Time to Disappear
It was a very awkward scene down in the arena. With no fighting, no chanting for blood, no wheezing speech on behalf of the Top Spear, everything had collapsed into a tittering lull, so quiet that even the buzzing hum of the manalights could be heard over the ruins of the recent melee. Metal mares exchanged wide-eyed glances while Terra and Lady Pestiferous shifted about nervously, side by side.
Up above, through the thick layers beyond the ceiling, several dull thuds could be heard, followed by an enormous, thunderous crash. Then—after a few more breathless seconds—the light flickered. Mares gasped and guards grunted in surprise. The lights flickered again, and suddenly they dimmed.
With a high-pitched whine, the ring of blue force field energy shorted out and died. Sparks flew from every door of the arena. Guards and prisoners alike had to jump aside as stone panels opened and closed beneath them. A worried tumult rose, and soon the place was still again.
The darkness spread as the manalights died one by one. Then—with a strange whurring noise—many trap doors in the floor of the arena yawned open around the edge of where the Ursa descended. A few seconds passed. A few more...
With ravenous, frenzied roars, three manticores leapt up out of their pens below the killing floor. Then four more jumped out. They looked in every direction until their hungry eyes spotted the shocked metal mares up above. Without hesitation, the beasts jumped up into the stands and pounced upon anypony they could see.
Screams returned to the arena, only this time they belonged to the armored mares as they fought off the beastly ambush. Lacerating claws exchanged blows with metal-laced hooves. Those mares who tried firing their rockets and manacannons found their armor suddenly incapable of responding to their commands. The confusion mixed with the adrenaline of the manticore charge, and soon the once-fearless warriors were battling with blind rage.
Terra gritted her teeth so hard they nearly produced sparks. "An invasion! Someone is draining our power!"
"Hckkkkt... The Grid..." Pestiferous suddenly hissed.
Rainbow Dash flung her a curious glance.
The Top Spear shook her metal-laced limbs as she stood up at her full, intimidating height. "We musssssht not let them get to the heart of the Grid! Hckkkt—Sisssshters and daughterssssh of Ssshearo!" She motioned as she bounded like an enormous, diseased giraffe towards the stands above. "Follow me! The blood we ssssshpill tonight we do for our Goddesssssh' keep!"
"Grrrgghhh... Who dares?! I'll rip out their hearts and feed it to their children!" Terra grumbled. A manticore bounded up and screamed into her face. The gigantic mare merely spun and gave the thing a right-hook to its lion face. As the beast fell, Terra closed her helmet and galloped thuddingly up the steps, weaving in and out of errant battles as she made her way to the upper levels.
Rainbow Dash gazed after them. She blinked and helped a dazed Imre up to her hooves. "Do they always just... run off like that?"
"When they smell blood, they're there," Imre muttered. She gulped and added, "Metal mares gonna metal..."
"But where does that leave us?"
"Hey! You!" A voice shouted.
Imre, Rainbow Dash, and the helpless ponies glanced over.
A guard limped towards them, bleeding from a manticore bite. She nevertheless produced a blade from her forelimb and snarled, "Your purpose in this world is over, runts!" She raised the blade to strike. "The beasts here will surely dine on your fl—"
Roarke's hoof slammed across her face. The guard spat blood and crumpled to a rusted heap on the ground.
Rainbow Dash and Imre winced.
Roarke stood evenly on the ground. She turned and looked at them.
They gazed at her.
Roarke's lenses retracted. With a deep breath, she spun, opened a side panel in her armor, and shot two rockets towards the wall of the arena. With the force field gone, the stone partition completely crumbled, revealing a lateral passageway on the other side of the clearing smoke. The floorspace of the arena between that spot and the brand new exit was presently devoid of battling metal mares and manticores.
Rainbow Dash squinted, gazing curiously from the hole to Roarke.
Roarke backtrotted away. Without saying a word, she closed her helmet, backflipped, mounted the edge of the arena with rocket thrusters, and galloped off to join the current of charging warriors.
Her eyebrow raised, Rainbow Dash stammered, "Is that her way of saying 'Bon voyage?'"
"You wanna know what I think about Roarke?" Imre shook her head and murmured, "I don't know what to think anymore."
