9 Wounded
Lyra Heartstrings - 12th of Faust 1,312 Classical Era - Afternoon
Multiverse Location: Equestria, Equis #0???? - The Prime (Distant Past)
<Active combat protocols engaged,> Cheer.ly reported.
A dozen separate processes flashed onto my HUD. System linkages to my equipment auto-activating. My pistol's systems reporting it’s heat, levels, charge, and highlighting the point of aim. Solar charge levels for my flight suit's systems. Bio-data as my body kicked itself into overdrive, reporting stress levels and estimated peak operation time before it would start to rip apart.
My helmet’s sensors kicked into gear; active sonar’s ghostly gray highlighting of solid objects, fused with the sharp white of thermal imaging, all put into context of motion and position via laser imaging.
I could see the battlefield in as much detail as technologically possible without a satellite linkage.
For the next fifteen minutes at least. My jacket covered too much of my flightsuit for the solar charging system to keep it running longer than that. I had precisely enough time to lament the fact that the system couldn’t be manually triggered, and only activated when an armed opponent actually fired at you, or if given a signal from command to attack, before my rage fully took over.
The bandit fell forwards, steam pouring from the flash-vaporized holes I’d put into the that scum. I fired another bolt into his side as he fell, the intense heat pulse burning a white line across my HUD. My sonar pulsed, indicating movement to my left. I spun around, two leather armored and salvaged gear clad ponies rushed from the camp’s gate, screaming the alarm to their comrades.
Like the snapping shriek of my gun hadn’t already done that.
On my left, a pegasus. On my right, an earth pony. Color was irrelevant, my systems filtered the world down to movement, shape, and distance. A removal of all distractions. A maximization of awareness.
The Pegasus was unarmed, he jumped up, hooves pushing off the log wall, wings snapping open, taking to the air in a fluid wall-kick maneuver.
The Earth pony charged forwards, running on three legs, a odd crescent bladed half-gauntlet half-punch-dagger-scythe weapon held up threateningly. Amazingly it seemed as if pony forelegs possessed as much mobility as a human arm...
“Cover me!” He shouted.
<Weapon identified: Melee tool,> Cheer.ly reported in the span of miliseconds. <Designation: Scissor. Roman design. Method of use: Unknown.>
I fired a volley of three rounds, the Earth pony was more than ready for them. He nimbly dodged to the sides, jerking out of the way from each shot as if he knew where the shots would be.
The bandit closed and lunged forward, blade scything towards me in a sword like strike. I stepped back, the blade slicing through the air where my belly had been. I twisted to bring my arm down and take aim, but he smashed my weapon aside with the gauntlet part of his weapon, before throwing a punch-like strike for my chest.
The ringing sound of iron on ceramic titanium as his weapon was stopped in it’s tracks took the bandit by surprise, his eyes widening as instead of killing me, he threw me backwards where I smashed into a tree and slid to the ground. It was like I’d been hit by a small delivery drone.
Without the flightsuit shock absorption, I’d be dead from kinetic shock alone. A fact my helmet was unnecessarily flashing warnings about.
I barely had time to pick myself up as the bandit jumped, swinging his weapon like a warpick in a savage downwards arc. “Let’s see that breastplate stop this!” He demanded.
It probably could. But I wasn’t taking chances on another punch from the goddamn kryptonian pony! I threw a kick from my back, putting every muscle fiber in my leg into the strike and smashing the treads of my boot into his face with a satisfying crunch.
He rolled with the strike, moving left and springing up, blood pouring from his crushed muzzle but otherwise seemingly uninjured. The bandit charged forward again, this time I got my gun into position, and fired three more rounds, catching him squarely in the chest. The bandit jerked to a halt, internals definitely cooked thoroughly and ruptured. Potato, meet microwave.
<Weapon energy cell at seventy five percent,> Cheer.ly alerted.
As the bandit died, the pegasus shouted something I didn’t catch. Leaping back onto my feet, I took aim to snipe the idiot out of the air. What sort of moron hovers in place mid-battle?
The pegasus threw a hoof as if trying to punch me from fifty feet away. A bolt of white-hot lightning flashed, blinding me as it struck me squarely in the chest, shutting down my suit’s systems for a split second as circuit breakers tripped and reset rapidly.
I felt myself hit the ground again, but no pain from the lightning strike itself rippled through my body. My flight suit had insulated me from the shock. His lightning couldn’t be as powerful as the real thing. A real bolt would have fried my ass. He was no threat.
My HUD flicked back on, rehighlighting the pegasus for me as he readied another bolt with an oddly anime-like scream-meditation-pose movement. I leveled my pistol to fire, only to yelp as I saw the battery pack glowing white. The lightning strike had breached the fuel cell!
“Shiiiiit!” I shrieked, throwing the starting to smoke weapon as far from myself as possible.
“Outta ammo?” The Pegasus mocked, swooping down to grab the damaged weapon. “Guess I’ll beat you with your own weapon!”
Ignoring the moron, I dove, lying as flat as I could against the earth so the-
The fuel cell in the self charging battery detonated with the unique explosive crunch of hydrogen. I felt a dozen small impacts all across my left side as my flight suit's armor-cloth surface stopped a few hundred bits of shrapnel from ripping a hole in me.
Rolling over onto my back, I ripped open the pouch containing my spare battery, ready to throw the spare away from me before it exploded too. Fortunately it wasn’t damaged.
“Oh thank ph-” I said, stopping as the battery was smashed out of my hand.
Like some sort of monster from ancient movies, the earth pony was not dead!
His slicing blade had only just barely avoided slicing my thumb off as part of his failed sneak attack. I scrambled to my feet, avoiding his follow up punch-chop by rolling to my side. I was completely unarmed! I’d have to grab his weapon and try my luck in hand to hand!
