Fallout Equestria: The Light Within

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 34: SOAR

Chapter Thirty-Four: SOAR

“Would it be possible to change my reward?” I asked Chairpony Peach Cream, who frowned at me from across her desk, and her guards shifted in a way that made me nervous.

Back when I’d been negotiating with the leader of the Ponies’ Republic of Stalliongrad before leaving for Vanhoover, twenty thousand caps had seemed a princely sum. Now, though, when hundreds of thousands of the discarded bottle toppers were owed to me by Burnside, it seemed a poor reward for fetching a megaspell. The tin was sitting on the chairpony’s desk, filled with the knowledge they’d need to turn the ruins of Stalliongrad into lush fields free of radiation. I didn’t think I was asking too much to reconsider my compensation, but apparently Peach Cream did.

“We went to a great deal of trouble to acquire such a large sum of bottle caps,” she protested, “As you well know, we do not deal with such currency in the Ponies’ Republic, but it’s what you requested. What else could you possibly want?”

I shifted nervously in my chair, wishing suddenly that my friends could’ve accompanied me to Stable 124. What I was planning on asking was no small thing, but I had to try. The worst outcome would be for Peach Cream to say no, and I could handle that.

“It’s nothing physical, per se,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck with my hoof before straightening, “Have you heard of the Northern Lights Coalition?”

“The Morale Ministry has reported that large numbers of crates bearing that name have found their way to Stalliongrad’s raiders and outlying settlements, yes,” Peach Cream said, looking only slightly more interested than upset, “It seems somepony has found the goods of a Wartime organization and they’re being spread around. What of it?”

“It’s more than that. I think you’re right, and that the Northern Lights Coalition was a Wartime organization, but it’s something else now,” I explained, “They’re arming raiders with advanced weapons, hiring mercenaries, recruiting settlements. I don’t know what the purpose is, but the Northern Lights Coalition is building an organization that encompasses at least Vanhoover and Stalliongrad. They’re building an army, and they’ve wiped out at least one settlement that stood against them. The PRS could be next. I know where they’re gathering troops at their headquarters in Stalliongrad, and I could use your help to stop them.”

“No,” the chairpony said only a few seconds after I finished my pitch.

“No?” I said, “At least think it over.”

“This Northern Lights Coalition is no threat to the Ponies’ Republic of Stalliongrad,” Peach Cream said dismissively, “No raiders, no matter how well armed, could ever breach or surmount our wall, nor stand against us if it came to it. You have done a great service for the Ponies’ Republic in bringing us this megaspell, but that does not entitle you to command the Ponies’ Liberation Army. The PLA’s purpose is not to hunt down bands of raiders, no matter how well-organized you claim they may be. You may take the caps we agreed upon, and that is the end of the discussion.”

***

“How’d it go?” Ache asked as I left Traders’ Lane and rejoined with her and Rare Sparks, and she sized up my expression, “That bad, huh?”

“She’ll still pay us, but not with help taking on the Black Skulls,” I gave her more information, “I can’t say I didn’t expect this outcome, but it would’ve been nice to get help from the largest settlement around. At least we can still try Railyard.”

“We’ll need more than just Railyard,” Rare commented as she pulled the wagon filled with cases of bottlecaps behind her, “I hate to say it, but we might have to consider going to the Stalliongrad contingent for help. Maybe they’d be willing to lend a hoof if we promise they can keep all the advanced tech from the Black Skulls and raiders afterwards.”

“Maybe,” I admitted.

The Stalliongrad contingent of the Steel Rangers would probably be up for that, and we could really use their firepower. The problem was, I didn’t think I could trust them not to destroy the information we needed or keep it for themselves because Wastelanders like us didn’t deserve to see it. Striking the Stalliongrad headquarters of the NLC was a victory in itself, but I was determined that we wouldn’t be set drifting again after this, searching for the next place to go. If it was the headquarters, surely there would be some clue there as to what other settlements and raiders were involved with the NLC and where their other headquarters were.

