I Blame You, Too

by Whitestrake

That Chimpanzees Make and Use Spears.

$%$%$% Amos's POV $%$%$%

How exactly was I going to do this? Surely the others heard the strider land, and that would bring a number of questions, most of which would revolve around Dahl. If I said he was injured, and that was why I was retrieving the Medic, then Delphine would take offense and force me to take her to the Crystal Empire. If I said Taylor was in critical condition, then the princesses might blame me, and that would accomplish nothing. If I told the entire truth...

“Twilight, get my crutch.” She looked at me strangely, though it was understandable. I was barely in any shape to fly, let alone walk, but this was something I needed to see to persoanlly.

“You're not staying here?” She asked. We had agreed I would keep the engines running while she fetched the Medic, but the more I thought about it, the less sense that plan made. I flicked the switch and power the strider down as I grabbed my makeshift crutch.

“Well, let's go.”

$%$%$% Taylor's POV $%$%$%

It wasn't often I could wake up and say every part of me hurt, but it happened too frequently for my liking. I couldn't move much without almost screaming in pain, considering just about everything was broken in some way. Hell, even one of my eye sockets felt like it shattered at some point, probably because a big-ass knuckle slammed into it. That eye was probably filled with blood, almost definitely. Shutting that one, I used my good eye to look around as much as I could. Jay and Jacques were where they had been earlier, telling jokes back and forth. Chrissy was sitting next to me, looking at them.

“In cider.” That must have involved Applejack in some way, which was something she really wouldn't appreciate. I never bothered asking how in the mother of fuck their relationship worked, but it did, and it wasn't my business how. I flexed my hand and winced at the pain it brought.

“You look like shit,” Chrysalis said, noticing I was awake. She looked sympathetic and angry, though I hoped it was more at Ophidia for his Marine doing this to me and less aimed at me for running to fight when I did instead of having the entire changeling swarm handle it. In response, I smiled as much as my, arguably destroyed, face allow.

“You should see the other guys.” She actually laughed at that, as did Jacques and Jay. I would have laughed at their reactions if I didn't know my ribs would hurt like a bitch and half. There was still a sad quality to her voice, even her laugh, at the prospect of me being injured so severely. We still had a little talk on the subject planned for later, after I was patched up.

“The Viscount is right; you are a reckless idiot.”

“But I'm your reckless idiot.”

$%$%$% Amos's POV $%$%$%

“By the Emperor, why the hell did you come back alone?” Delphine was never a fan of my actions, and now she seemed even less enthused. She stood with her cybernetic hand on her hip as Oleg and Martellus walked up behind her. “And you went and got yourself shot!”

“That appears to be from a slug-throwing weapon, Amos.” Martellus's blank lenses stared at me, and for a moment, I forgot Delphine was angry. There was a certain anxiety about him staring me down, even if he wasn't aware he was doing so. “But it appears too small for any bolt weapon.”

“Looks a bit like an autogun wound,” Oleg said, observing my bandaged injury. He'd seen enough injuries to diagnose the cause, provided they were from a gun of some sort. He probably knew it was a heavy stubber that shot me, but hopefully he wouldn't figure out it was Dahl's. “Genestealer cultists?”

“We have already received word of the Chaos Space Marine, Amos; there is no need for secrecy.” Princess Celestia stood in the doorway, eying me up and down, as though checking me for any more injuries. Delphine and Oleg, however, looked as though they wished to inflict a few more on me; they only now had a slight bit of information, and may have thought I was aiding Ophidia and his cabal. I am many things, but a heretic isn't one of them. “Cadence was kind enough to send everything via radio, minus the autopsy pictures.”

“What exactly is she talking about?” Delphine asked, using her superior height to intimidate me. In power armor, she was only about seven centimeters taller than me, but she still seemed to think it had an effect. Mostly, her lone eye was the only thing that distracted me. Oleg pulled her back, but I could see he wanted an answer. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and wondered how I could do this.

“We have Ophidia in custody, and his cabal is dead,” I began, understanding they knew this was not the full truth. I took a breath and continued. “While scouring beneath the Crystal Empire's capital, we came across a member of the Black Legion. While Dahl, Taylor, The Ripper, and I were busy with him, Ophidia made his move on the surface.”

“Killing a Space Marine is tough; can't imagine you all got out unscathed.” Oleg was beaming at me, like he knew everything was right, like the guy I devoted ten years of my life to hadn't turned out to be a traitor of the worst sort. “Can't imagine you lot got off so easy, though.”

“Taylor's mostly pulp, and Jacques, the Ripper, I mean, lost his hind legs.” Yeah, I'm sure you understand how tough this was for me. Or, perhaps not, I suppose. “That's why I came to get the Medic.”

