Fallen Angel

by Stuffzilla

Chapter Five: Seeking Solutions

Seeking Solutions

He paused outside the War Room, looking back out across the base. Maybe he didn't have enough forces. Perhaps the hostile Commanders had already built a larger army. He put his simulation core to the task of envisioning the other's armies. Knowing the speed he and other Commanders could bring facilities online, he began piecing together the variables. Factoring in the fabricators, differing Lathe models, differing Lathe energies; finally accounting the Chimera's likely system synchronization, or lack thereof. Two hours. They would likely have an operational base, and by extension a sizable army within two hours. His intakes opened and cycled air through his systems. His cores were slightly overheating. The coolant hadn't been replenished yet, and it would take at least another cycle before the process would complete. The battle with the Impostor certainly did not help matters, either. He turned and headed out of the base.

There wasn't much to see in the forest, especially from his elevated view. Motion sensors were dead, no movement nearby other than the trees rustling in the breeze. It was calm, and that's what concerned him. Battle didn't jolt him, the sounds of thumping mortars and howitzers, the roar of flamethrowers, the loud chirp of laser weaponry, and the sharp 'whiz' noise of railgun bolts passing him by. None of it concerned him. None of it threatened him. It was silence that made him weary. He drifted his thoughts back towards his foolishness. How could he not have put it together? He had been waging war, conquering planets, destroying hundreds of races for over a thousand years, and yet he couldn't take a hint. However, that also drew his attention back to the chamber. It was hidden beneath the palace garden, and the lever was even decorated with Celestia's symbol.

What did this mean? Did she know about the machines hidden under her acropolis? And if she did, why was she even slightly surprised at his arrival? She had contact with Commanders before, certainly. Especially if she had emblazoned her symbol within the chamber. But what did that mean? Was she working with the Commanders? Did she seal them away? It didn't make sense, and it wasn't adding up. The sentients had next to no methods of harming Commanders, in fact, the only ones who seemed to have any forceful influence on him or his fellow machines were Fluttershy, with her piercing glare, and Dash, with her odd 'Sonic Rainboom'. Every other sentient seemed to be just as weak as any other species he had come across. Celestia herself, with her oddly flowing mane, had nothing of any note other than a very powerful energy signature.

Wait. The energy signatures. He hadn't taken notice of them before, but it had just come to mind. Each sentient emanated a large, powerful energy field. His sensors tuned out of their fields due to it's abundance, but in their absence, he noticed how different he felt. He felt less powerful. Although his systems weren't able to draw energy from the fields, they seemed to have an odd effect on his central processor and cores. Logical calculations seemed to occur faster, simulations ran faster, and he felt what he could only vaguely describe as 'better' in their presence. However, Celestia emanated one of great magnitude. However, what greatly troubled him, was the fields emanated by Fluttershy and her friends. Combined, were reaching magnitudes nearly that of the Thanatos Apparatus. How could six sentients match the might of a machine which dissolved planets? The questions kept adding up, and went without a single answer.

He stopped walking. Maybe he should do some research. Find out what made these sentients so powerful, what gave them their remarkable power, and perhaps even an explanation for some other oddities. Where would he start, though? The name Twilight came back to his mind. She was a Princess, which would mean that she would likely have extensive knowledge of her people. He would speak with Celestia, but he couldn't trust her. At least not for the moment. He turned and headed towards Ponyville. He didn't know where to find Twilight, but he would search until he did. There had to be an explanation, a scientific and logical reason for all the strange things he had seen. He also wanted to know, just where their loyalty lied.

It didn't take him long to arrive, just under a minute. The town was still in disrepair, numbers of buildings smashed and ruined from the battle with the Impostor. There were sentients slowly picking up rubble from the remains of structures. There was a large pool of coolant that had been cordoned off by a makeshift wooden wall. Dyncik didn't do anything to contain the leak. He was somewhat disappointed, and yet somewhat pleased. Dyncik had followed orders, not cleaning up coolant to prevent wasted time, as per usual protocol. However, he didn't block it from the sentients, he left that to their own efforts. It wouldn't be unlikely that this would cause issues. That brought to mind an old method he used to employ on troublesome sentients. Flooding their water supply with coolant. Ingesting coolant induced a sickness, in which the blood and flesh of the organic would slowly be consumed, and converted into coolant. It would result in massive lakes of cyan coolant, a bright and beautiful display of violence.

