Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 40

Preparations

“We can do this!”

~O~Frostmane~O~

Two days until the final confrontation with my wayward soldier, and the Moon Skulls were as prepared as ever. Every single one of them realized that we had to do this in order to keep Equestria safe from a potential tyrant. Each and every one who had escaped the Luna Dream had come, ready to fight as equestrian soldiers one last time.

Some had even brought their offspring with them to fight for our cause. For those who did escape the ship and had died of old age since then, their descendants took their place. All in all, our force had swelled to almost a thousand Ponies. I was not comfortable with seeing some of these youngsters in our armor at first, but they had proven themselves to me. What was more, they wanted to fight. Their parents had told them stories about us, and me in particular.

        “Ya saved ma Dad from a firing squad for insubordination, so Ah reckon Ah owe ya one.” one young mare had told me. It seemed to be the general census that they felt as if they owed their lives to me. I hated that, but I needed every soldier I could get for this operation.

Some of the ones who had shown up were already too old to take part in the fighting, but they still wanted to do their part. To this day I believe that it was the sense of unity that they really craved. It was something this wasteland lacked, and that we had in abundance. Not the cursed and twisted UNITY, that my mother wanted to bring over the wasteland, but true comradery that can only be formed by years of trusting each other with ones life. I was proud like a mother that saw her child take it's first step, when I saw that they all fitted back in without a problem.

Not an hour after all of them had arrived in Trottingham, work on the Lunas Revenge had commenced. There was no need to write down a timetable for these Ponies. They knew what was on stake here, and all of them reported to their duty station at 0600 hours sharp without me having to say something.

I think, it was Gear Turns betrayal of that comradery they all cherished that spurred them on the most. It was only now that I fully realized that these Ponies were like one big family. They sat together in the LR's mess hall during off duty hours, talking about old times, their experiences in the wasteland and, of course, their families....

It gave me a little sting to think that, no matter how much I wanted a foal, I would never be able to have one of my own. Luna had told me as much. When my new Alicorn body was created, that little flaw was not corrected. I was still barren.

Some of the new soldier, meaning the kids of my former subordinates, actually mistook Hope for my daughter, but were soon silenced when their parents gave them stern looks. In those situations, I simply put on a smile and shook my head, explaining that Hope was not my biological daughter. I was only taking care of her. It was, however, not hard to see why they would think something like that. No matter where I went, Hope was by my side. I seriously started to worry about the little filly. When the fighting started, there was no way I could take her with me onto the battlefield. Even if she stayed aboard the LR, there was a good chance she got killed or hurt. I didn't want that. If I had my way, she would stay behind. Alas, each time I wanted to address the subject, her big eyes made it impossible for me to do so. Seriously... cuteness should be a weapon... or an interrogation technique....

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sweat poured down my face, as I struck out again to hit Gear Turn in the face, but she deflected my blow with one of her chainsaws, using my momentum against me and throwing me off balance. The second I needed to regain my footing, her other saw came down on my neck...

There was no blood. Only a seriously annoying message in my EFS that I was tired of seeing by now. Twenty-eight times had I run this simulation by now, and twenty-eight times I had lost. No matter what angle of attack I tried, I was always one step behind and this simulated version of my former subordinate always got the better of me.

The training room on this ship was truly amazing. It had data on each and every member of the original Moon Skulls. Everything from their equipment, to their life story, to their fighting style. The Hologenerator that had been installed here, would have enabled the crew of this ship to prepare for a fight against my platoon. Luna really hadn't shied away from any expenses when it came to hunting us down.

The reason I had failed this simulation so many times by now, was undoubtedly that I had read her file before programming the computer. According to it, she had more implants than I had known about, and was even altered by Zebra alchemy. And that was two hundred years ago. There was no telling what she had done to her body in the meantime. She was immune to poison, magical manipulation, had an artificial heart and according to the data she could reflect spells with her chainsaw implants. That one had been something I had known about at least. It was due to the alloy her implants was made of. Only physical force could break them. Anything magical was bound to fail.

But even so, I should have been the superior fighter. I had mastered fallen Caesar and Doom Bunny style, but still I lost every time I tried. The simulated version of Gear Turn simply evaded my strikes, using the timing of my strikes against me. I just didn't understand it!

