Chapter 1: The Eagle's Egg
Destination: Fly me away headquarters, Trinity City
Device: twentieth story security camera
Time: 5:40 PM
Observer: unknown

The camera slowly swiveled from right to the left, endlessly surveying the wasteland of a city. Everything seemed to stand still in eternal slumber, like a dragon during its hundred year hibernation. There would be occasional movement, though most things were too far away to be recognizable. Sometimes there would be something that passes by the camera close enough to see; a scavenger looking for loot, a random piece of paper floating about, an enclave scouting party trying to escape the wretched place, raiders trying to get to vantage points around the city. Today, like many, there was no movement at all. Not even the swaying of the wind. The camera turned to the right. Everything stood still, forever frozen like a painting. The city stayed frozen in peaceful, irradiated bliss for a few moments more. From this vantage point, the pink wall that surrounded the center of the city was in plain sight. The camera swiveled left and caught a disturbance in the clouds, hardly recognizable to anything that hadn't memorized the city's landscape. The camera turned again, leaving the disturbance for a moment. When the camera returned, the disturbance was replaced by a large metallic object that sailed by. As the object disappeared from view, the entire building began to shake, and a large crashing could be heard. The camera turned again, and it caught sight of the metallic object as it came around the building.

As the object flew towards the ground, the camera attempted to follow. Then, with a deafening crash, the object slammed into the ground, causing tons of debris to fly in all directions. The object slid, carving a line of destruction for hundreds of feet before coming to a stop. The camera swiveled to the right, leaving the metal object to itself. When the camera stopped, it could see multiple figures below beginning to move from the rubble. The dragon known as Trinity City had awakened from its slumber. The camera returned to the wreck, picking up the image of dozens of figures swarming the metal object. The dragon had awoken, and it was hungry for blood.

/ / /

Two hours after Eagle crash

The Enclave is Truth,
It punishes the liars and false prophets that lead ponies astray
The Enclave is Strength,
Without it, the pony race would die off
The Enclave is Justice,
All criminals shall fall to the Enclave
The Enclave is your savior.

An Enclave soldier named Thunder Dasher read the Slogan again from the inside of his helmet. It reminded him of the reason he joined. It didn’t seem to help as he breathed heavily from anxiety. 'Goddesses, let them be safe.'

"Have the jitters?" Tornadowinds, Thunder Dasher's friend, said as he sat next to Thunder Dasher.

"Is it that obvious?" Thunder Dasher quieted his breathing, looking around at his fellow team members, their armor a rainbow of colors. Thunder Dasher’s was a traditional coal black, while Tornadowinds was a dark blue.

"Naw, I just assumed. I mean, you said Star Shimmer and Windshear were on the Eagle right?"

Thunder Dasher looked down at his hooves. With a ragged sigh he replied. "Yeah, they were going to visit Windshear's mother in Sunville, I was going to join them tomorrow."

"Damn." Tornadowinds mumbled, he looked to Thunder Dasher. "Don't worry Thunder; they'll be fine, we'll save them."

Thunder Dasher looked at Tornadowinds and nodded slightly. "Alright, thanks."

“Balefire squad Chimera,” Iron Wings, the commander of the squad bellowed as he stood up from his seat near the cabin. “Front and Center.”

“Yes commander!” The balefire squad called out as they rose from their seats.

"Alright, listen up Chimera!" Iron Wings shouted, everything fell silent as every pony stood Attentive. "The E.N.T. Eagle went down near the southern edge of the Trinity City ruins, raiders are trying to rip it open as we speak. Our mission will be to search for any survivors and lead them to the Nautilus, a Raptor that will be parked right above the Eagle. Once all surviving personnel are accounted for, you will board the Raptor and be debriefed. Reports are coming in from the area that there are hundreds of well-armed raiders, and in some parts, manticores. If contact with manticores is made and you are poisoned, then make your way to the Nautilus. They’ll have enough anti venom to put you back into tip top shape. As for the raiders, Keep a level head, you don’t want a face full of missile just because you were having a mid-air freak out.”