"Good," Rainbow Dash nodded. "I'm an expert at not-thinking." She turned and shouted at the jittery group of surviving stallions and equines on the arena floor. "Everypony! We're getting out of here! If you wanna join us, then you'd better keep close! Let's make like alicorns and friggin' disappear!"
As the frantic herd of innocents charged out of the broken gap, an armored figure watched secretly from above.
Shuffling about in the shadows, Roarke resumed her flight towards the top levels of Searo's Hold. Rounding a corner, she paused to reach one hoof to a panel built into the opposite forelimb's metal plates. She pressed a pair of buttons, causing several lights to flicker across her suit, followed by a steady beeping tone.
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Roarke's actions really do invite a long discussion about altruism and the nature of selfless acts. In place of that, I'd continue to say that she is quite generous for a metal mare.
Roarke's going out with a bang
and I liked her...
Reminds me of the end of "Cabin In The Woods," with all the captive animals escaping. Very Nice.
...Goddamn. That beeping is too goddamn ambiguous. Got to wonder how it's working though, considering it's meant to be without power. Roarke seems smart enough to think of precautions, but still.
Since it doesn't seem like Roarke's coming with them, well... I'm gonna miss her. But she is loyal to Searo, and it needs her right now.
I really, really doubt it's a bomb. Probably a tracking device, or just the noise made by her backup power core.
I have a very bad feeling that those buttons do exactly what you think they do.
Couple of quotes here that made me chuckle for a bit longer than they should have (curse you, jet lag):
How do you still come up with this stuff, Scolon?
Steady beeping noises are NEVER a good thing. Some kind of self-destruct option in her armor? To what end? To take out Pestiferous and Terra? It's pretty clear that her loyalties to Searo are...flexible at best. I really hope not - I've grown rather fond of Roarke, and I really don't want to see her...going to pieces, even if its for a noble cause.
Just think, if she joined Rainbow's party, and brought her ship along with her, that'd make travel SO much easier, especially with Rainbow's busted wing.
2463119
I'm convinced that some sort of large-scale transportation is the logical endpoint of all these new heroic characters. Maybe that blimp Floydien seems to have, if it manages to survive the assault on Blue Nova.
It appears that Roarke is gonna pull a creeper and self destruct. I do wonder how her armor is working while everyone else's is nothing but hunks of metal. It figures that Roarke would be the only one with crystal pony resistant armor. My new theory is that where everyone else has mana used as a power source, Roarke uses something a bit more ancient. From a machine buried beneath the world perhaps? we may never know.
2460229
true...
I wasn't talking about their long-term chances of survival/success, just the situation as of the end of the chapter.
At the very least, the initiates who haven't undergone surgery will be able to put up a fight, assuming Searo has no anti-crystal pony defenses....... And somehow, that seems way too good to be true
Beeping noises always mean explosives. I wonder what she's doing with what seem like integrated explosives. I'd understand including them as a self-destruct option in place of capture, but Roarke is on her home turf - no danger of capture there. Is she going to sacrifice herself to take out Crimson and Tweak? Or is she going to kill the leadership of Searo and throw the entire Hold into disarray? Roarke is difficult to read. I can't decide which is more likely.
2463195
I think that IC made her that way on purpose, and it's possible that even they what she's going to do at any given moment.
This is Australia...
Waaaaait a minute. How is Roarke's suit still working, when the spectators' weren't?
2463152
I forgot about the zeppelin. Maybe not as cool as a high-tech manaship (sans a certain steampunk vibe), but it certainly gets the job done. But yeah, like you said, they HAVE to get some better form of travel, especially if one or more of these characters intends to keep traveling with Dash when the whole East thing gets back to top priority. But then, it's risky to bank on predictions where IC is concerned.
You know the beeping could just be a feature of her back-up power source...
2463047
Roarke ain't gonna die. The moment we knew that Rainbow Dash's full mission was to cross the world, enter a dark realm full of unspeakable horrors, break into a vault that was created by demi-gods at the beginning of time, and then retrace the entire journey all over again, we knew it could not be done alone. No single pony could make it all the way. Not even if it was Rainbow Dash aided by her 'deceased' friends, an ancient and mysterious enchanted amulet, and imbedded with the might of the God of Chaos. It simply can't be done.