We’d parked the Clinic among some rubble outside of Traders’ Lane to hide it from raiders and enterprising Wastelanders looking for scrap. It was a good thing I looked up to check how close we were, otherwise I’d have walked straight into the sprite-bot hovering nearby, so lost was I in my musings. It took a moment before I realized that it wasn’t playing music and that the mysterious pony who’d contacted me several times before wanted to speak with me. The last time he had done that had been before Harmony Tower, and he showed just as little desire to hide as he had that time; the sprite-bot hovered right up to me.

“Come quickly, I need your help! All of you!” the stallion’s voice crackled through the sprite-bot’s faceplate, “I’ve broadcasted my location to your PipBuck. Hurry! I don’t know how long I can hold them off!”

Abruptly, marching music blasted from the sprite-bot and it floated away. I stood stunned for a few minutes. This was a turn of events I hadn’t expected in the slightest. This mysterious pony, who’d always seemed so distant even when he’d helped me out, was now desperately calling for us to come help him. Given what he’d done to point me in the right directions, I didn’t see any way I could refuse his plea, especially since it seemed he was in mortal danger. I checked my PipBuck’s map and saw that a new location had been added in the wilderness far to the northwest of Stalliongrad: SOAR Headquarters.

***

Without the Clinic, it would’ve taken us most of the rest of the day to reach the SOAR Headquarters. With our newly acquired mobile home, we made it within an hour. As we neared the location on my map, I began to wonder if there was actually something out here at all. The only things visible were vast stretches of pine trees, untouched by megaspell detonations, but with needles just as brown and dead as those around Vanhoover and Stalliongrad.

I slammed on the brakes as a massive, shimmering, translucent, rose-colored wall reared up out of nowhere, likely throwing Rare Sparks off her hooves in the trailer. The Clinic ground to a halt just outside the shimmering wall, and Ache and I stared through the windshield. Where a moment ago there had been nothing but more dead forest, there was now a complex of buildings in the distance surrounded by a wide area cleared of trees, the whole area encased in a giant magical dome. There must have been an illusion spell over the place as well as the magical shield which we’d only just now gotten close enough to see through.

In the middle distance to our right, shapes flitted through the air. Too big to be pegasi, I confirmed with my binoculars that they were alicorns, a whole herd (flock?) of them. One of them was casting magic against the shield, holding open a tear in it that allowed others to pass through. There were a few alicorns inside and anti-pegasus guns fired at them from the buildings every few seconds, forcing them to keep their distance from the complex.

“What’s going on?” Rare asked over the radio.

“This is where we stop,” I replied before shutting the truck down and climbing out.

“Alicorns, great,” Rare commented before pulling her helmet back on.

The sentiment was one I shared. We’d faced alicorns before but never so many, and when facing groups even half this size, we’d been saved by the Steel Rangers. The mysterious pony behind the sprite-bots was here, though, and he surely wouldn’t survive so many alicorns on his own, even with the SOAR headquarters’ impressive defenses. At least we had some Steel Ranger weapons of our own and could count on overwhelming firepower on our side as long as we didn’t let Rare get overrun.

The alicorns hadn’t seen us yet, so we had that going for us, at least. We kept close to the magical barrier as we approached, using it to mask us from the alicorns as long as we could. When we’d gotten as close as I dared, I drew my sniper rifle and targeted the burnt orange alicorn holding the shield open. Every second we waited was another second that the alicorns hovering about would have a chance to spot us, but I forced myself to be patient.

As another alicorn began to pass through the shield, I cast SATS and lined up my shots. Three times I depressed the trigger, and the bullets flew in slow motion toward the burnt orange alicorn. Time returned to normal and all three struck their target, drilling though her head and splattering her brains across the ground. The gap in the shield close rapidly, too rapidly for the alicorn in it to pass through. For a moment, it looked like the last-minute shield she erected would hold, but with flying sparks and a great magical discharge, the shield slammed closed and sliced the alicorn in half.