The speakers then turned on. "Eagle touchdown in twenty minutes." The pilot called out.

"That’s all soldiers, lock and load.”

"Yes sir!" the entirety of the bale-fire units shouted in unison.

/ / /

“Come on you rats, get that tin can open!” A raider chieftain barked as his lackeys prepared to break into the crashed Enclave ship with wicked metal saws. If all went according to plan, then they would be up to their necks in valuable Enclave equipment.

“Enclave inbound.” Someone called out, and everyone’s attention went skyward. There, flying in from the west, was a mass of enclave vehicles. Burley Skytanks, speedy bomber chariots, and versatile Vertibucks. All in varying battle formations.

Right on time. The chieftain thought with a devil of a smile. Cheers and shouts went out throughout the city as the raiders prepared their welcoming present.

/ / /

“Have visuals on The Eagle, E.T.A. five minutes.” The pilot called out over the intercom. “Numerous hostiles surrounding the area”

“Come on, please be alright.” Thunder Dasher mumbled to himself.

“Don’t worry,” Tornadowinds began. “It won't be long now, you’ll see, they’ll be waiting for us in the hanger and you guys can have a big hug out.”

Thunder Dasher placed a hoof on Tornadowinds shoulder, smiling weakly behind his helmet. “Anypony ever tell you you’re too optimistic?”

Tornadowinds nodded. “Yeah, punched the pony’n the face.”

Thunder Dasher chuckled. “Hah, I bet-”

KRABOOM!

The sky tank shook heavily, staggering the soldiers. Red lights flared to life, and the sky tank began to spin out of control. “What the hell?”

Iron wings appeared from the pilot’s cockpit; his armor was blackened and partially crumpled on one side. He rushed to the other end of the sky tank, pulling the gunner, a purple camo balefire soldier named High Voltage, out of his seat along the way and bucked the door to the tank open. “Every pony out of the tank!”

The balefire units didn’t waste time as they began jumping out of the sky tank two at a time. Soon enough, Thunder Dasher got to the edge, His wings and ignition thrusters hot. Another explosion ripped through the middle of the sky tank, and Thunder found himself shot out into the chaos. The hud on the inside of Thunder Dasher’s visor flashed warnings of severe damage to the backside of the armor. He didn’t pay heed to these warnings and looked through the hud to see the outside world that spun out of control as he plummeted to the ground far below. Most of it a blur of greys and browns, a flash of white here, and yellow there. Catching his thoughts, Thunder Dasher fought to right his body and gather air under his wings, though only succeeding in stopping himself from spinning. A shove from his back helped orient Thunder, his hooves facing the ground again. Without wasting another second, he outstretched his wings and activated his ignition thrusters. He slowed to a near halt; by his side was Tornadowinds, his dark blue armor scorched black.

Thunder Dasher gave him a nod, then looked around. He caught sight of an incoming missile, and pushed both of them out of the way as it flew past. Down below raiders had set up defensive bases and were now Launching heavy artillery at the incoming enclave ships. Enclave aircraft and wings of soldiers flew around, doing their best to return fire.The two Enclave members spotted a nearby friendly controlled roof and flew for it.

“Oh shit!” Tornadowinds shouted, Thunder Dasher began to look back, but he was shoved out of the way.

He recovered just in time to watch a Vertibuck plummet towards the ground in his previous position. Can’t stop now. He thought. Wing thrusters roared as the two nearly smashed into the roof. Once recovered, Thunder Dasher turned to Tornadowinds and nodded. “Thanks for the save.”

“Any time.” Tornadowinds replied.

“Thunder! Winds!” The two soldiers turned to the call of their name. CLANK. They were caught in a tight hug. “You’re alive!”

Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds returned the gesture. Then took a step back to look at their orange clad companion. “Cloudy Storm, You’re alright.”Tornadowinds said.

Cloudy Storms nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She turned around and motioned for them to follow. “I wish I could say the same for the rest of us.”

