Upon a rude awakening, the mysterious Zero finds himself in a life he doesn't remember.
A pony warrior is found in the depths of the post-megaspell city of Neo Arcadia. While he may be suffering from amnesia, Zero is determined to fight the evil forces that have arisen in the midst of his absence. This is a crossover of Kkat's popular Fallout: Equestria with the "Mega Man Zero" video game series. Thanks to G-Man64 for pre-reading this!
I awoke from a sleep which had felt to have lasted for an eternity. My eyes adjusted to the gentle blue glow coming from the monitor across the room, and I noted my surroundings. I was in an open capsule, and above me were some robotic arms retracting into the ceiling. There was only one exit: a door not far from the foot of the capsule that was my bed. Below the screen was a metal desk with various metal parts and tools on it, in addition to a keyboard and a few slots.
"Good, you are awake," the monitor said. It now had a white "X" on it. "The repairs to your armor are 100% complete."
A look at my black underarmor and metallic red overarmor confirmed his statement. Although, my normally yellow mane appeared more orange than usual.
"How long was I out?" I inquired.
"It took me approximately 100 years to complete your repairs. That was one massive beating you took, and I was alone using what spare parts I could find," was his reply.
My mind flashbacked to a large glowing pink sword hovering over me. Wait, don't I recognize this voice? Why does my head hurt when I try to remember stuff?
"Who are you? Don't I know you?" I casually asked.
"Well, I guess you suffered memory loss from the damage you took during that battle. You may call me X. Do you remember who you are?"
"Not really."
"You are Zero, the-"
The ceiling shook violently, cutting X off. There was a moment of silence.
X's voice was suddenly in a panic. "We've been discovered! Quick, you need to get out of here!"
There was another tremor, and what sounded like an explosion.
"But first," X continued, calming down, "you need your weapons."
Handles popped out of two of the slots in the desk. "Use the green crystal in your helmet to levitate them; hopefully you can recall how to defend yourself."
I levitated both white weapons into holsters on my hips. One of them resembled a pistol, while the other was just a handle.
"Now, go upstairs to the surface. You may encounter drones, so be careful. Goodbye, Zero, and may we meet again."
I nodded, and headed out the door. It opened up to a long spiral staircase that only proceeded upwards. Bald blue and cyan ponies could be seen near the top. Except that they weren't ponies, because ponies don't have large glowing red X's for faces. Those must be the drones. I drew the pistol as I ascended up the spiral. My white pistol, shrouded with a green glow, fired several yellow shots at the drones, but that didn't stop them. They just kept on coming. A few had spotted me and were aiming their back-mounted energy rifles at their target. Suddenly, I felt time slow as I dodged the volleys of yellow energy bolts and replied with a few of my own. One was hit in the face, and another's weapon detonated. There goes four of them. Still six left. Time returned to normal, and we were coming up to each other fast, so I decided to just dash though the enemies. Confused, they turned around to see me head for the giant blasted hole in the wall that was situated at the top of the stairs. That must explain the tremors. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate the fifteen more drones guarding the makeshift entrance. Unloading my firearm into them only wasted my ammo; these guys were equipped with riot shields. It's time to test out the other weapon. I drew the handle, and a long glowing green triangle blade ignited out the top. Left and right I slashed at the enemies that now surrounded me. My blade left red hot incisions in their bodies, revealing the drones' mechanical internals. Almost there. Just a few more. They had completely surrounded me by now, but I was determined to escape. Not that I had a choice. The drones did not speak, nor did they react to being sliced straight through. They are just heartless machines, after all.
With the many destroyed drones behind me, I exited the building and found myself in the ruins of a city. It was still populated, as I saw ponies and zebras walking the streets.
"Welcome to back to Neo Arcadia, Zero. Have a nice sleep?"
I turned to my right to see a yellow maned white pegasus clad in green armor. He had a gem encrusted into his helmet similar to my own, except his was red.
