Fallout: Equestria - Red Alert

by Obvious German

03: The Wasteland Reds

Chapter 3: The Wasteland Reds

“Even in dark times, we cannot relinquish the things that make us human.”-Unknown

Sunrise, it’s a very nerve-calming sight and one that fills the heart with vigor. This couldn’t be truer for me, at least back in Russia. I shared the view of the sunrise with Vera before the war, amidst the sound of helicopter blades. It was these kind of moments that made me happy to know that I still have hope for the future.

But the wasteland’s sunrise was another story altogether. The sun was barely visible under the thick, grimy clouds and it made me feel dreadful, with only little to no hope of returning. But at least I could see more clearly now, with the outlines of Ponyville being highlighted and reminding me of what Kahn said about the state of this world.

Ravaged by war, it made me shudder. What if my world ended in that kind of way, and she was caught in the crossfire? No, I will die to protect her, but I was not exactly there, was I? I sighed and stood back up, the magazines attached to my belt jingling along with its precarious load of 7.62mm bullets. I had been up since half an hour ago, while the two of them continued sleeping. It was best, since I knew that Dmitri needed more vigor to continue carrying his Vorana while for Kahn, he needed to strength to make the long journey to Gecko. It sounded interesting enough, and maybe there are more things there than here.

I thought about this for a while, after finding two backpacks just nice for us humans. It would be best if I carried the food, that last just enough for the day, and if Dmitri was to carry extra ammo. But I wouldn’t put too much pressure on Kahn, seeing that he was injured the night before. If he wanted to help out, he could. I also decided that after we visit Gecko, the bunker would be our fallback base in times, just in case the Enclave come storming in, presumably for us.

But all in all, the strong will help out first, with the injured later. I looked on the horizons of destroyed Ponyille and huffed through my newly acquired scarf. I had equipped myself with one of the ballistic goggles inside the bunker, the same scarf and one of the intricate weapons inside. Then my curiosity piped up and I pulled out the weapon from behind me. It was quite heavy for a man of my stature and judging from its looks, the caliber of this thing might be able to pierce through an Apocalypse in a heartbeat.

This weapon was oddly built for both humans and even ponies, while being drabbed in a dull shade of olive. Engraved in a silver nameplate on the side read ‘Burn filly, burn!’ and judging from its looks, it could be used by me to some extent. The magazine was surprisingly intact, in fact the whole gun itself was in excellent condition. I saw a few magazines for this gun back inside the bunker, but I really wanted to try out this intricate weapon.

Finding that the scope could be used by me and that my head fitted into the supposed holder that looked like it was designed to assist the user, I looked through it and arced to find a board of plywood sticking out in the open. A target, good. I shifted around for a little bit before finding out that trigger of the gun was surprisingly behind the magazine.

I held my breath, and my hand that gripped the magazine pushed the silver trigger causing the gun coughed out three muffled thumps that set the plywood aflame after the shots. I lowered the gun and marveled at the beautiful display of miniature pyrotechnics, lifting the gun up to gaze upon it.

This will be my secondary weapon, and I lowered it down to raise my arm with the PipBuck. Noticing that the weapon was registered into my inventory named ‘Burnmaster’, I let out a satisfying grunt and kept my eyes on the environment, ever scanning for the presence of raiders.

It was then it struck me, they can smell the plywood being burnt. But it meant little, as I could fend them off by myself. Looking at my Pipbuck again, I surveyed the map for the location of Gecko, having found out I could adjust the view of the world with two screws attached to the side of the screen. I found it quite a distance away from Ponyville, confirming that it would be a long trip. I then marked the location of it with a waypoint, and immediately the visible compass had the marker pointed to the northeast of where I stood.

I cracked my back and shuffled back to the bunker to either wake the two of them up or just rest some more. Rest would be needed, but for how long? I didn’t want to risk the Rangers that Kahn had mentioned coming into Ponyville to commit mass murder for just one pony. After all, we all know that feel.

Scanning my Pipbuck again, the steel doors grinded open and I walked inside, the Burnmaster still grasped on by me. I sought to find a sling, so that I don’t have to be pre-occupied with it all the time. Dmitri was snoring away like the great bears of Siberia while Kahn slept with no sound at all, which promptly scared me, creating the illusion that he had died of his wounds the night before.