There were five still on the outside of the shield, and they all faced us as their compatriots died. One with a teal coat vanished and a moment later appeared directly in front of me. I hadn’t had time yet to swap out my sniper rifle for something more useful close up, so I did the best I could to fire in such close range. One of my shots clipped the alicorn’s wing, and I managed to avoid his horn as he tried to impale me. Rare Sparks’s minigun began to spin, and he teleported away before she began to fire.

Another alicorn with a yellow coat swooped in from above and flames shot from her horn, forcing the three of us to separate or be barbequed. Ache fired at her as she passed overhead, managing to strike her wings and flank. I grabbed my shotgun to finish her off, but a red alicorn landed in front of me before I could do so. Hurriedly, I fired my shotgun at the alicorn, tearing holes in his flesh, but they quickly closed back up. The alicorn picked me up with his magic and threw me across the pine-needle strewn ground like a ragdoll, bruising me badly.

As I pushed myself up from the ground, I saw that Rare Sparks was firing on a white-coated alicorn hovering at the edges of her effective range and manipulating the ground under her hooves with his magic. Likewise, Ache was preoccupied with the teal alicorn, barely staying ahead of him using her reflexes to counteract his teleportation ability. I was alone as the red alicorn flew toward me, flames literally burning from the edges of his eyes.

He picked me up in his magic again and began lifting me, preparing to either hurl me against the shield or the ground, I didn’t know which. I cast SATS and drew my ripper, using the slowed time to saw through the alicorn’s neck. As the whirring blades neared the other edge, the flesh where I’d started began to close back up. The spell ran out and the alicorn’s magic released me. As I dropped, though, I quickly swung the ripper back around and severed the newly regenerated strip of flesh, completely beheading the alicorn. It didn’t seem to be regenerating any more after the alicorn slumped over, but I kicked his head into the shield, disintegrating it, just to be safe.

Flames suddenly burst up around me as the yellow alicorn dive-bombed me. She was close enough to touch, and a crazy idea came into my head. I jumped up and grabbed ahold of the alicorn, clumsily wielding my ripper as we flew through the air. I brought the blades around through her wing miraculously without hurting myself, and we began to descend in a spin. I cast SATS as we neared the shield and pushed away at just the right moment. The alicorn crashed into the shield and was disintegrated and I rolled across the ground, coming to a stop next to where my ripper had fallen.

Bandaging the worst of my sprains and aches, I hurried off toward where my friends were still fighting. Ache had taken care of the teal alicorn, but Rare was still struggling with the white one, especially since he’d teamed up with a violet one. The violet alicorn’s eyes glowed as she cast a storm of lightning from her horn, shutting down Rare Sparks’s Steel Ranger armor. The white unicorn tried to flip her over but paused after taking a hit in the side from Ache. I grabbed my fallen shotgun as I passed it and joined in, firing at the white alicorn. With Ache and I combining forces, we had him brought to the ground and shot full of holes quickly.

The violet alicorn was standing a little way away and lightning arced along her horn as she prepared a spell. Suddenly, the lightning discharged into the air and the alicorn threw back her head and screamed. It was a piercing scream that made me want to cover my ears, and I could feel waves of magic radiating from her. Her features began to morph and change uncomfortably, and her coat color shifted to a darker purple that was nearly black. She looked at us with wide eyes once her transformation was complete.

Instead of casting her lightning at us, she quickly disappeared, then reappeared behind Rare Sparks. From what we’d seen, alicorns seemed to have only one trick, but this alicorn now had two. That, or she’d traded her lightning spell for the ability to teleport and that was what her transformation had been about. Ache and I both fired our submachine guns at the alicorn and she rapidly teleported around Rare, though she was never able to touch the immobilized mare. After a few times around, I realized she was teleporting in a set pattern, and I predicted where she’d be next. Hoping I had calculated distances properly, I threw a metal pear I’d bought at Burnside. It landed behind where the alicorn appeared, and the blast vaporized her hindquarters without touching Rare Sparks.

