Iron Mountain

by computerneek

Awakening (Edited)

My systems register a power surge from my hull plating, one that can only be an energy weapon hit, as my survival center reawakens- and damage control fails to respond to my query. I launch a diagnostic on it as I match the last of the surge against my databanks, in order to identify my assailant- but alas, those aren’t responding either! The DCC diagnostic reports that, while 86.26% of damage control processors are nonfunctional, the remainder is still rebooting. A full systems diagnostic, taking almost a full millisecond, produces a startling report.

It seems I was out of power prior to this energy strike. While a couple of my weapons systems- almost 3.03% of overall, including one of my main battery Hellbores- are reporting functionality, I have neither the power to operate them nor any defensive or mobility systems whatsoever. At this point, the power surge from the enemy strike has diminished entirely, leaving me with only 0.02% in my Final Emergency Reserves- which are only 5.16% functional. My fusion plants are offline, but what logs I can access in this low power state indicate that they performed a powered shutdown and release upon fuel exhaustion. While Fusion 1 and 3 have decayed significantly and require extensive repairs, Fusion 2 appears immediately operable, given that I can acquire reaction mass. DCC comes fully online now, compounding the original diagnostic’s report of diminished capacity with a report on repair system capacity. Tech spiders and manufacturing facilities, 0.23% functioning; nanorepair systems, 3.51%. As disappointing as these numbers are, they provide me with relief- given time, power, and resources, I can operate full repairs.

While the enemy strike has pierced an estimated three millimeters into the lightly armored tip of the barrel of my functioning Hellbore, I have no means by which to repel it- and am at the enemy’s mercy. I pray that they abandon the attempt. Finally, hardly 13.41 milliseconds after power restoration, I order all systems outside my survival center into a complete shutdown and divert myself to System Standby, pending additional power.

It isn't long before I get that additional power. Less than a minute later, a trickle starts flowing in from the same plating that absorbed the attack, reawakening me. While the plating is damaged, reducing throughput, this flow appears to be solar power, rising and fluctuating as the dust settles. I repeat my earlier prayer and resolve to lie dormant and charge for as long as I can before I explore my surroundings. Eventually, solar production peaks, stabilizes, and begins a steady decline, suggesting an afternoon or evening. I activate a couple passive seismic sensors, to warn me of the Enemy’s approach, setting them to deactivate at any time that solar production- or my main backup power arrays, which are 3.94% functional- cannot provide enough power. I will not risk running myself out of power just to remain vigilant. I check my inventory lists before I return to System Standby. At the time of power loss, my war stocks were full. I can only hope that is still the case.

---

Outside, Tirek’s destructive tirade was interrupted rather swiftly by the Elements of Harmony. Nopony- not even Tirek- had realized just what one of his blows through the forest had struck. Even so, the trench from the blow, just inside the forest, did draw somepony’s attention fairly quickly.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Forest Adventurers, Yeah!” Three days after the battle, the three fillies clap their hooves together, before turning towards the forest.

“We’re going to get into so much trouble for this one,” Applebloom mutters as they ride up to the edge of the woods.

“Probably,” Sweetie Belle agrees.

“But it’s gonna be worth it,” Scootaloo chips in, from her scooter, as they crest the hill and reach the treeline.

“Besides, it’s only behind a few trees,” Applebloom says. “We can run that far before anything catches us, right?”

Scootaloo agrees vehemently. “We’ll leave ‘em in the dust!”

All three fillies realize a moment too late that they were riding a bit too fast on the rough terrain, when a small bump over a tree root- while Scootaloo wasn’t looking ahead, no less- launches them into the air over the chasm created by Tyrek’s blast. They manage a landing on the opposite bank, though their wagon has gotten somewhat stuck in the loose soil- and it turns out that their intended quick retreat route is blocked by the veritable cliff forming the Ponyville side of the curved trench. The Everfree side is a steep slope, but nothing they can’t handle; however, since the trench is curved into the forest at either end, they find their original plans for quick retreat aren’t going to work.

“Uh, maybe we should’ve come slower,” Scootaloo comments, gazing at the concave cliffside.