"I was wondering when someone would finally revive you, " he went on. "Fortunately, I was able to track down your crystal's signature when it came online."
Was this guy behind the attack?
"Did you send the drones?" I demanded.
"But of course; Master X wanted you found and brought to him at all costs. I was afraid that you would not come along peacefully, so I brought some security."
X. Was this the same one that repaired me? It could be logical...
Magic green hoofcuffs were suddenly materialised around my hooves, and the pegasus inspected my gear. I found myself unable to draw my weapons, I guess due to the effects of the cuffs.
"Let's see here," He mumbled as he levitated my weapons himself with a green glow. "A standard issue Buster Pistol, and... What is this?" His green eyes lit up and a smile formed on his face as he activated my blade. "An energy saber. I have two myself; a very handy weapon."
He deativated the saber and placed the weapons back into my holsters. Raising his hoof to his muzzle, he reported, "Zero is in my custody. He and I will be returning to Area-X via Trans-Server."
He lowered his leg and looked toward me with a piercing stare, as though he expected me to say something.
"So, X will be there, huh?"
He waited there for a moment, and nodded with a sigh. "Come on, we need to get going."
I followed the green and white stranger down the street. It appeared that the ratio of ponies to zebras living here was around four-to-one. Many of the ponies were conversing with others, while the zebras kept to themselves. On each corner was a drone standing guard; they seemed to be ignored by the citizens. Down an alleyway, I observed a zebra running while being gunned down by a drone. That didn't sit right with me.
The pegasus noticed, and exclaimed, "Another Maverick? Why are so many stealing from us; we provide food, security, and housing. They should be grateful." He sighed. "Ever since the shortage..."
"Shortage of what?"
"Well, mainly food. We have been running off a huge stockpile that was found a few decades ago, and it is almost gone now. Ever since word got out of a possible shortage, many citizens have resorted to stealing from the richer of us."
"Why not farm the land?"
"Don't you remember; most of the area outside the city is either desert or raider territory. We've tried trading with the raiders, but I personally am against cooperating with such murderers. And, obviously, deserts are completely useless for growing anything."
"So, what exactly is a Maverick?"
"Mavericks are enemies of the state; criminals, you could say. Most of them rebel against our authority in an effort to establish peace. The amount of Mavericks in Neo Arcadia has risen dramatically within the past few years."
"Why was that Maverick shot down? Did he not have the right to prove his innocence before being sentenced to death?"
"Well, as Master X puts it, 'The fewer sinners to feed, the more bread for those who deserve it.' I'm not a big fan of that idea, but he is in charge, after all."
He sighed following his last statement. We soon approached the entrance for a small red building guarded by two drones. Upon entering, I noticed the large white pad on the floor. Connected by wires to the pad was a control panel. My captor punched a few buttons on its keypad, and the pad began to glow yellow. He motioned me to join him on the pad, and the world was bright white for two seconds.
When my vision had returned, we found ourselves in a long room. Must have been some form of a teleportation device. At the end of the red carpet was a silver throne occupied by an earth pony. This earth pony had similar armor to my own, but was colored blue rather than red. His blue and cyan helmet concealed his mane, and had a red gem on it. His elbow leaned on the throne's armrest, and his head rested on his hoof.
"Welcome back, Harpuia," he greeted the pegasus. "And with him, my old partner, Zero! My, it has been too long, old friend."
"Master X, what should I do with him?" was Harpuia's reply.
"First, you should uncuff him; that is no way to treat our guest." He looked at me with his blue eyes. "I apologise for Harpuia's attitude," Harpuia rolled his eyes, " he is probably afraid he's about to be replaced as Second-in-Command."
"I was thinking nothing of the sort!" Harpuia retorted. " My concern was whether or not he was still sane after all this time. He could have-"
"That's enough for now. Why don't you leave Zero and I to speak alone for a moment?"
Harpuia deactivated his hoofcuff spell and stormed through the doors behind me.
