Chapter 17: Lost Contact

“Power Armor? Why were the equestrians so focused on that?” I thought as I read a series of files concerning wartime military R&D. I couldn’t help but to be curious about these weapons and equipment, even if they were not what I was currently looking for. No, I’m supposed to find out more about megaspell facilities, both their location and respective payloads.

Still, this is stuff is somewhat interesting… How could anyone believe they would be able to develop a perfect suit of armor? It says here that the origin of this project was an effort to stop all casualties, and while this is a noble idea, it is also a huge waste of resources. As much as I hate to know this, a soldier’s life is hardly worth that much, especially when the benefits are very low. A guy wearing a rocket launcher and a heavy machinegun will do just about the same damage as a small group of soldiers. Sure, maybe it could provide some advantages in urban combat, but they would still need to deal with a logistical nightmare to keep those suits up and running at all times.

The pegasus prototype, on the other hand, was much more interesting and efficient. It had lighter armor and weapons but still provided significant protection and firepower to the user, all the while being much simpler and easy to produce. I guess they must have learnt something after seeing how these “Steel Rangers” performed in battle.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if those pegasi the europeans found were wearing this type of armor. I never really got the chance to examine them or their equipment. Not that it matters, I doubt there are many of these still in use after over 200 years.

As I continued to read all these papers, I decided to check on Barin, who was exploring a different part of the building. I brought a hand to my radio. “Barin, how’s everything going up there? You got the door open yet?” I asked. Before I had decided to read all these files, my squad and I had came across a heavy steel door guarding the main administration room, so we figured it must have something important behind it and that we should check it out. However, after almost an hour of examination, we were still unable to crack the dammed thing open.

It took a few seconds for him to answer. “Negative, this thing has some sort of extra lock on the other side, plus a thick metal plate , I’ll have to blow it up with some charges.”

“Understood, just try not to collapse the whole building on top of us,” I joked.

“Your lack of trust on my demolition skills wounds me Alex…” With that comment, his side whent quiet, and I switched to another frequency.

Since I already checked on one group, I might as well see how everyone is doing. Our unit was currently split in three groups, with Barin, Dima and Akio trying to open that door, Suvorov keeping guard at the rooftop and myself down here. “Suvorov, you see anything interesting from the roof?”

The man quickly replied in a bored tone. “If you count a bunch of birds as interesting than I suppose it’s more or less exciting… other than that, no, there is nothing going on around us.”

“Alright, keep on watching and don’t worry, we are almost done here.”

My squad and I are inside a military facility deep within the ruins of the city. This trip is the first of many we will probably be doing in the next few days in order to discover more about the megaspells. Things are going well so far, our entire journey from the outpost has been peaceful and without any sort of inconveniences. Once we are done with this place, I will have to go into Ministry Square to see what Shortbeak wants us to do. With my full squad and all resources we brought with us, I doubt there is anything too difficult to do.

Since we are all but done here, I might as well check with our recently stablished HQ. I switched to another frequency, “This is Sergeant Alexander calling for the HQ, do you copy, over?”

“We hear you loud and clear sir, what do want to know, over?”

“Give me a quick status and tell me how the drone patrol is going, over,” A yes, the drone, another toy we were allowed to bring with us. Nicolay has placed a lot of faith on my unit.

The people I was speaking to were the five extra soldiers assigned to me. They were the ones supposed to keep our little HQ in the city safe, while also providing support with the drone and sending messages back to the outpost. Those five were basically our lifeline between us and Captain Nicolay. While I didn't know them personally, so far they have acted in an efficient and professional way.

“We have already patrolled most of the area and haven’t seen anything beyond a single caravan about a kilometer from you; the rest of the guys just finished assembling the base and are keeping an eye out for any movement around the area, over.”

Nice job, I guess. “Understood, my squad is almost done with this place, so we should be coming back soon enough; see you guys in a few minutes, over and out.”

Just as I ended the call, there was a muffed bang somewhere above me. It wasn’t very strong, but enough that the floor shook in a noticeable way, lifting some dust. This must be Barin detonating the locked door to the main office, where we hoped to find more important documents.

I quickly ascended there, eager to know how things were going. Unlike previous areas of the city, this place had an odd absence of bodies or skeletons, making it less creepy. The only thing worth noticing as I moved were the propaganda posters on the walls, somehow still well preserved after two centuries. I couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow at the use of socialist realism on the art style (wonder how the ponies call it), just another thing I’ll have to add to my list of strange similarities between Earth and this place. There was also a strange pink pony on many of the posters, bearing a wide... and quite creepy smile, can't help but to feel a little bit tense by that look.