She led Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds to a hastily made field hospital. There, they found a sand colored soldier watching over the corpse of a purple stallion pegasus and badly damaged soldier still in their white power armor. Thunder Dasher recognized the stallion as Hazy Mist, one of the team’s supports; while the white power armored soldier must’ve been Hurricane Blast. The side panel of her armor had been removed in order to bandage her up.

The sand colored soldier looked over to the approaching enclave, then returned his gaze to the fallen. 'Sky Snake'. Thunder thought.

Tornadowinds trotted over to Sky Snake and patted his shoulder. “It’s good to see you’re alive Sky.”

Sky Snake nodded.

Thunder Dasher gave everypony a once over, then turned to Cloudy Storm. “Do you know if the rest of the team is here?”

Cloudy Storm shook her head. “I saw Iron Wings get blown up inside the sky tank, and most of the team was shot down; so far it’s just us.”

Everypony stood in silence, a nearby explosion brought them back though. “We need to continue with the mission.” Thunder Dasher said as he looked out at the battlefield. More Enclave were flocking to the nearby buildings. If this kept up, they would be at a stand still.

A shadow fell over the city as an Enclave Raptor descended from the sky. Flanking the airship were dozens of pegasi with cloud dispensers. The COMM blasted to life “This is Captain Tsunami of the Nautilus. We are here to support operation Eagle Egg. All units are to resume their previous tasks ASAP.” The cloud ponies began creating a grid of clouds. The clouds formed into one mass, and darkened. Thunder boomed over the battlefield, and the lightning storm began. “May the holy plasma fire of the Enclave rain down upon these degenerates!”

Thunder Dasher turned to his other companions. “You all ready?”

The three nodded. “Let’s turn up the heat.” Tornadowinds added. Cloudystorm stifled a giggle.

Thunder Dasher smirked. “ Well then Chimera, let’s move out.”

The roar of ignition starter rockets blared over the fighting, and the four pegasi took off for the Eagle. In front of them, the Nautilus scorched the streets and lower buildings with walls of plasma, causing most of the raiders to run.

Lightning picked off individual targets here and there, and the darkened clouds kept the enclave hidden from the raiders. Rockets and bullets flew wildly into the air, little of it impacting connected to any pegasi, most just smashed against the Nautilus.

Bombs from Chariots and soldiers fell upon the raiders here and there, illuminating them in a hellish green glow. A group of soldiers decided that it was time to pick off the remainder of the raiders from up close. They were fatally wrong as they were lit up with rockets and armor piercing rounds.

The team could see the crashed Eagle now. A sleek, black stealth vessel turned civilian transport, one of the top models, newest equipment and expert personnel. It was supposed to be impossible to be seen during flight, let alone shot down. Even from here, Thunder Dasher could see hundreds of ant-sized ponies on the surface of the ship. “Please. For the love of the Goddesses, please be okay.” he muttered.

“The Eagle is covered in Raiders.” Captain Tsunami announced over the COMM. “I want all Balefire units to light up the outer shell, all other units provide cover fire.”

“You heard the captain. Let them try some home grown napalm, wedge arrow formation!” The group formed and dived towards the Eagle. A volley of missiles flew at them, and the group quickly dispersed. A few more bodies fell to the ground, but it wasn’t enough for anypony to retreat, so they reformed.

Thunder Dasher could see the terrified looks the raiders gave them as the Balefire Units drew near. A small click was heard, louder than anything else on the battlefield. Then the surface of the Eagle was bathed in hellish green fire. Soon enough, they were accompanied by the screams of the condemned.

/ / /

It took a good while, but the Enclave had made a perimeter around the hanger of the Eagle, it’s massive door had taken damage, but it held. Currently engineers worked on cutting a pony sized hole in the side. Raiders were merely a dozen yards away, so it would be a death sentence for everypony on the other side if they just dropped the hangar door.

After the seventh strafing run they made, Thunder Dasher and Team Chimera landed behind the front line. An officer with a white coat and black mane trotted up to the four. “Names, ranks, and team.”