Yeah, I think I should just sit and shut my eyes for a bit. Finding a folded up chair, I set it up and just sat in front of the cold metal walls of the bunker. With the other assortment of weaponry still leaning on the wall, I scavenged an unused sling and finding the right holders on the rifle, I could now take it out with ease, not having to worry about the reaction time needed.

Letting out a yawn, I took a short nap and drifted off into a dreamless state of sleep.

--

“Hey, Artyom,” someone called out. I flickered alive and found Dmitri snapping his fingers in my face. How surprising, I must’ve exceeded my original timeline if I had to get him to wake me up. “Sun is shining, and that means we must move.”

No dreams, and no nightmares. I wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or not, but I ignored it. Trying to get up, my feet were numb and I had to stomp it hard on the concrete flooring to get rid of the irritating numbness. Dmitri silently chuckled, not knowing that I could hear it. Dismissing it, I stood up and tightened my trench coat as Kahn rumbled.

“He’s the heavy sleeper.”

“Sleeps more than you,” I replied, finding it rather amusing that a pony could beat a burly Russian in a sleeping contest. At this, I walked over to Kahn and crouched down to give him a quick tap in the noggin.

“Mm… Fuck… Why now…” I chuckled and tapped him again to wake him up from his sleep. I got up and walked over to the steel door, where a carbon copy of the scanner was present in order to open the door. It was a good security measure, just in case that someone happens to be a handsome rogue, or woman.

The steel doors grinded open as Dmitri was busy attending the needs of his weapon, and Kahn still arguing mentally whether to awake or continue snoring. I couldn’t blame him, because he had travelled from Gecko with his now-dead companion and transport animal. Speaking of which, I should ask him what it was. My mind was hungering for information of this world, and its insatiability was going to override my combat skills. Why so, because I was the son of a very intellectual man and a mother with a kindred soul.

But that was not the matter at hand, as my boots thumped during the transition from concrete to broken terrain. Looking through my goggles, there were clearly no raiders in sight, which meant it was clear to move. I then retreated back into the solace of the bunker and found Kahn standing up, quite fazed as he rubbed his face with his hoof.

“Ugh… Don’t knock my fucking head if I overslept…” he grumbled, as he blinked and looked around the bunker. “What time is it anyway?”

I just decided to play along and looked at my Pipbuck, seemingly looking for answers. To my surprise, it did, in fact, show the time. It was around noon, and I knew that most living things would be prowling around. “It’s almost 1230 hours.”

If he knew the 24-hour system, then he’ll know what I’m talking about.

“Using fancy terms, eh? I’m not a dumb fucker, and it’s pretty damn late,” he snarled and shuffled to retrieve his pistol, which sat on the same table where Dmitri was tweaking his Vorana.

“I’ll say,” I responded to the pony before I switched my dialect and spoke to Dmitri. “You still have shells?”

“Plenty, enough to take care of anything big or small,” he replied as he stepped back and flexed his muscles, causing me to chuckle and shift. I then used my sleeve to wipe the plastic of the goggle, making it clearer for me. With the compass already blinking, I decided to hurry them up.

“Dmitri, you ready for the world?”

“Anything, so what’s our game plan?” He spun to face me, as he grabbed a gas mask that would fit him if I was correct. “We’re not just going out there and blast everything on our way there, right?”

“Ugh,” Kahn groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. “Please speak Equestrian, I can’t understand jack from what you’re saying.”

“…Fine,” Dmitri’s hoarse voice begrudgingly responded as he put on the gas mask to see whether it fits. “At least mask fits.” I leaned against the wall, next to the backpacks, and lifted one of them up.

“Now then, we have these,” I explained my plan. “I will carry supplies just enough for the day. But first, let me check whether I can wear it.” Slipping my hand through the hole, I followed up with the other hand going through. It was tight, but soon I found straps and quickly loosened them, making it more comfortable than before. “Alright, Dmitri.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you carry the ammunitions?” Then I drifted off and instantly, I face-palmed myself. We don’t need to carry ammunition, because we have fucking bandoliers! “…Never mind, I take that back.”

“Okay, boss,” he grunted as he went back to the Vorana and used his hands to lift the heavy weapon up, which rested on his shoulder comfortably even with the weight. If I had the right mind to carry such powerful weaponry and to even fire it, I think I would’ve broken my shoulders. But I had two weapons, and Dmitri had only one except for his stashed away anti-vehicular magnetic mines. They will do no good here, for war has taken all of the vehicles away for him to blow up, a pity.