The bandit pressed his attack, forcing me to scoot backwards on my ass. His flurry of rapid swings, chops, and punches preventing me from getting a second to stand or even strike back. I wasn’t going to test the properties of my flight suit's cut-resistant outer layer against his crazy strength, just to attempt a counter attack. One rip and I was dead!
“Lie still and die, mage!” The bandit scream-gurgled through his mangled muzzle.
A gleaming blade plunged through the bandit’s head with a wet-ripping crunch! Whipping my head around, I saw Moonbutt, one hoof outstretched post halbard-lunge.
“Apologies! I couldn’t telleth which sound was who until that scum spake,” she apologized. “What hath happened to the plan?”
“Impaled child’s corpse!” I growled, shoving the corpse off me as I stood up. “They destroyed my weapon, do you have-”
A sharp piercing whistle split the air, the armored mare grunted in pain as a crossbow bolt sliced along her rear left leg, leaving a shallow cut.
“Nngh, cowards!” She spat venomously. “Come, let us end these bastards rightly. Awaken iron, slay all!”
I watched as she pulled her halberd back towards her chest, and made a somehow elegant looking three legged charge, heading right for the camp’s entrance, dirt flying with each hoof fall. Two more bolts flew at her, one skipping off her armor, the other sailing cleanly over her back and into the woods.
Somehow, being able to see the projectile in flight made the weapon all the more scary. But not as scary as being unarmed in the middle of a comba-
Right! The sword!
My hand flew to my belt, grabbing the hilt frantically. Melee combat against ranged opponents was suicidal at best, but if I could get around to flank them-
The corpse of the scissor wielding bandit jerked upright, flesh knitting back together like something out of Doom! Light blue sparks danced around the edges of the wound as he stood back up, grinning as his muzzle crunched back into it’s proper shape, and amulet around his neck glowing darkly.
My hand switched on the blade by pure reflex, the golden blade appearing as if spawned in with a angry snap. Hoping swords worked like an extra long combat knife I chopped at the bandit’s neck, praying to physics that decapitation stopped the sourcery I saw at work.
The blade flew through the air, clearly missing as I didn’t even feel any imp-
The amulet fell to the ground, chain neatly severed, the bandit falling a moment later, half healed wounds stopping their regeneration immediately. I turned the blade and hacked the bandit’s head off with a few quick chops, refusing to take any god damn chances.
“Fuck you, Highlander! Six sequels is enough!” I screamed, taking a moment to scoop up the amulet and stuff it into a pouch.
“Just kill her, she’s blind!” Someone shouted from the gate.
Remembering my ally’s charge I turned, boots digging into the earth as I sprinted in to close the distance. Luna was blocked off at the gate, having reared up to gain better control over her weapon. At this point I’d worked out some of a pony’s body mechanics. It seemed they could stand upright to use both forelimbs, but were much more mobile on all fours.
Luna was able to parry while standing, but she couldn’t exactly move...
“She’s got bat vision!” One of the griffons I spotted earlier snapped back.
The griffon had a large shield, but was unarmed. It looked like she had grabbed the shield as Moonbutt charged in, while her friend had snatched a spear. The two, both griffons, were keeping Luna at bay, the shieldbearer taking the brunt of her assault while the spear user’s talons did their best to impale my comrade.
Luna was having none of it and managed to somehow dodge the thrusts, or parry them with a quick flick of her halberd's handle. But there was no way her luck would hold out. Not with the firing line of crossbows being reloaded while the two Griffons defended their friends.
Without a hand, she’d be shot in a few more moments. Lucky for her, the bandit’s primitive tools needed a winch to reload them. Unfortunately, they were almost done.
Sprinting forwards, I grabbed Moonbutt by the collar of her breastplate and dragged her around the corner of the wall, putting it between us and the crossbows.
“They have ranged weapons! Keep behind their wall!” I ordered as she shouted in protest.
“Ah… Yes… Bows art not allowed in the arena,” she admitted, understanding I’d just saved her life.
The two griffons on the other hand, came around the corner, the duo paired up so the shieldbearer could focus entirely on putting the body-sized rectangle into position, while the spearman did the killing.
I had no clue how to take them on. I wasn’t a marine, melee training was not a part of my skill set. Reacting on instinct I swatted at the spear with my sword as it was thrust towards me, the energy blade chopping a finger sized chunk out of the wooden shaft, which sadly didn’t seem to do much at all.
“Have you a sword? Keep the spear busy!” Moonbutt ordered.
I kept up my random swatting, occasionally cutting into the shaft or smacking it with the blade’s flat. At once I both wished it worked like a lightsaber, and was glad it did not. I’d take my own goddamn leg off if it just cut through everything like air.
Oh the other hand, too many of the griffon’s warcry backed thrusts slipped through my defenses for me to be happy about anything. In the span of five seconds, no less than three thrusts scratched along my chest and head, thankfully stopped by my armor. If she knicked a limb though, that was it.
Just as my panic reached it’s peak, Luna’s halberd scythed in around the shield, hooking it with the backspike and ripping it out of the griffon’s talons in a single savage jerk! Moments after the shield was ripped away she thrust the weapon forwards, stabbing the griffon through the throat.
“No!” His companion cried, giving me the opportunity to grab her spear with my free hand.
Realizing her error, the griffon tried to pull the spear back. The damaged weapon splintered, the head snapping off, leaving me holding what amounted to a dagger, and her with a splintered stick.
She had exactly one second to realize how screwed she was before the halberd chopped in, burying its axe-head deeply in her side. I winced at the wet squelch of meat as Luna ripped her weapon free. The sound was far worse than I’d imagined it to be.
“Is the shield wood, or metal?” Moonbutt asked, snapping my attention back to the moment.
