Fallout Equestria: New Age

Chapter 3: Sky Battle Over the Empire

I quickly discovered I really liked flying. It felt like all the problems of the world were miles under my hooves and I was high above them, soaring over them like an eagle. No Spritebots patrolling, the only real authority sitting in front of me and not paying attention. Part of me considered snapping his neck right then and there but then I'd risk never seeing home again. Mutiny would have to wait for later.

We flew for what seemed like hours. I had the opportunity to meet some of the other squad mates I didn't know like Glitz and Glamour. Glitz had the ability to make things invisible when she focused her magic on them and Glamour had a spell that created illusions of ponies. With those skills, it was easy to see how they'd been chosen for the mission. If I didn't want to arouse suspicion, I'd have to think of something I could do, too.

My sister and her friend were both surprisingly knowledgeable about medicine. Herbal had apparently earned her cutie mark by crushing some ferns to cure her own mother's fever once.

"I met Rosey in the clinic when we both got transferred to Stable 3. She was further along in school than and helped me read the text books."

Rose giggled. "We also drew in our own notes in a couple places. I'm sure anypony who uses them will find them quite helpful."

"Yeah, if they need help with a laugh," Herb agreed. It was good to see Rose making friends after we'd been separated. Our parents were still in Stable 1, the primary observation facility underneath the Magi-Tec building. She'd been switched to Stable 3, medical research, when it was discovered she had a talent for nursing. I had to volunteer for the Enforcers in order to get out of that mess. It had been tough leaving mom and dad behind but at least I knew they were safe.

The oppression, it was inescapable. In the Stables, you were worked to death on different projects and if you failed, you were punished for it. It was a horrible life. I couldn't imagine any other existence being worse but it turned out, we were flying roughly sixteen-thousand feet above worse. Prancem was all I really knew; any other way of life seemed better at the time. But there were worse alternatives and unfortunately, I was about to meet one of them.

"We've reached the half-way point, general," Bandwidth called over his shoulder. Outside the viewports, it was nothing but grey clouds. Looking out, I couldn't see the surface or even where we were going. It had been that way since we left the city. We followed the other ships in a star-formation with us in the back. I could only imagine what we looked like from below.

Curious, I walked over to the pilot. "How do you know where we're going?"

Turning back, he smiled and tapped his forehead. "Intuition, babe. You gotta have that instinct, get a feel for what's going on around you. The ebb and flow of the air, the motions, the-"

"The little lights on the instrument panel," Zap added, killing Bandwidth's explanation. "I don't think the 'intuition-o-meter' is what's keeping us on track today."

The accused Pegasus turned to his copilot and frowned. "Hey, we're still on course, aren't we?"

Zap kept his eyes forward. "I'm just saying you might want to keep your eyes on the controls and not on our passengers."

Sighing, Bandwidth turned back to me. "Trust me, it's not just about the tech. It's also what you feel."

It took me a full minute to get the connection; I didn't get hit on often. Ever, really. Why would anypony be thinking about... a relationship when all this was going on around us? Especially... with me?

"I'm... I'm sure it is," I said, nodding.

"If you want, I could show you sometime," he smiled at me.

"Hey, cool it up there. Let's cut the chatter," General Typhoon shouted at us. Bandwidth turned back around and the cabin was silent again.

"General?" Azrael said, holding his headset. "I'm picking up some kind of transmission."

"Let me hear it."

The jetblack stallion tapped something on his console.

"This is Captain Springer of the Pegasi Enclave to unidentified vessels: you are entering restricted airspace," a female voice crackled through the speaker.

"Clavers?" Squall asked. He hadn't said much since we took off and I had begun to wonder why. "Is that really from-"

"Quiet!" Typhoon ordered.

"You are violating the sovereign territory of the GPE. Turn back or you will fired upon," the radio continued.

"Ignore it," the general said, putting on his own headset. "All call signs, stay to course."

"What was that?" I whisper-asked Squall.

He spoke with an uncharacteristic venomous tone. "Grand Pegasi Enclave, Clavers. After the spells dropped, the Clavers covered the whole planet in clouds and retreated up here where it was safe. They let everypony on the ground suffer and shoot down anything that tries to fly. They control the weather but refuse to give the surface sunshine, rain or even wind when they need it." Leaning in closer, he whispered, "They're worse than Iceblood."

"WORSE?!" I practically shouted. Typhoon and Az looked up at me but were too busy with their own terminals.

Squall nodded. "We got reports they are being trying to control the Crystal Empire's skies but they're trying to destroy the New Pegasus Enclave. The Enclave of the Crystal Wastes. I guess some of them didn't get the message, though. They're aggressive, territorial and very militant. They also have the tech to match."

Another group, a whole other organization more oppressive than Iceblood's regime. It didn't seem possible. My mouth was frozen open.

"General, sir," Az said, "Maybe we should..." he trailed off as Typhoon cast a powerful gaze over him.