        “Why can't I beat her? Why is she that strong?” I cursed as I released a magical blast at her simulated image before falling down onto my haunches. I had been at it for several hours by then, with Hope watching from the sidelines. At first, the filly had actually tried to help me, until I had explained to her that this was just a simulation to prepare me for the fight to come. And, in all honesty, if she did something like this in the real battle, she would be dead in less then ten seconds. Gear Turn had shown herself to be ruthless in the past after all. Now, as I sat panting on the cold ground, she came over to me with a cold Sparkle Cola and a towel.

I accepted both items graciously, wiping the sweat off my brow and drinking the cola greedily. All of this just didn't make sense. Why couldn't I beat her?

        “Maybe... Maybe, you're trying too hard.” Hope finally said in a meek tone of voice. It was almost as if she was a little afraid of me. Was my little outburst just now really that bad?

        “Elaborate for me?” I asked, cocking my head in confusion. I hoped that, if I acted as if I didn't notice her fright, she might realize that I was not angry at her, but at myself.

        “Well... you see... For me it looked like it always knew what you were about to do. As if it knows exactly how you fight and how to respond to that....” she explained. Hope had started calling the simulation it after I had explained to her that it was just a magical construct.

        “She is right, you know.” came the voice of Jerakal from the door. I had no idea how long she had been watching, but I felt a little embarrassed to think that she had seen me fail this badly. She had trained me after all.

Without saying another word, or answering my questioning look, she nodded to Hope, who retreated back into a corner of the room. The next thing I knew was, that she was directly in front of me, striking out with one of her armor clad hooves. I reacted instinctively, rolling myself to the side to evade her blow and coming back up on my hind legs. I was fast, but apparently not fast enough.

Jerakal had anticipated what I was going to do, and was already in my face again by the time I had completely risen. Her next strike hit me on the right side of my face, knocking me off my hooves once more. Again, I came up on my hooves after breaking my fall with a roll, and again she was already in my face again as I came up.

Did I say that I had mastered Fallen Caesar style? By the way my old friend knocked me to the other side of the room, I could see who the real master was here. This time I impacted on the far wall with my back first, and for a moment I saw nothing but stars.

        “You don't improvise Frosty. You know all the stances, strikes, evasive maneuvers and pressure points. What you don't get, and never have, is that Zebra martial arts is instinctual. Don't think who you are going to block me, or counter my attacks. Feel it. I watched at least ten of your little dances with this hologram, and each time you attacked I could almost hear the gears in your head turning. Every time you were thinking about your next move, and what Gear might do to counter it. That's not how a Zebra fights, and that's why you are on the floor now, and I get to lecture you once more.” the Zony mare said with a grin as she helped me back to my hooves.

        “What do you mean, feel it? I thought martial arts was all about fighting and knowing the stances and stuff...” I said lamely as I cracked my neck. The impact on the wall had hurt pretty badly. Jerakal sighed, gesturing for Hope to come over for a second. The young mare obeyed without hesitation, standing next to my friend without any fear in her eyes.

        “No look closely. Your little filly here has been hiding something from you, and you might find it interesting.” Jerakal said and, without so much as a word of warning, spun around to deliver a kick with her hind legs that would have taken Hopes head off if it had connected. It didn't though...

I was amazed to see that the young one had wrapped her tail around Jerakals hind legs, and used the momentum of her own fall to evade the kick, to bring my friend to the ground with her. Both of them stood up again, smiling broadly, even though I could see a small trickle of blood on the Zony mares head.

        “How... when... WHAT?” I asked, flabbergasted.

        “There's something you don't know about little Hope here. When you were sleeping, she snuk out of your room and wandered around the ship. Eventually she ended up in the engine room, where I was working on our generators. Something when wrong and, even before a bolt flew out of the heating cooler, she was flat on the ground. I spent some time with her afterwards, and she took to Fallen Caesar style like a fish to water. Oh, and in addition to that she is a real natural when it comes to machines. Wouldn't be surprised to see her take over from me when I retire.” Jerakal said proudly, ruffling Hopes mane with a hoof.

        “So... that's why she's been so tired all the time? Because she's been training with you? Jerakal, I don't think...” I began, but was cut short when Hope spoke up. It was more than unusual for her to interrupt me.

        “I like the training. It's fun. And... And I like the machines. They're so peaceful.” she said, looking me directly into the eyes. In her gaze I saw that, no matter if I forbid it or not, she would go on training with my friend, and learning everything she could about engineering. I sighed, shaking my head in defeat. A little chuckle escaped my throat as I realized that Hope was growing up, and most likely entering her rebellious phase. I sure had one when I was her age.