“Thunder Dasher, Staff Sergeant Heavy Assault, Chimera”

“Tornadowinds, Staff Sergeant Tech Specialist, Chimera”

“Cloudy Storm, Staff Sergeant Medic, Chimera”

A clicking sound came from Sky Snake, and the pipbuck on the officer's hoof beeped. She checked it, and nodded. “Your team has two confirmed casualties and several MIA’s. Do you know where the rest of your team members are?”

“I watched a few of them get shot down.” Cloudy Storm said. “Master Sergeant Iron Wings was lost in our sky tank.”

The officer nodded. “That’s a shame. Hold on then.” The mare poked at her pipbuck a bit more. She looked up at Thunder Dasher. “Thunder Dasher, you’re promoted to Acting Field Sergeant of the Chimera squad until further notice.”

Thunder Dasher saluted. “Thank you ma’am.”

A stray bullet pinged off of a nearby rock. Cloudy Storm jumped. The officer motioned towards the Eagle. “Fall into position. You’ll go in after the first assault squad.” The officer turned and trotted back to the door, Chimera followed in pursuit. “You remember what you’re supposed to do soldier?”

“Ma’am, to search and rescue any passengers still in the ship.”

“Good.” They made it to the door, and the team fell in line. “How much longer on the opening?” The officer asked the engineers.

“Just, about,” The engineer stepped back as a second one attached suction cup-like items to the piece of metal and pulled it out of the newly made hole. “Done.”

The officer motioned for the assault squad. “Alright, Go!”

The squad ran in, there were no sounds of fire. 'Thank the goddesses'. Thunder Dasher thought.

“It’s clear.” The Assault squad said over local COMM.

The officer turned to Chimera. “Go!”

Thunder dasher charged through the opening, stopping in shortly after he cleared it. Around him, Civilians stood in scattered circles. The hallways leading deeper into the Eagle were guarded by what security force the ship had left.

“Finally.”

“We’re saved!”

Ponies began to swarm the soldiers.

“When can we get out of here?”

“Is it safe!?”

Pzzap! Pzzap!

The mob went silent as the officer put away her plasma pistol. “The LZ is still too hot to start evacuating you. I assure you though, we’ll keep you safe. If you all will line up against the wall. We need to record who is here, and cooperation will make this as speedy as possible.”

The ponies obeyed, and the assault soldiers began questioning the civilians. At this point Thunder Dasher noticed that there was a first aid set up against the left wall, and there were a dozen bodies lying next to it.

The officer trotted towards the middle, motioning for Thunder and team to follow. “Who’s in charge here?”

One of the guards flew forward, his barding showed signs of battles. “Ma’am, head officer Safe Flight.”

“Are all of those from the crash?” She gestured to the bodies.

“No ma’am, pack of raiders attacked from the starboard passageway. We dealt with them though.”

“Raiders?” The officer squinted. “How did they get in?”

“We don’t know, but they weren’t the only ones. Others have skirted around our perimeter, even taking pot shots here and there.”

The conversation continued, but Thunder Dasher didn’t listen. He searched from a distance, seeing if he could pick his family out of the bodies.

Most seemed to be male, something told him a few may have been guards. A unicorn horn stuck out of the pile of corpses.

“Alright Chimera.” The officer turned to the team. “We have dozens of ponies still stuck in the rest of the Eagle. Your first task is to retrieve the technicians holed up in the underbelly of the Eagle. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” Chimera replied.

“Good.” The officer fiddled with her pipbuck. “I’m sending you a map of the Eagle’s interior, Sergeant Tornadowinds don’t lose’em. Chimera, move out.”

Team Chimera marched off. Tornadowinds leading them towards the best exit. “Switch to personal COMM.” Thunder said. Harmonious clicks accompanied the team as they entered the Hallway.

“I didn’t see any openings on our strafing runs,” Cloudy Storm began. “Do you think they could’ve gotten through from the bottom?”

“Wouldn’t be impossible.” Tornadowinds chimed. “Cities like this have some vast underground systems. Hell, they could’ve just walked down the tail of the crash site and hopped in there.”