"So, Zero, where have you been all this time?"
X's question caused much pain to me, as I could remember little.
"I-I'm not completely certain, " I managed to muster up. "When I awakened, I was in some sort of capsule...in the sublevels of the city..."
"So, you have trouble recalling your memories? Very interesting. How far back can you remember?"
"Memories from before my awakening are blurred; I am uncertain as to why."
"As am I. You just up and disappeared all those years ago."
There was a long silence.
"Zero, are you in need of a job? Because, if so, I am willing to allow you to work with the Guardians to get back into the swing of things. Maybe you will someday have the opportunity to reclaim your position at my side."
I contemplated his proposal. I may not remember much of X. However, I feel that the X I once knew is somepony to stand by. He appears to be doing all he can to improve this city's conditions, and if I can help at this level, I definitely should.
"Alright. I accept your offer."
"Very good!", he grinned. "Now, could you send in Harpuia? I need to speak to him about our little arrangement. While I am conversing with him, feel free to ask Iris where to lead you to your quarters."
I nodded, and exited the same way that Harpuia had done earlier. On the other side of the large double doors, I was in a reception of sorts. There was a scarlet mare with a long brown mane. She sat behind a desk, reading a terminal screen through square framed glasses. Across from her stood Harpuia, who was lost in thought until I approached him. He looked annoyed to see me.
"X would like to speak with you, " I spoke calmly.
"I'm sure he would..." He sighed as he returned to X's throne room.
I turned to look at the mare. "Are you Iris?"
Startled, she replied, "Y-yes, I am. And you are?" She raised her brow.
"I am Zero, a guest of X's. He told me that you would have a room for me?"
"Oh, really? Then I assume he wants you to have that room. Follow me."
I walked behind her through several corridors and hallways, to arrive at a moderately sized bedroom.
"This is X's secondary living quarters. He never uses it, and thus the occasional dust and cobwebs," Iris explained. "I'm sure this is the room he wanted for you, being his guest."
She left, leaving me alone in this blue room. There was a wonderful view of the city from the large window across the door. Before heading to rest, I took some time to read some of the books on the bookshelf regarding Neo Arcadia's history. Apparently X and I were, at one time, hailed as the city's greatest heroes. But I disappeared, leaving X in charge for the past century. How or why I left is not mentioned, and there is not enough information to speculate. Better get some sleep, anyways.
I slept very little that night, mostly due to the loads of questions going through my head. Am I really this Zero they call me? And if so, will I ever live up to my reputation? In addition, the environment that I am in is very new to me. That further increased my discomfort. In the morning, I was met by the ominous grey cloud cover above the skyline of Neo Arcadia. For such a large settlement, one would expect more noise during the day. Following the putting on of my armor, I approached my door to find a terminal informing me of the location of the meal hall. Mental note - Room 256. Above my doorway was the number "309", so it would be logical to ride an elevator down one floor.
...
Finally! The lift! I thought after walking down what seemed as hundreds of the same hallway. Fortunately for me, the elevator was not far from the Dining Hall, and I arrived to find breakfast started already. X was, as I could have guessed, at the head of the long table. Occupying four of the remaining five seats was Harpuia with three others who looked almost the same as him: a strong red and white stallion with a huge saddle, a purple and white pony wearing a red face scarf, and a blue and white mare with a unicorn horn above her helmet's crystal. All conversation among them stopped, and they instead stared at me.
"Ah, good morning, Zero!" X greeted, breaking the silence. "Please join us. But first, allow the Gaurdians to introduce themselves."
"Hey, man! The name's Fefnir," the red one said to me.
The purple clad pony stated, "You may call me Phantom."
"Hello there, Zero," spoke the blue mare. "I'm Leviathan. Nice to meet you."
"In case you forgot, I go by Harpuia." The pegasus still seemed annoyed from yesterday.
I sat down to find a blue can slid in front of me. It had a black "E" printed on its side.