“Uh...” Picking the shield up by the wooden handle on the rear, I gave it a quick inspection. “Steel plated wood. Is that good?”
“How do you not know shields?” She asked in mild surprise.
“I don't use these things! Our shields are electromagnetic fields or polymers,” I quickly explained.
“That should block the bolts well enough. You hold it up, you have working eyes. I run behind you, and we break their firing line,” she planned.
Just then, two more bandits came around the wall. Both earth ponies, both armed with what I assumed were their equivalent of spiked knuckles. A weapon choice that seemed dumb until I remembered how hard Highlander had hit me.
I slashed at the one closest to the wall as he rushed for me, this time the sword did what they did in every game ever, and neatly severed his left foreleg with one fluid cut. The bandit dropped to the ground, screaming as Luna took care of his companion with a casual reactive thrust I was sure a sighted person couldn’t have pulled off.
Looking down at the pony I had just dismembered, I felt a sudden pang of guilt. It was one thing to shoot someone and kill them damn near instantly. But to put someone through that sort of hell… Then I remembered the impaled child’s body on display, and stomped on his head until I heard it go crunch. Fuck him!
“That was savage… Doth all of thy species fight like that?” Luna asked in concern.
“I don’t know how to use melee tools! We use ranged weapons almost exclusively. Brute force is all I have to work with!” I snapped, rage rolling back to a full boil.
“Can thou retrieve thy weapon?” She asked hopefully.
“No, it’s destroyed,” I grunted back.
“Then let us end this quickly,” she decided. “If they attack again, luck will not save us. Use the shield, keep them from shooting me. I’ll put them down with all due haste.”
“Sound plan!” I exclaimed holding the shield in front of me and crouching down to allow her to get as behind the shield as possible.
Luna moved up, pressing her chest firmly against my back and resting the handle of her halberd on my shoulder. “Go! I’ll stop when thee doth,” she ordered.
Deferring to her expertise, I took off at the best run I could manage while crouching, holding the shield up as well as I could, trusting my helmet could stop a crossbow bolt so I could see where I was going.
We rounded the corner. A line of eight bandits stood between us and the fire at the camp’s center. Four immediately fired. One bolt whizzing past, one skipping off my helmet like a punch to the head, the others burying themselves deeply in the shield, points splintering through the other side!
“There are but two! Hold till you can not miss!” A hooded pony in a cloak ordered.
Three more fired, three more bolts neatly pierced the shield. The now unarmed bandits dropped their bows, going for spears which had been laying on the ground beside them. I dug my heels into the ground, stopping as firmly as I could, not willing to charge onto the point of a spear.
Luna lunged the moment I stopped, her long handled weapon finding the stomach of a bandit on the left half of the line. The impaled pony gurgled, dropping as Moonbutt pulled her halberd back, shifting her weight in a way which allowed me to know she was going to strike at the opposite side of the line.
The hooded pony cursed, and with a shout of “Enough!” a bright blue glow shone from beneath her hood, three blue-white bolts of energy lanced out from her forehead, burning towards me like blaster-fire!
Time seemed to slow. Memories of plasma eating through tank armor like warm butter flooded my brain. Without even thinking I dropped the shield, threw my now empty hand back, and yanked Luna to the side as I dove out of the way of the oncoming fire. At the same time, the last bandit fired his crossbow.
The three bolts of energy sizzled through the air where I had been. The crossbow bolt sliced along my left thigh, my suit immediately flashing an integrity warning as the armor layer was cut. Before I could react my leg flexed, a simple part of my dive as I moved to get back up. A completely automatic response.
The damaged fabric ripped under the pressure, the sharp hiss of compressed air punctuating the air along with my horrified scream!
<Warning: Containment failure!> Cheer.ly reported unhelpfully.
I felt Luna jump in front of me as I screamed. My eyes were fixed on the rip, free hand desperately and futilely trying to hold the cut closed. I was so dead! Minutes at most before and unconsciousness I would never wake from.
Luna was dead as well. There was simply no way she could take on a fucking sorcerer and seven other opponents at once. Especially if-
A shimmering blue barrier flashed into existence, cutting off the direct approach to the bandits.
“Reload!” The sorcerer commanded, her force field definitely able to buy them time for that.
“Cowards! Come and face a warrior on her own terms!” Luna taunted, her halberd sparking against the barrier as she tried to pierce it.
It was useless. In a few seconds they would have reloaded… And at this distance...
No. No! Fuck that!
I wasn’t about to die and let these scumbags keep living, especially if they found a way to work my gear. There had to be something, anything I could do. The evil they could accomplish with- The grenade!
I reached down, grabbing the large beer can sized device and ripped it free from it’s magnetic clip. As my hand closed around it, the grenades safety chip pinged me, asking if I intended to arm the weapon.
<Arm and configure,> I ordered., <Dispersal pattern: Burnination. Yield: Maximum!>
Ironic that the means to destroy your downed aircraft would be useful without an aircraft.
“If I’m going to die, you fuckers can burn in hell with me!” I shouted, and threw the grenade over the energy-wall.
The grenade bounced off the ground, rolling to the mage’s hooves. She blinked at the weapon, then shook her head. “How did you think a throwing rock would do any harm when tossed in an ar-”
<Detonate!> I ordered.
The casing split apart, a burst of compressed gasses hissing as the air filled with a sickly smelling green-yellow mist. The chemical cloud filled a good forty foot bubble, hanging in the air for a half second before igniting with a loud ‘woomph!’.
The screams were short lived. Within seconds of mouths having opened, the lungs and vocal cords were on fire. And the clothing, fur, skin, muscle, bone, dirt, and everything the mist had touched. Everything but the flickering barrier, which died alongside it’s master, ironically the only thing that shielded us from the interhalogen compound’s hell-fire.
