TF2 Analysis: Event Horizon

by Echoes of the Voice

Chapter 4: Over the Edge

Theme: "Apollo (For What It's Worth Vocal)" by Think Up Anger, Performed by Malia J

Tyandaga followed British Ninja closely through the undergrowth. While he'd grown accustomed to the heat in Coal Town, and the more intense heat of the flamethrower, the humidity of the forest made it unbearable, causing him to sweat bullets and his suit to cling to his fur. He could already feel rashes starting to form in many uncomfortable places. The second he gets back, he's going to change out of the suit, take a bath, and stick with his natural, reindeer coat for the rest of the evening. Though from the way Ninja sighed, he may be faring even worse than he was. The only company the two of them had were the unseen cries and calls of wild animals, along with a very annoying helping of mosquitos.

Finally, they emerged onto a clearing and laid eyes on the Coal Town Mercenaries' secret base, Landfall. The wooden buildings towered high above them, solid and strong, despite the signs of aging that they bore. There were a handful of trees within the confines of the base, of which wooden platforms were built around. Despite the fact that this was yet another husk of its former self, it seemed much more livable than Coal Town. It's true that that was the place where their mercenary band formed, but he felt that "Landfall Mercenaries" was a much cooler name.

But perhaps it was more dangerous than Coal Town, since the "secret" part of the base turned out to be more alleged than actual. The entire compound was littered with demolished robots, the remains of the battle between them and Jasper and Voice. Whoever sent the robots learned about this place, and attacked.

"I had no idea this base was here," Tyandaga said, looking at the wooden structures. They blended into the forest quite well.

"Only the red team knew about this base," Ninja said, "though evidently Jasper found out about it somehow."

"Oh, I see. But how come red team got a secret base and not blue team?"

"I suppose it's because the red team was the first to form. Given time, I'm sure Keyframe will set one up for you lot."

"I hope so. I like the idea of having a base set aside for only the blue team."

The pair looked out on the mechanical carnage that took place only hours before. While most robots were unmoving, there were a handful that were still activated, their lights flickering. Tyandaga wondered how they could possibly still be active. He pulled out his flamethrower and kept it aimed at each one, just in case they weren't as disabled as they appeared. Then he noticed something odd about the pattern of bullet holes, scorch marks, and bomb craters.

"Hey, Ninja, it seems like the robots weren't trying to attack the base itself. The damage sustained isn't focused on any particular building." British Ninja said nothing. Tyandaga turned to his companion. From the look on his face, he seemed to be thinking very hard, as if he were attempting to solve a difficult puzzle. "Ninja?" he said louder.

He blinked himself from his thoughts and shook his head. "Wha-what? I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Tyandaga repeated himself, pointing across the landscape.

"Yes, you're right," Ninja said. "It's safe to assume that they were specifically targeting Voice and Jasper. Whoever sent the robots was probably trying to kill them while they were isolated."

He bucked at the remains of a particularly large robot, but stopped, staring down at it.

"What?" Tyandaga asked, walking up alongside him. Ninja pointed, and he saw. "Huh? Isn't that...?"

Jutting out from the flank of what Tyandaga supposed was a heavy, an access hatch laid open, exposing the contents of a storage compartment. This wouldn't have been a strange sight if it had been blasted open, but there was no apparent damage surrounding it, despite a chunk of its head and right foreleg blasted off.

Ninja activated his levitation magic and, from a compartment that was left open, lifted a rolled up paper, tied neatly with a string. On it was written,
To: RM & BM
From: The Director

Ninja and Tyandaga exchanged looks before the former untied the knot and unfurled the paper. He held it away far enough for both of them to read comfortably. Tyandaga felt the tiniest embers of frustration. When it seemed they'd found a piece of the puzzle, it only raised further questions.

"So it sounds like they went easy on those two?" Tyandaga asked. "They weren't trying to kill them?"

"So it..." Ninja mumbled.

"Ninja?"

"Is it really...?"

Tyandaga tapped him on the shoulder. "Ninja, are you alright?"

He startled back to reality. "Hu-what? Uh, yes, I'm fine."

"You sure? You seem very distracted and even jumpier than me. Seriously, I don't know what it is, but this places gets creepier by the minute."

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about the robots. If they went easy on Voice and Jasper, then perhaps they're more dangerous than we realize."

"Maybe. I really hope not. But the others made it through the first attack, right? Unless you think they're somehow more dangerous this time?"

"Perhaps, but we can only speculate on that for the time being. For now, though, I'm wondering how this memo got here in the first place. Voice said that it was on one of the upper platforms, out in the open. There's no way it bounced itself into that compartment on its own. Somepony must've put it in there, but why?"

