• Published 29th Dec 2017
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Iron Mountain - computerneek



An ancient war machine is awakened by an enemy strike- but can it figure out what's going on?

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Battle for the Breech (Edited)

It’s almost a week later, midmorning. By beaming excess power from the drone down to my exposed plating, I’ve been able to nearly double production- an increase of approximately 97.18% in that alone. I was also finally able to analyze the local star’s spectrum and make adjustments, increasing solar efficiency from 37.41% to 99.27%- for an overall solar increase on the order of 423.23%. My Final Emergency Reserves are up to 81.26%, and fully functioning after I rebuilt a cell and replaced the feeds to two more last night. Main reserves are still down at 0.0004%, but are now 97.12% functional- and I’ve run checks on all of my weapons systems, verifying- and repairing- any toxic substance or radiation leaks.

During the pursuit of the final action, the most interesting part was that, while my exploration of the night sky revealed nothing about where I am or how long it’s been, 5.13% of the plutonium in my fission warheads had decayed while I was offline- requiring replacement. For now, I have simply downchecked the missiles; my fusion warheads are of higher priority, and besides, my VLS systems are nonfunctional.

I have performed a couple of repairs on the exposed weapon; I now have enough power for a minimum-powered regular shot, and the barrel has been cleared of debris- and a few previously unnoticed damages repaired. I haven’t yet identified a source of hydrogen, though, so I’m still limited to solid munitions only. The terrain around the barrel has been sculpted to look as if the attacking weapon dipped slightly as it passed, such that the firing of the weapon would pose no threat to myself. I’ve also just managed to get one of my nanofabrication vats online, and am using it to produce additional tech spiders while the original prepares a second drone for launch- this time, with full assembly in the back of the weapon. I will still wait for the dark of night before I remove the parts from the maintenance ways.

My drone has yet to be detected, so far as I am aware, nor detect any threats. Under cover of darkness and stealth, it has explored the area in a circle almost ten kilometers across. Perhaps my enemy is hiding? I have not ventured to send the drone anywhere near civilization during the day, nor overhead at night; these solar models are rather slow, and their stealth does not cover the noise of their ancient turbofan engines. I worry that the locals’ large eyes may be able to see through the stealth- and their ears can almost certainly detect the noise should it pass overhead. I’ve generally kept it over the forest during the day, moving like an oversized bird while it charges its internal power cell and funnels the excess back to me.

Some of the remote sensors I deployed in the local forest detect the sound of wings approaching my position- and the drone confirms the approach of one of the natives, over the treetops. It is irritating to me that the solar models do not have the zoom capability to capture a close-up of any of the natives in any of the settlements I’ve spotted. I’ve only been able to confirm that ‘Sweetie Belle’ and companions are, in fact, members of the dominant sentient species. They also appear to be young members, judging by the average size of the multicolored specimens I’ve spotted in town.

The specimen approaching me now appears to be an adult, at least in size. Its coat is a somewhat darkened yellow, its mane and tail appear to be a monochromatic rainbow. It appears to be wearing a green vest and a white peaked hat. I watch as it drops into the valley, landing near my exposed weapon. An emplaced camera reports the accuracy of my prior observations, also noting a compass rose printed in its flank- both flanks, actually. I hear it speak up; if ‘Sweetie Belle’ is to be considered an example, it is speaking to itself. It approaches the weapon from the side and appears to be commenting on it, but I still cannot understand the language. This one also seems female, but again, I have no baseline.

As it climbs into the weapon, now a small step up, it examines the inside of the barrel closely, drawing some kind of lighting device from a vest pocket. It paces down the barrel, bringing its light in with it. I have not placed sensors on the inside of the weapon, so it enters a sensor blindspot. I perform the same breech shift as I did with ‘Sweetie Belle’ and company, hoping to gain insight on the language. This character does seem to like talking to itself and, through its monologue, I am 93.72% certain I’ve deduced the word ‘what’.

A heavy energy pulse in the chasm outside reports the appearance of another pony, somewhat larger and blockier than the one hiding inside my barrel. The one in the barrel hears the snap of its appearance, uttering something new as it switches off its lighting device, presumably putting it away. The utterance sounded like an expletive of some sort.

The new one is a dark grey, with a black mane and, presumably, tail. It- correction, he- is wearing some kind of cloak. His voiceprint is definitely masculine, confirming feminine for the other four- unless the voice timbres are reversed here. I’ve seen that before. Regardless, a straight and bony spire, probably a horn of some sort, is sticking out of his forehead by about six inches. His grin- and chuckle- strike me as typical for an evil villain. Surely this isn’t my assailant? I double check; the energy surge from his appearance is a 25.14% match- not even close.

