Fallout Equestria: Little Boxes

     The Steel Rangers trudged through the thick mud that had formed overnight, their eyes looking around in case a savage raider or a brutal slaver decided to take a chance with the heavily armoured soldiers and start shooting at them. Nearly all of them packed a heavy energy weapon, one of them even carrying a rare Laser Minigun. They were all bedecked in extremely heavy MES armour. They looked like they meant business. And they did. After all, a group of 15 or so Steel Rangers prepped for war walking around the Wasteland weren’t there to hand out pamphlets for a party. They were there to assassinate somepony. Brutally.

    Paladin Post Code followed the tracks of the raider filth that had left the peaceful settlement of New Canterborough in flames and ruin. The augmented vision his suit provided him allowed him to see the tracks the raiders had left in the viscous dirt path leading up into the hills. He could see the campfire smoke coming from the raider fireplaces up on the summit, and he could smell the unnatural scent of burning meat. He grimaced in disgust.

    “Sir, the raiders appear to be residing up on the ridge there. Permission to wipe them out?”

  Post Code looked at the Knight that had just contacted him.

    “No. Not yet. Wait until we are closer to our target. We’re here to perform an assassination, not an extermination. Carry on walking.”

    Marksmare looked though Lightbulb’s scope for the fifth time, just to double check that she wasn’t tripping out on something bad. Again, the insanely armed and armoured forms of a Steel Ranger kill team marched towards them, MES suits gleaming in the cloud-covered sunlight. After she realised that they weren’t hallucinations, she swore. Boss walked up to her, grinning.

     “What’s going on?”

      “Take a look through Lightbulb here.” Boss looked through the rifle’s scope, and was rewarded with the sight of the Steel Rangers slowly making their way up the hill.  His stomach dropped.

    “Are those...?”

  “Yup.”

“Oh, shit. Get the Boys ready. All of them!”

     Post Code’s squadron walked up the hill’s slope, guns at the ready. They were nervous; you could easily see it written all over them. Post Code didn’t like it. He contacted the Knight that had PM’d him earlier.

    “Knight, you now have permission to open fire on the raider camp.” Even though they were silent, the Paladin could see the wrathful joy in her stance.

     “Will do, sir. Getting a target now.” She levitated her rocket launcher and aimed it at the nearest tent. She suddenly stopped. In front of them, a pony was twirling around, as if he was dancing, slowly moving towards them. As he got closer, Post Code realised who the pony was.

    “Over there! It’s Boss! You, Knight! Change your target to that piece of filth ahead!”

      “Yes sir! And the name’s Blossom, Ok?!” She yelled and pointed the massive rocket launcher directly at him.

    "Have a nice day, you fu-aag!” A bullet suddenly ripped through her eyepiece, and she fell, her cranial fluids leaking out of the rupture in her head. Post Code yelled something, but it was lost on the massive shout given by the raider leader.

    “OPEN FIRE!”

      As one, the Boys that had secretly surrounded the Steel Rangers began firing all their guns at the Steel Rangers, smothering them in a blanket of metal rounds and laser bolts. They kept this up for at least a good ten seconds, before they realised one small detail. Their guns weren’t doing anything. The Steel Rangers began to walk head first into the hail of bullets and laser fire pattering off their Magically Enhanced Steel Armour like rain, firing back in return with heavy weapons and plasma bolts, scything through the Boys as a farmer would cut down wheat. Boss ducked behind a rock as a stray plasma bolt ripped through an unlucky boy, cooking him from the inside out. Marksmare crawled up to him, cradling Lightbulb in her hands. She yelled something intelligible over the hail of fire, but Boss could easily read what her mouth said.

      “I kill. You cover. In ten,” She began motioning with her hoof, counting down in seconds. Eight. Boss set his rifle to auto, and looked around, noticing two Boys cradling a HMG to one side, both of them hiding behind a rock. Six. Boss flapped around and caught their eyes, and preformed a motion that both of the Boys instantly understood. Four. Lines flicked her safety off and began edging to one side of the burned out chariot the couple were hiding behind. The two Boys and Boss finished loading AP rounds into their respective guns and tensed up, ready to spring into action. Two. Boss winked at his marefriend.

One.

Zero. Go go go!

      Boss and the support team popped over their cover and spat out a hail of concentrated fire at the Ranger kill team, forcing them to dodge for a moment as the storm of Armour Piercing 7.62mm rounds proved too much for their ablative layers of MES to handle. As one Ranger yelled as a bullet punctured his shoulder, Marksmare dodged around the other side and rested Lightbulb through a burnt out window, putting a .308 AP round straight through the eye-visor of a Paladin carrying a cumbersome Laser Minigun, spattering his companions with pieces of metal, blood, and brains. To their credit, they only flinched slightly.  Marksmare ducked back behind cover as the Rangers turned their attention to her, filling the chariot with holes. However, without the massive Gatling Laser, the suppressive fire rate was greatly diminished. Without the storm of laser bolts to keep them down, the machine gun team rose up again and hosed the Rangers down with another round of bullets, killing another unlucky Ranger carrying a plasma pistol. Suddenly, a laser round went through the head of the gunner, and she jerked backwards, sprawling over. The loader ignored his comrade’s death, and took the gun for himself, springing up to fire. Another laser round punched through his eyeball, pooping the sack of jelly and frying the brain tissue behind it. Boss saw them both die in less than a minute. Marksmare fired another round, it ripping through the shoulder of another Steel Ranger. Boss saw his chance and dived for the machine gun, only attracting a few shots. He clicked the ammo belt in securely and leaned out the side of the rock, pressing the trigger as he did so. He didn’t hold back this time. He exhausted the clip of ammo in one go, screaming like a stallion possessed. Marksmare took the opportunity to place more precise shots into the squad of Rangers, blowing their brains out in a fine haze.