With the sunlight shining on the dull concrete, I stepped outside and sighed. It was going to be a long way to Gecko, I thought as I checked my own ADK beside the other rifle I had. Looking up to the clouded skies, my Pipbuck suddenly sent a jolt of electricity through my nervous system. Momentarily panicking, I stopped and took a quick look at the device. There was something…off, as a line of tangible text rolled across the screen.

There was a new audio file sent to me, and this garnered my attention. Was it Lightspark again? I didn’t know, so I just flickered and moved my fingers to play the recording.

Hello…? Hello? Finally, this accursed device is working…? Ah…There we go! Sorry about the electroshock you have presumably felt during the transfer, but my last message was not very comprehensive about the little details, was it?

Anyway, now that I’m recording, I shall explain to you the dilemma of the world and the features of your Pipbuck. But first up, congratulations on surviving your first night in the Equestrian Wasteland, if you’re still alive and listening.

The Equestrian Wasteland, as you see right now, was created through the Great War, a conflict that pitted the Zebras and the Ponies together with their highly destructive arsenal of balefire bombs being launched on the last day. We never officially existed before the war, and we only came into being after it. The Enclave is in possession of some of the most advanced technology in the Wasteland or even the world, which probably explains how we managed to proceed on with Spacestorm.

But alas, they have taken a special…interest with you, and whoever accompanied you. Be careful, for even as this message goes on, they will track you. I don’t know how, but they can. After the success of the project, they have since relegated us to other projects. I have been replaced, but my link with your Pipbuck has not been severed just yet.

I scowled, I didn’t want to be tracked or followed. The words of Lightspark about the Enclave stalking us had opened up a new feeling: paranoia. Back in Russia, the enemy came head on. But being followed by a enemy above the clouds? It was frightening, and I shuddered. Even with our weapons, would we be able to stand up to the Enclave? I snapped out of my trance and went back to the message.

…Now then, I have just remembered that maybe after a day in the Wasteland has taught you something about your handy device, so I’ll let that be. Also, if you’re wondering why you can understand Equestrian, we have installed a translation software into your Pipbuck, making you tangible to us too. Putting that aside, I’m also encouraging you to help out the ponies below, as it was my dream to. But unfortunately, the council does not allow such ‘filthy’ interactions, stupid isn’t it? Now then, if you may have not noticed, there is a small town named Gecko that’s probably an hour or two away from Ponyville. It’s advisable to go there, since we’ve noticed that a small contingent of Applejack’s Rangers are stationed there because of a faction of raiders that have discovered something…unusual.

But it is nothing dangerous, I assure you. Now then, I must be off. Take care and please, try to help out.

The message crackled to a standstill, leaving me alone with my ADK out in the open. I somehow felt sorry for Lightspark, and I vowed to abide by his wishes. It was my nature to help out the poor and the sick, even after the war. This made my superiors feel disgusted about me, but my nature had saved many soldiers under my limited command. I even remember that one time I had to help our famous sniper, Natasha Volkova, from death’s embrace during a reclamation operation on Krasna Aerospace’s factory. It earned me some kind of mutual respect from her, something that I think Vera would probably kill me for. But I never told her about it, and I didn’t regret a single thing.

I then heard Kahn’s voice broke through from behind, and it scared the crap out of me. “So that’s the pony who sent you here?”

“Gah!” I shriek as my weapons cluttered, causing Kahn to step back in fear. “Shit… tell me the next time you’re behind me!”

“Well, I’m sorry as fuck!” He yelled in anger, and I was justified. I really would’ve shot him, until I just had a feeling it was he only. Dmitri followed suit, with his gas mask ready and Vorana all set for major demolition. “Damn it, why did I have to listen to the Rangers?”

“Pony seems upset,” Dmitri voiced out as he stepped into the sunlight, covering his eyes for a bit with the hardhat mostly helping him. “Want some hay?”

“Fuck no, although that would sound good,” Kahn said, in defeat over the word ‘hay’. I let out a chuckle, then went back inside the bunker leaving the two outside. Walking over to the pile of fresh food, I took off my backpack to start shoving the meals into it. With several bottles of fresh water, we don’t really have to worry about hydration until by some unfortunate accident, we lost almost everything. Kahn also entered the bunker to ask me a question.

“Hey, Arty’.” Gah, a nickname. I hated nicknames. I was called Shirley one time, and then that mission went to hell after we were sent packing by dozens of hounds and Cryocopters.

“Yes?” I responded as I continued packing.

