CONFOUND THIS EGG-SHIP!!!!
A group of people sat before a television set, mounted into a stainless steel wall. A man in a crisp, grey uniform with Captain’s bars stood nearby, smirking. When he spoke, he had a slight British accent, but his other features were currently un-discernible due to the low lighting. “All right, you bleeding idiots. We’re almost done charging, and we’ll be leaving soon, but the boss decided you all should get a good look at this bloody news clip.”
And with that, the captain hit the play button, and took the last available seat in the front row. The screen flickered to life, showing a man in a crisp blue suit, with luscious, combed back brown hair, sitting behind a white desk in front of a white background. “Welcome, one and all, to this special report. Today, we recognize one of the galaxy’s most prominent MechWarriors. And before you ask, no, he’s not part of the Davion army, nor was he a part of Steiner. This mysterious man is a mercenary, who played a very big role in the battle for Tharkad, seven months ago. This man is only known, as Specter, current Grand Champion of Solaris, and defender of peace, so it is said. Coming up from only a lance of mechs and pilots, he rose through the ranks, becoming the leader of a Grade A Mercenary Company, working with the famous Kell Hounds. He played the role of attacker, and defender, fighting many a foe, and never losing a victory. Archon Peter Hanse Steiner-Davion, commended this heroic mercenary, of which he said, ‘Without this man and his loyal comrades, this fight would have never been won.’ Now, MechWarriors have flocked to Tharkad and Outreach, seeking to join this Mercenary Hero in search of Fame, Fortune, and a good old fashioned fight. Rumor has it, that all who join are trained by a Clan Warrior turned Mercenary, who would only be identified as, ‘Falcon.’ In these few months, the two lance company became a full blown regiment, making a temporary base on Tharkad, with the Archon’s permission. Even now, from the Chaos March to the edges of the Inner Sphere, people are requesting aid from the mercenaries under the command of Specter, or, if they get lucky, aid from Specter himself! What is in store for Specter, and his ever growing band of Mercenaries? Only time will tell. And now to Diana with the-“ The captain stopped it there, standing to address the gathered people. With a nod of his head, the lights were turned on by a man in the back, revealing the Captain’s features.
He was middle aged, with low-cut black hair, a squared face, and a decent five o’clock shadow to go with his deep, brown eyes. “Alright you mongrels. Back to your posts! We’ve got a job, and just because the news hounds are finally taking full interest in our regiment, doesn’t mean that we have it easy. Now, Specter gave us our job, now let’s get to it!” The men and women, all in similar dress, stood and snapped to attention. That’s when the Captain noticed, that four spots were empty. ‘The spots meant for our MechWarrior passengers,’ The Captain noticed. He gave them all a salute, which the men and women all returned, before the crew went to ease as one before departing. The Captain stayed a moment, watching the spot where the MechWarriors were SUPPOSED, to have been. With a sigh, he shook his head and walked out of the room. “Misfits. Only there when ya really need ‘em.”
Hrothgar dropship: Spirit Hunter
Area: Mech Bay
Time: 16:00 hours
Four figures sat around a crate in the mech bay, in the shade of the giants they piloted. Three males, one female, all holding two cards, with wads of cash piled on the crate. The first man, was lean, slightly muscular, and wore a brown leather vest over his grey uniform, with a dark brown Stetson on his head, covering his short-shaved hair. His face was only slightly rounded, with a small smirk on his face. His lightly tanned skin spoke of hard work in the sun often, and his deep green eyes sparkled like emeralds. To his left was the woman of the group. She was tall, had only slightly curves, dark red hair that went down to her shoulders, Caucasian, wore nothing over her uniform, and had blue eyes and an impassive look on her face. To the cowboy’s right was a man, dark skinned, with a thoughtful expression on his face, also wore nothing over his uniform, had darker hair than the cowboy, cut short, and deep brown eyes. And finally, was a man who was obviously older than the other three, yet wasn’t even out of his thirties. He was Caucasian, wore the ranks of a Major on his uniform, had short cut black hair, and had one of the best damned poker faces around, which fit with his steel grey eyes.
The four each set their cards down as one. The cowboy had a pair of tens, hearts and diamonds, the dark skinned man had a nine and eight of spades, the woman had a king of hearts and a jack of spades, and the steel-eyed man had an ace of hearts and a jack of cloves. “Black Jack folks, read it and weep,” he said in a gruff voice. The other three groaned in exasperation as the man collected his prize money, stuffing it into his pockets.
The cowboy got up from his seat and threw his hands in the air. “DAMN IT! Ah thought Ah had that one!” he said in his southern accent. The winner and the dark skinned man shared a laugh as the cowboy pulled off his hat and threw it on the ground comically.
The woman rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, give it a rest, Blitz.”
The cowboy, Jake “Southern Blitz” Morales, grunted and waggled a finger at her as he bent down to pick up his hat. “You wait, Cannibal. Ah’ll beat y’all in this game yet.” The woman, Ruth “Cannibal” Campbell merely rolled her eyes, while the dark skinned man waved Jake off. Jake turned on him next. “AH’LL GIT YOU TOO, EAGLE!” The man, Rick “Eagle Eye” Wilder, started laughing at that.
“Hahaha! The day you beat me, Cannibal, and Cross, is the day I start missing shots, Blitz.” He said in a deep voice. The steel-eyed man, Major Erin “Cross-Guard” Ruiz, chuckled at all of them.
“Oh come on now, you all know I can’t be beat in this game! Lady Luck just won’t stop smiling on me!” Everyone chuckled at that. They had searched him several times, before, during, and after games, and had to eventually accept that, luck was indeed on their commander’s side.
The group shared another laugh at the friendly banter, until the loudspeakers came to life, the Captain’s voice ringing clearly. “Attention all personal! We are jumping systems in five minutes! MechWarriors, wherever the hell you all are, get yer arses in yer bloody mechs! Soon as we get in system and land, I want you all on the ground! Make it happen people!” The four MechWarriors burst into action. Erin collected the cards and stuffed them into another one of his pockets before everyone in the lance bolted for their mechs, crouched down in the gantries behind them. Jake went straight his mech, the lightest, and fastest in the lance, his Uller. The Uller was painted a dark blue, and on the right gun, a yellow smiley face, giving a devilish smirk and forever winking with a cowboy hat was painted on, followed by the words, and his call sign Southern Blitz in a lighter blue.