He comes stomping in the end of the barrel like he owns the place, generating a similar energy signature to Sweetie Belle’s as he enters. I can confirm, his horn is glowing, with the tip shining like a lightbulb. Must be a magic horn; I make a note to verify my battle screens can deflect or absorb it sometime before my nanites finish repairing the first of my many battle screen projectors- and if they can’t, find something that can. There is no telling what this ‘magic’ is capable of- even though I’ve only confirmed a lighting function.

The female- or mare, perhaps, is about three meters away from the breech as she backs slowly away from his approach, exhibiting a fear reaction. I consider my alternatives and settle on waiting as she ignores his calls.

Eventually, she responds to his calls. While I’m still picking up the signs of a fight-or-flight reaction, her voice has steel in it, not fear. His is careless, as if he owns the place- which, I most certainly assure myself, he does not. Not the weapon, at any rate.

Their argument lasts for half an hour, at which it devolves into a battle, lasting for roughly thirty seconds after that. It seems her name is either ‘Daring’ or ‘Daring Do’; he keeps referring to that, and I’m starting to understand some of their sentence structure. I also gather the gist of the situation. He’s trying to claim ownership of something, but she’s refusing, apparently using a variant of ‘I got here first’ in her argument. After a few seconds of confusion, I run a full analysis in my databases and come up with an interesting answer.

If they’re battling ownership over investigation rights, as explorers, it makes perfect sense. When I apply this theory to the conversation, I get a near-perfect pattern agreement- and figure out quite a number of words- and a few grammar rules, as well. I decide I don’t appreciate combat inside my weapon, though, and decide to add some weight to Daring’s argument.

The next time she stamps her hoof on the duralloy surface during a lull in the battle, which she accompanies with a negative- I think it’s ‘not’, but I’m not certain on that one- I use the training gear to introduce a light jostle to the barrel. It seems I’ve made a mistake- Daring is exhibiting an increased fear reaction, as expected. Her opponent, however, seems to have become more forceful, despite the trace of fear I hear in his voice.

A matter of seconds later, he’s backed Daring against the breech- and I activate the magnetic containment fields on low power, to produce a rather creepy lighting effect, as soon as she touches it. This should produce a rather amusing response, and possibly distract them from their battle… Interesting. I didn’t know his horn would be magnetic. The containment field seems to have forced him out of position, aligning his horn with the barrel- judging by the back electromagnetic force- and also forcing it into the center, lifting his front hooves off the plating. A second object, coming from between the two, is caught in the containment field; a dagger, perhaps? Daring’s assailant now exhibits a powerful fear reaction, while Daring seems to have entered a state of shock. I release the containment field about 2.047 seconds after it came on, allowing him to drop back to his hooves- after which he promptly turns and flees, screaming what sounds like a stream of profanities as he goes. With a moment of horn glow and corresponding energy spike, he disappears at about the halfway point. Confirmed teleportation effect.

He doesn’t seem to have realized that, almost as soon as he turned his back, Daring collapsed on the deck, apparently unconscious. About a minute later, I slide the breech open far enough to sneak a tech spider in for closer examination- and find that she’s bleeding from several wounds all over her body, some worse than others. I find a small dagger fallen to the plating; this must have been the second object. Several slow streams of blood can be seen emerging from Daring’s injuries, collecting in an alarmingly large puddle. A quick glance around the blood-spattered inside of the barrel and her shredded wings suggests that she had attempted- at least twice- to get behind him. My tactical cores immediately suggest two possible reasons- a flank attack of some sort or fleeing the fight, both suggesting she knew she couldn’t fight him head-on.

But she’s already lost too much blood- even while my spider is still reviewing the carnage, I hear her heartbeat begin to stutter, her breathing fading. A quick systems check confirms that one of my three medical nanovats will be fully functional- not pretty, but functional- after about fifteen seconds of internal repairs. My second tech spider is also about two seconds away from completion; the fabrication vat may be online, but only barely; capable of roughly 13.72% design capacity. If she is just as resilient to these injuries as a human, I have a 61.82% chance of being able to save her life, and a 5.16% chance of being discovered in the attempt. In either case, I have a 99.98% chance of gathering data on the locals’ biology and capabilities.

I order the repairs done.

Author's Note:

Edited 3/17/19. Just like Awakening, it's minor details that will have major impacts later.