As expected, Barin, Akio and Dima were already inside the now open room (the metal door had a noticeable dent near the lock), searching the whole place. Despite the decay, it was obvious whomever worked here was very wealthy. The furniture and decorations inside were beautiful and expensive. Behind the main table, still sitting on a chair, was a lonely pony skeleton. A unicorn, it appears, given the horn jutting out of his or hers skull.

I took a step closer and noticed two things: there was a rusty revolver on the table and the dead unicorn had a distinctive hole in the middle the head. Had he killed himself? Why? I couldn't help but to be a little curious about this pony, but I figured that there was no point on trying to discover more about it, unless it had something to do with our mission.

“Hey guys, you found something yet?” I said, shifting my attention from the skeleton.

Dima and Akio shook their heads, so I turned to the last person in the room. “I think I got something…” Barin said, while showing some papers with his left hand. I moved closer to him and looked at what he had. At first, it didn’t seem any different from the stuff I had been reading downstairs.

“And what exactly it is?” I asked.

Barin walked to the table and laid down the documents. “I found these hidden behind a bookcase and inside a wall safe, seemed to be important…” I noticed a few blueprints between the pages. “From what I understood, these seem to be a series of construction contracts.”

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “Why do you think they could be useful?”

“Because I think they are supposed to be missile silos,” That got my attention, and I took a closer look. “I’m no expert, but these blueprints are very similar to it, and look at the specifications here!” Barin pointed to a series of numbers besides the drawings. “Each one of these facilities are supposed to carry 2 units of something.”

“Let me guess, it does not specify what those units are supposed to be?”

“No, they are marked as classified, but we can probably assume they are talking about WMDs or some other sort of top secret project.”

A quick read through some of the pages reinforced Barin’s argument. They were indeed talking about “High Priority” military facilities that were supposed to be unknown to the general public and extremely well protected. The locations of each were always far away from pre-war settlements and very close to mountains. The blueprints always had some sort of “Main Chamber” connected to a “Control Station”. These chambers always had an opening to the sky, suggesting they were supposed to launch something upwards. Sadly, a large portion of the files had been destroyed by time, so we couldn't really get the full picture. In addition, there was zero information on what exactly was supposed to be stored inside of them.

“Alright, this looks good enough, we’ll analyze them more back at our hideout,” I concluded. “Let’s do a quick search and get the hell out of here, we still have more things to do.”

-x-

Even during the day, it was hard to distinguish our temporary headquarters from the rest of the ruins around it. Only a very careful eye would be able to notice the barrel of a machinegun sticking out of a broken window or the motion sensors at the walls facing the street. It wasn’t a big place, but had enough space at the ground floor to keep our transport out of sight. I couldn’t really determine what this place used to be, since most of the interior was in a very bad state, most likely an office or a small store.

This area of the city was mostly quiet, in the time it took us to settle everything down we hadn’t had any sort of contact. Despite that, we weren’t very far from Ministry Square, and the ministry towers were easily visible from here. Hopefully this will prove to be a good spot for the next few days.

To be frank, while I enjoy the peace, I could really use some change in scenery. Everything I looked at was either grey or brown, and after so many days it became quite boring. Why couldn’t we land at a tropical paradise or some sort of fantasy world? It just had to be a fucking wasteland, as if I hadn’t seen enough of it back home. After a whole year of staring at white blankets of snow and ice I get to look at brown dirt and grey ruins... lucky me.

“Come on guys, try to get some rest now, we still have things to do later,” I told everyone as we reached the second floor. Just as we arrived, the “extras” (as I chose to nickname the five new additions to our unit until I got all of their names right), stood up and saluted. To be honest, I was never really comfortable with being in a position of authority, however small it was. Maybe it's just the fear of being responsible for the lives of others or even my lack of experience. “You know the drill; leave the stuff we found on that table over there so we can take a closer look.”

As everyone settled, I approached the guy in charge of the drone. He was almost as young as Dima, but clearly had some extra years of service under his belt. I think his name was Andrei or something, and while I hadn’t gotten to know him yet, the few times we spoke when we were driving here were pleasant. “Got anything new to report, private?”

He shook his head while giving a quick glance to the controllers. “No sir, same stuff as before, just a few small groups passing around, too far to worry about," He had a calm but noticeably tired look on his eyes.