Ache hurried up to reset Rare’s armor, and I examined what was left of the alicorn’s corpse. Her eyes flickered slightly as she died, and I could swear for a moment I could see another face in them, just as I had during our first run-in with alicorns. After her death, her coat changed back to its previous color and her features reshaped themselves again. I had no idea what had just happened and doubted I’d ever understand completely. Other than the first time we’d met, no alicorn had taken the time to try to talk with me, and they were the only ones likely to know what had just gone on.

I noticed with a start that the dull hum that had been in the air ever since we’d arrived had stopped, and I turned around to face the SOAR Headquarters. The shield had vanished, the generator likely one of the buildings of the complex from which smoke was rising. Alicorns still flew over the buildings, but the anti-pegasus guns weren’t firing as often now. Rare Sparks’s armor came back to life, and the three of us took off toward the facility.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” a midnight blue alicorn said as she appeared suddenly in front of us, “Three newcomers, out here all alone?”

The alicorn suddenly exploded as she took a step forward, leaving a crater the size of a pony where she’d stepped. I froze in place and frantically looked around. The SOAR Headquarters was surrounded by a minefield, and these mines had been properly placed, unlike usual in the Wasteland. The ground looked like it hadn’t been touched in centuries, and it probably hadn’t. There was no telling where the mines were buried.

The anti-pegasus guns ceased their firing for a moment and a silvery object streaked out at us from the complex. At first, I was worried that something had been fired at us, but I was relieved to see that it was just a sprite-bot. The speaker had been removed entirely, so there was no voice, but I was sure that the mysterious pony had sent it. It abruptly turned around and bobbed back toward the SOAR Headquarters, following a seemingly random pattern at a pace we could easily follow. It was either place our trust in the sprite-bot or stay out here forever, so we followed it; it became easier to trust that the bot was leading us through the minefield the closer we got to the facility without blowing up.

As we got closer, it became more and more clear that this was a military complex, though one unlike any I’d seen before. It was built to withstand an attack but lacked the bulky severity of an Equestrian Army bunker. It looked almost like a military camp had been mated with a research university. I looked for Ministry insignias, since they seemed the most likely candidates for building a place like this, but there were none, only a cloud with two lightning bolts protruding from the bottom. There was an old sign in the style of the Equestrian Army near the main entrance, but it looked like it’d been added to the facility later and was completely unreadable thanks to holes burned through it from magical energy weapon blasts.

A purple-coated alicorn that looked identical to the one outside the shield landed behind us as we headed toward the facility’s entrance doors, which had been melted mostly away. Rare fired grenades at the alicorn, but they impacted a shield that shimmered into existence around her. Ache ran toward the alicorn, hoping to break through the shield, and was picked up in her magic. Rare continued to fire her grenade launcher, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything. I noticed suddenly that there was another alicorn on the nearby roof, a green-coated one concentrating on its fellow. They seemed to share memories, so maybe I could affect one by hurting another. I hadn’t seen it before, but there didn’t seem to be any natural behavior for alicorns, and it was better to try something than wait around for the purple alicorn to snap Ache in half. I fired my magical energy rifle at the green alicorn and the shield around the purple one dropped. She tried to teleport away, but wasn’t fast enough, and Rare’s barrage destroyed her. Immediately after, the former Steel Ranger turned her minigun on the alicorn on the roof, tearing it apart as it tried to flap away.

There didn’t seem to be more than one or two alicorns still hovering around outside, fewer than the red marks on my EFS, so we headed into the SOAR Headquarters. Inside things were very pristine apart from a century and a half of dust. The floors were tiled, and wood paneling covered the walls. It was nothing like any military base I’d seen before. The lobby we’d entered contained a long glass case along one wall filled with photographs and artifacts, and I resisted the urge to examine them before carrying on.

We ventured off into the complex’s hallways, our surroundings gradually becoming more militant as we progressed. There were sounds of doors being torn open and magical energy fire coming from elsewhere in the facility, and we followed the noise. A midnight blue alicorn identical to the one in the minefield shimmered into existence in front of us and knocked me off my hooves with a strike of her foreleg. It was like being hit by a wall, and I gasped for air. The alicorn began to disappear again but couldn’t get away fast enough to avoid being shot full of holes by both Rare and Ache.