"Hiya!" The cheery voice shunted him from his thoughts. He quickly turned about, facing the source. It was a bright pink sentient, with a messy, fluffy mane and tail. The symbol on her flank were oddly colored orbs, attached to a wire of sorts. He swore he had seen these before, but he couldn't remember their name.

"Greetings." He replied. Perhaps he would try to converse more like them. "What is identity?" This caused her to look at him oddly, her head cocked at an angle. She didn't reply, her tail twitching lightly. He decided not to waste time with her, so he turned and moved on. Where would Twilight be? He looked around the town, taking note of the largest buildings. His optics finally locked onto a crystalline tree-like structure. It was the largest in the town, however, he still dwarfed it, the very highest point only reaching his pelvis. This would likely be where Twilight stayed. He crouched onto one knee, tapping the door with one metal finger.

Then he waited. No answer for a minute. That minute became two. Five. Ten. Thirty. One hour. Two. The door finally opened, Twilight nervously peeking her head out of the threshold, and looking up at him.

"Y-you're still out here?" Twilight seemed to ask herself.

"Yes. I wish to converse." He replied anyway, just in case the question was indeed intended for him. Twilight's ears folded back against her head.

"Yes, of course." She spoke with a nervous tone. She didn't open the door any wider, if anything, she tried to hide behind it. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You. And kin. History, science, logic. Anything." She nervously laughed.

"You don't skimp, do you?" She slowly opened the door wider. "I actually found a legend I think you'll find interesting."

"Elaborate." Twilight closed the door, motion sensors indicating she moved back inside. After about a minute, she returned, holding a large case by the handle in her teeth. She dropped it, and looked back up to him.

"I did my best to translate most of it from Old Equestrian to New Equestrian, but don't be surprised if it's not one hundred percent spot-on." Old Equestrian? New Equestrian?

"What discourse is yours?"

"What language am I speaking? New Equestrian, of course." New Equestrian was apparently identical to English. Interesting. Suddenly, her expression turned to one of surprise. "Wait, you understand me, right?"

"Yes." Her eyes widened further.

"Does that mean...?" She shook her head, chuckling to herself. "Of course not, what am I thinking?" With that, she turned, and headed inside the structure, closing the door behind her. He didn't bother to track her with motion sensors, carefully picking up the case she had left with two metal fingers, and beginning to leave the town. It troubled him, the way she acted. Like she was afraid he would catch onto something, like she was hiding something from him. Or she was afraid one wrong word would trigger him. Maybe it would. Perhaps they would say something wrong. Something that would anger him. Although he couldn't fathom what they could possibly say to make him violent. Only physical acts would make him retaliate, and thus far, they haven't done much in the ways of attacking him.

He studied the case as he walked, increasing his optic's magnification. The case itself was uninteresting, but it did have a label on it, with writing. Like the letter Dyncik gave him, he couldn't read it. He would have to give this to the War Room, which would put it through processing, and translate it to his language. He turned the case about, and was surprised to find a familiar symbol. It was the icon in the Net for a Commander. He had seen this so many times, it was impossible to forget. Why did this case have this symbol, though? How did the sentients even know this symbol existed? The only areas it was visible at was within the Net, and at the Commander Foundry. Perhaps the case's contents would explain.

He arrived back to the base within a few minute's time, but wasn't greeted by Dyncik upon arrival. Perhaps he went out. Avol slowly weaved through the base, which was surprisingly quiet. Machines were still hustling about, assembling structures, but the sound wasn't as deafening as it usually was. He arrived at the War Room, inserting the case into a small slot. He calculated how long this would take to process. At least it was translating from English, and not Old Equestrian. Approximately one cycle. Not long, but not exactly short, either.

"Glad to see you've returned." Dyncik's voice came from behind, and Avol turned to face him.

"Quite." Avol responded. "Where were you?"

"Performing reconnaissance."

"And?"

"There's no sign of these seven commanders anywhere on the planet." Dyncik said. "Not a single structure or machine to be seen."

"Does orbital radar pick up anything?"

"No. We can't even tap into these Commander signals you're picking up." Dyncik said, his optic dimming. "Are you certain your systems aren't faulty?"

"Very. The Impostor would not suddenly gain intelligence and assault me, let alone give 'The Error' when trying to access it."

"I suppose you're right about that, Commander." Dyncik said. "Maybe what you dragged in could give us some sort of intel."

"Oh, you saw my exchange?"

"Not personally, although a few drone flybys and I can usually put together enough to make an assumption."

"Well, Twilight, the sentient, says it's a legend that I 'may find interesting.'" Dyncik let out a mechanical groan.