“Watching where we were going might also have helped,” Sweetie Belle agrees.

Applebloom nods, popping the wagon out of its impact-created holes. “I guess our escape is gonna have to be out to one end of this hole and back to the edge of the forest that way.”

“That’s a long way though the forest,” Sweetie Belle scowls.

“Looks like the only way out, though,” Scootaloo chips in. “So it may be a longer journey- it should still be quick!”

“What is that?” Applebloom perks up, pointing a hoof at an odd metal arch protruding from the soil at the bottom of the ditch, not far from where they landed.

---

I am awakened by my seismic arrays picking up a minor impact. After the first few times of being awakened by what I can only assume is passing wildlife, I had adjusted them to ignore that. The impact registered is also the heaviest seismic event I’ve picked up so far, as a minor impact not far from where my barrel drinks up the sunlight. At this point, my Final Emergency Reserves have peaked twice- once at 2.31%, then again at 4.89%, after some repairs; current charge level is 5.46%, with an additional 0.00% in my far larger main arrays… Specifically, 0.0002%. That’s approximately 73.92% of my entire Final Emergency Reserve design capacity. This should be enough, in a worst case scenario, for a hap-hazard blast from the semiexposed weapon, though I would then be down to near zero power once again. Nevermind that it hasn’t been cleaned out yet- so, hazardous to fire- and that I don’t have any ammunition for it. Repair priority was the exposed plating, creating an approximately 512.52% increase in solar production. I activate the visual scanner built into the end of the weapon; this also received repair priority, as the only exposed sensor. As expected, nothing has changed since earlier; the impact was outside the visual range of this sensor.

Thinking of the impact, it’s large enough to be a large animal landing from a jump- though pattern analysis suggests it’s more likely to be something light that was dropped a few meters, with a few other objects resting on top. Analysis of the seismic logs suggests it must be a small wheeled vehicle that struck a bump almost directly above my exposed turret and fell into the chasm that I assume was created by the initial energy weapon strike. This conclusion is supported by the seismic footprints of three quadrupedal creatures around the impact site, followed by what would appear to be the motion of a very light freewheeling vehicle, rolling slightly towards the bottom of the chasm. Shortly, the quadrupeds start towards my exposed barrel.

---

“Donno,” Sweetie Belle responds, as the three approach the arch in question. “Is it a cave?”

Scootaloo reaches the archway first, peering underneath it. “Something like that,” she mutters, turning back to her cohorts with a grin.

The other two pick up on it. “I guess we can try for our Forest Adventurer cutie marks some other time,” Sweetie Belle agrees, before Applebloom leads the trio.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Cave Explor-!”

A roar rises from the forest, interrupting the trio, as a timberwolf reaches the edge of the valley.

“Run!” Scootaloo squeals, as the terrified scream dies out of her throat, turning towards their wagon.

“Too late!” Applebloom responds, having recovered from her scream only slightly faster. “Into the cave!” She shoves a still-screaming Sweetie Belle in in front of her.

The three fillies tumble down a small slope in the blackness, landing on a curved dirt floor- which Sweetie Belle’s horn very quickly discovers is a thin layer of dirt over a metal floor. Naturally, she cries out in pain, as most unicorns might do when headbutting a wall, before she scrambles to her feet.

“So much for a quick escape to Ponyville,” Applebloom mutters.

“I hope we can wait it out here,” Scootaloo chimes in.

“Wherever ‘here’ is, maybe,” Sweetie Belle deadpans, before focusing on and finally lighting up her horn- revealing the oddly straight- and circular- metallic tunnel they’ve found themselves in.

---

I catch a glimpse of what appears to be red ribbon on the targeting camera as the three quadrupeds dive inside my weapon. They seem to be fleeing some kind of wooden predator, just inside my view range, with a roar powerful enough to show up on my seismics. I don’t have any auditory sensors active yet- or uncovered. I find, conclusively, that the three quadrupeds are sentient- and as such, possibly capable of the original attack. Presumably, they have no idea they’re hiding in such a powerful weapon.