"Drink up! You'll need your strength," explained X. "We have a lot ahead of us today. Oh, and, Harpuia," X stood up, "would you instruct Zero on how to use the Trans-Server?"
Harpuia grumbled an inaudible response.
"Good," X continued. "We'll all meet at the Command Center in one quarter of an hour."
We all nodded as X exited the room, and he was followed by Phantom, Fefnir, and Leviathan. The liquid in the blue can left me feeling recharged, and I followed Harpuia to the Trans-Server room down the hall. It appeared the same as the others I had been in.
"So, Zero, to use a Trans-Server," he motioned at the button-filled control panel, "you simply type the ID of the location you want to go to. For example, the ID for any room in Area X is written as 'X-Room Number'. What's your room number?"
"309."
Harpuia stepped aside. "Try sending us there."
I typed in "X-309" using the keypad, and the room responded by filling our vision with white for a couple seconds. Following the return of my sight, I could plainly see the interior of my room.
"See? Nice and simple. There is a Trans-Server on every floor in here, in room zero. Now, in other areas, they may have their own ID system, so be sure you know what it is before heading there."
I nodded in reply. Now that I think about it, "What's the number for the Command Center?"
"Hm? Oh yes, it's '301'. Not far from here. But we can use the Trans-Server if you like."
He pressed a button on the face of the terminal by my door to reveal a Trans-Server control panel next to it.
If only I had known earlier. I transported us to the Control Center, where we were met by the others. This room was expansive and oval shaped. In the center was a circular desk with several ponies reading terminals and tapping buttons. We were standing on a large Trans-Server pad situated in front of said desk. There were huge screens all over the walls showing feeds of different areas along with seemingly random statistics and data.
"I assume Zero can operate a Trans-Server now?" inquired X.
I nodded.
"Good. Now, Zero, for us to communicate via radio, I need to install a device on your wrist. It will be quick, just stand still for a moment."
He clamped something onto my foreleg. It was like a long tube with a screen on it.
"There you go. Try it out, would you?"
Remembering what Harpuia did after my capture, I raised my hoof to my mouth and said, "Hello. This is Zero. Testing." I heard my voice come from everypony else's radios.
"It appears to be working," I figured. "So, what am I required to do?"
The four Guardians stood with puzzled looks on their faces.
"Quite perceptive, Zero," responded X. "To test your loyalty to our cause, I do have a simple task for you. I wish you to meet up with Aztec Falcon at the Disposal Facility to oversee the execution of some Mavericks. Nothing too dangerous or difficult."
"Who's this 'Aztec Falcon'?"
"He is one of my field officers," Harpuia replied.
"When can Zero do a mission with us? I want to show him my moves!" The outburst came from Fefnir.
"In due time. But first things first, right?" X's words dampened Fefnir. "Harpuia, please step off the pad." He complied. "Zero, if something goes wrong, notify me immediately."
I nodded, and was whisked away to a green room with a glass wall. On the other side of the glass, several zebras and a couple ponies could be seen. Twelve zebras and three ponies to be exact. Standing next to me was a yellow pegasus who was wearing light white armor while sporting a square-cut green mane. I assume this is Aztec Falcon. Even though he appeared to be tough guy, it was blatantly obvious that Harpuia possessed much better armor.
"Zero, huh?" Aztec Falcon sounded unimpressed.
I nodded. Thinking out loud, "These guys must have done some pretty terrible things to just get killed like this."
"Doesn't take much to get on Master X's bad side, " was his grumbled answer.
Looking at these acclaimed Mavericks, something seemed odd. It was the look in their eyes and faces. They weren't acting as criminals; if anything, they were scared for their lives. Confusion and terror painted them, but Aztec Falcon was not affected. Not at all.
"How are they to die?" My question was straightforward enough.
"Drones will come in and shoot them, one by one."
Just shot and killed, just like that? Sigh. If this helps, then it is to be done, I guess.