Rick jogged over to his mech, and the lance’s medium, his Uziel. It was painted an old Forest Camouflage design, with the words Eagle Eye on his mech’s right torso. On the left torso of his mech, was an eagle’s actual eye, with a crosshair painted into the iris. Ruth was already climbing the ladder into her mech’s cockpit. Her mech was the lance’s heavy, a Thor. It was painted a crimson red, with a cartoon depiction of her wearing a silky black dress, leaning against the right side of the mech’s torso, while licking blood off her left hand, with the word, Cannibal, painted in neat cursive under that. Erin was right behind her, climbing into the cockpit of the team’s assault mech, a Templar. His was painted a dull grey, while on the right shoulder; a shield was painted, with a golden cross inlaid in that. On the right arm, it stated boldly in bold, white letters, Cross-Guard.
Once in their mechs, all four mech warriors stripped down to their undershirts, shorts, and boots, slipped on cooling vests, and sat in their command chairs. As soon as Erin started booting up his mech, feeling it hum to life underneath him, Erin turned on his comm channel, Jake’s voice coming through clearly. “Hey Cross, mind reminding me why we’re heading to the very edge of the God-Damned Clan Space?” Erin sighed and recited the mission specs once more.
“We’re being sent into clan space by Comm Star. One of their historians found an old record of a planet of which the coordinates to were long lost. They hired us, and by that, I mean our mercenary group, to send a lance and a dropship of personal to the planet. If we do not respond or return within a single month, then the Commander will either believe us dead or MIA due to the Clans. WE got chosen at random, least, so I was told.” Silence followed on the comm channel as the MechWarriors strapped themselves to their command chairs, pulled on their neurohelmets, finished powering up their mechs, and waited.
On the Bridge…
The Captain looked over his crew as they went to work, smiling at the progress. He walked over to the comm station and keyed in the signal for the JumpShip, Crack Of Dawn.
“This is the captain of the Spirit Hunter. Crack Of Dawn, are we ready to go?”
There was a slight pause before another male voice answered. “Just about, Spirit Hunter. Hope you are ready. Once we’re in system, you detach and head for the planet. Remember to send up a signal in the next forty eight hours! Jumping now!”
The Captain looked out the window, watching as the stars seemed to start to stretch, before they went through hysperspace, not even staggering from the pull, having been used to it. The radio crackled to life again. “Alright, Spirit Hunter! We’re in system, and the planet is showing up on the scopes! Good hunting!”
The Captain grinned and nodded, setting the communicator back down on its cradle. “Alright everyone! Detach from the JumpShip, and let’s get down there!” The collective “Aye!” brought a smile to the Captain’s face. As the DropShip detached from the JumpShip, the Captain got a full view of the system’s sun, but something was off. “Mr. Ramsey, is it me, or is that sun awfully close to Crack Of Dawn?”
The Navigation off, LT. Ramsey, took a look at his scope for a second before grabbing the communication device, pointing to the pilots. “GET US MOVING TOWARDS THAT PLANET NOW!” The Captain knows that Ramsey would never make an order unless it was urgent. The pilots nodded and went to work, shifting the ship into a full burn towards the planet below. Ramsey keyed the comm to the JumpShip. “Crack Of Dawn, this is Navigations officer Ramsey of Spirit Hunter! Get out of there now! You’re close to being pulled into the sun’s gravity well!”
The JumpShip kicked into action, its thrusters going to max as well, but the ship refused to move. The frantic voice of the JumpShip’s captain sparked through the comm. “Spirit Hunter, our engines are maxed, but we can’t move! That, and the engines are going critical way too fast! I think someone tampered with our engines! We’ll try to--!” Before the captain could respond, the engines of the Jumpship suddenly cut out, pulling the ship towards the great ball of gas, before imploding, along with the rest of the ship. The resulting shockwave quickly expanded, washing over the fleeing dropship, and to the crew. The Captain staggered, barely keeping upright.
In the Mech Bay, several crates of ammunition and supplies snapped from their secured positions, sliding about the bay, but thankfully, keeping away from the Mechs. Erin immediately keyed into the bridges comm channel, ignoring his lance’s yells of confusion. “Captain, this is Major Erin! What the fuck was that!?”
The Capatain staggered over to the comm as several panels exploded and started to spark. “Major, this is the Captain! Someone tampered with Crack Of Dawn’s engines, and the explosion did a number on us! We’re close enough to the planet, so I’m going to Hot Drop you and your lance. Standby!” The Captain didn’t bother with hearing the reply, turning to another man, at a separate set of controls. “Get those Mechs out of here God Damn it!” The man wasted no time, flipping switches and keying in commands.
Back in the mech bay, clamps snapped onto the Mech’s feet, and the gantries gave way. Shell’s came down from the ceiling, covering a mech each, before the bay doors opened, the loose supplies flying out into the void of space.
On the bridge again, the captain was directing the operator. “Steady man, steady! Release them all at once, and at the exact right moment!” The operator complied, holding off the release button. A few seconds later, the Captain slammed on the console. “NOW!” The operator wasted no time in flipping the switch. As soon as he did, all four mechs, now safely in their shells, were released from the bay, sliding out, aimed directly at the planet down below. The Captain nodded in satisfaction. “Gods Speed, MechWarriors.”
Location: Equestria, Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Twilight Sparkle was enjoying one of the newer books in the library, ruffling her wings to get slightly more comfortable. Spike was out with the Crusaders and all was quiet. That was, until something louder than a Sonic Rainboom happened. A loud explosion sounded off, causing several books to fall from the shelves. Twilight teleported outside, looking to the sky, to see what resembled a Sonic Rainboom high in the sky, before vanishing completely. Following the explosion, four stars started falling towards the Everfree Forest. She immediately took off towards Sweet Apple Acres to look for Spike. She needed to send a letter.
Location: Everfree Forest
Time: 4:35 p.m.
The Everfree forest was peaceful, even with the explosion high above, until four egg shaped metal objects landed in the Earth with deafening booms. Luckily, no critters were harmed. A few were brave enough to come out of hiding, only to dive back into it when the four eggs split in two, revealing four massive BattleMechs, ready for anything. Jake immediately checked his scanner before reporting in. “All clear, Cross. If there were clanners, we’d have been surrounded by now.”