A green-coated alicorn appeared down the hall, but quickly turned around when she saw the crumpled body of her comrade. I pushed myself to my hooves and chased after her, following Rare and Ache’s lead. As we rounded the corner, the alicorn suddenly froze and threw back her head in a scream. Just like outside the shield, waves of energy radiated from her, keeping us from killing her while she was vulnerable. Her coat also shifted to onyx and her body morphed from female to male. If I had little idea of what was going on with the alicorns before, I had even less now.

Cold filled the air as the alicorn’s transformation completed and he stared at us. Ice crystals began to coat the walls and floor, and I stamped my hooves to keep from becoming frozen in place. Rare Sparks fired grenades at the alicorn and I threw a metal apple, but they became frozen in the air as icicles reached out from the ceiling to grab them. Ache rushed ahead, not feeling the cold, and struck the alicorn in the face with a forehoof. If it’d been just a regular pony, she would’ve broken his jaw, but alicorns were tougher than that. He staggered back, and Ache kicked one of the grenades free before jumping away. The alicorn was caught in the blast and the ice began to melt. The remaining grenades fell to the ground and detonated after we were long gone.

A blade of magic boomeranged around the corner we were approaching and sliced gashes through the floor as we jumped out of the way. I threw a metal pear around the corner before moving forward. Another blade curved around the corner and zinged over our heads before we were able to see our opponent. I cast SATS and fixed my sights on a pink alicorn standing down the hall, getting ready to summon up some more blades to hurl our way. With the spell to assist me, the metal pear I threw landed between the alicorn’s legs and vaporized her. Her magical blades careened off the walls and dissipated as she died.

The rest of the marks on my EFS seemed to be clustered back the way we’d come, so we turned around. One by one the lights winked out until only four were left. When we reached the lobby, we came face to face with three of the remaining alicorns. None of them seemed inclined to pay any attention to us and kept their sights fixed on a nearby door, behind which was the fourth alicorn, whose light winked out.

The door was suddenly thrown open, and the alicorns converged on the figure that emerged. It was a pegasus wearing black and white armor that covered his entire body, even his wings. On his flank was the same insignia I’d seen outside and around the complex, a cloud with two lightning bolts. Two magical energy rifle barrels glowed on either side of his chest, the weapons built into the armor.

The pegasus ducked under two of the alicorns and fired magical energy blasts into the face of the third until she turned to ash. Flipping around acrobatically, he used his wing blades to slice through the neck of the second alicorn, who stumbled back clutching the wound and holding in the blood with magic. He fired his magical energy weapons at the last alicorn, who conjured up shields to block the attack. Jumping into the air, he propelled himself toward her with a flap of his wings and struck the shields with his forehooves. A flash emanated from his hooves as they impacted and the shields shattered, leaving the alicorn wide open to a barrage of energy beams. Spinning back around, he sliced with his wings at the legs of the alicorn still clutching her neck. She collapsed, and he finished the job of his first strike, beheading her completely before shaking the blood from his wing armor. As he finished, he paused to look at us, his eyes invisible behind the tinted visor of his armor.

“Hello there,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Hello,” the pegasus replied, his voice matching the one I’d heard from the sprite-bots exactly, thanks to the distortion from his mouthpiece, “Thank you for answering my call. If they had all attacked me together, I don’t think things would have ended as well. You can leave now.”

“Wait, hold on,” I protested as he began to trot away, “You know who we all are, but we have no idea who you are. It’s something that I’ve wondered for a long time.”

“Don’t you like a little mystery?” the pegasus asked, standing in place but not looking back over his shoulder.

“You admitted yourself that we saved your life. You could at least tell us your name,” Rare Sparks said.

“And what this place is,” Ache added.

“And how you were able to watch us,” I added.