“You two have any caps?” I stopped and checked the trench coat’s pockets absentmindedly just to look for currency we clearly do not have. Finding none, I sighed.

“We have no caps, comrade,” I grunted in clear dismay as the last of my planned supplies were shoved into the back with my hands. “Just us and our guns,”

“Hmm… we could sell off those guns,” Kahn said, causing me to turn around just to find him pointing towards the assorted weaponry leaning on the wall. “I’m just saying, because I can see their worth. Pretty rare stuff, the Rangers wouldn’t mind spending just to get them.” I looked back at the backpack and zipped it up, before wearing it once more as my weapons clattered.

“What are these weapons, anyway?” I ask him with great curiosity. I had eyed these for quite a while, and even taken one of them as a side weapon. But how powerful were they? I’ve only tried one out, and already I’m quite impressed with the ponies’ technology level.

“Enclave-grade weaponry, made for battle saddles and power armor. It’s powerful shit, I tell you,” Kahn commented as he trotted over to the weapons, I followed to just see where he was going with this. Nudging a weapon, Kahn continued.

“Anti-machine guns, assault rifles, basically they’re all powerful if they’re used properly,” Kahn finished off, as I nod. “There’s even a freaking autocannon here, these things can rip through armor like butter.”

“Heh, Dmitri’s flak cannon does the same,” I reply, knowing of a weapon similar to his prized weapon. “But how are we going to carry them? Your…cow is dead.”

“I know, and it’s called a Brahmin,” he replied as we moved outside the bunker. “I think we might need some help. Once we get to Gecko, I could persuade one or two ponies there to help us out. But I want to let you know one single thing.”

“What is that thing?” I respond as I held out my ADK and aimed it at a building, just to make sure my aim is still there under the goggles.

“Let me do the negotiations. I don’t think the Rangers are going to take you guys in at first sight,” he said, causing me to sigh in frustration. Are they that paranoid? With the addition of our arrival due to the Enclave, I think we would be burned on spot already. I had no worries now, since I know Kahn won’t try to sell us out because we saved him.

“Alright, do what you can and we’ll be guarding you. Anything else we need to know?” I asked him as Dmitri kept ambling about, attempting to shoot something out of boredom.

“Oh yeah, be careful with radiation, ‘cause it’s pretty much everywhere,” Kahn advised and I listened. Radiation was one of the things back on Earth that we avoided with extreme caution. It could do many, unimaginable things to the human body. Luckily, the Union has no weapons that could cause such high radiation, do we? So now that I know there’s radiation around, we have to more cautious. I walked up to Dmitri to tell him this.

“Huh? Radiation? Sounds pretty bad,” he replied. No shit, was it bad. “Guess that means we have to be careful.”

“Dmitri, it’s fucking radiation! Of course we have to be careful!” Sometimes, that man is a little dim-witted, but he’ll make it up for it at the end anyway. I was now tensed up, and several red lines appeared on the leftmost corner of my vision. Oh shit, here they come.

“Kahn, I think we’re going to have an early morning skirmish.”

“Why?”

“Four raiders, coming our way,” I reply as I reached out for my Burnmaster, eager to try it out. Kahn saw it and whistled.

“That’s a zebra rifle, I’ve only heard of one pony who ever had one!” He exclaimed, causing me to chuckle and resume my guard stance, Dmitri also following as he broke into a sprint for cover across the bunker. “Looks different from a regular one.”

“It certainly is, Pipbuck tells me it’s called the Burnmaster,” I replied and slid behind cover, Kahn following with his specially built pistol clenched in his jaws. “Let’s count this encounter as a test run, shall we?”

“Go ahead, I always wanted to see how these rifles work,” Kahn replied as he popped his brownish muzzle out of our cover and watched the approaching raiders. “They’re coming in about five seconds.”

“Good,” I responded and looked to my left, to signal to the awaiting trooper for free-fire. I held my breath and clutched onto the gun, waiting until the perfect moment to open fire. I felt the adrenaline being injected into me, and the time gradually ticked on.

The raiders finally came into view on the street across us, and I raised my rifle to pull the trigger.

“Eliminate them!” I shouted with pure hatred, drawing the attention of the surprised raider ponies. Dmitri let loose his flak cannon and instantly, one of them vanished into fine red mist. Kahn fired his pistol and gutted the acid-green one in the brains while my Burnmaster set aflame one of them who was levitating a shotgun above his salvaged armor. He screech and shortly tumbled on the ground to extinguish the flames and the pain, but I ended his pitiful life after that.