Cross nodded and checked his own scanner to confirm it. He was about to try and contact the Spirit Hunter, when another deafening boom sounded from above. Ruth checked in before he could ask. “I’m pretty sure that was the Spirit Hunter, sir. I think it’s safe to say, we’re alone now.”
Erin cursed under his breath before keying his comm back. “Alright folks, we’re alone now. Delta protocol is initiated. We wait and hope Specter sends others looking for us, but right now, we scout.” Erin couldn’t help but smile at the excited “YEEHAW!” from Blitz. This WAS his specialty, but there was too much ground to cover right now. “Alright, everyone. One thousand meters from this point. Blitz, you take the South.” Blitz didn’t even wait for the other assignments, turning south and making his way through the trees at a brisk pace. “Cannibal, head west.” Her mech stiffened and spun around, a solid “Yes Sir” coming over the comm in report. “Right then. Eagle, head east. Try to keep off the trigger, will ya?”
The Sharpshooting MechWarrior chuckled over the comm. “No promises sir. Anything attacks me, I won’t hold back, and you know it.” And with that, Rick was off, trudging through the trees. Erin shrugged and turned north, wading through the trees with ease. He reached into a compartment near his command chair and pulled out a wooden cross that he always carried with him, muttering a quick prayer for his team, and anything that gets in their way.
Location: Everfree forest, Diamond Mine
Time: 4:37 p.m.
MechWarrior(s): Jake “Southern Blitz” Morales
Jake made his way through the trees, thanking the fact that his mech was just tall enough so that his cockpit was JUST above the tree line as his mech waded through them, knocking them down effortlessly. Considering the fact that the constant thudding of his mechs feet and knocking down trees had dominated his hearing, he kept a constant watch on his radar.
He kept at his pace for another three hundred meters before picking something up on his radar; a white blip. “What in the hell…? There’s never a white blip….” He smacked it a few times for good measure. It was getting closer as he progressed. When he was a full hundred meters from it, he halted his mech, and turned the external microphone up to max, also activated his external recorder, which recorded anything heard inside the cockpit and that the mic picked up, as well as a camera view of the front of the mech. He was surprised when he picked up a conversation, loud and clear too!
The first voice was definitely female, speaking in slight British accent. “You ruffians! How uncouth, ganging up on a lady like this! Shall we have a repeat of the last time we met!?”
The second voice was rough, as if the voices were forced. “Grr, you will take diamonds no more! You coming with us, be silent, and help us find and mine diamonds!”
Jake whistled lowly. “Well now, Ah wouldn’t be able to call mahself a gentleman if Ah didn’t help a lady in need.” He threw the throttle forward, making his mech rush through the trees at a nice, brisk pace again, while the conversation continued.
“How DARE you! Very well then, if it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get! I’m not as fragile as I once was!” At that, Jake couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘This woman’s sure got some guts, I’ll give her that!’
As soon as he burst through the tree line and out onto a path, he moved his mech so he could view the fighting, only for drop his jaw and suddenly be glad he was recording.
In the clearing, he saw the most unbelievable sight. A white unicorn with a purple mane and tail, finely styled, was levitating gemstones around her in a twister like fashion, staring off against six bipedal….Dog…THINGS, armed with rusty swords and pickaxes and wearing polished armor. Obviously, they cared more for their style than their weapons. Neither side noticed him at all! The unicorn suddenly started launching gemstone after gemstone at the dogs, which raised their arms in defense. One of the dogs hopped into the air before diving right into the ground, appearing behind the unicorn several seconds later.
The unicorn, however, expected this, and stopped her fire for a moment, turning all of her ammunition into a single shield, blocking the blow from the Dog’s pickaxe. She then teleported, TELEPORTED, away with the gems, and started to fire them at the mass of Dogs again. What she didn’t notice, was that two of the dogs had dived into the ground. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as she was suddenly pulled neck deep into the ground, one of the Dog’s hands paws popping out and grabbing her horn, cancelling her…..magic?
One of the two dogs popped out of the ground in front of her, with a dog wearing a studded diamond collar and a red jacket. He grinned maliciously at her. “We meet again, Pony. This time, we win! Now, so that you never forget…” He produced a knife from inside his jacket, kneeling down and grabbing the unicorn by her hair mane, getting ready to cut it off.
Though, he was interrupted by the sudden loud buzzing, yelps and wails of pain behind him, and the scent of burning flesh. He looked over his shoulder, and the sight he and the other dog beheld caused him to drop the knife, which hit the dirt harmlessly. All of his comrades, friends, fellow Dogs….Were nothing but charred husks. Not even a scrap of their armor survived. “Hey! Over here, ya overgrown Sheep-Herder!”
When he stood and looked towards the source of the booming voice, as well as the other Dog and the unicorn, all were staring in utter shock at the giant before them, standing on hunched legs, the end of its right arm smoking, indicating it as the killer. “Yeah, that’s right! You, in the red vest! That really how you folks treat a lady? Shameful is what it is.”
The Dog gulped at him, unable to find the words to answer the giant. The unicorn was astonished more than scared though. She wanted to lose her lunch at the smell, of course, but the fact that this giant did what it did to protect her, made her feel a little safer than she was at the moment.
Jake grinned. His intervention was timely, and probably stupid, but not in his mind, no matter the species, you don’t gang up on a woman, even a clanner woman. He smiled evilly at the Dog from his command chair. “Now then, why don’t y’all bring that lady outta the ground and dust her off, then GIT, before I blast ya like Ah did yer friends!”
The dog wasted no time in complying, stamping his right foot three times. The dog beneath the unicorn removing his hands from her horn and pushing her up by her hooves, setting her on the ground before plugging up the hole. The dog with the jacket, then quickly, but gently, dusted the mare off to the best of his abilities, before grinning sheepishly at the Giant and diving into the ground, the other surviving dog following suite.
The mare gulped, facing her savior, who now stared at her. She cleared her throat before addressing it. “Hello there. I guess I am to thank you for saving me. My name is Rarity, might I know yours?” The giant seemed to contemplate it, when in truth; the pilot was, trying to guess how to respond to a first contact situation like this. He shrugged and decided to wing it.