The lights suddenly went out, leaving all of us in pitch-black darkness.
The groaning of the generators could no longer be heard due to their being shut off. I unsheathed and activated my saber, providing a faint green glow.
"Why did the power go out?" I asked.
Aztec Falcon rolled his eyes. "It's obviously them."
"Mavericks?"
"Not just any Mavericks-" Frantic hoofsteps came from behind the glass. "It's the Resistance."
He opened the door into the execution chamber, only to find it empty. The lights suddenly returned, revealing a door that had, most definitely, been forced open.
"Backup generators must have kicked in. Thankfully they didn't tamper with those," Aztec Falcon mumbled.
Entering the adjoining hallway, I found the pony guard to not be dead, but only unconscious. Aztec Falcon did not see this, as he was running after the escaped prisoners. I managed to catch up to him, and we could see somepony go around the corner. A large room awaited us; it appeared as a loading and unloading area for prisoners, considering the tall garage door on the opposite end from us. It was open and occupied by a tank-like troop transport of some kind. The escapees were climbing into the back of it. Helping them were four or five zebras and ponies fitted with green uniforms.
"No one is leaving. PERIOD!" The command left Aztec Falcon as he pushed a nearby red button that was on the wall. The garage door started closing, but caught on the top of their transport. This rendered the vehicle incapable of moving.
"Hold on!" It was a female voice. "Let's talk about this, OK?"
Out of the transport stepped a pale white unicorn mare wearing a pink coat. Her mane was yellow, and she had sparkling blue eyes.
"What is there to talk about? You're all convicted felons here, and deserve to be killed!" Aztec Falcon responded, stomping his hoof on the metallic floor.
"Now just wait a second. I have a suggestion: if you allow us to leave, then we will never bother Neo Arcadia again. We don't want more to be killed, only for this unnecessary conflict to end."
X's voice came from my radio:
"Kill them all."
I raised my radio to my mouth and replied, "Why? They mean no harm. In fact, none of ours were murdered today. We should just let them go!"
"Wrong words, Zero. If you can no longer be of use to me, then you must be retired. Aztec Falcon, I give you permission to take down Zero."
"My pleasure." Aztec Falcon said while smirking. Around his hoof armor appeared electrified bladed claws. He dashed at me, swiping his hoof. I rolled out of the way and assessed the situation. He seems to be good in melee combat, so let’s not fall into that trap. I drew my pistol and fired several shots at him, and at the same time jumping out of his reach. Aztec Falcon was hit by the unexpected bolts, and flew into the air. He swooped down at me, and I dodged. He was met by the ground, and stood right back up.
"Think you're so smart, eh?" He flew up again, this time returning fire with lightning bolts from his clawed hooves. I managed to avoid two, but was hit by a third, sending me on my back. Flying over, he prepared to stomp on me from above. During his fall, time seemed to slow. I ignited my saber just before he made contact. Time returned to normal, and Aztec Falcon went limp atop of me. He had been impaled by my saber. I turned off my blade and pushed the dead corpse off of me. The Resistance soldiers, the mare, and the escapees stood amazed.
"Nice try, Zero." It was X's heartless voice again. "But failure is not an option."
My body was instantly in unbelievable pain. I fell to the ground, paralyzed, and was surrounded by a force field emanating from my radio. Is this the end? Am I truly going to die here? From my fading vision I saw a magic sparkling object float out in front of the mare from the Resistance. It was saying something, but I hardly caught anything. The electrifying pain was taking over. Darkness filled my vision as my consciousness slipped from reality. However, my death was interrupted by a flash of light alongside a scream. Strength returned to my body, and color to my eyes. The radio on my wrist was destroyed, and the magic barrier with it. I stood up to find the mare on the ground, weeping.
"Passy...." she mumbled through her tears. "Passy..."
A Resistance soldier came to her aid. "Miss Ciel! Are you all right?" He showed concern in his voice.