“Alright, that’s good,” I nodded. “As you probably know, I’ll be heading to the city to help some of the locals, do you think you can provide some overwatch?”

“Absolutely, there’s still plenty of battery left.”

“Excellent, I’ll get in touch with you once I find out what I need to do,” With that finished, I turned around and walked to my “quarters”, which consisted of nothing more than a bedroll and a few bags of equipment and personal things near a corner. “And make sure to stop for a while and eat something, you have been doing patrols all morning already,” I called over my shoulder.

I arrived at my spot and sat down. All of us have been up since dawn and I can’t help but to feel a little bit tired. However, I want to speak with Shortbeak as soon as possible, so a nap is out of question. I stayed there in silence for a while, just resting, until Barin and Dima approached me. Both looked fine.

“So… we are heading to the square now?” Barin said, while scratching the back of his head.

I nodded. “Yep, I want to get our work started as soon as possible. The sooner we can get some supplies down to the outpost, the better.”

“Do you want to bring everyone inside with you, or should we wait outside?” I raised an eyebrow at that. Bringing everyone inside will draw even more attention towards us, and the area around the square is quite dangerous. Aside from those we already know, most ponies avoid us when they see us and are far from friendly, if we are not careful with our presence, it might cause even more problems to us.

I stared at my friend for a while, contemplating an answer. “I don’t know… while I understand why letting everyone in might be a problem, splitting our group is never a good idea,” There was no perfect solution, but if we are going to build a stable relationship with these people we need to get across this bridge. Sooner or later they need to get used to our presence. “But I guess at some point we will have to bring larger numbers inside, so we might as well get on with it…”

Barin crossed his arms. “You sure about that?”

“Well, I think Alex does have a point there,” Dima replied, before I could get my own words out, "It's not like we are doing first contact here, and after what happened to that european patrol it would be better to stick together."

My friend nodded at that, “I suppose… guess we better get ready to leave then.”

I hadn't rested much, but I might as well get going. I stood up from my bed. “Yeah, we better get going, see if you can find Akio and Suvorov.”

With that said, each of us went a separate way. It didn’t take long for all of us to assemble at the front doors. There wasn’t much to explain, I just told them we were going to the square to speak with some of the higher ups from there and see what exactly they needed help with. Everyone was calm as we left, stepping into the harsh sun once more.

Unlike last time I was here, the five of us were fully equipped and ready for whatever this place could throw at us. We had double the ammo we would bring to a normal mission and as much equipment as we could carry. That meant our bags were heavy and our mobility wasn’t the best, but we had decided that a safer journey would be well worth the price. While most were carrying standard assault rifles, Suvorov had opted for a LMG and I had few shotgun shells inside my pockets. Barin was bringing a wide variety of explosives and a few EMP grenades in case we came across robots.

As long as we didn’t face a armored unit or a Titan, we had enough firepower to deal with just about anything.

Throughout this week, I have been walking a lot, more than I did back home. While it can be somewhat boring and tiring, it’s also strangely calming. There is something special about silently contemplating the things around you in such a slow pace. It helps to clear my mind, especially in a clear day like this.

There isn’t a single cloud in the area, just a bright blue sky and the sun on top of us. The only thing bothering me is the heat, and the stuff I’m currently wearing doesn’t help. We made our way through the empty ruins without any issues, easily reaching the river which cuts the city. From there, we headed west towards the bridge Barin and I had used on our first trip here.

Looking at the river, I noticed how the water didn’t seemed to be polluted. This thing is big (over 20 meter from one side to the other) and fast, so I guess it must have diluted any sort of waste from nearby communities or radiation from the bombs. I didn’t know for sure if the river was totally clean, but since I haven’t seen any alternative sources of water, this must be where the locals get their supplies from.

“Man, wish I could take a swim on that river,” Barin commented as he also gazed at the water, “This damn sun is killing me…”

I looked at him with a smile. “Yeah, shame we can’t do it without getting shot or freaking out the civilians.”

“I suppose that’s a normal reaction when you see a bunch of armed aliens taking a swim next to your house.”

I laughed at that. “True, guess we’ll just have to wait until we get back to base.”

Eventually, we saw the rusty bridge that connected our side of the city to the outskirts of Ministry Square. It was the same lonely atmosphere it had been since we began to walk. Part of me wondered if we might have any trouble with the Militia, but I figure they won’t try to mess with this many armed people, especially when we have direct relations with the Blackwatch mercenaries. Sometimes diplomacy does get you some perks.