We emerged from the shadows and took them head on, with Dmitri using his Vorana now as a makeshift club that smashed the skull of another raider. Kahn was taking all of his anger out on one of them, for killing his friend. I could hear him over the thumps of my rifle.

“Have a load of this, cock sucking piece of shit!” I couldn’t help but chuckle amidst the noise of pure chaos. In just a minute, the raiders were all eviscerated, with Kahn still beating the hell out of the now-dead raider.

“Want some more, bitch?!” I wiped the blood off of my goggles and went over to the enraged pony. I stood by the bloodied hooves of Kahn as his punches slowed and eventually, he stopped.

“Whew… it hasn’t been that long since I’ve taken out on somepony like that…” he gasped, frantically breathing for oxygen. I patted him on the back and helped him get up from the brutal bloodfest.

“Take it easy the next time,” I told him as I went into the darker side of me. On the open, I seemed like a normal soldier who fought for his country, but on the inside I know every single thing about torture. Pure, bloody torture. I never told anyone about this, and the knowledge of torture remained in me with all the new information I sucked up during the war. “Next time, try to do it more…painfully.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Kahn spat out at the dead raider, the blood pool gradually expanding and his or her weapon covered in splotches of red. “We gonna take their ammo?”

“Just do it,” I responded as I walked over to the raider who possessed a rifle which magazines looked like it was compatible with both of my guns. Crouching down and grabbing it, I scoured the base of it for a bolt and pulled it back, ejecting the magazine which I caught. Scrounging around the pony’s self-made bandolier, I found more 7.62mm magazines and ones compatible with the so-called Zebra rifle. After finishing my check, I stood up to find Dmitri reloading his flak cannon and Kahn having moved away into the shadows of some destroyed buildings.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” I asked Kahn as he looked back on me.

“Havin’ a headstart, buddy,” he responded as he continued trotting on, with me signaling for Dmitri to move ahead. We followed on and soon we were well on our way to the town they call Gecko. In the meantime before anything else happened, I took this time to ask Kahn about the geography of the wasteland, in case there were any other settlements before Gecko.

“Well, there is Hoofington, pretty far away though but that city is almost indestructible. Then there’s an abandoned train station on the way to Gecko, actually there’s a few more stops even before the station.”

“What stops?”

“A junkyard littered with feral ghouls, a swamp populated by radigators, a military base filled with uncontrolled sentry bots that I learnt not to deal with, a hospital with unspeakable atrocities and finally, that fucking Enclave research station that for months, pissed off the Rangers at Gecko.” Well, Lightspark did say that he wanted us to help out the good ponies, so would he approve of my plan to help out the Rangers by destroying that station? I shook my head and continued striding along the path, having the feeling that we were being watched.

“Artyom,” Dmitri called out from beside me as he tensed up and prepared to raise his Vorana. “I think there’s something watching us.” Then it was that damned music that made its way into my head started blaring.

“If there is, let God sort them out,” I reply with confidence that whatever watching us would not attack us, as the horrible music went on. It was then I felt something thump with my ushanka, causing me to stumble and grunt while the noise intensified.

“Gah! The fuck…?” I fumbled with my Burnmaster and in panic, aimed my rifle at every nook and cranny in Ponyville. Kahn moved to act, and Dmitri leveled his Vorana to blast the would-be assailant to smithereens. Eventually, a silver orb with four transperant teal wings came into my vision, causing me to scowl in dismay at finding out the source of that painful collision. “What the fuck is this?”

“Ain’t that a Spritebot?” Kahn remarked at the floating robot as it continued blaring music, with Dmitri in the corner of my vision ready to slag it. “Annoying little buggers, although some ponies who have been to Ponyville said that these guys here could talk.”

“How about we find out ourselves?” I respond as I leveled my Burnmaster at it, just as a precaution. Then the music that was actually being emitted from it stopped and in came a rough, grand and wise voice.

Indeed, you’ve just found out.

“Mother of god…!” I growl and was all too ready to blast this damned robot into pieces. Everything about it screamed ‘Enclave’ and because of that, it warranted destruction. The voice came back soon.

I know you’re all surprised at the Sprite-bot suddenly talking, but hear me out. Let me introduce myself, I’m Watcher.