“They probably used unicorns too.” Thunder added. They came to an intersection, and Tornadowinds pointed left. “Plenty of line of sight if you go by the windows-” A clank sounded in the distance. The group stopped.

The seconds dragged on as nothing moved within the hallway. Eventually Thunder started to move again. “Keep the jets hot crew-” A distant explosion shook the Eagle, knocking out the main lights. “What the fuck?”

“Grahh!” The sound of raiders charging came from all around. Thunder Dasher smirked, Wrong move. He waited till the hoofsteps were nearly to him, then the hallway was engulfed in radioactive green fire. A pony-sized ball of flame ran around, screaming in agony. The rest of the team had similar success, Tornadowinds nabbing two more ponies. In return, gunfire erupted across the hall.

Thunder Dasher continued to move forward, the bullets doing little more than scratch his armor. “Chimera, Move up!”

“Shit! Grab the launcher!” One of the raiders shouted to her companion.

Emergency lights flickered on, and Thunder Dasher could make out his assailants now. One ran further down the hall. Thunder Dasher switched to Volley mode, and shot a fireball after the raider.

The once uncooked raider collapsed onto the ground, wailing. The rocket launcher he had picked up fell to the ground. The other raider watched in horror at her writhing companion. A moment later she regained her bearings, and quickly ran over to the rocket launcher. Thunder Dasher continued forward. The raider turned around, launcher grasped awkwardly in her hooves, and eyes wide with fear. Both were now face to face. The raider breathed heavily, her hooves shook under the weight of the rocket launcher.

“Run.” Thunder Dasher said quietly.

She froze, eyes wide. “Wh-what?”

Thunder Dasher brought his face down to eye level. “Run, and leave this ship. Now.” His tone was deep and methodic.

The raider looked down the hallway, the rest of the Enclave soldiers were walking towards her. Dropping the rocket launcher, the raider turned and ran off, her hoofsteps echoing in the darkness.

Thunder Dasher watched as she disappeared down the hallway. “You sure that was a good idea?” Tornadowinds Asked.

“She couldn’t hurt us even if she tried.” Thunder Dasher looked down at the Rocket launcher, then over at a small amount of rockets placed to the side. “Besides, we have extra firepower now. Mind giving me a hoof?”

Tornadowinds obliged and began to take off his helmet. “Give me cover guys.” Cloudy storm and Sky Snake took point at the front and back. With a click and a hiss, the helmet came off, and Tornadowinds placed it to the side. Dark grey and brown hair fell down his face, he ignored it as he gripped the launcher in his mouth. Turning to Thunder Dasher, Tornadowinds began to fiddle with the inventory pack. “Why la hell awe ese lot hooof frienly?”

“We’re too used to just using our mouths.” Thunder Dasher replied. He was rewarded with a snicker from Tornadowinds.

With a click, the pack finally popped off and dropped to the ground. Tornadowinds attached the launcher onto the side, then filled the pack with the rockets. Once done, he tossed the pack onto Thunder’s back, and the suite connected with it. “There ya go, now you’re all set to blow a hole in this ship.”

Thunder Dasher looked over to his friend, catching a quick glimpse of his white fur as Tornadowinds slid his helmet back on. “Alright, where to Winds?”

Tornadowinds looked around for a bit, his helmet still reconnecting. “Forward for a few hallways, then we hook a right.” The team then continued their march. 'Windshear, Star Shimmer', Thunder Dasher though, 'I’m coming.'

Starting Special
Thunder Dasher
S 6
P 7
E 7
C 4
I 5
A 6
L 5

Author's Note

A thanks to Kkat for the original Fallout Equestria; as well as No One, Mimezinga, Somber, and many other Fallout Equestria story writers for the their amazing stories. A MAJOR thanks to all my friends and family that supported my writing. An extra special thanks to Dugolroth for proof reading.
Hopefully you guys enjoy this story, please comment and tell me what you think? This is Merek123 over and out.