“Fine,” the pegasus sighed as he turned around to face us, “I am Roaring Thunder, Captain of Thunderbolt Wing Alfa, last surviving member of Project SOAR. This place is the headquarters of the Strategic Outfitting and Augmentation Research program: SOAR. During the War, it was a secret military installation where experiments were done to create super soldiers and equip them with the best possible gear to go on classified missions. I was able to watch you by using this facility’s uplink to the few Equestrian satellites still in the sky, which in turn link into almost every major network in Equestria. Stable-Tec, the Ministry of Morale, the Single Pony Project; I can access them all from here. Is that a suitable explanation?”

“Not really,” Rare Sparks said bluntly, “Everything you just said only leads to more questions.”

Roaring Thunder groaned and shook his head but seemed resigned to telling us more. Reaching up with his hooves, he unfastened the clasps on his helmet and removed it to converse with us more comfortably. The armor had completely covered his body, so it wasn’t until now that we were able to see his dull blue coat and charcoal mane, but those weren’t what our minds were drawn to upon seeing his face. Despite the world-weary tones he spoke in, Roaring Thunder looked to be no older than a teenager.

“How old are you?” I asked, certain that I had to be mistaken. I was, but not in the way I thought.

“I am one hundred sixty-nine years old,” Roaring Thunder replied levelly.

“You’re joking, right?” Rare asked, and the pegasus shook his head, “How is that possible?”

“As I said, experiments were done here to create super soldiers. One of the side effects of the augmentation is decreased aging. I’ve aged physically maybe five years in the last century and a half,” Roaring Thunder explained.

“Somepony who was around during the War,” Ache said in awe, “And who remembers all the years in between.”

Roaring Thunder looked at Ache quizzically; apparently, he wasn’t aware that she was a pondroid.

“That means you must’ve been, what, twelve during the War?” Rare asked.

“Yes, it does,” Roaring Thunder said with a touch of anger.

“I had no idea the Equestrian Army allowed foals to be soldiers,” Rare Sparks said.

“Secretly,” Roaring Thunder replied, “Project SOAR began as a private venture. When the Equestrian government found out about it, they were outraged that something like this had taken place, but not so outraged that they shut it down. No, by then the project had shown results; we were quietly folded into the Ministry of Awesome as yet another of their dirty secrets and used for the most covert and sensitive missions.”

“So, since the War, have you just been here alone watching the Wasteland?” I asked. It seemed a lonely life.

“There were four of us Thunderbolts still alive on the last day,” Roaring Thunder said wistfully, “One died when the researchers here tried to dispose of us. The others died in confrontations with alicorns over the years, the last only a decade ago.”

“The alicorns have attacked here before?” I asked. I’d seen no signs of previous fights outside.

“No, but we launched various strikes on them over the years,” Roaring Thunder said, “I have no idea how they managed to find this place. I was always so careful to leave no trace of my presence they could follow.”

“Come with us,” Ache said when Roaring Thunder began to walk away again, apparently done talking.

“Why?” he asked.

“The alicorns know where you live now, so they’re sure to come back and with greater numbers,” Ache explained, “Do you think you can hold out against them on your own with no shield?”

“The shield may be able to be fixed,” Roaring Thunder said, though he didn’t sound convinced.

“You’d still have to face them on your own,” Ache pointed out, “Come along with us instead. Be out in the world instead of watching it through screens. I haven’t been part of this group long, but I’m sure you’d be welcome.”

“I will … consider it,” Roaring Thunder admitted, “I must check the damage done to the base.”

“I’ll lend you a hoof,” Rare Sparks offered, trotting up alongside him, “I’ve got a way with fixing things, and I have lots more questions about SOAR.”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” the pegasus said, “Besides, you can probably learn plenty about this place just from the things left lying around. Take the memory orb in that case, for example. Apparently, it’s a record of the founding of SOAR, though I’ve never experienced it.”

I turned to look at the memory orb he’d pointed out. In the long case I’d noticed upon entering the building, nestled among the photographs, was a glass ball on a display stand. On the base of the stand was a plaque imprinted with “Founding of S.O.A.R.” I opened the display case to take a closer look, but stopped before picking up the memory orb.

“Is it all right to take this?” I asked Roaring Thunder, “It almost feels like stealing from your home.”