“Y’all can call me by the name you see here, Miss Rarity.” Rarity was about to ask, when the Giant turned its torso, showing a strange face with cowpony hat on, followed by the words Southern Blitz.
She immediately thought of her friend, AppleJack. Shaking her head, she watched the Giant turn back to face her. She smiled at it, guessing it wasn’t going to hurt her. “Well, thank you kindly for your assistance, Mr. Blitz. Might I ask, what are you?” The Giant chuckled at her question. “To put it bluntly, Ah’m a MechWarrior, ma’am. I take out the bad guys with really big guns. Anyways, y’all have a nice day now!” And with that, the Giant turned around, and started to plow through the trees.
Rarity shook her head, in awe of what just happened. When the stench of death entered her nose again, it took all of her willpower NOT to vomit up her lunch. With a sigh, she collected her gemstones into her cart, and started to haul them back to Ponyville. She needed to see Twilight about this MechWarrior…
Location: Everfree Forest, Froggy Bottom Bog
Time: 4:41 p.m.
MechWarrior(s): Rick “Eagle Eye” Wilder
Rick smashed through the trees easy enough. His mech was big enough to keep its torso above the tree line. He was only two hundred and fifty meters out, when a yellow blip appeared on his radar. He frowned at this. “Hold on now, radars are only supposed to show Blue and Red blips. Something wrong with the damn thing?” He frowned and halted his mech, unbuckling himself from the command chair, and opening the panel under the radar, staring at all the wires and plug ins. Everything was in complete, working order, so it set his mind to curious. He shrugged and closed the panel, situating himself in his command chair again, and buckling back down.
It was then, he saw something astounding. Four, serpentine like heads popped above the tree line, and seemed to be hissing at some sort of threat… Rick wasted no time in turning on his external mic and external recorder, then setting forward again, albeit a slower pace. When he broke through the tree line, he saw an amazing sight that made him do a double take.
The four heads? All belonged to a Hydra, from Terran mythology. And on the ground, was a buttermilk yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail. Neither seemed to notice him, which was odd. He DID stick out like a sore thumb. “Perhaps this paint job is actually doing its job...Nah.” HE chuckled and turned the external mic’s sensitivity all the way up. Even so, he could barely, and amazingly, catch the Pegasus SPEAKING to the hydra!
“Um…Excuse me, Mister Hydra. I know those explosions upset you, but you’re scaring the other animals. So, could you please calm down, if that’s ok with you?” The Hydra’s head all looked at each other, before giving what could only be an evil smile. Rick didn’t like that, and immediately turned off his weapon safeties, setting one PPC for each of the first two firing triggers, his missles to the fourth, and machine guns to the third, remaining on standby.
The Hydra’s middle two heads approach her slowly, before nuzzling her in fake affections, causing her to coo and pat the one in front of her affectionately. Right before she could continue, the right-most head snakes behind her and grabs her by the tail, yanking her into the air before tossing her skyward. The mare gasped and froze in shock, the other heads moving to grab her all at once. At that moment, something in Rick just snapped.
The Hydra was about to enjoy a meager meal, when all of a sudden, all four heads were struck multiple piercing wounds, two hit by giant, destructive fireworks, and the last one struck by two balls of lightning, all at the same time, leaving the Hydra head responsible for throwing the mare, to gape at the giant, easily as tall as it was, with several smoking ports located on its body. Inside the cockpit, heat built up fast from the Alpha Strike attack, but he’ll be damned if it wasn’t worth it, watching the Pegasus snap out of it and right herself mid-air, before bolting into the tree line.
The Hydra grinned, each of the destroyed heads regenerating and splitting into two, leaving seven now. Rick facepalmed. “FUCK. Hydra regenerates heads!....Ay ya, center of mass it is.” Looking back to the main view port, he saw the Hydra charging him. Big mistake, since his missiles reloaded, and so did his PPC’s…..Swiftly, he aimed down and right in front of the Hyrda’s path. Soon as it got in his crosshairs…
Fluttershy was never more scared in her life. Although, that scary giant saved her, it was also hurting the Hydra. When the Hydra started to retaliate, it unleashed its cannons, which made her cover her ears as they rapidly put hole after hole into the Hydra’s mid-section. Fluttershy couldn’t watch anymore, and shut her eyes, waiting for it to be over. Despite the hooves in her ears, she heard its fireworks go off, and the sound of thunder coming from its wing-like arms. Suddenly, it became silent. When Fluttershy opened her eyes, she immediately burst into tears.
The Hydra’s midsection was no more; instead, a gaping hole remained. The heads that occupied the middle were scattered among the swamp, while the others hung limply to the remaining body, quickly being encompassed in the rapidly growing pool of sickly green blood. The Giant stood nearby, giving Fluttershy a good look at it, and the name scribbled onto its chest. Eagle Eye.
Fluttershy was suddenly mad. She flew up to what she guessed was the Giants face, a black, shining substance, like a window, but only one side able to see the other. Her voice rose in volume as she started to scold it.
“How DARE YOU! Why did you kill that Hydra!? What if it had family!? Why did you do this!?” Tears were streaming down her angry cheeks the whole way. Inside the cockpit, Rick sat there, frozen by the glare of death that the Pegasus was giving him, as if she could see through the protective shielding and stare into his very soul, picking apart painfully. Rick took several deep breaths, and averted his gaze before answering, much to the surprise of the Pegasus.
“I intervened to save you. I saw it about to eat you ma’am, so I killed it instead. You seemed nice enough, and there aren’t many nice people where I come from, so doing this was my best way of making sure YOUR friends and family didn’t have to say goodbye…”
Fluttershy stopped glaring at the Giant, the “Eagle Eye”, and found that he was most likely right. What would happen to her friends? To her family? To Angel Bunny if she died. She gulped and smiled at Eagle Eye. “I guess you’re right. While I’m still unhappy that you killed that Hydra; my friends would have surely missed me. So, thank you, Mr. Eagle Eye.”
When the original softness of the Pegasus’s voice returned, Rick looked back at her smiling face, and felt his fear melt away. “Just call me Eagle, ma’am. And what’s your name?”
Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her mane at this. “Um….I’m, Fluttershy…” If it wasn’t for Rick having had the sensitivity up at max, and her being right in front of his mech, he would’ve never caught it. He smiled at her anyways.