"Or..." Tyandaga started, then turned away and searched among the wreckage. He then found the body of what he guessed must've been a spy robot. He found a similar compartment, and saw what he suspected. He pulled yet another rolled up paper out and held it up for Ninja to see. Tyandaga finally saw the light bulb go off inside Ninja. He then untied the knot with his magic and opened the paper.

"Yep," Ninja said. "An exact copy. It's safe to assume, then, that nearly every robot is carrying one. The one behind this attack, this RM and BM, planted these copies. He wanted the memo to be found and read. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, this throws the legitimacy of the message into question. It could be true, certainly, but it could just as easily be misinformation. I don't think we can trust it."

Tyandaga balled up his copy and tossed it aside. "Can't argue with you there."

Ninja brought the first copy close to his head, ready to throw it away. But he stopped and ultimately decided to put it in one of his suit pockets. "Even so, we should probably take this back to Doc."

"Yeah, we got what we came for. Let's get out of here."

The duo picked their way back out of the base, the robotic parts and components crunching and screeching beneath their hooves. The two of them hit a patch of soft grass and crunching leaves. The quiet this lent compared to walking on metal stood out to Tyandaga far more than usual. He stopped, listened, then it hit him like a truck to the face. His fears were justified after all.

"Ninja!" he said.

The spy stopped and turned around. "Hmm?"

"I know why it's so unsettling here."

"Okay, why?"

"Do you hear anything?"

Ninja concentrated, rotating his ears as far as they could turn. "Unless you're talking about that incessant buzz of insects, I hear nothing."

"Exactly. No birds, no forest critters...nothing. I could hear them everywhere when we arrived, but now they're gone. Either they ran away...or they’re hiding."

"From what?"

Tyandaga's eyes swept the base warily. "I don't think we should stick..."

The sound of gunshots in the distance resounded through Landfall. A pair of scattergun blasts. “Now that, I heard,” Ninja muttered.

The two of them immediately ducked behind the nearest building. Tyandaga lifted and ignited his flamethrower. “I didn’t hear bullets flying past. I don’t think those shots were meant for us.”

“Agreed.” Ninja levitated his revolver out from one of his inner pockets, flicked the cylinder out to check for bullets, then flicked it back. He then peeked out in the direction of the shots, then glanced in the direction of the compound entry path. “We’re further from the entrance than I’d like. We’re going to need cover, and the element of surprise. I’ll cloak and keep an eye out ahead. Once they’re close enough, I’ll return and give you the signal, then you blast them with your flamethrower. That should disorient them long enough for us to get out of here.”

Tyandaga nodded, his heart racing faster and faster. “Okay.”

Ninja was just about to activate his device when they heard the rustling of underbrush. He stopped, ears twitching in that direction as panic took hold in his eyes.

“Ninja, go!” Tyandaga half-whispered.

This snapped him out of it, the steel in his eyes returning. He pressed the button and faded into nothingness. Tyandaga placed his hoof on the trigger, then forced himself still when he realized he was shaking. He’d never been in a real firefight, not one without the respawn generator to save him. The urge to turn tail and run was strong, but the training he’d undergone in Coal Town kept his hooves planted. Panic will get him and Ninja killed here. For the sake of their survival, they must think calmly and strategically, and not do anything stupid.

As the rustling heightened, Ninja decloaked while standing out in the open. “What are you doing?” Tyandaga shouted.

“It’s a pony!” Ninja said, suddenly darting forward.

Tyandaga risked peeking out and saw a familiar face, the only pony he knew with cat-like features. He, too, emerged from cover, quickly putting away his flamethrower so he could bound on all fours. “It’s SEGASister!”

Ninja glanced behind him. “SEGASister? Isn’t that Voice’s marefriend?”

“Yeah. She’s hurt!”

SEGA had just limped out of the underbrush, gasping for air. Her mane and tail were a complete mess, and her fur was coated in mud. As Tyandaga drew closer, he saw that she was bleeding quite a bit as well, cuts and scrapes everywhere across her body. Her expression was twisted into a mix of agony and desperation.

“SEGA, are you alright?” Ninja shouted as he ran up to her. He began checking her wounds.

“Guys…you’re here…” she said, barely finishing before collapsing into Ninja’s forelegs.

“Oh—oof! Okay, I gotcha.”

Tyandaga slid down beside her, realizing with horror that some of her scrapes were grazes from bullets. There was a gaping hole in her hind leg. She wouldn’t be able to run fast on her own.

“We…we got to get out of here.”

“R-right,” he said. He stepped back and with a groan of effort, lifted SEGA with his levitation spell. “We’ll get you back to Coal Town.”

They then heard the sound of metal grinding against wood and shrubbery.