Luna coughed, staggering back from the blinding flames of burning everything. “What didst thee doth!? Please telleth me thou didn’t rip a hole into Tartarus!” She pleaded.
“I threw a grenade,” I said, watching the oxygen content meter slowly drop.
“That is not the smell of burning blasting powder!” She accused.
“That’s cuz it’s Chlorine trifluoride,” I muttered. “Nothing else in the world smells like that. Shit will set anything on fire, even stuff sane people insist won't burn. Rips things apart atom by atom and burns it all at the same time. For when you just got to destroy absolutely everything…”
“Smells like…victory,” Luna said decisively.
<Active Combat Protocols disengaged.> Cheer.ly reported as the world snapped back to color.
“Don’t smell too much or you’ll die. Shit’s also toxic as fuck,” I warned. “I’ll be dead in a few minutes. You don’t have to have that on your conscience. I chose to help. Get out of here. Live your life, be happy that you chose to protect the week.”
Luna turned around swiftly/ “You’re mortally wounded? How? I might beest able to bandage-”
“They didn’t hit me, they ruptured my suit!” I snapped.
Luna’s ears fell/ “I don’t understand…”
Oh god… Even with only seeing half her face I felt horrible for snapping at her like that! These ponies were primitives. She honestly didn’t understand. I had to explain. I couldn’t die with my last social action being hurting someone else.
“I… I’m really different from your species. The air you breath is deadly to me. I have on an…armor of sorts to keep your air out, and the air I need in. During the fight, they breached my armor, so I’m being poisoned,” I explained slowly.
She frowned, clearly trying to work through what I was saying. “Like… Like how fish drown in the air but breathe freely within the sea?” She asked.
I nodded, realized the gesture was lost on her, and said/ “Yeah.”
“Starswirl can help!” She exclaimed. “He hath a spell to alloweth one breath under the sea, surely he can help thee breath normally. How long can thou survive?”
“I don’t know…minutes?” I muttered, already feeling pretty tired.
“Is there any way you can make it for a quarter of an hour?” She asked, unbuckling her helmet’s chinstrap in a way that should have been impossible to do with hooves.
“I’m sorry, Moonbutt. There’s-” I trailed off, remembering the tent Sky had given me. It was such a small thing, but so important. How had it skipped my mind? “No! There is something. Yeah, I can last a little longer.”
She tossed her helmet aside, the silvered metal rolling to a stop a few feet away. “Doth not standeth near mine helmet, it ‘tis to be a beacon for teleporting,” Luna warned. “Help will be here as soon as I can fly home!”
“How can you possibly navigate while flying?” I asked with a bitter chuckle.
“The same as I do upon the land. Please do not perish before I return. I… I have not had a true friend before,” she pleaded before jumping into the air, wings pumping and carrying her into the sky in a way that instantly made me jealous.
“... Lucky,” I muttered to myself.
Luna suddenly vanished from view, like she’d simply been jump-cut out of reality. I was confused for a moment, but then realized that I’d completely spaced out for a few minutes. That wasn’t supposed to be possible, not with my neural upgrades. I was going to die, and quick.
I fumbled for my belt, fingers bumping into something squishy instead of the belt pouch I had been expecting. Looking down with a confused grunt I saw that Bon had somehow managed to find me, and coiled around my waist. Rather tightly too. Sort of like a tourniquet.
A confused blink later and I noticed that the oxygen meter was depleting far more slowly than it had been before. Bon was literally holding the air in my suit.
“Good girl.” I praised happily, giving her a pat on the head, “Did you intend to keep the air in there?” I asked half seriously.
I mean hell, she was nodding yes in response now so why the-
Bon nodded twice, tightening her coil around my waist slightly. Okay...
“So, you’re peoplesmart now. I guess… Going to have to ask that wizard about this one. Do you know where mommie’s tent is? I need it,” I asked hopefully.
Bon dipped down, her head snaking behind me before coming back on my other side, the small black and green box held securely in her jaws. I shook my head and gently took the device from her, stroking her head with my other hand.
“Yeah, soooo going to have to ask the wizard about this one!” I laughed, head feeling really super light.
After a few moments of fumbling, I found a small button on the bottom of the box and pressed it. The device beeped, and unfolded, a series of rods telescoping from its corners, trailing a silver metallic fabric behind them. I moved to get out of the way of the unfolding tent, only to realize that it was deploying in such a way where I would end up on the inside.
After a few moments, the rods bent, pulling the box up out of my hands, where it formed the peak of a squarish dome structure just about big enough for four people to sleep in, if they were packed in tightly. I looked down, wondering how a floor would form with me standing on the ground, just as a quick flash of light went off like a camera flash. The tent firmly sinking a short ways into the ground as an energy field flickered to life on the ground, lifting me up a few inches to form a solid hard-light barrier.
Well, that was one way to do a floor…
A few moments later the box beeped three times, and my helmet's HUD flashed, the environmental warnings vanishing, replaced by a, ‘it is now safe to remove your helmet’, message.
I didn’t quite trust that message. I mean, the tent seemed to have worked, but how could I tell for sure? I couldn’t. So the helmet would stay on. At least for now.
And right now, I was tired as hell. Fatigued from the combat, half poisoned, and the only hope of living much longer being a literal pony wizard.
Yeah. It was time to just lie down for a bit.
“If I fall asleep, smack me or something until I get up, okay?” I asked Bon, pretty sure she would understand.
Bon nodded and rested her head in my lap.
“Thanks… We should work on teaching you to speak,” I mused, laying down on my back to let my muscles relax.
I knew that I’d slept for hours less than half an hour ago, but that didn’t seem to matter much. It felt like I had run a whole marathon. Then biked another marathon.