Meanwhile, the rest of the guys were chatting. "You know Dima, you never really told us where your family is originally from..." Barin spoke, "We know you live near Mumbai but you said you were born in Ukraine," Now that he asked that, I did feel some curiosity towards the kid. He was one of the most extroverts of our unit, and yet I can't remenber him ever telling us much about his origins.

The young man shrugged. “There really isn’t much to say, I was born in Kiev and lived a few years in Mariupol before the ice came…” Can't help but to cringe a little at that, we all know what comes next when the ice hits... and it brings my own memories of leaving Russia, but it’s not like Barin is doing this on purpose, he’s just curious. “… My family tried crossing into Europe in hopes of getting across the Mediterranean, but we got arrested near Greece and were dragged into a camp for about a year and a half.”

Barin shook his head. "No surprise there, we all heard about what the EU was doing along the border, can't help but see the irony on that. They always bragged about human rights and all that shit, but when it came their turn to help they just closed off their borders..." Perhaps there was a little bit of PAC propaganda in that, but it's also kind of accurate.

To my surprise, Dima actually disagreed with that statement. “The EU was hit just as bad as we were by the ice, they already had to deal with their own evacuation and have much less territory than we do” He said with a frown, “I know it wasn't right what they did but... they barely have enough food to feed their own people, much less a bunch of foreingners.”

Barin rolled his eyes. “Maybe, but they still should treat you and all those people with some respect, it’s not like you were doing this for fun. It's either leave or die out there and these people have to face all kinds of attrocities just to get away from critical zones” He looked away for a moment, “But enough of that, what happened next?”

“Well, it took a long time for them to figure out what to do with us. For a while, we were afraid of being sent back to Ukraine, but at some point they must’ve realized that would mean a death sentence, so instead they deported us to India which was inside the PAC but outside the frozen areas, where most of my family is currently living,” He smiled a little at that, but it quickly vanished. "We were lucky... only a fraction of the people there were able to leave."

Before they could talk any longer, I noticed we had just arrived at the bridge, so I had to end our little chat. “Okay, enough talking, it’s time to go inside and see what our next mission will be.”

After receiving a few nods, I led my unit across the bridge and into the town.

-x-

I was right to assume that my whole squad would draw too much attention. If the presence of Barin and I was enough to gather attention from everybody we came across, now people were outright backing away when they spotted all five of us. On one hand, this made me feel much safer, knowing that most people were too afraid to try anything… although a small part of me was also unsettled by the idea of invoking such fear on those people.

The militia kept their eyes on us the whole way until the gates of the square. They had people watching us on many corners of the street and even a few people at the rooftops. Once we reached the gates, the Blackwatch also glanced at us a moment longer than normal, but allowed us to go inside without question.

Our quick journey ended at the Blackwatch headquarters (also known as the ministry of wartime technology). My squad stayed outside while I went to meet with Shortbeak. There were no questions asked as I made my way through the building.

“Well, well… can’t say I’m that surprised by what you got here, but I suppose you must have a few tricks under your sleeves.”

“I did told you we didn’t have a whole army hanging around, but I’m pretty sure I got enough firepower to get the job done.”

“Yeah, I guess you did warned me… but that doesn’t matter,” The black gryphon grabbed a glass of… whisky I think, and took a long sip, “I can judge whether asking for your help was a good idea after you get to the field.” He carried the same calm but authoritarian vibe from last time, casually looking through files as if he was just some random office guy, as opposed to the leader of a powerful mercenary company. I stood in front of him in silence for a few minutes, waiting for him to say something else.

After it was clear he wasn’t going to push things forward, I broke the silence. “Do you mind if we cut the chase? What exactly do you need me to do?”

He rose an eyebrow and slowly lowered the papers he was reading. “Guess you aren’t that interested in simple pleasantries…” He sighed and looked me in the eyes, “If you are that eager to know more then let’s get on with it.”

“How can I put this in a simple way… well... if you haven’t noticed already, the city is in the gutter,” Shortbeak paused for a second, “That is, more than usual, you must’ve seen just how chaotic the streets are.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I had to fight my way through the area on multiple occasions.”

“Exactly, we got gangsters and raiders all over the region, mostly coming from the north. They are the reason why we lost control over the outskirts of Ministry Square and the farmlands along the river. Not only that, we also got a bunch of refugees running around the crossfire.”

