Fallout Stalliongrad

(In the wasteland, not all is as it seems. Friends are close, but enemy's are closer than you think.)

As the town was being searched it soon became clear to every pony that this had been a calculated attack. It also became clear that whoever had done such a thing was still in the area. Storm was the first to notice that we were not alone.

"Hey Center Mass, we have a problem here. I have noticed hoof prints going in to the forest, and by the look of things there were quite a few ponies involved in this attack. They are not chaotic in nature either, rather they seem to have been very organized. I think we can rule out your every day raider parties. These ponies seem to have acted almost militaristic in this attack and that scares me. Also, I don't think we are alone out here either. In fact I think whoever did this may be watching us. Call it intuition on these things, but I think we are in for a very interesting night. I do have night vision in my heads up display in my helmet so I will keep watch on the perimeter while the guards keep watch with in the circle, but I would suggest posting at least a sniper in the schoolhouse in town to cover our flanks as well."

"Thank you for the information Storm, and I will do that. Shadow Squad you are our security force for the night. All other non-essential ponies will take shifts guarding the transports themselves, the shifts will be three hours at a time. Shotglass, you, Pin and Fuse will be with me okay. Blaze and Sweet, you two do what you feel is necessary in this situation seeing as you both know the wastes better than any of us okay. Mr. Stalliongrad will also be in my company, though he is free to do as he pleases; seeing as he is a pony of many trades. Medical staff will tend to the wounded mare and her pregnancy, I am holding out hope that at least they can make it through such a tragic event when so many others perished. If we are attacked, I want to be as ready for it as possible."

...

Fires burned as music was played to make the makeshift camp seem more alive than it was. Shadow Squad was on patrol just outside the perimeter of camp when the first missile struck just out of reach of the command transport. Within minuets the night soon turned in to a fight for survival for us all. Storm was the first to get a kill as she strafed the hilltop the missile had come from with her energy weapons killing the missile crew. She called back to camp and told Center Mass to get ready for a massive assault. I was on the machine gun mount with Stalliongrad's Thunder facing the darkness when my E.F.S told me what we already knew. We were going to be over run, there was no doubting it at all. all we could do was fend them off as they sent the first of three waves after us. To his credit, the sniper in the tower was able to take out a good few of them before the attackers set fire to the building and ambushed him as he retreated the inferno. What we did not expect however, is what happened next.

There was a strange whistling heard before the camp literally exploded around me. I was thrown from the transport and landed a good ten feet from the wreck. With a ringing in my ears and a slight taste of copper I got to my hooves and half galloped half stumbled to the wreckage of the transport. Fuse lay dazed not a few feet from it and I made my way to her to see if she was okay. She looked at me with a bewildered expression on her face as I helped her to her hooves. Next I started looking for the rest of the occupants of the now destroyed transport. Mr. Stalliongrad was laying in the middle of the camp in a pool of blood with shrapnel peppering his body, it seemed to all be superficial as he just looked around puzzled as to what had just happened. I made my way to him and administered a Med-x and helped him to the medical transport. Shadow Squad was busy dealing with any pony dumb enough to get close to the camp as Storm was searching for what she knew had blown up the command transport. The fight went on for a few more hours before the attackers simply vanished in to the forest, however the damage had been done though. Mr. Stalliongrad was more wounded than any pony thought and was hanging on to life by a thread, I had suffered slight hearing loss due to the explosion, Fuse had a broken rib, and Shadow Squad had lost two of their own. One of the transports was a loss and the other two were slightly damaged. As daylight drew close, Center Mass made a hard choice and told everyone that the trip wasn't going to happen and instead we had a new mission.

"I don't care about this meeting anymore, if ponies are out there doing things like what this town; along with us went through, the wasteland is only going to get worse. I am ordering the medical staff and all non-essential ponies to return to headquarters. Shadow Squad, Blaze, Sweet Shot, Pin, Fuse, and Shotglass; we are going to hunt these ponies down to the very last. Storm I want you to escort the medical team to base and meet us back here A.S.A.P, we could use some air cover and the extra support as well. This meeting can be held without us, and I'm sure that once they all figure out why we are not there they will understand. That whistle before the attack means one thing and one thing only, those ponies have at least one piece of artillery, or mortars. Either way I want us on the move at all times lest we get caught by it again. Judging by the damage, whatever it is, is not close. That does rule out a mortar team and means a mobile artillery platform. Be alert, as I'm quite sure they may come after us again."

...