"With all due respect, Commander, you and I both know we don't have time to be chasing ghosts of sentient superstition."

"If a legend will interest a foreign entity with next to no knowledge of the planet, let alone the species, then I'm willing to wager it will be more important than a visit from some fairy." Avol said. "Do what you can to help the WR process the data. I'll lead further reconnaissance missions." Dyncik lightly saluted.

"Yes, Commander." Dyncik said, his tone betraying his irritation. Avol turned, walking away. With Dyncik assisting the WR, processing would be cut down to hours, at the very most six. Plenty of time to pan over the planet. He tapped into the satellite views, using them to mark out important areas. He could see Ponyville and the palace, so he marked them, along with his base. There were numerous other towns and cities throughout the land, but he only marked the ones that looked industrial.

He suddenly received a data packet from Dyncik, labeled simply 'processed'. He checked his chronometer. Two hours had passed since he assigned Dyncik. They were done much faster than expected. He opened the packet, and began to sift through the contents. Most of it was just images of the contents, with a translation overlapping the incomprehensible symbols. He first inspected the letter that came with it, on the inside of the case.

Dearest Twilight,

With recent events coming to a strange breaking point, I deem it necessary you have this. Study it carefully, and find out what you can. Starswirl wasn't one for writing without purpose. There has to be a message here. I'm entrusting you and your friends to determine what it is. I fear these 'Titans' are more than just fiction, and I have a sneaking suspicion they won't be very happy to know we haven't gone from the world.

Your friend and mentor,

Princess Celestia

The letter was brief, but still drew enough questions to keep him intrigued. Perhaps the other contents would prove to be informative. The only other visible object was a book of sorts, labeled 'Tales of the Badlands: The Titans'. He began skimming the book's images. Like the letter, this book was very short, only a two pages in length. He inspected page one, skimming it over.

The Badlands were always a land of strife and conflict, but they had never seen bloodshed to the likes of the Titans. Born not of the land, the Titans were massive, towering over all, and making even the Ursas cower in terror. They were not of flesh and blood, but of steel and fire. Their mouths glowed bright green, and they spat death, devouring everything, and leaving nothing but pools of deep blue soul essence in their wake. Even when the Titans arrived, from their land far away, they were violent and deadly. Coming with a rain of fire, they fell from the sky, and landed with the most horrible of sounds. There were seven, and they all seeked to own the world, starting in the Badlands.

Interesting. These 'Titans' were very similar in description to Commanders. Perhaps there was a scrap of truth to this. He inspected the next page.

25664171 10060562 31220171 33672440 31062543 33662151 33463440 35064151 346374

What was this? Nothing but numbers. He inspected them closer, and realized something. They were simulation codes. He decided to input one. It brought up a simple physics simulation of a tree blowing in a breeze, which was slowly becoming more and more violent. It got to the point where the tree was uprooted and carried away by the wind, at which point the area was flooded with numerous numbers. He kept note of the numbers, and exited the simulation. He tried to input the numbers as a simulation code, to no avail. Something then came to mind. He compared the numbers to that of the image of the palace recovered from the Impostor. They were exactly the same. He tried using them as coordinates, matching them up with satellite imaging. It revealed a cave entrance not far from the palace.

Now this was leading somewhere. He sent a data packet to Dyncik, including the image of the cave entrance, the coordinates, and the simulation code. He would inspect the other simulation codes later. He sent the command to the Seraph to transport him to the cave. It quickly arrived, taking him into the air. It only took a few minutes to arrive, at which point, he separated himself from the Seraph, landing outside the cave. His impact sent stone and soil skyward, and scared away a multitude of birds, and sent bats fleeing from the cave. He slowly stood from his kneeling position, moving towards the entrance. He peered inside, activating his headlights. It was a long, and deep descent. He folded his shoulder pauldrons downward, making them lie flat against his arms. This revealed the inner motor of his shoulder, but made him thinner and more aerodynamic. With that, he began his journey down the darkened tunnel, not sure of what would lie in the cavern.

Comments

[Slaughterstone]

I can't help but scream out "Stop goimg yourself!" every time he gets some new info and goes in person. He has bots. Lots and lots of expendable bots that would be much better scouts than going in person. They are almost explicitly extensions of himself and he can see what they see. Deligate!

I am enjoying the story though. Wish there were more Supreme Commander or Planetary Annihilation crossovers.

[Borderline Valley]

He can fit in a cave, but Twilight's new castle only goes up to his pelvis.

That's a massive cave.

[Lovecraftia]

5553958
The author has extremely bad scale assumption.