOOT! Go GLaDOS!
write a sequel
4920536 Make it canon it'd be nice
Eh... Not really going for this "extended ending" you've got here.
Alas, I cannot be part of the Blue Mann Group and will go with the live decision that is the color of a dead television channel.
4920536
I'd rather just have them be humans, but Grey Man stabbing Helen in the back is something that would be cool
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction =D
now that you complete the season 1 of fortresshy... are you going to continue your other histories?
Sorry... I don't think it'll change much if they were bots...
I just find it... Unnecessary...?
two sequals a none canon where the blue one really happened and a second where it didnt!
I don't know how I feel about it. I don't like Helen, but she may prove to be a good villain. I will follow you either way.
mmmmm... well we all want a sequel, but I'm not sure if that kind of plt would be good for the storym anyway, I'm neutral.
4920536 As cool as having that canon would be, I just don't think it would quite fit in. But who cares. We are going majority rules here.
canon plz
4920536 nope.avi
Kinda weird to me.
4920536
Helen trying to take over Equestria if solid enough for a sequel, no need for robots.
4920536
Well, before I vote, I'd have to ask this. If this starts to involve Portal stuff, would Half Life end up in the mix as well? Because it could all just be s great, Saxton Hale beating back the Combine (As well as sucker-punching the G-Man), Gordon Freeman showing the Merchs his brand-spanking new Quantum De-stabilizer and Tau Canon, Fluttershy getting a Shock-Roach, oh, it would be awesome.
SEQUEL!!!
The question on my mind is, 'what will become of the BLU team'?
4920536
The whole "Helen is a hive-mind" would have been a good idea, provided that you hadn't made it Portal-esque in its presentation. Not that there's anything wrong with Portal, mind. It just feels out of place.
Not to mention that this plot arc seems kinda endgame for the FortressShyverse.
4920536 I sorry, but this is where I draw the line, I don't want Helen to be GLaDOS, sure they may have some form of ruthlessness, but our favorite machine focus on test rather than profit. So yeah non-canon.
It's funny because Helen and GlaDOS were voiced by the same actress
But yeah, things can get pretty crazy if a sequel were actually planned.
Nah, I'm going to have to vote no on the blue part being canon. Helen trying to invade Equestria is enough, it doesn't need to be robo-Helen with Grey Mann's knowledge and skills.
4920756
No, no Half Life. Never played it and it's not my kind of game.
4920769
They retire on Earth.
Isn't Glad0s and Helen both voiced by Ellen McLain
Anyways It's a pretty cool twist.
Continue Testing
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/258/5/7/you_will_be_perfect_by_blood_asp0123-d4f467u.png
I would rather the blue part not to be canon
4920646 Apeture Science.
We do what we must because we can.
4920536 If you post 2 sequels: one with the blue text as cannon and one with the blue text not being cannon then i think it can work and satisfy both sides. It will most likely take you longer to post new chapters for either story. Of course if you want to do this that's up to you.
4921266 Aw, I didn't mean to start that, I was speaking literally XD
Alright, welp, time for my thoughts now that I have read the entire thing.
Right off the bat, the story was cute. It was fine and dandy, something that I could look forward to reading whenever a new chapter was released. Watching Fluttershy of all ponies grow up under care of theTF2 mercs was heartwarming and humorous. It was solid as a slice of life story. You pulled that off really well.
And then the ponies show up. This is when the story jumped the shark.
Right from the get go, the entire thing seemed very rushed. The ponies immediately meeting Helen felt like it was missing something. The lack of any real surprise at interdimensional traveling ponies was a bit odd, as well as the fact that it was right there of all places that they arrived.
A bigger issue though, was how unbelievable their attempt to gain access to the fortress was. Taking cover behind a rock formation whilst planning was fine, but the subsequent invasion attempt made no sense. I find it impossible to believe that any amount of defense could have actually deterred the likes of Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight. Since I'm feeling generous, I'll just let the Discord handwave slide.