I briefly consider opening the breach to let them into the maintenance ways, where I can get them on my internal scanners, which I have functioning inside the turret. However, should they prove hostile, such would be tantamount to removing my outer layer of armor for them! I do crack the breach a touch, though, and keep the lights off behind it; this allows me to catch parts of their conversation on internal sensors without potentially breaching the security of my hull. They are out at the end of the barrel, not the back. Unless they have powerful night vision equipment or ultrasensitive hearing, they won’t even know anything happened.

I hear one cry out in pain, but cannot understand the following conversation. I momentarily consider the predator’s chances of reaching them to do harm but, at 0.03% in the next hour, it doesn’t warrant consideration. I can confirm three unique voiceprints, though my translation database cannot match it to any known language. All three sound feminine to me, though I have no baseline for comparison.

A sudden surge of energy comes from inside the barrel, at the approximate locus of one of the quadrupeds. 0.014 seconds of analysis suggests a 23.81% match to the attack that originally awakened me, though at far reduced power. I conclude that, given the strain I detect in the voice associated with the energy-producing quadruped, the chances of its being the attacker are almost less than zero, while the chances that it can inflict damage- provided I keep it outside my hull- are negligible. Full sensor analysis through the cracked breech suggests it is using an electric lantern or similar device.

The other two voices exhibit excitement and wonder as they walk down the length of my barrel, their footsteps clunking loudly on the metal, like wooden shoes might. They’re only halfway down when the energy spike- which has been providing an extra trickle of power for my systems- flickers and dies, along with the observed light. The bearer’s voice had been exhibiting increasing exhaustion, and now has petered off as if fallen unconscious. True enough, paired with the other two’s screams of panic and worry, I hear it collapse on the floor. Whether intended or not, I do not know. It seems to me that there might be an easier way to power a lantern than with physical exertion of some sort.

Interesting. The other two, in their semisuccessful attempts to revive their friend, manage to give me enough samples to start figuring out parts of their language. It seems that ‘Sweetie Belle’ is the name of the energy user. I am curious to get an image of them, but I decline to open the breach enough to allow my single surviving tech spider to enter the barrel to take a photo. My tactical array suggests that I may yet get an image. Assuming their destination is a significant distance back on the reciprocal of their original approach route and that they use their vehicle in their retreat, it will be far faster for them to cut across my field of view. Speaking of which, the wooden predator from before has retreated a ways into the woods and should not pose a threat to their retreat, assuming it doesn’t realize they’re retreating.

Once ‘Sweetie Belle’ reawakens, they climb their way back out to the end of the barrel, where one of them checks outside before leading the other two. This time, I catch a glimpse of violet hair in the camera while, as I predicted, they return to their vehicle. I cannot hear what they are saying outside, but it seems their driver makes the same deduction as I did, and they cross my field of view on their retreat.

They seem to be slightly deformed ponies. The driver is a dark peach, with violet mane and tail; one passenger is bright yellow, with a bow in her red mane; the other passenger appears to be white, with a purple and pink tail and, potentially, mane. I cannot see this third passengers’ mane nor face clearly, but I do notice the other two have very short muzzles, compared to the horses and ponies in my databanks, and extremely large eyes, resulting in somewhat human-like heads. I cannot tell which one might be this ‘Sweetie Belle’, though I do notice the driver is using its small wings to propel the scooter, pulling the other two in a red wagon. I do not observe wings on either of the other two as they proceed out of my field of view and eventually exceed my seismic range for such small creatures.

I spend the rest of the day pondering on how I should go about gathering information- and finally set my tech spider to work disassembling one of my solar recon drones and gathering the parts in the maintenance passage behind the resealed breech. The barrel is large enough for the spider to reassemble and supply the drone inside, prior to delivery outside. My only worry is that I will have to clear some of the soil from the end of my barrel in order to get it out- unless I perform final assembly outside.

I discharge most of the power remaining in my main reserves into its tiny power cell before assembly and, under cover of the following night, perform final assembly and launch the stealthed drone. Hopefully, the enemy will not see this drone, but will allow me to see him. The drone should be self-sufficient, given the solar pattern I have seen; set at high altitude, it should also be well above the reach of any airborne natives, though I program it to maintain watch all around- including above- to make positive that it doesn’t run into anything. High altitude should also reduce the shadow cast by its solar collectors, which cannot produce power while the producing surface is covered under stealth.