"Passy..."
It was all that she said.
"What does 'Passy' mean?" I inquired of him.
He replied by putting me in hoofcuffs. “Now, just because you saved us does not mean you are one of us. Until we figure out exactly who you are, you might as well be a prisoner.”
Ciel looked up at me. "She.. she gave her life for you...." she managed to muster up.
With one final sniffle, Ceil stood upright and quietly thanked me. We boarded the vehicle, and somepony shot the button that held the door in place. The door lost power, and thus gave our transport just enough leeway to scratchily escape from the metal jaws that once held it captive. We appeared to be moving quite quickly, considering our vehicle to be propelling itself via treads. I stood amongst the soldiers and refugees in the cargo area. There were pink cushion seats along the grey steel walls, but the tension had been too much for anypony to sit down. It seems that the others, namely those rescued, expected Neo Arcadians to show up, and all of them crammed their faces into the solitary window to convince themselves of otherwise. Desert is the only notable thing to be seen, except that there is so much that it is not actually worth seeing. Not even Neo Arcadia is in view anymore, only the yellow sands.
After approximately an hour the sun began to set below the cloud cover, and we approached a base of some sort. The green building looked more as a bunker than a base upon closer inspection. It was definitely weather-worn; the paint had chipped and cracked in too many places to count. A garage door opened up to reveal the interior, and our vehicle crawled to a stop within. The room was flooded with off-white light. More Resistance Soldiers entered the garage; some helping the passengers, and others investigating the condition of our vehicle. One tried to talk to Ciel, who then straightened herself up and walked out through the door on the opposite wall. I got out and stood over in the corner, awaiting some sort of orders. Eventually everypony else had left, with the exception of one soldier. This stallion in particular had a faded blue coat alongside a navy blue mane, and he wore rectangular white goggles with blue lenses.
“So, you new here?” he politely asked. I nodded. “Alrighty then, allow me to introduce myself. ‘Name’s Colbor. Yours?”
“Zero.” At least, that is what I have been told.
“Well, Zero, I’m sure there is an extra bunk in my room for ya, if you’re in need of someplace to sleep tonight...”
I lifted a hoof as far as I could to reveal the chains binding them.
“No prob. We don’t really have a prison, so one of the empty rooms will have to do. Just follow me.”
On the other side of the door out of the garage was a grey hallway. The walls were composed of large metal plates, and a couple of doors occupied each side. At the end of said hall was an elevator with a huge “G” painted beside it. Upon entering the elevator, I noticed that it had two doors; the one we entered through and another directly across that probably led to another hallway identical to the one we had just been in. Colbor tapped a button marked “4” and down we went. Exiting the elevator, we entered the first door on the left to find a very huge yet very empty room. The lights were turned off, making it very dark.
“I’ll lock this door, just in case, and come get ya in the morning. G’night.”
He closed the door behind him, and I drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the fighting and everything.
"We find ourselves in an interesting situation, Zero."
Shortly after dawn, the mare known as Ciel had called me up to her office. The steel walls showed significant wear from the past century, but her desk was as tidy and clean as possible. Old, yet still nice and organized. Ceil herself was much more composed than when I last saw her.
"Although you managed to save us in yesterday's mission, we are still unsure as to what side you are on. Thus the security. " She pointed at my hoofcuffs. "If you truly wish to work with us against X, there is one thing I need you to do to prove it."
She levitated a photograph from her desk, showing its contents to me.
"This supply train is to arrive in Neo Arcadia at noon today. You are to make sure it doesn't get there. Aboard are several items we could benefit greatly from: food, weapons, and, if my sources are correct, even an Elf."
"What, if I may ask, is an Elf?" I asked.
"You don't know?"
I shook my head.