"Should what? Turn around?" he spoke loud enough for the whole cabin to hear him. "They are not even a threat to us, as we are the nation of Prancem. Nothing is going to jeopardize this mission, understood?"

"Y-yes, sir," Az turned back to his console.

"General?" Zap called out. He sounded nervous. "I've got something on radar!"

Bandwidth looked out the viewport. "What are those?"

"What are what?" the general asked. The pilot pointed a hoof forward.

I focused forward, looking for anything but I could only see grey clouds. As I kept looking out though, I finally saw it: twinkling lights in the distance.

"Are those Spritebots?" Bandwidth asked.

"Keep this heading," the general ordered.

They were coming towards us. The lights I was staring at slowly materialized into a familiar sight; Spritebots. These bots, however had propellers attached to their tops. Clearly different from the ones I knew in Prancem, I could only guess they were some new design. They passed in between us and the other airships, flashing white several times as they went by.

"Did those things just take pictures of us?" Squall asked.

I looked out the viewport again in time to see a huge, red light appear in the distance. A scorching-red glow lit up one of the clouds in front of us. Trying to get everypony else's attention, I pointed to it.

"Look! There's something in front of us!"

A red ray shot out of the clouds like a laser beam. It scorched the side of the airship directly in front of us on our portside, cutting a gash along their starboard.

"This is Condor 1- we've been hit! We've been hit!!" a panicked voice yelled over the radio. We could all tell it was one of the pilots from the other airship. They'd been struck by the beam and we didn't need the pilot to tell us how badly. Smoke billowed from the blast, a portion of the wing and cabin had been scorched. Condor 1 began to list, struggling to maintain altitude with its damage.

"Stay to course, Condor 1, that's an order," the general said through his headset. But the ship continued to list in the direction it had been hit, drifting slowly into our flight path. "Condor 1, stay to course!!"

The red light ahead of us hadn't diminished. "Controls not-" the pilot's voice came back but was quickly cut out. Another ray was unleashed from the cloud ahead; this one cut through Condor 1 like a bullet through paper.

"Holy shit!" Az cursed. The other airship burst into flames, its flight pattern turned it into a spin. Bandwidth yanked up on the controls to avoid hitting them.

"What the hell was that?!" Zap yelled.

My eyes were glued to the burning red cloud. It was like it was moving forward, leading us further into the clouds. I narrowed my gaze and that's when I saw something else: black figures approaching directly ahead.

"General, there's something else!" I pointed.

To his credit, Typhoon did look to try and see what I was gesturing towards. But once again, his response was just a bit too late.

"Clavers!!" Squall screamed, also pointing. The black silhouettes materialized into pegasi, armored pegasi. Several of them flew right towards us. Flashes appeared from their backs and our viewport was pelted with fire. Bits of metal, bullets ripped through our window and battered our hull. We all ducked, not that it would've done any good but it was instinctual. The rounds flew over our heads and impacted the wall behind us; none of us were hurt.

"It's the Enclave!!" Az shouted. Several groups of them buzzed past, firing at the other ships in our formation. I could do little more than stand; I moved over to my sister who was shivering next to her friend. I tried to cover them both with my body, the only thing I could think of.

"Condor Flight, take evasive action! Activate reflex armor!" Typhoon said, ducking behind his console. Azrael pushed a button and a metal shield moved to cover our viewport. "Get our defense systems online! Maintain our current heading!"

Zap and Bandwidth moved their hooves quickly over their controls. "Activating 8-ball turrets!" An alarm beeped at Bandwidth's console. "Fire control for the main cannons are offline!"

"Damn it!" Typhoon said. He pointed to me and then Squall. "Evergreen! Hawkeye! Get on those 8-ball turrets!"

Squall reacted immediately, trotting quickly to the ladder next to me. I didn't know what to do. I looked at Rose and Herbal, not wanting to leave them.

"Sage, come on!" Squall yelled, grabbing my shoulder.

"I can't leave them... I have to protect them!" I shouted back. I felt both of them start sobbing in my forelegs, then tears welled up in my own eyes. We were thousands of feet above land, ponies were shooting at us and we were miles from home, miles from our parents. To make matters worse, there was nothing we could do. I held them both tighter.

Squall was having none of it. He grabbed me by the face and turned my head to him. "Sage, we have to get on those turrets! The ship is in danger!" More fire sprayed across our hull as he yelled again.

"I... I..." I stammered, not knowing what to do. I felt like I couldn't leave Rose's side.

"I know you want to protect your sister but if we don't get on those turrets, they're gonna shoot us down. The only way you can save your sister is by getting on the guns with me right now!! MOVE IT!!!" he yelled in my face. He released me and my hooves hit the metal floor.

The feeling of helplessness crept up my legs; it felt like I didn't even know what was holding me up any more. I felt something grab hold of my tail. I turned to see it was Rose.

"Rose, it'll be okay," I said back, "I'll be right back. Okay?" She nodded at me. Grabbing her hooves, I placed them on the floor and began climbing the ladder. Looking back one last time, I whispered again,

"I'll be right back."