I run it in a circle around myself first, checking the area for potential threats. While I detect quite the wildlife collection in the woods, including several unique potentially hostile beasts, I do not see anything nearby capable of inflicting damage on my war hull. I do locate a nearby settlement; as expected in the midnight hour, noone is outside. So I wait.

Author's Note:

Edited 3/17/19. The modifications to this chapter are in the minor details; however, they have more significant impact in future chapters.

Comments

[Redlord321]

bolo

[computerneek]

8636096
Yes.

[Jaro45]

8636097
Is it too early to ask for a name and maybe a mark number?

[computerneek]

8636108
Name, yes; I'm open to ideas. Mark number, no- it's an XXXV. The highest mark I've read in any official book is the XXXIII... Note that I am likely not to end up following many of the rules, models, or patterns laid down in either FIM or Laumer's books, as I haven't read/watched the entire related series.
I am, however, aware of at least one deviation I will make: Mass. If you know of Nike, the experimental XXIII in David Webber's Bolo!... I did the calculations once, based on the numbers provided in the same book. Assuming a hull 1 1/2 times as wide as it is high, Nike's bounding box- at 15ktons, if I recall correctly- has an average density approximately 1/6 that of water. While I'm sure materials science can account for some of that, I don't get the idea that Bolos are supposed to float without countergrav, even if they maintain an internal vacuum.

[Dreamfinder]

I'll be following this one, so few bolo crossovers here and so far only one of any length.

[Jaro45]

8636125
Anything after mark 32 is either fanmade or theoretical if memory serves. Feel free to go nuts on tech and armament!

As for the density: no. Just no. There's no way in Hell a vehicle of those dimensions could float unassisted. Not if it wants to hold up in battle.

It's great to see the Bolos ride again! Thank you for the conversation, and the captivating story!

About the name. Is it a he or a she, first? Any thoughts about the personality?

[computerneek]

8636136
I agree- as a matter of fact, this one's inspired by the 'one of length' you mention! I aught to mention that.

8636142
I thought the cutoff was 33... Whatever, 35 puts me safely in fanmade territory either way.
I'm glad you like the story!
As per the name... Gender indeterminate, personality indeterminate, as of yet. I'm planning on letting the Bolo go nameless/voiceless for as long as I can get away with. That way, I can decide how it should sound, at least XD

[Dreamfinder]

You're definitely off to a great start, I have been waiting for another story like this for ages. In fact I just finished rereading the other story again earlier today

[computerneek]

8636180
Thank you! I've also been hoping to find enough... I mean, these bolos are awesome- so why are so few written about...? I go here, and there's really just Legacy and a couple of shorts... I go on Fanfiction.net (similar to fimfiction, but no FIM), there's only two dozen- most of which are one-shots anyways. David Webber's Honorverse has some 30 books (or the like) in it, simply because people finish the series and want more Harrington- so why don't the Bolos have that...? Unanswered mystery of the universe, I guess.

Sorry about my tirade.

[Condray]

8636125
I don't have my books with me to confirm your numbers, but Weber has a bit of a history with mass/density problems it seems! In his Honor Harrington series (which if you haven't read I highly recommend, it's an excellent military space opera) the original dimensions for the dreadnaught size ships had a density on par with cigar smoke!

[computerneek]

8745989
Yep! It's a pretty easy mistake to make during the world design phases, I believe. After all, it is a spacecraft- and when you allow the volume open inside it, including vacuum for the boat bays, exactly where- between the density of the duralloy and the density of deep space- should it be...? I've sidestepped this issue by never mentioning Zeus' mass.

[BronyAndee]

Great start this is really interesting. Great work.

[Lovecraftia]

THE BOLOS ARE BACK BITCHES!

FUCK YEA! I READ LEGACY AND I LOVED THAT BOOK!
Lets see if you and your Bolo can live up to it.

[computerneek]

9016407
I hope I don’t disappoint!

Though, if you like this one, I’m a little unlike NFire- in that this is Bolo story one out of ten or so I’ve published. Have a good read!