“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Fluttershy. Now, I’d hate to cut this short, but I need to get going now. Perhaps we can talk again someday?”
Fluttershy came out from behind her mane and nodded before asking one last question. “Um, if it’s ok to ask, what are you?”
Rick stopped turning his mech before racking his brain to answer her, and just deiced to do what Blitz does. Wing it. “A MechWarrior, ma’am.” It was enough for Fluttershy. She gave him a thankful smile before flying towards Ponyville. She needed to tell the girls about her new friend, and maybe ask Twilight if she had a book about his species. Rick turned his mech around, and made for the first rendezvous point, where they had first landed. Before turning off his recorder, he said, “I wonder if the others are seeing this shit?”
Location: Everfree Forest, Ghastly Gorge
Time: 4:52
MechWarrior(s): Ruth “Cannibal” Campbell
Ruth sat in her mech, bored out of her fucking mind. She HATED scouting, with a passion. She was only five-hundred meters out, and was glad that her mech was almost twice the height of the trees. She considered playing some music, when a light blue blip appeared on the edge of her radar, signified by a ping. She frowned. “Did one of those idiots get lost?” When she hit the button to bring up the friendly mechs specs, it displayed an error sign. With a frown, she halted her mech, took off her neural helmet, unstrapped herself from her command couch, and started checking every piece of equipment. Nothing tampered with, which made her raise her eyebrow in curiosity.
She shrugged and strapped herself back in, flipping a switch to connect her with the mech’s internal gyroscope. She throttled the control stick forward, moving her mech into a jog, heading straight for the blip. Mech or not, this is curious, and the fact that it started moving, but remained in front of her, and didn’t go far from its original point at seven hundred meters, meant it was probably a mech, but had to be one fast ass scout mech to be moving around so much.
When she broke through the tree line, she smacked herself a few times, to make sure she wasn’t insane. She was watching a light blue/rainbow streak speeding around, smashing wolves that looked like they were made of wood. There was about twenty of em, and even more remains scattered all around the ground near what seemed to be a steep gorge. Ruth immediately dropped her mech into a kneeling position, switching on her external recorder. Her mic was already on full. She waited, and watched as the blur smashed through wolves continuously.
After having smashed through ten wolves, the blur sped inches above the ground, kicking up a dust cloud before smashing through a larger one, touching down and skidding to a halt near the gorge. Ruth did a double-take. It was a Pegasus, with a cerulean coat and a rainbow colored mane and tail. The Pegasus smirked and cracked its neck slowly. In a burst of speed, the Pegasus plowed through the remaining wolves, flying up into the air and doing a fist pump. T’was all for not, however, when all the remains started floating about. Ruth’s jaw dropped as the remains and some loose twigs and branches from nearby trees converged on each other, becoming a giant ball of wood.
Before Ruth could recover, the ball shifted, becoming a gigantic version of one of the wolves before. Hell, it was almost as tall as her mech! The Pegasus was slack-jawed as well, but it then recovered, a grim determination dominating its surprisingly human features. In a blur, it started to punch, jab, and buck the wolf in multiple places, but to no avail. The wolf snapped at it, causing the Pegasus to halt mid-air and ascend out of its reach. Ruth had enough however, and turned on her external speakers.
Rainbow Dash finished ascending and scanned the Greater Alpha for a weakness. This was her first time encountering one, but she wasn’t going to back down. Just before she was going to try something else, four bright green beams tore into the wolf’s side, starting fires as they dug into it, causing him to cry out in pain. She looked in the direction of the beams, expecting to see a team of unicorns for some odd reason, and instead let her jaw drop at the sight of the giant just kneeling there. Another being was painted against its chest in a provocative pose, and the word Cannibal was written on it as well. The giant stood, and started walking towards the wolf, the sound of clapping coming from it. But, from what Rainbow could see, its arms weren’t moving at all!
“Wow. Congratulations big guy. You were a bunch of little wolves, got your ass handed to ya by a Pegasus, and then became a bigger one just to get her. I probably shouldn’t even be wasting my time with you, that Pegasus probably could’ve beaten you, plain and simple….But, I’m feeling generous right now, so I think I’ll do you in for ‘em.” Rainbow gawked even more at the feminine voice that came from the being. No mouth moved, but that didn’t matter to the Greater Alpha, who charged at the weird giant. The clapping stopped almost immediately, and the sound of two cannons, times ten each, entered the air as two plumes of fire came from the Giants arms, the head and left leg of the Greater Alpha being torn to shreds by them. The giant chuckled as the body fell, lifeless, and began to turn into wooden scraps once more. “Heh, LB-X’s. Gotta love ‘em.”
The giant turned its torso to Rainbow, who immediately got ready to fly fast, despite her amazement. The giant spoke again, her voice carrying an air of smugness. “Don’t try attacking me; you’d never lay a scratch on my paintjob. Just wanted to say, nice job earlier. Don’t know if you can understand me, but you do know how to kick some ass. Name’s Ruth, but everyone calls me Cannibal due to how I fight. So, can you talk, or do I just call you Skittles?”
Rainbow blinked, then flew closer to this, ‘Ruth’, her ego buffed by the giant’s compliments. “Name’s Rainbow Dash, fastest flier around. And what the hay are you, anyways?” The giant went silent for a few seconds. Inside the cockpit, Ruth was shocked, but smiling too. It, or, she, due to how the voice sounds, could ACTUALLY understand her!
Ruth chuckled before shrugging. “Me? I’m a MechWarrior. I use really big guns, to kill really big enemies. Simple as that.” Ruth looked at her radar. Strange enough, she was a thousand meters out. “Heh, seems I did what I came to do. Nice meeting ya Rainbow. Maybe we’ll see each other later. Oh, and, please don’t follow me. My friends might not take kindly to someone tailing me.” And with that, Ruth turned her mech around and headed back to the rally point, leaving a very confused and yet stunned Rainbow Dash in her wake.
Shaking her head, Rainbow started flying through the air again, but not after her mysterious savior. She put on a burst of speed, needing to see a certain unicorn about some books.
Location: Ponyville mountain range.
Time: 5:00 p.m.