Okay, that’s good. But what I wanted to make sure if this ‘Watcher’ was not an Enclave spy. “Good to know…”

If you’re wondering and judging from your Pipbuck, you are both not of this world and very paranoid of the Enclave, yes? Then do not be afraid, for I am not part of their stinking organization. I’m just simply a being who controls the robots of the land and offers advice to wayward wastelanders.

“Go on,” I mused as we all stopped and took out time to listen to Watcher.

Just be aware though, this is live and I can hear whatever you’re saying. So since you’re not native to either Equestria or the wasteland, I will ask you what you are and where do you come from, do you mind?

“Ahem,” I coughed and straightened up, feeling a little silly just for the sake of decency in front of a root that was controlled by a being I couldn’t even see. “I am a Soviet, of Mother Russia.”

Interesting, I’ve also noted that you and your…companion, happen to be soldiers. Is this true?

“Yes, Watcher. We are soldiers for the Motherland and we were sent here by these Enclave for a fucking experiment.”

Ah… so that’s how you got here. I feel a little remorseful for you two, and I’m glad that you’ve actually had the heart to help out a pony in need. But the reason why I sent the Sprite-bot here isn’t just for the questions, but because I need to tell you something.

“Is this relating to the scientist?” I ask the robot as I looked at my Pipbuck, reflecting on that message earlier on today and his words of something unusual in Ponyville.

Perhaps. Anyway, there is something…here in Ponyville. Its just here, built by Applejack originally as a mining machine to, you know, mine diamonds and other materials...? . It was completed just before the war, and during the war, she commissioned for heavy weapons platforms to be installed onto it instead. I was never let on to this due to my slumber, but after I woke up, I found out about it but I refused to tell anypony about it. This machine is the source of the raiders, under the leadership of Chase. I watched his moves and his plans, and I fear something bad is going to happen soon.

“This involves us, right?” I ask him, wanting to bore through the veil and knowing more about this machine. It certainly sounded like trouble, and it was most likely why there are plenty of raiders around. There might’ve been more before I came, but who cared?

Yes, it involves you and your friend. I know, after I watched the both of you expertly eliminated the raiders assaulting your friend’s caravan, and I commend both of you on that. Please, garner the support of the Rangers in Gecko, because they have the weapons to destroy it for good, as within the bowels of the machine lay multiple balefire launchers, all loaded and inactive until given the signal.

Of course, that was our whole point being here. Sent through the ruse of an experiment before being revealed that we were actually meant to destroy a monstrous war machine, as Watcher said. If that was our purpose and if the Enclave was into this situation, we would be too happy to oblige the destruction of it. In actuality, I was the one getting confused and so was Dmitri. If it was dormant inside the town for so long, why hasn’t it been destroyed for so long? Why were we meant to destroy it?

So I just went along with him, still remembering Lightspark’s mantra. “Okay, we’ll do it.”

“Artyom, are you fucking insane?” Dmitri snarled at me, presumably because of my supposed badly thought decision. “If they wanted to destroy such a machine, they would’ve brought in the entire Soviet army!” Now that was a very, very excellent point. We Soviets have the toughest armor in the world, so why bring the two of us here just to fight it? It was still counted as an accident in my book, so I knocked my head in dismay.

“You’re right, Dmitri,” I said to him and went back to talking with the floating robot. “It was an experiment, and you’re just picking us to fight it, are you?”

Maybe, if you weren’t so negative. But consider the mission, if you wish to think about it. The machine, tell the Rangers about it and its name, the Scarab. It cannot be allowed to be used by Chase, the head raider of the contingent here nor can the Enclave use it, where it will undoubtedly end all of life. Just think about it, and I will let you all go for now.

The music came back and snapped us out of our trances, just as Dmitri and my Pipbuck lighted up with text. The robot then floated away, until it vanished in the light of the midday sun. I was now deep in thoughts, the Scarab sounded dangerous as hell and with Watcher’s demands to destroy it, maybe there was a reason why we’re out here.

I lifted up my hand to reveal that the screen had already listed out the mission Watcher gave us, I nodded in advance and continued on, leaving Dmitri and Kahn behind befuddled.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Gecko, let’s just move now,” I sternly responded as I no longer want to dabble around any longer in this foreboding ruin. “If we don’t want to be meat.”

“I’ll say,” Dmitri grunted as he sprinted to catch up with me, his Vorana locked and loaded. Kahn followed along with his pistol at the ready and his mind clearly scrambled on what to do.

“Alright, we ready?”