"To put it simply, an Elf is the pony's soul that has been separated from its body and attached to a talisman of some sort. They were some experiments from during the War. To us, they appear as a floating orb of light. Their talismans allow them to cast a single-use spell, but they die right afterwards. For example, Passy was a restoration Elf. She ... " Ceil was holding back tears. " ... she used hers on you to restore you to full health, but at the cost of her life."
"I ... I see. She was very important to you, I take it?"
"She was ... my best friend."
*****
You would think that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to board a moving train. Turns out, the Resistance Base has a Trans-Server of their own, albeit one in barely functioning order. It had decided to work today, as I am currently atop the train. I do not wish to think about where I would be had it malfunctioned. The roof of the red passenger car on which I was standing was also occupied by drones: the blues I'd seen before, and a purple one with a yellow oversized left forehoof that resembled a shield. Six shots from my buster took care of the blues, but the purple one shielded itself with it's yellow limb. Not wanting to risk close combat, I dove for the hatch and landed inside. Strangely, no guards; only crates. Moving to the next car, I planned where I was heading.
To stop this machine, I must destroy it's engine. Logically, it would reside in either the rear or front for most efficient usage. Considering pulling has more control than pushing, it must be at the front.
The two drones never stood a chance against my saber. Huge piles of weapons littered this car. Most of them were in poor condition, and were as no weapon I had seen yet. They appeared to launch metallic projectiles instead of shooting energy bolts.
But a weapon such as that becomes effectively useless once it has no ammunition left. That, and wouldn't energy weaponry be better for penetrating targets anyways?
*****
I assumed the large mechanical complex in the frontmost car was the engine. As I walked closer to inspect it, a flamethrower extended out of it as several lights in the room went red. I rolled backwards to avoid the burning heat from the gas-powered weapon, only to be met by spikes shot from holes in the ceiling. Dang, those pierced straight through my armor and body, leaving small wounds all over. Stopping to think for a second, I realized I smelled neither gas nor coal; where was the engine getting it's fire from?
Two blue drones and one purple stormed in behind me, alerted by the alarms. The purple charged at me, and I jumped over it. Timed slowed, allowing me to fire at the blues and follow up with a buck to the purple. When everything returned to normal speed, I turned around to find the purple get burned to ashes by the engine's flames. It's yellow limb may have survived, but only to get stuck in the flamethrower's muzzle. The sudden clogging of it's output caused the heat to build up in the engine.
Fearing a sudden meltdown, I ran as far down the train as I could to escape the explosion. Said explosion flew me out the back and onto the ground. The force also stopped what was left of the cars, and out of the flames of the engine's remains flew a small, bright light identical to the one I had seen emanating from Passy.
*****
Back at Ciel's office, we discussed the result of the mission.
"Good job, Zero. We were able to salvage most of the supplies, although about 13% of them were burned up in the explosion. Still better than what we could have done on our own. As for the Elf, it was found as well. It's talisman appeared to contain some sort of protection spell, or would, if it had not been damaged by the blast." Her report reflected her mixed feelings concering the mission.
"Is the attached soul alright?"
"Not to worry; souls are indestructible, after all. Totten will be fine, although not able to perform his ability until his talisman is repaired. We're working on it."
I released the breath I did not know I had been holding.
"So, I would say that, overall, you get an overall score of B. That is mostly due to the damage you took, along with the explosion. Not bad, but could be better."
"Am I part of the Resistance now?"
*Sigh* "I guess so ... you did comply with our deal. Now, I'm sure you are pretty worn out, am I right? Go get some rest." She waved her hoof in the direction of the door.
"Just one question: have you found out where the train was recieving its power from? I say no steam engine, or really any byproduct gases of any sort."
"Huh. Well, the only thing I can think of is the Elf. But using a soul as a power source ... no, it could never work. Could it? I don't know, does it really matter?"
"N-no, not really ..."
"Then get to sleep, before I make you leave. We do have guards, you know." Man, her stare-eyebrow combo is freaking me out.
I left the room, to return to the empty from the previous night. It was there I rested yet again. I really need to request a real bed ...