Eventually, the machine gun ran out of bullets. Boss ducked behind cover again, and counted to five. When no shots came his way, he peeked out. Nearly all the Steel Rangers were dead. Only a few remained alive, and they were badly injured. One of them started pleading with Boss.

     “Please! We surrender!”

     “Oh good,” said Boss, and drew out a pistol, firing three quick shots in succession.  He killed the first two Rangers easily, but the last one’s MES reflected the bullet easily. Boss was about to put another bullet through his skull, but then Post Code spoke.

   “You fucking bastard! They gave up and you butchered them!”

      “Do shut up.” Boss fired another bullet at Post Code’s leg. This time the round entered his armoured knee, and Post Code yelled in pain.

     “I said shut up!” Boss pistol whipped the Paladin, sending him sprawling. He then pooped the sealant ring arounf Post    Code’s helmet and yanked it off him. Paladin Post Code knelt in the sodden mud and dust of the Wasteland, staring at Boss with utter disgust.

   “You are a stain upon the soil of Equestria, raider. You deserve to burn. In fact, that would count as light punishment for somepony such as you with such a black soul! You deserve and will be thrown into the deepest, most fearsome pits of Hell!”

     Boss cackled and leaned in close to the senior Paladin’s face, his grin stretched impossibly wide.

“Don’t you think I know that already, fucker? I’ve done so many, many bad things over the course of my stint as a gang leader, enough to guarantee me a little spot in Hell marked ‘reserved.’ However, I choose to face my eventual fate with a spring in my step and a smile in my face for I know that nothing that I can do can change it!” His nose touched Post Code’s face.

       “I swore my soul to darkness and chaos a long, long time ago. And now I exist to propagate it by any means necessary! I gladly burn down villages and rape little fillies, knowing that each time I do so drives the world one step closer to the state that I’m currently in.” Boss pointed the gun at his temple and made a swivelling motion.

      “Insanity. In a society such as ours, that is the only thing that can keep you alive. Oh, and mercilessness, I suppose. And a big gun.” Boss put away the gun and drew out a switchblade.

     “But first. Please do enlighten me as to which Chapter sent you.” Post Code spat in Boss’s face. Boss didn’t even bother to wipe it off as he sliced a massive chunk of cheek muscle off the Paladin.

     “I said, which Chapter sent you?” Post Code couldn’t answer, as the pain was unbearable. Boss grabbed the raw muscle and drew Post Code closer to him.

     “Didn’t you hear me? Which.Chapter.Sent. You?” Post Code attempted to speak, forcing the words out in a barely audible gurgle.

     “...Fillydel...ter...” Boss smiled.

       “There we go. It would do well if you answered my questions as soon as I asked them. Not that I need to ask any more questions.” He quickly drew the sharp blade across the Paladin’s throat, severing the stallion’s jugular veins. The look of shock on Post Code’s face was almost laughable, as he gurgled and coughed. Eventually, he stopped struggling and lay still. Boss regarded the corpse of the once-noble Ranger with contempt. He turned and left the impromptu interrogation area.

   Back at the command post, Turmoil pored over a map of the region. His lieutenants surrounded him confidently.

      “Right. as I said before, The Fascists control One-Five and the area surrounding it with an iron hoof. there is no way we can launch a successful assault on the site without being wiped out. We don't have the numbers, the equipment or the stupidity required to win." Turmoil looked up from the map he was staring at.

"We need allies. Everypony and anypony we can get." He looked at Specs.

"You think you can get some of your Twilight Society contacts with you?" Specs rubbed the back of his mane.

"I dunno, boss...it's been a long, long time since I spoke with 'em. Me being a raider doesn't exactly help our argument."

"Well, you can try. Also, please paint the armour sets we just looted to our colours. Let's inspire a little fear into our enemies, eh?" He turned to Morphine.

"You still in contact with the Reapers?" Morphine shook her head."Well, reopen contact. Talk to Zodiac, see if you can get him over." He turned to Bluebell.

"Blue, start training the bucks and mares in anti-PMP tactics. I know without a shadow of a doubt that they'll be using that particular technomagic again." Bluebell saluted in response. Morphine spoke, her voice muffled by the rubber surgeon's mask tied around her muzzle.

"And you? what will you do?" Turmoil looked apprehensive for a moment. He replied, uneasy.

"I...I'm going to contact the Anarchists. I have to, they have the materials and soldiers. Besides," he paused for a second, taking a deep breath.

"I promised my father I'd visit."

Level Up!

Turmoil:- Distraction: This is classified as an Order. Turmoil can use this command on his raiders. When used, a raider will lay down a field of suppressive fire, drawing the attention of hostile targets to them. As long as hostiles are Distracted, you and your raiders’ attacks count as Sneak Attack Criticals. Distracted enemies are no longer Distracted when they stop firing at the raider/s acting as Distractions, the raider/s acting as Distractions are killed, or you or a raider makes a successful kill with a Sneak Attack Critical.

I fucking hate procrastination.