A Forgotten Trooper

by TheIronPone035

Chapter 20: Distress Signal

Strider made sure to devote as much time as possible on repairing the L.A.A.T., working clear through multiple rotations to make sure that whatever broken pieces of machinery he found were put back together and secured. An entire week seemed to go by in a snap, yet even with all that work, the ship still didn't look that much better. But Strider was determined and wouldn't give up, not without fighting first.

The trooper twisted the screwdriver he was holding a few times to the right, tightening the loose bolt he'd found. Once he was sure it was heavily secured, he set the tool down and looked at the repairs he'd made to the wing. So far, he'd managed to fill a hole that had been made by a broken tree with some metal from the destroyed chin turrets. He also managed to straighten most of the bent areas and even made some new parts that consisted of wood, some more spare metal, and lots of seriously strong vines from the forest.

"Getting better and better by the day aren't you." Strider proclaimed out loud, giving part of the wing a tap.

It seemed that the piece was much weaker than he'd thought, as his light tap was all it took for the piece to finally snap apart, landing with a loud CLANG on the ground. Strider let loose a sigh and picked up the broken part of the wing, rotating it in his hands as he looked for any damage. Besides the new cracks and a bit of dirt, the piece hadn't taken much damage from the impact, which was quite a relief.

"Why did I have to end up working with suck a hunk of junk." Strider grumbled. He was sure that this L.A.A.T. must of been the weakest one ever made.

Strider set the broken part down on the metal flooring of the transportation bay and reached for a tool box. He still had plenty to do, and each minute spent standing around being agitated by more broken pieces was less time fixing said broken pieces. His hand was shuffling through the box for a wrench when he heard a beeping noise echo throughout the ship. It wasn't unusual for a system in the ship to cry out for maintenance with beeps or sparks, but this one wasn't like the average warning system. It had an alternate pattern with its beeps, and it also seemed to be coming from the cockpit.

He let his grip loosen on the wrench, the tool quickly falling back into the box. Strider hopped out of the bay and climbed up the makeshift ladder he'd made to allow easy access to the cockpit. He sat down in the pilots seat and began flicking switches. With one last press of a button, a small screen built into the console began to flash red. Strider pressed a few buttons and flipped a few more switches until the monitor flicked to a green radar.

"That can't be right... " Strider muttered, fiddling with a few more controls.

When the signal continued to appear, he quickly realized that the gunship wasn't glitching a signal.

"What if it's an escape pod from the cruiser!" Strider wondered, quick to press a symphony of buttons in an attempt to boost the signal.

A clear blue dot appeared on a holographic green radar, just below it were a series of coordinates for the source of the signal. He checked the signal with a few built in programs, leading to the confirmation that it indeed was from a G.A.R. class escape pod.

Strider's mental celebration quickly died down when he realized that the distress signal was originating from the Everfree Forest. If the survivors didn't have working weapons, then then they wouldn't last an hour at night in that forest! He needed to find them and get them out fast.

Strider took a holoprojector from his utility belt and downloaded a path to the signal into it. Once it was done, Strider flipped the piece of equipment over and pulled off a small panel, revealing several miniature wires. He linked the wires up to his helmet, storing the holoprojector itself inside it as well. A blue waypoint flickered to life on his helmets visor, directly pinpointing the crash site of the pod.

"Hmm, seems to be around four thousand meters west. If I leave now I should reach them before nightfall."

Strider climbed out of the cockpit and down the ladder, his boots once again clacking against the dirt as he advanced over to the transportation bay. The trooper picked up his DC-15s and holstered it, before coming to a halt in front of his destination.

Strider opened up the cargo holds panel and removed a crate from within, its contents ratling a bit as he dragged it outside. He popped the crates lid off, exposing a few other DC-15S's which rested against the side of the crate. He withdrew a handful of power packs and dropped them into a backpack, along with a few thermal detonators and some flashlight attachments for both his weapons and his helmet. He didn't want to stay out until dark, but if he did, he was gonna be prepared. He also placed a few more blasters in there just in case the pod lacked firearms.

As he stuffed a few more attachments into the pack, he failed to notice a faint yellow dot appear on his helmets hud. He swung the pack over his back and stood up, his eyes locked on the forest.

"Strider? Where are you going?" Fluttershy's sudden voice rang through his ears, causing him to instinctively raise his blaster and spin around with the barrel facing her.

However, once the trooper realized who had spoken, he lowered the blaster and reupholstered it. "Sorry Fluttershy, I didn't notice you there."

Fluttershy, whose eyes had widened when she saw the end of the blaster, visibly relaxed. "Oh, sorry. I should of said something before getting so close. Sorry..."

"No, I'm sorry. I should of paid more attention to my surroundings. It wasn't your fault."

"Nonono, it was my fault. I saw you were busy but I still just trotted up behind you without making my presence known."

"No it's- never mind. Anyways, I'm going into the Everfree Forest. The gunship picked up a distress signal from inside and it's hopefully transmitting from an escape pod from the Republic Cruiser that I fled from." He stated.

"Y-You're going to go into the E-Everfree Forest? Alone?" She questioned, fear seeping through her words.

"I'm a soldier, I can handle the punishment. But the crashed pod or ship has zero intel on the forest. They'd be sitting Kiros Birds out there." Strider exclaimed.

"But you don't know much about the forest either! What if you get attacked and hurt!?" Fluttershy said.

"I don't have a choice. The gunship still isn't flyable and I can't leave a possibly injured crew in that death trap after dark!" Strider retorted.

The trooper turned away from Fluttershy, considering the conversation over, and began to run towards the forest. But before he could get very far, the pegasus landed in front of him, making his sprint grind to a halt.

"I-I know what i-it's like to w-want to help someone or somepony, b-but the Everfree Forest isn't s-something even you can h-handle alone." Fluttershy claimed.

Strider couldn't help but let out a sigh, staring into Fluttershy's large pleading cyan eyes. He knelt down so he was level with her, before removing his helmet.

"Fluttershy, I can handle it. The first time I went in there I had no idea what creatures were lurking there, and I know I still don't. But I can't just leave whoever sent that signal to die out there." Strider stated. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say something, but the clone continued. "I'm a soldier, I can take some scratches and bruises. The people in that forest might not be soldiers, just members of the ships crew. If they're going to survive, then they're gonna need me to help guide them out of that forest."

Fluttershy glanced behind Strider at the forest, then to the holstered DC-15S. "O-Ok, just please be careful."

Strider gave the pegasus a nod, before placing his helmet back over his head. He wasted zero time rushing towards the forests entrance, his helmets built in hud already mapping out a path for him. Already the atmosphere darkened around him, with the dwindling light from the star getting blocked by the large trees and overgrown leaves.

Images of that wooden wolf with the pilot's helmet in its mouth plagued Strider's mind, but he pushed past his own fear, determined to locate the escape pod and offer any assistance he could. He unholstered his blaster and primed it, his finger resting on the trigger just incase.

As the clone ran through the forest, several lime green eyes began to lock their gazes on his white armor from the underbrush. Those lime green eyes then had several sets of red eyes next to them, then purple eyes. The whole underbrush appeared like a massive wall of eyes, each one locked onto Strider as he sprinted past them.

Comments

[Edguy0009]

Let's hope the Strider can make it in time.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

He's gonna step in some poison joke, isn't he?

[ToMahkAros]

9738930
Most likely!

[lord Martiya]

9738962
He should be protected, that armor can take more than one would think.

[mlpengineer]

9988202
Yup it can block blaster bolts unlike storm trooper armor.