“Anything works, boss.” I looked at Kahn and snapped my fingers, causing him to jerk and pay attention to me, also making me grin a little.

“Oh right! Let’s GO!”

Then we set off, off to Gecko.

--

Soviet Saviors

Objectives:
• Reach Gecko
• Enlist the aid of the contingent of the Rangers there to destroy the inactive Scarab
• (OPTIONAL) Enlist the help of other splinter and stand-alone factions on the way
• (OPTIONAL) Help out anypony in distress

--

Comments

[Queen Snugglebug]

You have caught my interest.
So please, continue..

[Dubious]

Well, at least it's not a pair of GDI commandos... I'm serious, they would tear the wasteland a new one. Also the scarab probably would be crushed in seconds by an Armored Core (From the Armored Core games).

[Deathpony]

Fallout Equestria and Red Alert? Keep writing it.

[Greenhorne]

Alright, I've never played Red Alert so I'm probably missing a lot, but I am enjoying this story. Love the concept of human soldiers in Fallout Equestria (it is my concept after all ). For some constructive criticism, the first chapter is telling us a lot about the protagonist, rather than showing it, you 'say' that he is 'a born leader' and 'a great tactician' but it would be much more compelling to 'show' us these traits through his actions. Overall, a good read so far, I'll let you know what I think once I've read through chapters two and three as well.

[metallusionsismagic]

The English seems really poorly translated, and the two soldiers are very unlike the Conscript and Flak Troopers in-game. I realize that not every trooper would not realistically fit the same stereotype, but they are both wildly different from their established template.

Conscripts are young, misinformed peasants that aren't aware of the realities of war, and they are played for laughs. ("Next time I drive tank, okay?" - when under fire) Their "training" consists of a firing range and a propaganda movie, and perhaps some physical fitness regimens. It's not intensive, heck, it's not even adequate. Artyom may have more experience, what with being a veteran, but now he's got more ammunition (and panic attacks from thinking about his girlfriend) than personality. Where's the RA3 humor?

Flak Troopers are always grumbling about their imprisonment, and their Flak Cannons are actually better anti-air weapons than anti-armor. They have satchels of explosive mines meant for taking care of ground vehicles more efficiently. (Of course, they have a tendency to be run over when moving close to vehicles, which detonates all the mines at once... Ka-boom.) They are sarcastic and have a dark sense of humor about things. ("Hold this for me." - when using mines)

This video has both units' quotes (including death noises, if you're wondering what's with the extended sections of shouting) to give a taste of their usual personalities.

Randomly warped into the world for experiments is a better excuse than just dying and turning up there (though that's awfully close to what happens), but it's still extremely flimsy. Was the purpose of the warping project to escape Equestria by switching places with a more fortunate universe's inhabitants? (If so, HAA HAA they really picked the wrong pair to switch with! ) EDIT: The reason given in later chapters (to stop a nuclear device from being activated) is strange. Why pluck two nobodies from a different universe with a low chance for success to do that? They should/would have gone for someone actually important if they were looking for a hero from another universe, like Natascha or Tanya! (Though the former is less useful without a Badger squadron on standby.)

TL;DR The writing is nearly illegible, the characters are flatter than the Trinity test site's ground zero, and their reason for being there is complete BS. Dangit, I just want to see one good Red Alert story!

[The Well Dressed Ninja]

• (OPTIONAL) Kill EVERYTHING!!!!

[Donutethespartan2]

update anytime soon?

[Obvious German]

4256258 Do please read up Red Alert's history, since this is clearly a RED ALERT crossover, not a World War Two one. A man-portable flak cannon is probably the least ridiculous thing in a world filled with anime-based 3 story high mechas, transforming destroyers, lethal tesla coils utilized as offensive weaponry, and giant ants.

[hailmyself]

Red Alert Conscript in Fallout with Pony ???

THAT IS AWESOME !!!!!!

[BlackouTRoguE]

update any time soon?

[icedude94]

this has a MASSIVE potential.....Original Fallout: Equestria Potential

[NotDerpy]

Please update, this story pweaseeee

[OozeLock]

The Flak Trooper is SURPRISINGLY civil.

[A Tin Can]

Does anyone else not see that the Scarab in this is a copy of the Scarab from Halo? Including the description? Seriously, Halo Scarabs really were originally mining vehicles...

[Fading Soul]

Da, comrade. You have my rapt attention. Do continue.

[Amethyst Blade]

huh...is this story dead?

[Brainless]

More plz.