Whether Dash realizes it or not, this suicide mission will only be successful if she can round up and inspire that greatest bunch of dedicated, passionate and driven killers and planners the world has ever seen. By the time she reaches the edge of the world, she is gonna need a small army of ragtag mercenaries, scientists, doctors, soldiers, ect. if she wants to make it all the way back home.
If it is some sort of self-destruct, I would think that there is more to Roarke's motivation to have it in Searo. Maybe, she has that to prevent the occasion of capture by Lady Pesto. Considering the things they would do to her, I think it would be a way for her to avoid that, and still leave a "present" for her captors. IE, a last resort button.
But, its probably just her "mana battery version of a check engine system. It has been a few thousand miles since her last tune up.
2463334
what do you think the lights and beeping sound are then? sounds like a stereotypical self-destruct sequence to me.
2463161 i kinda like that theory about her armor. hell i'm willing to bet that she has something to do with the story title.
and now we have reached the 1st quarter of Innavedr!
2463364
oh, I agree. But I doubt it will be lethal. Roarke will either simply take it like a mare and walk it off. Or perhaps Roarke is planning on using the self-destruct function for less-than conventional means. If there is anything I have learned from aliens, halo and pretty much any other sci-fi thing, its that the thing that is ment to destroy you is almost always the best weapon to use on something else.
The bottom line is that Rainbow needs to build a team. Roarke is probably the best candidate for that team we will ever see in this fic. I suppose one could use that as an argument to say that that is exactly why she will never live to make the team. Still, it seems counter to the direction of the fic to kill of the greatest potential ally.
Oh good, Roarke's integrated microwave has finished popping her popcorn.
Why yes, you are, Rainbow!
Distress signal? I doubt it would be a self-destruct function, she probably would have used it when she got beat by Rainbow Dash the first time.
The end of this chapter reminded me of the end of halo 4
2463402 Daaaaarn. Hadn't even noticed, that was really fast.
i still don't get it, and even though there are a few comments already asking this, I'm way too confused to not type this. How in the hoof is Roarke's suit still working?!
I am positive their will be no boom-booms coming from roarkes suit.
Boms? Boooooommmmmm... Poof
Was that a bomb? Well, it was nice knowing you, Roarke.
So people seem to think Roarke is gonna self destruct, which I hadn't even thought of. I initially thought she was somehow in on the power going out and so had a back-up, which is impossible. Hopefully she pulls through - her motives are too ambiguous for her to be offed now, although if she blew herself up to save Dash and the others I guess they wouldn't be so ambiguous anymore, would they? Until tomorrow!
Excellent. Now all the rag-tag bunch of prisoners need to do is find a way out of a city filled to the brim with pissed off super soldiers armed to the their proverbials with high-tech weaponry.
In another news, my 'send-me-out-with-a-bang' sense is tingling. We'll see.
I would imagine that Roarke, being smarter than the average metal mare, has shielded her power supply and electronics. Also I expect the beeper is a tracking device on Rainbow and/or Imre
50 chapters in, and things are getting very interesting. Roarke's suit must be running on an auxiliary power source of some kind, thus the lights and beeping. It's counting down until Roarke's suit is totally drained of the backup power. That's my guess, anyway. If she had a self-destruct function, we would have seen it earlier, when she was beaten by Rainbow Dash. Roarke doesn't seem like one to commit suicide by blowing herself up. She'd rather die at enemy hooves.
Now that's just mean.
2463039 She does owe her life to Rainbow. Siding with her would also serve paying back that debt of honor. Because damn you all, I won't stop hating her no matter what she does now.
2463092 I say Roarke is about to have a serious Arnie moment:
In other notes, no picture or gif could possible catch the power of my evil laugh at this point. The esteemed reader will have to make due with his imagination.
Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse.
Well:
a) Roarke has some auxiliary power supply, that much is obvious. Whether it is her only power supply, or a back-up that she invested in, I don't know. However, the question is why does she have it? Well, it means that she knew about the weakness in the conventional mana-crystal technology. It also means that she was prepared for a circumstance in which her power supply could be disabled by the crystal resonance of some crystal ponies.