Also the forcefield-floor was super comfy. I would totally sleep on it every night if I could! Oh my god, I could! I owned it. Sweet!
“Man… Who knew that trying to stay awake to not-die sucked so much... “ I muttered to myself.
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And low, a Derp Force conduit is born.
Bet you cant guess the source? You probably can...
Very nice chapter I like how you handled the lightening blasts rather than the cliched idea of it recharging everything
Wait, if you had those grenades the whole time, why didn't you try using it when you were being chased by all the little creatures of 'oh-god-get-them-off'? Or at lest open up with that on the bandits?
So i'm gonna start keeping a counter of the number of times Sky's tent saves Lyra's life
Tent of Awesome counter: 1
Next time on 7%: we see pre-discord Equestria, this is gonna be good!
7245298 Yeaaaahh... Uncontrolled ionization of the atmosphere isn'
t gonna recharge your iPhone. Sorry, Avengers :P
7245309 She had just the one. And lets see you try not to step into the cloud of chemical gas which will literally set fire to concrete, asbestos, dirt, etc all the while carrying someone on your back across a surface with poor footing. So even if she did remember she had the grenade then, it would have been a bad idea to use it there. Besides, it's not given to pilots as a weapon. It's given to them as a suicide pill, so their corpse and their equipment can't be revere engineered. So there's a mental leap needed to use it in a manner you are not trained to.
I think she won't die from breathing the air as her snake should have died as well due to them being the same universe.
7245352 Perhaps. She certainly could be worried over nothing. Or, it could be something as simple as pythons having a high radioresistance and a different respiratory system from humans.
See, Radon kills you quickly by filling up your lungs. It's way denser than air, so your lungs have a hard time pushing it out and you will literally drown in the gas. Radon also kills you slowly by being radioactive, not a lot, radon is the decay product of a decay product, there isn't much energy left in it, but it will still give you lung cancer. In high concentrations, it will give off enough rads to kill you quickly that way too.
But radiation isn't a big deal for a lot of species. Insects and micro organisms can take insanely high doses of radation and not even notice, tardigrades (aka water bears, super teeny tiny multi-celled critters, smaller than most bugs. So small and thin they are clear.) might actually legit be immune to radiation completely (we tossed some in a zip lock baggie into space, left them a month, they were fine, even had reproduced!). Reptiles are generally tougher than humans when it comes to rads too, able to take about 3.4 times more radiation before dieing.
If your wondering how that works, the ability to resist ionizing radiation is called radioresistance... It's not an evolutionary adaptation, it's more of an accident. The simpler an organism, the less there is to break, and some species evolved immune systems that will repair damaged DNA, which makes it very hard for radiation to kill in smaller doses.
TLDR; Yes, Lyra might be worried about nothing, but it's entirely possible for Bon to simply be immune/resistant to the effects of radon simply by being a snake.
7245366 That's one Rad Snake...or Radiated snake take your pick.
Also now she's gun and lost one of her few weapons that's gonna blow up in her face later I bet.
All the thoughts she must be having star to swirl around in her head about if she's gonna die or not must be horrifying.
7245366
Radioresistance is actually very common and is present in almost every species on the planet, even if it takes different forms. It's unique in that it's an activated defense that is passed on to offspring, so if you get irradiated, your natural defenses against radiation activated, and when you have kids, the defense is already active in them as well. Then they get a bit better at defending against it, that's passed on to their kids, and so on. Radioresistance is the fastest thing to develop genetically, that's why there are currently living mammals where Chernobyl used to be. Since it also develops in an organism over the course of it's life while it's irradiated, it gets better at defending against them. That's why radioresistant tumors are a thing, and why 6 Gy of radiation can kill someone instantly, but if introduced over time it would take 10 Gy.
The most radioresistant organism known to man is the Thermococcus gammatolerans which can take 30,000 Gy of radiation. I would also like to note that a rad is 0.01 Gy, but use of it is "strongly discouraged" by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Last bit, look at this.
What.
I call bullshit.
Why does it seem like I'm writing an essay whenever I talk to you.
7245366 meep... are you actually telling me they have developed Rad Away? Like, fo reals gurl?
I'm still waiting for, after it's all said and done, Lyra losses her helmet two jumps from now, despairs for she's going to die/lost whatever item swirly is going to get her... and five minutes later she's still OK. That'll be hilarious
And awn, Bonnie really really cares about 7%Lyra, doesn't she? That's cute AF.
Edit: oh wait, it was 7245577 that linked the Rad Away. My bad.
7245333 so no more "grenade of burny death" in the future then.
Yay, new chapter!
By the way, how did you come up with the Scissor? I ask because incidentally a youtuber I've subscribed to showcased one in one of his latest videos.
7245577 I know it's quite common, howeaver it's not a byproduct, rather than an intentional adaptation. Most species on earth are never exposed to very high levels of radiation after all. We all get about what is it 2.4 sievert units per year? Earth is very very good at keeping radiation off us. Thanks Earth!
And I do know that use of the term 'Rad' is found on by science, but it's an issue of common vernacular. The average human has no idea what a gray or sievert unit is. So we gotta use a term the majority of people will understand. It's like if I said 'those possessing an extreme morphological deffisite' instead of 'ugly people'. You need to use terms people will understand... Even if they are inaccurate to a degree.
As for Ex-Rad... It's not bullshit, my Step Dad was a Chief Master Sargent of the Air Force and was talking about that stuff a year or so back. I recall him worried about soldiers being used for testing the stuff out in a similar way to how the US army learned the precise effects of radiation damage in the first place.
Oh, and it probably seems like a lecture as we are discussing more intellectual topics.
7245604
While we realy do have Rad-Away, that's not what I'm talking about. Radioresistance is just a property of living things, similar to how well an organism can resist the effects of a poison. a Human's Radioresistance is 4-6 Grays. A cockroach's is 45 Grays. It's simply a measure of how much radiation exposure is required to kill an organism.