“This place hasn’t been my home since my friends died,” he said before trotting away, Rare Sparks clomping after him.

I carefully wrapped the memory orb before picking it up in my magic and tucking it away in my saddlebags. I had no idea how long Roaring Thunder and Rare Sparks would be away, and I’d rather view the memory when I knew I had the time to do so. The mysterious pony who’d given me direction in Stable 57 was nothing like what I’d imagined. On reflection, I really hadn’t had a good idea what to imagine, so maybe he was exactly like what I should’ve expected. A pegasus super soldier from the War; it seemed almost like unique ponies were drawn to me. That is, if he chose to accompany us, which I hoped he would. Ache was right; he was more than welcome to join our little group.

***

While Rare and Roaring Thunder saw to repairing the SOAR Headquarters, Ache and I explored, soon becoming separated. Large portions of the facility looked to have been abandoned even before the end of the War. Operation rooms were empty, their terminals dead. Given how Roaring Thunder had talked about the experiments done here, I shuddered to think what had gone on atop operating tables with such sturdy restraints that still smelled of disinfectant after more than a century. Other rooms looked to still have seen some use, like training rooms with obstacle courses and the kitchen, though only one pony had used them for the last decade.

Besides those rooms, the only ones that looked to have seen any use were the ones around where Roaring Thunder watched the Wasteland. The room had once held many terminals at separate desks, but he had pulled them all together along with video screens into a central console where he could see multiple things simultaneously. At the moment all they showed were static and error messages, but I could imagine him looking out over the Wasteland and somehow finding me in Stable 57. A military issue cot was in the next room and not much else. There was a journal at the end of it, but despite Roaring Thunder’s assurance that taking things from the base was not a breach of privacy, I was sure that reading his journal would count as such.

I wandered through the abandoned halls until I found old barracks. There were seven beds in each set, a strange number. All of them were neatly made but covered in a thick layer of dust. I ventured into one of the rooms and began poking around. Hooflockers sat at the end of each bed, and I picked the locks on them for practice; none of them were exceptionally difficult. Most were empty, so it was a surprise when I found something in one of them. A slim plastic case sat in the bottom of the hooflocker, and when I opened it I found a row of five glassy orbs. More memory orbs that would help tell the story of this place.

“Doc, we’re headed to the lobby. Meet us there,” Rare’s voice came from the plug-in on my PipBuck.

I acknowledged and made my way there, tucking the case of memory orbs in my saddlebags along with the one holding Shining Armor’s memories. Rare Sparks and Roaring Thunder were already there when I arrived, and Ache showed up a few seconds after I did.

“The damage is beyond what I can fix,” Rare told us, “They really went all out in destroying the shield generator.”

“The communications array is completely destroyed as well,” Roaring Thunder said remorsefully, “I suppose there’s nothing left for me here, so I may as well join the three of you.”

“Come on, we’re not so bad,” Rare Sparks said, giving the pegasus a playful shove that barely moved him.

“Steel Rangers …” Roaring Thunder mumbled, shaking his head, though he didn’t seem too upset.

“Glad to have you with us, and to have a face to place with the voice other than a sprite-bot’s grill,” I said.

“Yes, just promise me one thing,” Roaring Thunder said, “Don’t try to beat me to death with a street sign this time.”

“I’ll certainly try,” I replied.

Level Up
New Perk: Aftereffect (3) – All potions and chems now last 90 seconds longer at 25% strength. Magical bandages now last twice as long without losing potency. Final rank of Aftereffect.
New Companion: Roaring Thunder – The last of the Thunderbolts, a team of genetically-enhanced pegasi created during the War, Roaring Thunder is skilled at stealth and in combat both unarmed and using the magical energy weapons built into his suit.
New Quest: Sidetracked No More – Go to the LuxuriMane Factory and learn more about the Northern Lights Coalition.
Explosives +8 (83)
Lockpick +3 (64)
Medicine +2 (64)
Melee Weapons +6 (81)
Speech +1 (76)

Comments

[Somuchforaname]

Please tell me they mount some of those aa guns on the clinic.