MechWarrior(s): Erin "Cross-Guard" Ruiz
Erin stood before a cave high in the mountain. It was amazing, what he found inside. A hoard of golden coins, gems, and plenty an eye-catching item. Despite that, it was also, however, spacious enough for the mechs to take shelter in, much to his standards. He swept the cave, deciding it was JUST big enough for three mechs at a time, which left one mech out on guards. "Sleeping in shifts tonight. Shouldn't be too much of a problem for everyone." He keyed the general comm, hoping to God that a Clanner wasn't out there, listening in.
Location: Everfree Forest, Rally Point Alpha
Time: 5:00 p.m.
MechWarrior(s): Blitz, Eagle, Cannibal.
Jake sat in his mech, arms crossed with a sigh. He was the first one back, and Eagle had arrived a few minutes after he did, saying that he "ran into some interesting locals." Jake had told him he had done the same. His radar beeped, and he looked to see the story it told.
A dark blue blip was making its way towards them. He brought up the mech identification interface, smirking when it showed Ruth's Thor running at full sprint. After a few seconds, she burst through the treeline, just before Erin's voice came on the general commline.
"This is Cross-Guard to all Misfits. I have located a suitable, temporary base for the night. It’s a decent cave, able to fit our mechs. But that’s not all, I found something you’ll will love. Follow the nav-points. Also, due note that there is a town near it. Stay clear for now. We don't know if they really are clanners or not, but from what I can make out of the houses, I seriously doubt it. See ya soon, Cross out."
The three MechWarriors all smiled at that. Leave it to Cross to find something like that. Ruth decided to express it on the comm. "Cannibal here, read you loud and clear Cross," she looked down as her radar beeped, indicating three navpoints. Cross had traveled farther than any of them, and the points seemed to avoid the town entirely, "and we have received Nav-points Beta, Charlie, and Delta. Moving out now, sir. Cannibal out."
Blitz was already moving towards the nearest nav-point, Beta. Eagle started after him, followed by Ruth. The three traveled in single-file, moving through the foliage to meet up with their commanding officer. Blitz asked several times if he could run his mech ahead, only for the other two MechWarriors to shout, "NO!", over the commline. At one point, they heard their CO chuckling at their behavior.
It took a solid twelve minutes to get to Nav-point Beta at their pace, the mountain in clear sight. Now on their way to Charlie, the MechWarriors fell silent, each wondering how to explain what they found to Cross-Guard, and each other.
Time: 5:12 p.m.
Location: Sweet Apple Acres
Twilight smiled as her assistant, Spike, blew his green flames upon the letter to Celestia. It had taken her and AppleJack forever to find him and the Crusaders, who happened to have been using a zip-line, which didn’t back fire thanks to Spike’s help. No cutie marks still, though. Not even a minute of waiting for a reply went by, when she heard several voices yelling her name.
When she turned around to look at the road leading to town however, she saw it was only three. Coming towards her was Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She smiled widely at them, turning to them fully and waving. “Hi there girls!” When she saw their expressions, her smile faltered a bit. “What’s wrong?” Spike just started ogling Rarity. Poor dragon with a crush.
The three stopped right in front of Twilight, Rainbow being the first to speak. “Twilight, do you know what the buck a MechWarrior is?” Twilight blinked at Rainbow, then looked to Rarity and Fluttershy. They both had hopeful expressions on their faces, furthering her confusion. She racked her brain for an answer, only to come up with nothing.
She shook her head at the girls, frowning now. “No Rainbow, I can’t say I have. I know what warriors are, but I’ve never heard the word ‘Mech’ before. Why not start from the beginning and tell me what’s going on?”
Rarity stepped forward this time. “Well, I think I should tell you first since I got back first. I was out collecting gems, when I was attacked by the Diamond Dogs! They had the gall to threaten and outnumber me, so I fought back, uncouth as it was. Even so, they managed to submerge me up to my neck in the ground. That one with the jacket was about to cut off my beautiful mane, when a bright green flash game from behind them, along with a strange noise. Also, the most disgusting of smells hit my nose immediately, and I nearly lost my lunch! When he turned, and moved aside, I saw why he was suddenly so scared.”
“All the other dogs save the one next to him were dead!” Everypony, (dragons included), gasped at her. She nodded and continued. “Burned, to be precise, cooked down to the near bone. Then, the killer revealed himself. It was a Giant, Twilight my dear, and he was angry, but at the dogs for attacking me!” This brought looks of confusion, but a hint of a smile from Fluttershy. Rarity continued. “He ordered them to pull me out of ground, dust me off, and go, which they did. He then started talking to me, or rather, I started the conversation with him. He had an accent just like Applejack, mind you, and was quite a gentlecolt. He gave me his name, one Southern Blitz. And when I asked what he was, he said he was a MechWarrior, and left. I have to say, twas quite the experience. I should like to see him again, I’ll admit, to thank him properly. I feel I owe him more.” When she finished, everypony was silent.
Fluttershy stepped forward next. “I, um, got back just before Rainbow Dash….So, can I go next, if that’s ok…..” When everyone urged her on, she gave a small smile. “Well….When those two Rainbooms happened, which Rainbow said she didn’t do, some animals got confused and angry. The Hydra in Froggy Bog Bottom is, or, was, one of those animals…I went to calm it down, and it seemed to listen…..Then tried to eat me…” Everyone gasped in shock. Fluttershy smiled reassuringly. “Oh, no, I’m fine girls. Mr. Eagle Eye saved me, coming out of the trees and stopping the Hydra. I was mad, at first, because he killed it…But then, when I was scolding him, he told me that he did it so my friends and family wouldn’t have to say goodbye to me. And when I asked what he was, he said he was a Mechwarrior.” That brought smiles all around. Fluttershy looked to Rainbow Dash, who was trying to wait patiently. “Um, it’s your turn Rainbow, if that’s ok…”
Rainbow grinned at Fluttershy before looking to Twilight. “Aw yeah! My turn! Ok, so I got mad that somepony else did a Sonic Rainboom, so I flew to Ghastly Gorge to do some stunt flying. Well, the local Timberwolves thought I’d be a good snack, so a bunch came after me! I got annoyed, so I started smashing ‘em, cause Fluttershy told me they regenerate later when broken, and did a pretty good job at it. So when I finished, they decided they wanted to get me even more instead of backing off, forming a Greater Alpha!” Fluttershy and Twilight frowned at that. Greater Alpha’s aren’t easily formed. Rainbow continued on. “Anyways, before I can deal with him myself, four beams hit him! He got mad and looked for the shooter, and there she was, walking towards him! Cannibal, the MechWarrior who shot him!” At the looks of horror at the name of the MechWarrior, she quickly recited what she was told. “Whoa whoa whoa! She said that Cannibal is a nickname because of how she fights! Her real name is Ruth, or something.” Everyone visibly calmed down at that. “Anyways, she came, and she BLEW THE ALPHA’S HEAD RIGHT OFF! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!” Everypony’s jaw dropped. The head of a Greater Alpha, just blown right off!?