"Hurry,” SEGA said. “They’re hunting me.”

As she spoke, Tyandaga’s blood ran cold, his eyes widening. In the forest beyond the clearing, dozens of glowing blue eyes were fixed on them, getting closer and closer. He heard the cocking of pistols, the pumping of scatterguns, and the whirring of miniguns.

The robots had come.

“Oh, bugger,” Ninja mumbled.

Ink Rose was on the southern edge of Coal Town, collecting what she was pretty sure was the last jellysquid. Clenching her Sandman baseball bat with her teeth, she held it out to the creature. It wrapped its small tentacles around the wood and squeezed tightly, just like the others. She noticed that what the jellysquids attached themselves to didn't matter as long as somepony was on the other end. Earlier, when there were three of them on the bat, she decided to set it down and walk away, to see what happened. She didn't make three paces before all of them detached and started following her. Whether it was instinctual or not, she couldn't say, but she told them that they were lucky they were so cute, otherwise it'd be very creepy.

The sun had nearly vanished over the horizon, and the cool air of the desert night was beginning to sweep through town. Ink Rose closed her eyes and breathed in the refreshing wind. It was usually quiet during sunset, but it was even more so tonight. Perhaps it was because of all the ruckus that evening that it seemed comparatively calmer, but beyond that, she couldn't say why.

She opened her eyes and looked at the creature clinging to her bat. "Alright, little guy. Let's get you to your friends, alright? Or is it fami...ly...?"

The adorable smile that these jellysquids so often expressed vanished. Its face suddenly became blank and unreadable, eyes emotionless. Erring on caution, Ink Rose quickly and gently set the bat down and backed away. She watched it warily, ready to flap out of the way if it suddenly decided to attack. Instead, however, it released its grip and, ignoring Ink Rose, turned north and started floating away. Seeing this, she picked her bat up once more and held it in front of the jellysquid. Its tentacles lazily slithered over the bat, paying it no mind.

Ink Rose furrowed her brow. It was heading for something, but what?

The jellysquid stopped. It lifted its tendrils high, spreading them wide. Something black and silver extended downward from the main body, moving too smoothly to be natural. Ink Rose peered closer, thinking for a moment that her mind played tricks on her. But no, that extension was metal, without a doubt. And that would mean...

"You're robots," she said, breathless.

Then there was a flash of light from the north. The jellysquid dropped to the ground, unmoving. She poked it with her bat. No response.

Ink Rose pulled out her radio and switched it on. "Hey, Doc, can you...?" Her words died when no static or sound emanated from the device. Only the click of the on/off switch could be heard. It felt quite warm in her hoof, come to think of it. And the smell... Ink Rose sniffed it. Without a doubt, it was burnt. The circuitry inside the radio must've been destroyed.

That, coupled with the "death" of the jellysquid, led Ink Rose to the inevitable conclusion—an electromagnetic pulse. But how? None of her friends had any EMP's, as far as she was aware, nor would Doc or Firebrand allow such a weapon on base. It would've destroyed so much...

Chills went down Ink Rose's spine as it dawned on her how crippled they were. It must be a deliberate attack. She has to warn the others!

She spread her wings, ready to take off, but paused when the glint of the setting sun shone in the corner of her eye. When she glanced in that direction, however, it was gone. While it wasn't there before, there was no way she didn't imagine that. There was something on the other side of that sand dune. Something metal, and moving.

Ink Rose glanced back at the heart of town. Her friends in the Coal Town Mercenaries weren't exactly geniuses, but they weren't completely witless, either. Well, most of them. They probably figured out what happened just as fast as she did. So reporting that would be pointless. And telling them that she saw a glint in the distance? If her radio was still functioning, that would've been worth saying, but flying all the way to Doc's office would've been a wasted trip. Firm in her resolve, she galloped out of town and into the desert wastes.

Her hooves kicked the sand up, coating a decent amount on her legs. While she would've preferred simply flying over the sand, she needed to stay as low as possible. And her carefulness was paying off, as she heard a lot of somethings moving about; it was the sound of revving engines, whirring tools, and squeaky wheels, now barely within earshot. More than likely, she was scouting out a dangerous situation. She needed to stay under the radar as much as possible. So she simply ignored her discomfort, even when some of the sand started getting into her wings, and even more so when she began crawling up to the crest of the sand dune.

She soon reached the top, peeking over. Her mouth fell open, as she fought the urge to panic and fly back with her tail between her legs. The first things she saw were the two massive vehicles, each dozens of feet tall and just as much wide, with twice the length. One was unmistakably a Robot Factory Tank, which was pouring out dozens, if not hundreds of machines, with those familiar eyes. Those cold, dead, glowing eyes.

