It seems like only yesterday that I was to retire from the Royal Guard.
It seems like only yesterday that the Zone was created and that Marenobyl went critical.
It seems like only yesterday that I arrived and set up the Cordon with my comrades.
It seems like only yesterday that the damn expedition was given the go-ahead.
It seems like only yesterday that I was with my comrades and friends but now I cannot even say that it was yesterday anymore; I am not quite sure when yesterday was not that it matters anymore. I only know pain, loss and dishonor; to be left for dead in a failed expedition and watch your brothers torn to shreds before your eyes by forces unknown only leaves one thing…HATRED.
It is that hatred that keeps me warm at night.
It is that hatred that guides me through the Zone’s blights.
It is that hatred that allows me to survive and fight.
It is that hatred that lets me know when my end is in sight.
And when that hatred cools and my body goes numb, it is that hatred that lets me know it is all right to go into the embrace of the light.
Chapter I: Rude Awakening
“The Royal Guard of Equestria is calling all right minded and loyal citizens to collaborate with the authorities! Report all known cases of S.T.A.L.L.I.O.N. activity! Do not let the looters hide behind your backs! They bring radiological, unidentified items from the Zone that are highly dangerous for pony health and life! Only with your help can we eliminate this hideous phenomenon! Do not put your lives and the lives of your families at risk for the sake of dubious profit!” The loudspeaker continues to screech its spiel into the early morning regardless of the fact that no one cares as long as bits are involved; even the Royal Guards will tend to turn a blind eye in exchange for some coin.
These days I am thankful that Platinum Ace allows me to stay in her bunker after long weeks in the field, though if it was not for my quick wit during the trading “incident” I do not think that she would have as much business as she does. Sure helps out when the corrupt guards that are making the trading try to pull a fast one; they forget how easy it is to be ambushed in factory complex and that thanks to the anomalies the Royal Pegasus Patrol won’t come in handy. Regardless it is good to know that there is at least one pony that I can call an ally in this Tartarus.
Rolling out of my cot, I fumble around looking for the air tanks, ALICE-Pack and my trusty Automatic Sparckalov-10. I stumble up the stairs and am greeted by Ms. Ace, as usual.
“So Blitz, after how much time you spend here sleeping you might as well throw a ring my way,” Platinum Ace says dryly.
“Nice to see that your mind is still as saucy as your flank,” I retort back to her with a shit-eating grin.
I begin to walk over to her counter pulling out some bits from my pocket to pay her for the stay and as a show of my gratitude since she could have thrown me on my flank anytime she wished.
“Blitz, what the fuck is this?” she asks with a dead-pan stare as my bits drop on the counter.
“Just because I am a smart-ass does not mean I do not have a heart or a moral compass, though I think the latter has been pretty fucked up for some time,” I retort back.
“O for Celestia’s sake you little shit,” she groans; rubbing her face, “I do not want your damn bits, after all the jobs we have done together this is the least I can do for you; besides who will keep me company when the Blow-Outs roll over the area?”
“You are right as usual Platinum,” I glared at her with a devious smirk, “but the Zone isn’t the only thing that is going to have a Blow-Out soon if you keep this up.”
The only response I get back is that of a mare who is both taken aback and slightly enraged at the same time, with a hint of arousal.
“You keep that sweet talking up, only thing that is going to get a “Blow-Out” is your head.”
“Okay-Okay you win Ms. Ace, you win; now tell me any good contracts for me today?”
“Well…,” she slowly draws it out while scrolling through her terminal, “there is this one job but it screams “Set-Up” louder than that time when Odd-Job was trying to lure rookies away from their camp by sending out a distress alert over Mare-Net that the Guard had captured a rookie scouting party.”
“Okay, I am interested; what is the situation?”
“So, they want you to bring around ten Jellyfish to the Great Arms Works up north in exchange for two Compasses.”
“You are fucking joking right?”
“No, Blitz I am not…”
“But, they think we are dumb enough to fall for something as absolutely retarded as that.”
“Blitz you have committed worse crimes against logic.”
“I mean sure I have but the Jellyfish artifact is good and all for giving you CANCER while raising your ability to take 9mm rounds but that’s it!”
“Yea, Blitz and in return they are not giving us one but TWO rare artifacts that appear once every three years,” Platinum Ace says while she exhales.
I begin to look around as we both are done verbally fencing with each other, her eyes catch mine and I can see that she has the twinkle in her eye and I sure as shit know I do so without further delay I reach across the counter grab her hand and say with the grin of a life time, “Ms. Ace you just found yourself a courier for that gig.”