“I keep hearing about this conflict happening on that part of the island, what exactly is it all about?”

My words made Shortbeak think for a moment, tapping his beak in deep thought. “Well, it has to do with the confederacy; they have been trying to expand their territory over the last few months.”

“Why?”

“Besides the obvious reasons? I not sure, they keep talking about how they plan to unite everybody and rebuild society, but most of that shit is just propaganda. It doesn’t matter, really. All we need to keep in mind is that their little conquests are the source of much of the shit this city is going through.”

“Alright, but do we take care of the situation without attacking the confederacy or something?”

The black gryphon laughed at that. “That is a good question indeed. Right now the best we can do is try to stabilize the situation, get us a small breathing room so we can think things through,” Another gulp of his drink went down. “To achieve that I decided to focus on two main points…”

“Which would be…”

“Gather supplies and gather intelligence.”

I frowned at that. “That seems… simple enough.”

Shortbeak shrugged. “What? We have to start at the basics, don’t we? As much as I appreciate your extra help we will need to get the whole city back on tracks if we hope to actually improve the situation,” He was right, this isn’t a master plan but it’s probably the most effective thing we can do. Even if I somehow could get my whole company here it still wouldn’t be easy to keep the whole city secure.

I couldn’t help but to look away for a moment. “Well, I do hope this whole thing is worthy, my resources are limited as they are so you better be wise on how you want me to spend them.”

“I know that, and don’t worry about payment, despite what some people think being dishonest isn’t good for business. As long as you get the job done we can provide a big pile of food, ammo, spare parts and all sorts of merchandize. This town is a trade hub for a very good reason.”

“Good to know,” I replied, “Now where were you getting at?”

“Right, as I was saying, I need to make sure my people have the rights tools and that they are using them on the right places. You will be helping me to acquire that.”

“How?”

“First, I’ll be sending you to retrieve a few supply cashes around the city, and after that you will need to get in touch with some of smugglers and merchants of the weapons market.”

“Then… why exactly did you asked for extra firepower? Are you saving that for latter?”

“Oh, don’t think I’m sending you on a simple retrieve mission, I have already sent some of my guys to take care of non-critical assets. I’m talking about the special stuff, the things we kept locked inside hidden posts and such.”

“If they are so important, how did you lose track of them?”

The gryphon threw his arms open. “Good question, maybe somebody decided to screw with me, or maybe someone at the communications department needs to get fired. Either way, I lost contact with one of the best teams I had, who were equipped with some of the best toys you can find on this rock, and I need you to find them.”

I nodded. This could be prove to be interesting, but not that difficult. “Alright then, how do you want me to do this? Are you going to just point me in the right direction?”

“Not that simple, I’m afraid, the place where you will be going was well hidden and well protected. If something bad has happened to the team… it most probably did… you will need more than a simple map location to get through.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

“You will need a guide.”

“…Okay then, who is it? Are they one of your people?” Shortbeak was now giving me a sly grin. I didn’t like it one bit. What is this bird planning?

“Kind of, she’s part of a stealth unit and has been working around here for a few years now,” A woman with stealth skill and a few years of experience? Okay, I can work with that, but why is he still giving me that smile? “However, she does have a reputation of being particularly hard to deal with…”

He paused for a second. “But you probably already know about that…”

I frowned at that, deeply confused. “What the fuck are yo-…”

I heard the sound of hooves outside the room we were in. I turned around just as the door swung open and a new person entered the room. My eyes quickly settled on a very familiar face…

“Speaking of the devil, that’s her.”

I couldn’t believe it. Standing right in front of me, with a black coat and red mane, was the pony that gave me such a hard time in my last… “adventure” through the city. One of my brows twitched a little as I realized who I would have to deal with, for a second fucking time.

The pony was equally impressed. “you…” she whispered with an angry face.

It was Starry Night, the bat-pony I had found inside the metro when Barin and I were going to the Equestrian Strategic Command. Really? Are you fucking kidding me? From all the possible candidates I have to be stuck with this bitch for another day? Come on…

I turned to Shortbeak, who looked like he knew exactly just how much I didn’t like this… and was enjoying every moment of it. “Really?”

“What? You need a guide.”

Footnote: 60% to next level.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, my life has been quite busy and I don't have a lot of free time. Updates will be slower but will still happen.

As always, hope you enjoy and please leave a comment.