There was no mistaking it. The robots had returned.

The other was unfamiliar to her, and far larger and bulkier. Where the control center of the tank would've been located, there was instead what looked like the head of a robot heavy, except with tinted windows. The floodlights were activated on both vehicles, so it was clear that somepony was inside, but otherwise there was no activity coming from it that she could see. It simply sat there, like a silent sentinel. There was no doubt somepony was inside, but who? And what was the purpose of this vehicle?

Ink Rose couldn't spare a thought on either question, for her eyes were next drawn to a device in the midst of the flood of invading robots. But with darkness beginning to set in, it was becoming difficult to see. She pulled out a pair of binoculars, and was able to make out just a bit more. It was mounted on a pair of wheels, so it was something that was mobile, but it was also quite large and seemed heavy to her. The device itself was milky-white, with a dish-like head pointed at the town. Energy was pulsing through it from cables that snaked from the Robot Factory Tank in the form of a neon blue light. It was steadily growing brighter and brighter. It's got to be charging, but what was it? Could it be some kind of weapon?

Nearby, she saw a row of...

Ink Rose's mouth fell open. "That... How? It can't..."

The loud clap of a sniper rifle and the whistle of a bullet flying inches past her head ceased all thought. Pure fear and instinct took hold as she screamed and pushed herself away from the top. The sound of a couple more bullets shooting through the sand increased her terror. She scrambled so quickly that she lost her footing and fell headfirst into the sand, rolling down. She quickly regained it, then took flight, foregoing all pretense of subtlety.

As she approached the outskirts of Coal Town, she regained a measure of composure and realized what she must do next. "EVERYPONY!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "THE ROBOTS ARE HERE! TAKE COVER! THEY'RE HERE! GET INSIDE! TAKE COVER!" She kept shouting and shouting as she shot straight north, directly to Doc's office. She passed over the cafeteria and saw a gathering of her friends. Without entirely processing who she saw, she began shouting, "DOC! FIREBRAND! DOC, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Ink Rose?!" she heard Doc's voice, before she plowed into the ground and skidded to a halt.

Only now did she take stock of who she saw. Dr. Wolf, Keyframe, AnY, Finn, Sweetie Bloom, Eliyora, Silver Quill, and... She gasped when she saw Firebrand's unmoving body on Silver Quill's back. "Firebrand! Is he okay?"

"He's fine, just unconscious," Dr. Wolf said hastily as he ran up to her. "But did I hear that right? The robots have returned to Coal Town?"

"Yes! They've amassed an army to the south, just outside of town."

Dr. Wolf's ears, along with everypony else's, went limp as they heard this. "Then it's as we feared. We need to gather everypony up and get out of here, immediately. We'll make for Landfall."

"We're not going to fight them like last time?"

"No. The risk is now too great. We must leave. Now..."

As everypony was about to set out and gather the rest of the mercenaries, a familiar blue light began to glow from the direction of the robot army. They stopped and watched as the wave of blue spread outwards and upwards, reaching like giant fingers seeking to capture and become the sky at an ever-increasing speed. The mercenaries gathered together, taking comfort in each other's presence, as this overwhelming event made them feel incredibly small. In a matter of seconds, the blue wave of energy encircled and enveloped the town, enclosing it within a massive, semi-transparent domelike barrier.

"We're trapped!" Keyframe said.

Doc gulped. "We now have only one choice. We must set up a defensive line where the road splits. Do not engage in combat like you have in the past. Take cover, and do not expose yourselves if you can help it."

Ink Rose sensed something different in the way he said that. "Why can't we fight like before?" she asked nervously.

Doc's mouth formed a thin line as his voice grew grim. "That EMP, Ink Rose. It knocked out our mediguns and respawn generator. They're damaged beyond repair."

Ink Rose felt the fur along her back raise. Only now did it dawn on her exactly how much danger they were in. "Oh, no... Oh, no, no, no."

Dr. Wolf placed his paw on her shoulder. "Ink, I need you to stay focused." Then turning to the group as a whole, he said, "Everypony, Sweetie Bloom and I will need to..."

His voice faded in her mind when, beyond the barrier, she saw faint flashes. Then she remembered the last thing she saw.

"...confusing right now, but it needs to be destroyed. Now go, and hold the line!"

"Everypony!" she shouted. "We need to take cover right now!"

"Right now?" Doc asked.

Ink Rose grasped him by the shoulders. He must've seen the intense fear in her eyes, for he now had it in his. "Doc—they have artillery!"

"Art—what?!"

A deafening roar soaked the air in heat, rocking the town. That was the first time Ink Rose felt the ground beneath her quake so strongly in Coal Town. The first of many.