I've always seen pets as thinking their owners are their parents :D
7245641 Nope. If she was a marine and somehow managed to steel her gear after serving (far more unlikely) she'd have the tech needed to manufacture those in the field. But as a pilot, she had just the one.
(Also, since that shit will burn in the vacuum of space as it self oxidizes (ClF3 dosent need air to burn, just matter touching it), it's the one thing that can garentee total destruction of a crash. Especially say, if you were shot down over the moon or an asteroid outpost)
7245698 Yeah. I was actually inspired by Skallgrim's video. It's the sort of weapon you would see a pony develop. It would be easily controlled by a hoof, is usable in multiple ways, and is quite defensive as well as offensive. It also fits the show's Greko-Roman theme. I just never thought of using one in my stories before as it's a very obscure weapon.
Methinks next time you should carefully tuck that very nice jacket away before there's something like this liable to happen. Regardless, time to erase some raiders.
Yeah....more of a feline or simian range of motion in their forelegs than equine. And I can see that weapon in my mind, but this is as close as I could find to an actual image for such: sickle guantlet.
Ah! So that's what those are called. I'd always thought of them as a sort of 'punch ax' because of the blade shape. heh
Yeah....earth ponies are kinda strong, Lyra. Melee is not the place to be with one. This is true of all earth ponies, but any soldiers in particular.
Well....that sucks. Now you have a grenade instead of a pistol.
After the pin has been pulled (figuratively in this case), Mr Grenade is no longer your friend. You, Mr Pegasus, are now gibs.
No...he's dead, but like a D&D orc he gets to keep fighting for a few rounds past fatal damage.
Good Lord! What sort of magic amulet is that?
Well, she did say she's part thestral!
That is actually a very sound strategy for two that were trained together or have fought side by side for a long time.
Belittle those primitive tools if you want, Lyra, but a heavy crossbow bolt will punch through even your armor as though you were bare breasted. It was only the heavy crossbows that needed an actual winch for reloads. Lighter crossbows could be done fairly rapidly with a lever or, for the lightest, just by hand.
Yep, that right there is precisely why many axes and polearms had that rear-mounted spike. It could be used offensively, sure, but it's primary purpose was to remove an enemy shield from play for a few moments.
heh Yeah....for ponies, spiked knuckles added to their punches or bucks is pretty much like the head of a battering ram.
That's a brutal death....not undeserved, though.
Well....that's not helpful...Good thing you've still got that containment tent, Lyra. I know you're deathly afraid of radon poisoning, but the dosage won't be enough to more than make you sick if you get that containment tent out quickly. After dealing with this evil bastards.
Though I think Lyra's missing it, that literally says that Luna is familiar with gunpowder/blasting powder. If each of the Equis alts is this way, then that means that if Discord had not risen to power and thrown everything into disarray, modern Equestria would have had firearms.
Lyra! Stop fucking panicking and pull out that containment tent that Sky Trigger gave you back at Mysuki's place! You haven't taken a lethal dose of radon yet, so soldier up and get the tent out. You'll be sick, sure, but you'll survive.
Finally! Keep that thing close to mind, Lyra. It's meant to keep you safe, so let it do so.
There's another point on the 'far more cognizant than any snake has ever been' scale ticked. For an unmodified python it's either 'squeeze enough to grip and climb' or 'squeeze till dead'. Bon here is squeezing Lyra enough to help keep her air in, while not squeezing hard enough to hurt her, as a snek that big easily could! Armor is not designed to withstand compression, it's designed to stop impact, slash, and puncture.
Unless the modification is much more thorough than we've seen so far, she probably still cannot learn that. Snakes don't have any way to actually vocalize. Their hisses are merely them exhaling forcefully. That doesn't mean she couldn't learn to read and write, though....
Nicely done battle there, Meeps. And it's about damn time Lyra remembered that containment tent! Sheesh! XD
7245309
Yeah, she really needs to keep that thing close at hand and fresh in mind.
7245890
I would assume some level of radioresistance is intentional, since background radiation is a thing. When just about any large scale organism is irradiated, it always causes their body to turn down quality standards on cell replication and turn up the rate of reproduction, essentially overclocking the regeneration. Since the quality control becomes much looser, this often results in cancer. It does, however, help a bunch with replacing the cells killed by the radiation.
I got a hip x-ray a week ago, meaning that a certain part of my body is irradiated. I find this immensely amusing.
7245901
And similarly, you can deliberately build up poison tolerances, just as you can build up radioresistance. Neither is exactly safe to do, though. Very easy to hurt yourself.
7245975
You'd think so, but remember, it's designed for samauri as a uniform. The stuff is pritty hard to distroy.
They look like this. The name is spelled scissor, but given it's Latin probably pronounced size-or.
They might very well be exactly that. Their use is an archeological mystery.
After the fule cell has been destablised, self-charging batteries are no longer your friend. No but seriously, if you actually own a hydrogen fule cell phone charger (Which do exist today, usualy as camping goods), and it starts to smoke, dive for cover. They can explode pretty hardcore, ESPECIALY if they are charging a Li-ion battery.
Necromancy, and pritty basic level stuff too. See why it was banned by Tia?
AHem: https://youtu.be/FxChP7oux1E?t=4m17s I admit I just REALLY wanted to use that line.
It is, and it was used to great effect by Greek Hoplights and the Norse later on. Modern riot police and SWAT use a similar method in several countries cuz it remains a damn good mixed unit tatic.
The flightsuit's armorweave, totally. That's basically the same as an inch of boiled leather. The helmet or breastplate? Not a chance in hell. Ceramic titanium isn't going to yield to a few hundred foot pounds. The impact would break her neck if it hit her head though...