Twilight had heard enough. She turned to Spike, only to see him already holding a paper and quill, a knowing smile on his face. She smirked at him and began. “Dear Princess Celestia…”
Time: 5:22 p.m.
Location: Everfree Mountain
MechWarrior(s): Misfit Battle Lance
The rest of Erin’s lance was right around the corner from him, much to his pleasure. They had made good time, following the path he provided. When Blitz’s mech came into view, he keyed his comm. “Welcome, Misfits. How was the walk? Anything eventful?” When he got three different versions of a simple ‘Yes’ from them, his smile turned into a frown. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “Right. Listen, it can all wait till morning, less it’s life or death. Get your mechs inside. I’ll be taking the first shift. Only three mechs inside at one time. Eagle, you good for second shift?”
“Sure thing boss man. I got yer back.” Erin chuckled at the response, watching his lance enter the cave from his right as he watched the town below, with an almost perfect view, and the sope that came with every mech. This was invaluable to mech’s like his. He chuckled, remembering Specter’s face when he requested the load-out he had for his mech, and his own surprise when Specter authorized it with a GRIN on his face. Specter only ever got a grin when there was a shit ton of money to be made, he had the chance to do the good guy stuff, or there was a way to piss off the guys on the other side of his Mech’s, or his Merc’s Mechs cannons, which he told every merc when they joined him, to strive for.
We may be mercenaries, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a code of honor. Protect everyone you can, and to hell with those who’re dumb enough to get in your way. Oh, and fuck ‘em over at every chance you get. Those were his exact words to the company Erin joined in. About half of them dropped out when Falcon’s training got too hard for them. Stupid bastards would’ve been set if they stayed.
A sudden beep snapped Erin from his thoughts. He looked to his radar to see a red blip on it. With a sigh, he set his radar and secondary screen to target it, only to get….An error sign? IT was targeted, sure, but the name and picture were covered by an error sign. He switched off the mech’s scope function and scanned the tree line below. He expected to see the enemy mech plowing through the trees to get a shot at him, but then he looked at his radar again. It was moving WAY too fast for a mech of its tonnage. Furrowing his brow, he aimed upwards towards the point where the trees and sky meet in the distance, the horizontal line, he did a double take. Coming at him, was a literal, Dragon. Not the regular Mech he was used to, no. It was a flesh and bone, winged, four legged, flying, fire-breathing DRAGON!
He wasted no time, setting both of his main guns on the primary trigger and shifting off the safety. He took a deep breath before checking his weapon systems with a grin. He didn’t go with the normal setting for his mech, which would be two Light Gauss Rifles and two X-Large Pulse Lasers. No, he went bigger, in a way. Two Clan Gauss Rifles, and two Large Extended Range Lasers. Slower firing speed, but the weapons have lived up to their names, punching through Assault Mech armor like paper. He flipped his comm onto the general channel once again, grunting at how often he has done so today. “Heads up Misfits! Bogey incoming! WEAPONS HOT, MECHWARRIORS!”
He grinned as he heard a muffled grunt and crash, a regular grunt, and a snort, all the while, tracking the beast of legend. The beast must have seen him, for it immediately roared at his mech with bestial fury. That was enough to set him off his own safeties completely. Aiming right at the Dragon, he readied one of his lasers on his secondary trigger, the other on the third. With a smirk, he slammed his thumb down on the secondary trigger, watching as a giant green beam of light shot out of his Mech’s left arm, striking the beast right in the chest.
It immediately flared its wings, hovering in midair and staring down at its chest. Erin used his Mech’s scope function and took a look himself. There was a large black mark on the Dragon’s chest. With awe, he watched it simply blow on the mark, the black sweeping away, falling to the ground as dust, leaving the Dragon unscathed. Erin let his jaw drop at this. It was unharmed, completely! Subconsciously, he studied the great beast. It was large, about the size of Rick’s Mech in height, but was unable to determine its length. Their scales were velvet red, and eyes a venomous yellow. Its under belly was a light peach color, same as the inside of all four of its legs. The wings were as massive as the Dragon, coated in scales. Shutting his jaw, he readied to fire again, when someone fired before him. Or, rather, more than one did. Around twenty missiles flew over his mech, led by two streaks of blue.
The Misfits were up and ready to play. Jake’s Uller stomped alongside his Mech’s left side, letting loose his own stream of Large, burning goodness. As Ruth and Rick marched their Mech’s out, the bolts of electricity struck right where his laser did, causing the Dragon to roar in undeniable pain, before dropping, the laser missing, but the missiles following the Dragon with a passion. Erin was glad that the Artemis IV control systems could track this bastard. Right before crashing into the trees below the mountain, it pulled up, whipping past the trees and up, passing by the missiles. Said missiles passed by, and, unable to turn fast enough, crashed into the lower part of the mountain. A rockslide was the result of that, but went unacknowledged by the MechWarriors.
They had lined up on the mountain path, Jake on the far left, with Erin on his right, the back of their Mech’s to the cave. Cannibal was on the right, following the Dragon with her eyes, not moving her Mech’s torso. Rick was right behind Erin’s Mech, unable to find a good spot on the rigid pass. Erin frowned and felt that it was time for a 'Textbook play.' “Alright, Misfits. Executioner Line!” As one, Erin and Ruth dropped their Mechs to a knee, Jake lowering his mech slightly by spreading his Mech’s back-canted legs. Rick stepped his Mech slightly closer, completing the maneuver.