“Already here!” She called from behind me, standing next to Twilight. I'll admit, the little pony was faster than I gave her credit for. There was a slight crackle as Martellus's speakers readjusted.

“I realized you neglected to mention Dahl; is he alright?”

“I am afraid to say so, but Inquisitor Reglan Dahl, at least according to the reports we received from the Crystal Empire, was corrupted by Chaos roughly ten years ago, before he met you lot.” Princess Luna, who somehow managed to seem even stranger than her sister, sauntered in, carrying the reports in question. She failed to deliver such news in any acceptable manner, though I suppose there is no such thing.

$%$%$% Taylor's POV $%$%$%

I was finally lucid enough to assess just how fucked up I really was, and wished I wasn't. For one, I made the mistake of tossing my legs over the side of my bed, which sent me tumbling to the ground, without anyone to help. Jacques and Jay had gone off to do fuck all with Cadence and Shining Armor, so I was stuck in some suite, on the ground, in considerable pain. Oh, and one of my feet was pressed against my stomach; I'll let you guess how. My armor was piled just out of reach, and that meant my only way of standing up was pretty much worthless. Nothing ventured, as they say.

Using the one arm that wasn't broken, I pulled myself to the small nightstand, and fumbled for my occipital hood. You know, that little bit my mask attaches to. I slapped it on and rolled onto my back, happy to get pressure off my ribs. Connecting after so much pain felt like a sheet of cold mercury ran over my brain, which felt pretty damn nice. Now the cool part kicked in; you see, I never quite figured out how the suit regenerated, but I had an idea. Like Leviathan, it was, in some small way, alive, and as such, responded to stimuli like any living thing. It was smart, and must have responded to my psychic presence, like it had with the Deceiver.

The cool part wasn't in how I wore it; it was in how I put it on. Removal was manual, but equipping was partially automated. Little bits of black sort of skidded off the table and landed around me, attracted like a magnet. I reached for my mask, which jumped into my open palm, and brought it close to my face. Close up, it locked into place, and my vision was suddenly much clearer. The arms, chest, and upper back came next, so I could prop myself up for the abdomen and lower back areas. As I dressed, I cycled to my suit's power output screen, and noticed how much energy was going where. Here, I could shift energy from psychic boosters to active camouflage, magnetic boots to servo power, and even oxygen filtration to armor regeneration.

If Equestria was going to survive meeting Chaos and the other horrors of the forty-first millennium, we would need allies and strong, local protectors.

Comments

[Rhodesm96]

2656928 Yeah, most stories do seem to only involve the Imperium/chaos, I guess I just have a deep-seated hatred for Tau.

[Rhodesm96]

Also, woo new chapter! The way he put his armour on reminded me of Iron man 3.

[G S tol Kriaal]

responded to me psychic presence

So yer a pirate, now, are ye?

equipping was martially automated

I really hope you mean "partially"

[Chuck Baleigh]

2729350
Educationally delicious.

[ArchAIngel]

Hoping for some ACS suits from the Legacy of the Aldenata series, by John Ringo. Depleted uranium moving fast enough to break through a battleship the long way? The ability to edit their inertia at will? Armor tough enough to survive being at ground zero of a five megaton nuke? Yes please! Love to see bolters handle that!

[iDash]

Hmm, I feel so left out of the loop sometimes. I've never played Warhammer or anything to do with this crossover, really.

Still really good though

[TheAceOverKings]

('Did you know', 'Today I learned') That Chimpanzees Make and Use Spears?
Might want to fix that title.

Anyway, great chapter.

[Proto]

2730200>>2730517>>2730681>>2736217>>2736662>>2737878

Do you guys like my new haircut?

[Chuck Baleigh]

2738423
You got it cut by your mom, didn't you?
I can tell.

[Rhodesm96]

2738423 Whut.

[lolz anonymous]

you know... i always wondered what the dragons do in all those fics were they start invading the planet. i mean they get pretty big, have thick scales that are perfectly fine in lava and they breath fire or various other elements. i'm sure one of the larger ones could take on a drop ship or two... just sayin...

[Chuck Baleigh]

Hi there. Did you miss me? Actually, y'know what, don't answer that.
So you expected a question, right? Yep, I can tell. In that case, considering I haven't read this in awhile, I can't remember which questions I have and haven't asked. I remember answers, though.
Anyways, how does a heavy stubber weapon function? Sounds like a gib-producing weapon to me.

[Razzy]

Luckily, we know that Dahl end up pretty well. After all, he had a weapons brand on Pandora.