The fact that they previously saw just what kind of firepower they were up against with Rainbow Dash's many fails, I find it hard to believe they couldn't actually circumvent it. Princess Celestia's and Luna's magic is strong enough to move entire celestial bodies. All they did was just fly at Fluttershy like Rainbow Dash did, and they died horribly. Not only could they have just easily made a shield, they could have used their magic a variety of other ways to defend themselves. And all of that would be nullified if they just thought to teleport. There was no reason at all Fluttershy's defense should have won out, period.
On the subject of Alicorns, why was Princess Celestia actually with them? Since Luna was the one deducing things and taking charge, Princess Celestia was there just for the sake of being there. It made sense for the Mane 6 to be there, since they are Fluttershy's direct friends. Discord was the one who managed to take them there. Luna, as mentioned, was the one deducing things and solving problems. Celestia? The only thing she did was just get her flank kicked because she forgot she can use immense, godlike power. Luna and Twilight were guilty of this as well.
Next, Luna sure does know a lot. I know she used magic to scan a few things, like Pyro's mind, but Luna really did know an awful lot about things. More than it would make sense for her too. I guess you could write it off as "magic," but that itself is a pretty flimsy excuse.
Additionaly, Luna (or Celestia, it was really vague as to who) wet herself at a chain chomp? Because a chain chomp is more fearsome than a huge dragon, an ursa, a hydra, Discord himself when he was evil, or any other powerful, terrifying force of evil. Really?
As for the mercs, there are also problems here. These men do have lives on Earth. Several of them are still close with their families. The Heavy had family in Siberia who he helped provide for, the Demoman's mother lives with him in a mansion, and the Spy is close with the Scout's mom. What do they do? They decide to travel to Equestria because Luna bribed them at the drop of a hate (pun intended).
I'm sorry, but, you really dropped the ball at the end here.
In before rampant downvotes...
4920536 I want the sequel to be free of Team Fortress Universe threats, and instead focusing on the RED team (and new Fluttershy) dealing with life in peaceful Equestria... until one of the villains or a crisis comes along.
I can just imagine that dragon Fluttershy made cry building an army of dragons to invade Equestria, for revenge of that humiliating event... and Merc Fluttershy showing up like "Sup, I got a big gun." and mowing them down, while the entirety of the Equestrian military watched; completely useless, and in awe.
True ending: they open the portal, only to find out that Luna found the transmitter and sent it tumbling across the multiverse... the first thing they see after the portal opens is a little, yellow, wedge-shaped robot greeting them with a "Welcome to Pandora!".
The last is the inside of a Skag's mouth.
O.o
! Bring out the big f
ing gun!
Sh
i.ytimg.com/vi/3Ua546C3H-Q/mqdefault.jpg
Sequel, definitelly
4921266 For all the people who are still alive
ehhh i have always liked grey more then Helen, seems like a better villen
4920536 Why not both? Not at the same time, of course, but eventually...
4920796 Hale...
4922075 Except the ones who are dead.
how could u 
Oh and you messed up ur line
4922495 It's been a long time since I've played Portal. Or listened to the song, for that matter...
Oh no......
OH NO.........
APERTURE SCIENCE.......(You know, you could make this a Half-Life crossover as well...Aperture and Black Mesa exist within the same world..)
4922493
Saxton is a wild card. Who knows what he's gonna do?
Probably try to 1v1 an Ursa Major, knowing him.
Oooooh boy, oh boy, oh boy, OH BOY!
Let it be canon tothe story!
I want GLaDOS!
Fun fact: GLaDOS and the Announcer is voiced by the same person! But I think you already knew that.
Ahhh, Aperture Science, we need more portals to think!
Heü-heü.
Anyway, great ending of the story, I loved it, the whole story was in all fantastic, terrific job!
I hope we will see more in the future! Cheers!
-Zeph