Erin sighed and put on the safety for both of his lasers, relying solely on his Gauss rifles. He silently thanked the fact that he was smart enough to request, and gain, an extra five rounds for each, bolstering his ammo supply. He looked at his radar again, seeing the Dragon was right on top of them. He looked forward and waited the last few seconds. As soon at the head popped up in a blur, he yelled “PUT THIS ASS HOLE DOWN!”
The Misfits didn’t even wait for him to finish. As one, Ruth and Jake let loose everything, the Alpha Strike, Rick and Erin waiting a mere second before loosing their own salvos. Two massive Gauss slugs, followed by two bolts of man-made electricity, four rockets, and a burst of machine guns. One second, the Dragon was pulling by with an intent on buffeting the strange trolls with its wings, the next, it saw only darkness. The MechWarriors, however, watched as the combined salvo of all four mech tear through the soft underbelly right between its front two legs, and punch a hole straight through its chest cavity.
Unceremoniously, the Dragon twitched once, twice midair, and then plummeted down to the ground below. Briefly, Jake saw a purple flash before six different colored blips suddenly came to life in a cluster behind them, including a familiar white one. He shook his head and switched his secondary screen, just as his external mic picked up a female voice saying, “Hoooooee! Y’all weren’t jokin’ about them being big!” What he saw made him rubs his eyes and grin.
Standing behind the firing line were six horses, including the white Unicorn, Rarity, from earlier. He flipped on his internal mic and chuckled. Three of the six jumped at it. “Well well! If it ain’t Miss Rarity! What brings you to this party, ma’am?”
The alabaster unicorn did a double take before smiling and trotting up to the Cowboy’s mech. “Mr. Blitz, is that you there?” Jake grinned at that. Idly, he heard Rick and Ruth greet the two pegasi, and noticed that Erin was silent. Erin, was in his mech, now staring at the rear camera on his secondary screen, before pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling how he’s losing it.
Jake sighed as he leaned back in his command chair. He knew he was probably dreaming (Rick and Ruth were thinking the same thing), as he answered. “Yes it is, Miss Rarity. That don’t answer what you and your friends are doing in these neck of the woods.” He looked at his secondary screen again and frowned. “And is that a unicorn with wings as well as a darn horn?” Said ALICORN, Twilight, along with AppleJack, couldn’t help but gawk at the metal giants. Fluttershy had flown in front of the only one standing, and disappeared to its face, where she could barely make out them having a conversation. Rainbow had done the same with one of the kneeling giants, and was chatting it up.
Rarity looked behind her and giggled. “That, Mr. Blitz, is my dear friend, Twilight, and she is an Alicorn, my dear. As to why we are here, we heard a dragon roaring, and then saw the impressive light show you and your friends put on. By the way, do you know where said Dragon is?”
“Dead, at the base of this mountain. We pumped a whole salvo from each Mech into the bastard.” He answered nonchalantly. Rarity let her jaw drop and eyes widen.
“Y-you…killed a Dragon? B-but, how…” She then recalled the flash of green she saw as he had killed the Diamond Dogs earlier, and gulped. “You….used that beam from before, didn’t you?” She asked, controlling the dread in her chest, and the urge to throw up.
Jake smirked. “Uh-huh. And some more stuff too. I got more than one gun on this Mech, Miss Rarity.” Twilight snapped out of it, catching on to their conversation, and trotting over to Jake’s Mech, a curious AppleJack in tow.
“Pardon, Mr. Blitz, was it? You keep saying ‘this Mech,’ but from what I understand, you and your friends call yourselves MechWarriors, as if they were two separate things. Why is that?”
Jake blinked but kept smirking at the Alicorn’s inquiry. “Ya hit the nail on the head. MechWarriors are pilots, Mechs are, well, Mechs. I’m guessing y’all don’t have any, considering yer question?”
Twilight shook her head in awe. “No, we don’t. But if you’re piloting the….Mech, what do you really look like?” Jake blinked, and all conversations stopped, especially since he still had his comm on general. Jake would’ve scratched his head if he didn’t have his neurohelmet on. He quickly checked his Mech’s scan of the outside atmosphere, and was surprised to see it a perfect match of Terra’s, back in the inner sphere! With a sigh, he put on the safeties for all his weapons, set his mech to standby, pulled off his neurohelmet, and slid it into the slot above the command chair. HE turned his back, pulling off his cooling vest. As he did, the light from the sun just, suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by the cockpit’s red LED lights. Jake turned and found it was suddenly night time. With a frown, he went up to the console.
“Anyone else see that just happen?” He was met with a confirmation from all three of his similarly confused lance mates. He sighed, glad that his external speakers, mic, and internal mic turned off when he went into standby. He opened the secured panel in the back of the cockpit, pulling out his dress uniform first. Pulling his pants over his boots and up his belt, he zipped them up and pulled his shirt over his head. Unceremoniously, he pulled on his dusty leather vest and Stetson.
Rarity and Twilight tried to get the MechWarrior’s attention, but he and his friends remained eerily silent. It was so awkward, until a hiss sounded from Blitz’s Mech. Suddenly, a hatch opened on the left side of its head, and a ladder made of metal and chains fell, ending close to the ground. All six ponies came over, Pinkie, who has been amazingly silent, was shaking in giddy anticipation. All of them watched as a tall, monkey-like being climbed out of the Mech and down the ladder. Four rungs from the ground, it let go of the ladder and landed on the ground in a slightly crouched position, facing the Mech.
It then stood up fully, turned to the watching ponies, and stuffed his claws in its pants. Twilight at first thought it was reaching for something, but the tense moments were rolled over with a continued silence. The being then chuckled. It sounded just like Blitz, except not metallic or booming at all. “Y’all gonna just gawk, or ya gonna make a fir or whatever so y’all can actually get a good look at me and see what this MechWarrior actually looks like?” Twilight shook her head in amazement, sending her out of her stupor, igniting her horn with a simple light spell, illuminating the creature completely. The MechWarrior…WAS A HUMAN!?
The HUMAN squinted slightly before smirking. “It’s slightly cold out here, so I know Ah’m not dreaming. Anywho, howdy! Name’s Jake Morales! But y’all can call me by mah call sign, Southern Blitz!”
Everypony was silent. Awkwardly, and so Jake smiled awkwardly. However, the silence was broken when Pinkie Pie popped into Jake’s face. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Do you like parties!?”
May God have mercy…..