We made our way through the forest alert to every sound we heard knowing that at any moment we could all stumble in to a trap and that would be the end of us. I had my Ck-47 levitated next to me and Stalliongrad's Thunder strapped to my back. Fuse had the zebra shotgun levitated as well and her side-arm was with in easy reach if she needed it. We had been trotting for what seemed like hours and had only come across the occasional body here and there giving us a very uneasy feeling. When we reached the small hill that the missile had come from, there was no trace of a body to be seen. It seemed as though we were being lead in to a trap, and we soon would find out just how true that thought was. As a member of Shadow Squad went to relieve himself, he was ambushed and beheaded; his head put on a post and left on a trail we soon would be coming down. It soon became apparent that things weren't all as they seemed. Only new members of Shadow Squad were being picked off, and in almost calculated ways too. One who had fallen behind was gutted right behind us, and yet another was shot through the head by a silenced weapon. If only I had known the truth about who and what Center Mass and his ponies really were I could have seen the signs much earlier. Both Blaze and Sweet Shot were ahead of us and tracking... something, I could tell they were on to something when they picked up their pace. I nudged Fuse to join them, and soon we had caught up with them. What they were tracking was close... very close, Sweet was the first to notice something off about how the rest of the group was reacting to them tracking whatever it was and kept it to herself lest she draw suspicion. I trotted next to her and in a hushed tone asked why both she and Blaze were suddenly on edge.

"Something doesn't feel right Pin. I can't put my hoof on it, but I think something is very wrong here. There should be more bodies out here than there are, and the way Center Mass has been acting ever since the attack last night doesn't sit right with me. I want both you and Fuse to follow us okay. We are going to try and make it to a near by settlement and away from Center Mass and his ponies. I sensed something was wrong with these ponies the very first time i met them years back, but they have never given me a reason not to trust them, and they have become good friends. However, now... I feel something is not right with everything here, and I think they might be behind at least some of it. Stick with us and we will try to put some distance behind us okay. I'll tell Center Mass that we have picked up an emergency frequency from a town in the opposite direction we will be headed okay."

Blaze had been a ways in front of us and had stopped when he noticed we weren't following him. He trotted up to us and had a look of fear in his eye. I had a hard time believing that Center Mass could be a bad pony, and quite honestly felt like telling them that they were being paranoid due to the events of last night. That was until Blaze let me in on a secret he had been keeping to himself since before we had left on this trip.

"Pin, I hate to tell you this but those ponies aren't who they seem to be. I found this out while on that assignment to the Simareian Forest. When I ran in to a few Spezneighs ponies there I told them about Center Mass and his group of ponies. What I heard next made my skin crawl. As it turns out they did know of a Center Mass years back, but he had been killed in a fight with slavers a few years ago. I didn't think much of it at the time seeing as I'm sure there is more than one Center mass in the wastes, but some details of the pony claiming to be Center Mass just didn't add up. I brushed it off to start, but it started to eat at me more and more so I did some digging of my own and found this."

He pulled a small piece of paper out of his saddle bag and gave it to me. What I read sent shivers down my spine.

[ Center Mass of the Stalliongrad chapter of the Spezneighs was killed two days ago while attempting to fend off an attacking group of Iron Shackle's slaver force. His death has dealt a huge blow to the already fragile city of Stalliongrad and the death of his squad in the ensuing attack will go down forever as a great tragedy through out the entire Spezneighs family. One important side note that all who come in contact with the killers of this brave hero should note is that soon after the attack, the Stalliongrad chapter was suddenly back up and running not even a week after this event. While that may not seem odd, what follows will seem very odd in deed. The pony in charge of the chapter claims to be the fallen commander. No body has been recovered from the attack, and it is assumed that they all were disposed of in the near by forest. Though unconfirmed, we can only speculate that this pony claiming to be Center Mass is an impostor along with any pony claiming to be from the unit he was leading, the elite Shadow Squad. It is the belief of this editor that Center Mass is in fact dead, however it can also be assumed that he and his ponies have gone rogue and are aiding the very slavers whom it was assumed attacked them. Eye witnesses to the attack have noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the varying accounts of the attack itself. These range anywhere from minute details to rather large discrepancies. Included are a few of these, they are listed as such.

number one: number of attackers
number two: The way the commander was killed
number three: How fast the Stalliongrad branch was back in operation following the attack
number four: those who knew the commander with in the city claiming that he is in fact not dead
and finally, number five: The quickness in which a new enemy to the city has risen to power, the ponies in question calling themselves the Coltchevics.

If any pony has any answers to any of these quandaries, please contact me and explain them to me so that this story can be told properly. As of now it can be assumed that the commander is in fact dead though, seeing as he had no family it will remain an open topic in this paper.]