Neutrality

by Debonair

Chapter 11.

(Apploosa.)

Little Strong Heart finds Kai pouring another cup of tea from a fresh pot. "Good morning."

"Good morning," He replied. "I'll be leaving soon."

"Oh well, here." She hoofed him a paper. "Breaburn wanted me to give you this."

"An invitation to the Apple family reunion?"

"They have one twice a year, if you're going through Ponyville give that to Applejack she'll give you a place to stay for a while."

"Thanks but I don't think I'll be going there."

"Yes we are. We really need to work on your people skills."

"I just remembered, I do have business there."

(Las Pegas.)

"Hold on a minute, a threat to the Galaxy?" Gilda was unconvinced. "There's nobody out there."

"Okay let's say you're right, what makes soldiers band together?" Martin crossed his legs and took a psychiatrist point of view and a slight Austrian accent.

"A common Enemy,"

"Now if all the soldiers on an entire planet stood together who is the common enemy?"

"Aliens."

"Correct, plus the creatures all over the Galaxy stood by the humans, The Drakons from Mercury, through the Equestrians of Uranus. After that it was changed to Poseidon,"

"Who was the threat?"

"I was put under before I could find out."

"What do we do now?"

"Appalachia outpost, we might be able to get the info there."

"Apploosa's on the other side of Ghastly Gorge." Gilda said.

"What the Hell is Ghastly Gorge? And where is Apploosa?"

"Remind me to Try to hack the VLA while we're in New Mexico. She means the Outpost is on the other side of the Grand Canyon. Did you know it was a mobile base?"

"I feel like an idiot."

"It runs in the family, let's ride." Martin picked up Gilda by the scruff of her neck and gently placed her on the bike.

"So what's your name?" Harlei asked.

"Gilda," She was still a little hesitant to answer.

"Obviously you've met my brother Marty,"

"What happened to you?"

"It's a long story." Martin sighed.

"I'm a little fuzzy on the details myself."

(July 4, 2185.)

It was Independance Day I had just turned twenty and was off to join The LRT. Everything was going fine until after I landed. The lab was empty and some kind of interference was jamming communications with Earth. I feared the worst so I went to the armory and loaded up. The scanners picked up movement after hours of silence, but it wasn't human, at least not entirely. X-od an advanced polymer that had the ability to shape itself into any form desired by the programmer. But it needed to be in near zero gravity, for density, and expansion property testing. Someone must've reprogrammed the polymer to be parasitic. The entire Lunar Research Team had been exposed to X-od and were turned into monsters.

I was the only wall between them and Earth, and I wasn't going down any time soon. The Earth Forces sent search parties but before they could get to me they were taken by X-od. After three months I finally got the transmitter working and sent out the warning. But they assured me that the best warrior they had was being sent up to bring me home. I begged them not to send any more reinforcements but they insisted on sending you Harlei. We actually held our own until we got to the Hanger and found our ship completely gutted. I blacked out after that, later I woke up on a table, next to me was Harlei's lifeless body on another one. A familiar face appeared with an eat shit grin over me, Crystal Wilkes my girlfriend.

Crystal had completely changed, she used to be nice. But something happened to her. "Happy birthday." Her voice was garbled almost cybernetic. Her blonde hair was then I have to admit a very sexy shade of dark green. Her skin was charcoal black with hunter green circuitry all over like tattoos. Her emerald eyes still had the same twinkle as the day we first met. "I've been trying to talk to you for three months."

"Why didn't you just say so?"

"I thought I did, filling the entire base with little rats for you to exterminate, I figured sooner or later you'd look for me."

"What happened to you?"

"The X-od happened, after the testing of it's ability to Alchemise was a complete success the scientists thought that maybe it could be used not only to repair buildings but also flesh and bone. Weeks of meticulous animal experimentation proposed mixed results. The amount of Bio-radiation caused the subjects to mutate. it made them stronger, faster, smarter."

"But gave them a sense of Megalomania."

"Correct, they asked for my Entomology experience to find a way of calming them with several mixes of hormones and pheromones, giving them complete control of their own devices." She went on to say that Harlei had a fatal injury she had sustained against the X-od LRT and that she had transferred Harlei's mind into a computer.

(Route 60.)(Present.)

"How'd you get off the Moon?" Gilda asked over the loud motor and wind.

"For the life of me I can't remember much after that. It'll take some time to remember. I'm 1847 years old I'm damn lucky to not have Alzheimers."

"I can't believe it, after all the shit I put her through she still saved my life."

"I told you I'm a great judge of character." He kept watch on the roads. "There's our first destination."Martin pulled over at a large satellite complex. "If I'm right the Lunar Array might still be functional and if they are I might be able to piggy-back off them and hopefully get GPS Alpha up and running."

That's a pretty big if Marty."

"In the words of Steven Tyler, I'm livin' on the edge. Get you're hopes up, maybe we'll find you a ManneKin."

"You think so?" Harlei seemed happy after hearing this.

"What's a ManneKin?"

"A Mechanized Apparatus Neural Network Engine Kinetic Interface, essentially a body made of metal I could reprogram it to take an AI,"

"An AI?" Gilda's IQ level annoyed Martin.

"OH God, Is everyone here that low-tech?" Martin took his gun out of the dash loaded it. He took out an earpiece and put in a micro-chip. "Okay gotta calm down, Harlei can you hear me?"

"Yeah loud and clear, hey what's that, a peanut? Nope it's your brain."

"Alright let's get in there." Martin strafed up the stairs keeping his gun readied on the door.

"The security here's got to be pretty tight, the panel has to be around here somewhere."

"Or I could just do this." Martin grabbed the knob and turned it, the door creaked open. "It's called a door knob Big Sister"

"Megabyte my ass." She replied through the earpiece.

"Alright we're going weapons hot, no tellin' what's in there. Gilda take this." Martin pulled another gun off his back and tossed it to her. This one was considerably bigger and had a green tinge of light across it. "Works like a crossbow with automatic reload. Aim and shoot."

"Got it." Gilda took off the safety, and pulled the levers and flipped the switches relatively quickly.

"I go in first, cover me,"

"Right."

"You ready, Harlei."

"Let's do this...

"LEEERRRROOOYYY JENKIIIIINS!!!!!!!!" Martin shouted as he ran in.

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