        “Alright, you got me. You can go on studying under Jerakal, but I don't want you on the battlefield, alright young lady?” I said. At first, the little gray Pegasus looked as if she wanted to argue, but then closed her muzzle and nodded. I guess she understood that, no matter how much she used the puppy dog eyes on me, I would stay firm on this. There was no way in hell I'd allow her to join the actual battle. I may have been too soft to ban her from the fight entirely, but at least on board there was a much smaller chance for her to get killed.

        “OK, now that that's settled then, how about we let Hope take a shot at what you failed at so miserably?” Jerakal asked, not waiting for my permission to reactivate the simulation.

Some of it might have been a need to prove herself to me, while some other part of her just wanted to show me that she wasn't afraid, but Hope jumped forward and attacked the simulated Gear Turn without any hesitation. Some of her stances I recognized, while others were clearly improvised on the fly as the fight went on.

It was truly amazing to see her fight. In the end, she was knocked to the ground and Gear Turns Chainsaws buried themselves into her stomach, ending the simulation, but she had lasted much longer than I had. Not to mention that she had gotten a few blows in herself.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After only three hours, Hope was able to last even longer against the Gear Turn simulation, and if she had known some of the pressure points, she could have ended the fight right then and there. As it was however, she got her flank handed to her each and every time. The last round had lasted over an hour though.

Jerakal had explained to me why she was so good at this. Apparently Hope felt it when she was in danger, and acted upon that feeling without thinking about it. Everything she did was a mixture of instinctive responses to danger, and the training she had received from the Zony mare.

I had spent years and years during my time in the Ministry of Awesome to get rid of such instincts. I had always thought that they were getting in my way when it counted the most. When I told this to Jerakal, she was appalled. According to her explanation, fear was one of the greatest shields a warrior could have. He had to control it, and not let it control him. If he managed that, then he would always be on edge in a dangerous situation, ready to respond if he needed to, and to evade in the right moment.

It looked like I had a lot to learn in two days....

~O~Firestorm~O~

Arake was being held by several Pegasus soldiers. Or at least his body was. We had been careless. The Zebra had gone to sleep in one corner of my cell, and his cloak had shifted slightly during his sleep. One of his hind legs had stuck out from under it, and I had failed to notice it since he had been on my blind side.

The Pegasus stallion who brought me my meals however, did not miss the striped leg sticking out of nowhere. He hadn't cried out, or called for help immediately, instead firing several shots over my head at the sleeping Zebra. Arake had woken up, and tried to put up a fight, but his wounds were to grave, and he wasn't able to do much of anything.

I had tried to help him, but the chains that bound me to the ground made it impossible for me. My tail didn't quite reach them, and Gear Turn had removed the magazines in my rifles before locking me up. All I had been able to do, was watch them kill him.

It hadn't taken the Enclave Ponies long to overwhelm and kill him, and they had searched every corner of my cell afterwards to find any other cloaked intruder that might be hiding there. They found nothing.

The mare herself, Gear Turn, stepped into the room and looked Arakes corpse over with a look of grim satisfaction on her face. It was almost as if she enjoyed seeing one of her former comrades dead body.

        “You didn't think that I didn't know about him being here, did you? Arake was very resourceful, but he made the wrong choice I dare say. He could have joined my cause ages ago, but he refused, always spouting horseapples about honor and duty. That it was our duty to protect Equestria, and not to rule it. Tsk Tsk Tsk. As if the two were mutually exclusive.” she purred as she looked him over for anything useful.

        “You've gone too far, Private! This is not over yet. Once I get out of here, you'll...” I began, but Gear Turns laughter cut me off.

        “You? Get out of here? Oh you will get out of here. In fact, that is why I'm here. I could use your help with a little experiment.”

My armored tail shot forth once more, but it was too short. She had not stepped in completely, effectively staying out of my range. Instead, the tip of my armored tail was now quivering in the air in front of her face as I strained against my restrains.

        “Cheeky as ever I see.... Well, let's see if we can't make you see reason....” Gear Turn said, as she pulled a device out of her saddlebags with her teeth. There were only two buttons on it and, to my dismay, my armor locked up completely when she pressed one of them. I certainly didn't like the look on her face as she stepped slowly closer to me...