Hooks on a stick, surprisingly useful. All the best tools are simple things like that.
Pissed off un(effectively)armed human soldier... It was the most logical thing I could think of. Humans are not nice people while fighting.
Mhm! Equestria was at the Renascence prior before Discord did his thing. As you might have been able to tell from Luna's armor description matching 1600s plate armor (Plate is surprisingly high tech...). While they hadn't developed fire arms yet (cuz a flintlock, matchlock, or even handcannon would be a BITCH to work with hooves) they did have gunpowder (or blasting powder as it was called before guns were common). It was mostly used in small clay grenades as a 'mage equalizer' and for mining.
Greetings, Commander. The selected unit possesses Aim 89 Will 44. That is all.
Well, actualy, it's a flight suit. So it sort of is designed to stop compression... Just not that kind XD And yeah, you bet your ass the 320 pound constrictor could crush even a fullplate armored knight if It wanted to. There was a case where a Python got out of it's cage in a zoo, spooked a hippo, and choked the hippo to death after the hippo kicked it. And that Python was SMALLER than Bon here. Just... fuck!
She could use Morris code! "Hiss hiss hiss hiss ... hiss ... hiss hisssss hiss hiss ... hiss hisssss hiss hiss ... hisssss hisssss hisssss! *WEEZE!* Hiss hiss hiss hiss ... hiss ... hiss hisssss hiss hiss *WEEZE!* hisssss" (.... . .-.. .-.. ---! .... --- .-- / .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / - --- -.. .- -.-- ..--..?)
7245987 True, but that's ever present and not realy varying so all organisms that exist in the universe will be adapted to background radiation. I'm talking about adaptations that provide resistance to acute exposure. There's no environmental factor to cause those. Thus they must be a byproduct of something else.
7245329 To be fair, by that point, Tony was using the new arc reactor powered by a synthisized tesseract isotope. So his suit was getting its power from a magic source, which is why Thor's most likely magic lighting juiced him up. It's also why Loki couldnt posses him...
7246082 I know, but youd think it would have fried everything else in his suit. Unless there's some sort of overload protection that shunts all excess voltage back to the reactor.
7246072
There are a few situations where exposure to radiation can change, such as a migratory species moving into an area with a lot of radiation. That is hypothetical however. I'd imagine that the area where the one in a million chance of happening naturally formed uranium reactor was pretty radiation dense for a while, and how we know that putting spent radioactive material into a barrel and burying it deep underground actually will eventually work out, even if it seems like we're sweeping it under the rug.
Did you know that human skin can block almost 100% of alpha radiation?
7246054
It's what makes the most sense to me. I mean, sure the points could be used for puncturing, but most of the force of the blow would have the blade striking in the same way as an ax blade with a straight punch. It seems a silly design if the points to either side are what are meant to be the primary use.
I've seen it. Was going camping and a friend accidentally knocked his off of the tailgate of his truck into the campfire, phone and charger both. A few seconds later, the fire wasn't there anymore, it was all over the clearing! Bad day.
If that's what it was mostly used for...yeah, she had a very good reason for that ban.
Of course it does. It allows one member to commit entirely to defense, and another to offense. You are guaranteed to be able to wear down and eliminate an opponent that has to keep both in mind unless you are vastly outclassed in skill, and even then it won't be easy on them.
Eh....fair enough. But it's still going to hurt like hell and knock her over from a hit to the chest. An unmodified human would be incapacitated by that even with the armor simply due to the force of the impact transmitted through shattering bones.
That's because it's a bitch to forge! You practically need the know-how of a clockmaker married to the abilities of a smith to make good plate armor. Real plate armor was also a lot more flexible than many people and games give it credit for. The modern armor I had to wear in the Army is more restrictive than a well made suit of plate. Granted, that is also because plate armor was fitted to the individual wearer. It couldn't be worn by another, unlike our modern military armor. Also, the renaissance tech level would also likely indicate cannon. It's a good thing those raiders didn't have an artillery piece (since it's fairly clear that at least some of them were former soldiers and/or mercenaries). Lyra would have been very unhappy to come around the corner of the gate only to see a light cannon aimed at her.
Damnitall! And this is after installing a PCS: Superior Will!
Pythons are powerful. That is all.
I'm fairly certain she'd learn to read and write just to spite that! She'd be panting for air after every other word!
7246106 Oh yeah that's true! I forgot about that mine... Fair point. Opinion revised, especially because that thing is in a time and place where life was in a developing stage.
ANd yeah. Alpha radiation, basicaly harmless. It's the beta you need to watch for. Gamma radiation isn't something to worry about because it's ether going to be putting out such a tiny amount it wont matter, the event which caused it has killed you instantly, or you were hit by a GRB in which case everything on this planet has just been vaporized... >>
7246117
Well alpha radiation isn't necessarily harmless, but any situation where it can hurt you ends in something else killing you first. One example is that dumbass on /k/ who swallowed a depleted uranium bullet. The alpha radiation could kill him, but the heavy metal poisoning will kill him first. Or his alcoholism and/or his drug abuse that would make him think that it was a good idea in the first place.
7246113
But, we must remember it was a gladiatorial weapon, not a weapon of war or tool of self defense. SO it might be a gimmicky thing, like the net, or the studdeded leather string hand wrap.
The best comparison for those things is a 5 gallon propane tank rupturing...
Quite so, but this is why medieval armor is rounded, not squair. To be more likly to deflect than absorb. That way a nice squair hit is unlikly.
It's been scientifically demonstrated that fullplate, properly fitted, is FAR less restrictive and cumbersome than a chain mail shirt.
Cannons are just starting to emerge at this point. Mostly because Equestria is low on mages and the enamy is not, cuz they are ALL mages to some extent.