Maybe she is just smart, and planned for any complications out in the field. Personally, I think that she planned this. Maybe not Crimson and Co. rocking up, but definitely something along the lines of using the crystal ponies to interfere with the other metal mares if need be.
It's also worth noting how she would have done so without any other metal mares knowing and getting the same upgrade. I mean, heck! she would need a highly intelligent, magically proficient tech-wizard cross doctor who is indebted to her to even think of-
Oh yeah. Imre.
I think I can see some of her motivations coming together here.
b) Apparently she has a beepy button inbuilt into her suit. Cool. Is she going to blow herself up? Probably not (yet).
I can say with some definite surety that Roarke is a subversive agent here. She has repeatedly shown that she isn't an unthinking metal-mare, and her motivations do not align with that of the Top Blade's Searo.
So what could the beeper be? Well, it could be: a tracking device to keep track of RD (one of her vested interests), a bomb, some hidden gadget that lets her subvert the hold's security, invisibility (would fit with the title and the whole Agent Texas vibe she has), a power gauge, a popcorn dispenser, or even some secret weapon designed to free all the crystal ponies in the nexus.
And yes, the nexus is either a bunch of crystal ponies (Last Tears in Tartarus vibes anyone?) or it's a gateway to The Machine, which would fit in quite nicely with the whole 'abusing The Machine for power' thing that's been going on in these parts
We'll have to wait a bit to find out though.
Figured those cages would open due to power down. Wonder why we haven't see the Ursa break free yet...
Oh dear, that can't be a self-destruct feature, can it? I'm not entirely sure that Roarke is one to blow herself up.
I just don't see it in her character to self destruct... but maybe something will change her way of thinking... I think she'll just take her armor and let that explode without her if that's what she's really doing.
Hahaha, it's the scene from Out Of This World/Another World where you let all the lion things out of their cages
beeping is not good.
That scene from Predator 2 immediately comes to mind.
"Shit... happens"
IIIIIt's Dashie's Kentucky Derby Special Evaluation Time!
I'm not really sure why everyone thinks that Roarke's going to pull a self-destruct. I would have liked to see her around for a bit longer, but I suppose that Searo has had its run and now Dash must move on to somewhere else. Assuming that she is going to self-destruct, I think that, in the end, Roarke realized that Dash is a part of something far greater than her, Terra, or even all of Searo combined. She may not have known about Austraeoh, but she knew this. So she's going to do everything in her power to help Dash escape. If so, then goodbye, Roarke. You have done well.
Also, as a note, I like that Imploding took some time to focus solely on Dash instead of switching the perspectives really quickly. I like that. Keep on giving each character their own mini-arc like this and I shall be even more proud of you Imploding. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Seven left! I'm getting back into the swing of things, too. Let's go!
...and then the Mac start up tune sounds.
2552222 Big Mac starts singin?
Yaaaaaay Roarke!
What's that beeping?
Um...
Don't die!
-Spirit
Prison break! With less Michael Scolfield and more Rainbow Dash.
Entry V:
As I write this, there is a patrol passing nearby. It seems my sneaking skills were indeed up to snuff, or maybe just my luck.
I can almost make out their barding in the darkened tones of moonlight, they ap *here a line stretches off to the side sharply*
Does that mean that two of the escapees have two stay behind?
I'm sure this has already been commented on by people long before me, but I think Austraeoh and the Machine are already returning the Elements of Harmony into the world.
Rainbow Dash is Loyalty and hasn't wavered. After the minotaur scuffle, she activated the Machine for the first time and returned Magic to the world. This was also when she started seeing lavender trails guiding her on her journey.
In Darkstein, RD restored Generosity to the world, and the Obelisk activated once again to give free power to the citizenry.
Here in Ledomare, RD came back to life and once again activated the Machine. Given many of the events of this chapter, I'm inclined to think she's reactivated Kindness. This country is so cruel that it could produce a pony like Shell.... it needs its Kindness back.
Dash's encounter with the Ursa Major lend credence to this as well, IMO
Well, Roarke...
here's to you
Day 1 was the first 10 chapters I think... Day 2 has seen me to the quarter mark and still I shall press onward