Once I finished restocking and re-equipping myself at Ms. Ace’s bunker, I felt it was time to go above ground and see what the Zone has been up to in the past forty-eight hours. The sunshine warmed my fur as I pulled out my PDA and began to ensure that everything was working as it should.
While strolling towards a nearby settlement of rookies, the hairs on my body stood straight up as the ever familiar beeping of my UDA-14a detector went off. Slowly, I reach down to my belt and unlatch it from the carrying case and bring it close to see if the screen will display for me the location of the anomaly. As usual the screen does not feel like working today so I have to rely on the increased or decreased beeps and red flashes it makes until I can guess where it is in front of me. Now usually a problem such as this will not mean the end of me but this time around I cannot even see any sort of visual distortion in front me and time being an important factor for this job, I decide to play it safe and snag a handful of bolts from my satchel and throw them in front of me. Surely if there was anything there, these little devils would set them off. As they glide through the air, they suddenly freeze in mid-flight, slam into each other while sparks are flying and suddenly shoot straight into the sky while a jet of hot air erupts at ground level from all sides and then nothing.
“Looks like the Zone has a new toy to use on us,” I monotonously say to myself. “Seems like every time I think I get to know her and her tricks she throws a new one at me.”
I open my PDA and record under “Anomalies” what I had just encountered and decided to name it Fusion. With the recoding done I sent it back to Platinum Ace as well as the coordinates of where I sighted it. Since she is one of the few traders that will offer to update PDAs with new hardware and firmware it cannot hurt to have her extend her business into creating and selling accumulated knowledge of the Zone to those with woes and pockets to supplement them.
After my little run in with death, I decide it is best if I double-timed north towards the collapsed bridge; with any luck Sgt. Helm will still be stationed there with his merry squad of rejects. The scum of the scum, originally being sent here was an honor as it was an unknown entity that enveloped the landscape with little effort; now it is where the Royal Guard sends those that are liabilities or those with a history of insubordination. While being in the Zone has to be better than being sent out to guard the scientists in the badlands.
“Well…well… what do we have here foals?” Sgt. Helm stated in a hoarse tone. “Our old friend Fangs is here to pay us a visit.”
“I could say it would be great to see you and your gang of fuckups but I guess I would be lying to a keeper of the peace,” I retorted back roughly. “We all know what happens to those that dare cross the valiant members of the Royal Guard, especially when your job is to guard this collapsed bridge and wait to die from these so called ‘natural’ elements.”
The Sergeant gives me the best poker face imaginable, he begins to approach me and holsters his AS-10 and gives me a man-hug. I in return do the same and we both begin to laugh off the previous verbal dogfight.
“Tell me now Fangs, what brings veteran Stallion like you around these parts?”
“Gotta work if you want to eat Helm, you know how the game is played.”
“True…True… but what about that trader friend of yours; I mean don’t take it the wrong way but considering how long you have been here and how much loot you must have accumulated, one would think that you could throw in the towel and settle down a bit.”
“I mean at the very least or most trying to bribe one of those foal scout dicks and the checkpoint would not be too hard for a stallion like you?”
“Listen here Helm, it is not that I do not mind catching up and all with ya but I need to get going up north; there are some ponies that are going to learn not try to cheat me, Platinum or any other Stallions out of their loot.” I replied to him tonelessly. “Furthermore, regardless of how good of a friend Ms. Ace is, she cannot control the prices of everything around here and a lot of the loot I do have was either invested into Ace’s little venture or stored away for when I need it. Right now the only reason why I am out schlepping along this road after that Blow-Out is because some goons are willing to trade ten Jellyfish for two Compasses and I intend on taking these fools through the cleaners.” I finished in a mocking manner.
“Well, okay then Fangs, sounds like you have your shit in order as usual.” Helm replies smiling. “Okay ya idiots move the barriers and let him pass, who knows maybe if you shits behave Uncle Fangs will bring back some filters for your masks.”
As I passed through the blockade and got a good look at some of the guards that were stationed here a few things came to mind. “One, these are probably some of the most violent people I will meet that have been graced with that armor and two, they are probably going to be the last friendly faces I will see for some time.”
The northern road that leads me towards the Great Arms Works is a road that has many stops along the way and holds many secrets that are better off not being explained. I know that the road ahead will not be a pleasant and that the further one travels into the Zone the further one losses himself.