There are probably 5 of us laughing, and everyone else is just confused XD
*sighs* I wanna make a Wrestling joke but I dont think anyone would get it.
And be super annoyed to learn that only Twilight has Morris memorized...
7246147 Yeah that's true too. Generally anything that produces radiation is WAY more dangerous than the radiation itself.
7246151
Fair enough.
Dooooo eeeeeet!
7246161
Especially these 24 inch beauties! You had better beleave they can crush you into a wreck of your former self, brother!
Heh one thing about reading the comments in your stories Meep, it either makes me feel smart, or it makes me feel like I need to do a lot more studying. :P
But anyway, great chapter! Those foal killing bastards got what they deserved, and Lyra finally remembered the tent! All I can say really is one of the things I am always impressed by is the level of research you do for your stories. (Or just knowledge you already have). That is one of the many things that I love about your stories. I might not personally know about a lot of the scientific stuff you talk about, but reading about it makes it that much more interesting to me. So keep up the great work and I can hardly wait for the next chapter! Excited to meet Star Swirl. :D
7245366 So in your equestria does Radon replace Oxygen in the atmosphere?
Something that just occurred to me is that this would be a great opprotunity to put on that earring of telekinesis that she acquired. This is the first time since she got it that she has had her helmet off so now seems like as good a time as any.
7246606 No, mostly just nitrogen. It also adds mass to the atmosphere some as well.
7246606 No, there is still Oxygen and Nitrogen in the atmosphere, it's just that radon now makes up 20% of the atmosphere due to odd geological events post-meteor impact resulting in lots of radium decaying near the polls for hundreds of millions of years. So the atmosphere of future Earth/Equis is roughly 40% Nitrogen, 20% Oxygen, 20% Radon, <1% trace gasses. Which is more than enough to screw a LOT of organisms up. The concentration of gasses is almost as important as the type of gases available.
And as organisms which evolved durring that timeframe, in that environment, most currently living creatures have a use for radon. For Ponies, it assists in the breakdown of lactic acid and helps with respiratory functions. So without it, a pony looses almost all their stamina.
7246605 It should be a blast! I've had my Starswirll planned out for... literally a year now!
7246802
Wow that is a long time coming in planning! I'm sure he will be awesome!
7246796 Ok, not trying to be a jerk but that is only around ~80% still need more. Also, if the gasses are evenly mixed and the radon is mostly innert save for the alpha decays; wouldn't Lyra be fine save for the inevitable lung cancer. Radon is a noble gas and is not chemically active as it's out electron shell is filled. Also, I am concerned about the high concentration of radon as the half-life is only 3.8 days. High concentrations would then give off many watts of heat thereby causing combustion via oxidation with almost anything in the vicinity. Now if the density factor is true that is lingers in the lungs due to it being much more massive than O2 and N2; then the atmosphere as a whole should be layered with radon at the ground level and the other lighter gasses above it. Now this is your universe and you can do whatever you wish, not trying to troll you I promise.
7246890
Yes and no. the word simulacra is a concept in horror fiction. The book Simulacra uses it, but I'm referencing the idea more than the book. The idea of a simulacra is you wake up one morning to find yourself in an exact replica of your own home, every last detail is exactly prefect, there is no way to tell it is not your actual home... except you still know something is wrong about it, despite never being able to tell what it is. Until it's too late.
Mabey we will ^>^
Let me guess, changed a tire recently?
I like how without one word of dialogue, I have everyone loving the pet as a full character XD
7246895 Admittedly, I am working on a method for extending the halflife... I dont want to resort to some sort of magical phenomenon, but I might have to. I chose radon specifically because it wont explode, or cause anything to combust or corrode, but is still toxic to humans. It also will kill you very fast in higher concentrations. So I think it works out.
Humans can also drown in radon because the gas it too dence, our lungs can't push it back out easily so we dont get enough oxygen and die. Meaning Lyra would be fine with just a breath mask. Aside from the eventual cancer from that much radiation.
7246918 gotcha, I personally think an alternative to O2 like F2 or S2 would be interesting as they could be a replacement for the final step in the electron transport schema for ATP generation.
You also might find this NIH article interesting.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315166/
7246938 I was going to go with that in the beginning actually, but I thought it would be cooler and more science-fantasy to go with Radon so I could have radiation storms. And thanks for the article!
7245909 Heh, that's pretty cool.
Anyway, love the story so far. It's interesting and entertaining. I'm looking forward to more.
~Nightjar
7247347
"Sorry death, but I'm realy buisy... Is next Epoch good for you?"
"Eh, sure. That's not that much longer."
The joke is 'Fictional characters can not have free will'. It's a meta joke.
Yeah, it's never come up before, but that's how my ling's telepathy works. Microwave data transmission and signal linkages. Yes, this means with an appropriate radio reciever, you could talk to a hive over your CB.
Well, if Niel's footprint is going to last for hundreds of thousands of years up there do to the lack of an atmosphere, and since UV radiation wont break down the lander, the Eagle's landing section should in theroy remain on the moon unless something hits it.
It's amazing how changing one small thing can ripple outwards. Instead of just vanishing one day, a changeling now knows her sister died, and got some last minute apologies and such. This was mainly an exercise in "Can I thwart this force indirectly? Yes. I can."
This is best Luna.
7249207 Thank you, I worked hard on her.
7249860
I blame it for my reduced reader base at the moment... But I'm not mad at it XD
I felt that I needed to make that a tid bit more obvious for the less observant readers, and also if we could work out a means to consciously control dream states, you bet we would work out games for that XD Humans LOVE games. How much? We have actually murdered people over who kicked the spheroid best...
Lyra: *checks moral compass*
Moral compass: "Why are you even looking at me!?"