Fallout Equestria: Operation 6011

Operation 6011 chapter 1

Polaris

"I stood there, staring at the huge steel door that sealed Stable Two away from the horrors (or nothingness!) outside."

Welcome to Lightning Hoof.

The most messed up city in all the Enclave.

Gangs rule the slums, the rich corrupt the government, and everything in between gets to get caught in the cross fire.

There are three districts. The Tornado district, which is the slums, the hurricane district, which holds all the middle class folk, and the raincloud district, which holds all the rich, upper-class citizens.

Each district has its own market, bank, law enforcement, and leader, tailored to the district. For example, you would find far better items in the shops of the raincloud district, than in the tornado district. However, the prices are much higher, a loaf of bread in the tornado district would be much cheaper than the same loaf in the raincloud district.

The leaders of each district create their own laws, however, all the leaders answer to the major of the city, his laws always override the districts laws.

I live in the Tornado district (what a surprise).

Okay now that we got that over with, we can finally get on with life. Literally.

                    *** *** ***

Cool air rushed through my mane, and pressed on my wings, as I raced through the street, dodging vendors, carts, and shoppers. The shouts of the guards could be heard as they gave chase.

I looked back at my pursuers. The two guards at the front fired a couple stun bolts, which I promptly dodged.

I looked back ahead and banked left to avoid a blue stallion, shopping for paintings, narrowly missing him.

However, that didn't stop my tail from accidentally smacking him in the face. I looked back and saw him fuming.

I nickered, I know it's rude but it didn't change the fact that I found it kinda funny.

Focusing back on escaping the guards, I sharply turned left into an alleyway. As I emerged from the alleyway, bolts streaked through the air narrowly hitting me.

Whoa that was close. I looked to my right to see some guards speeding towards me.

They are getting closer to catching me, I need to end this soon.

I sped down the street, eyes peeled for opportunity. I turned a corner and was looking for a way to lose them, when it hit me.

Not an idea, a dumpster.

I slammed into the dumpster, and the lid slammed shut over me. The sounds of the guards passed by, as I sat up.

It smelled like it was full of two hundred year-old food, I nearly lost whatever was left of yesterday's lunch right there. I climbed out the dumpster, my head aching, and shook the trash off me. Not exactly the best way to escape, but it worked.

                *** *** ***

The cold night air made me shiver as I trotted into the bar.

The bar had a relaxed feel to it. There was soft music playing in the background, and tables with chairs around them occupied most of the room. Even the folks that got drunk here added to the feeling.

I ignored the drunks in the corner and the musty air, as I trotted up to the bar, and sat on one of the stools. I pulled out my loaf of bread, and started munching on it.

"don't eat that all at once lightning" a familiar voice said.

My ears perked up, and I looked up at the bartender, who had a brown coat, with a grey mane, her cutie mark was of a shot glass, she was also smiling gently.

I smiled and replied, "well I'm hungry so I have an excuse" I took another bite of the bread. "did you get it?" I asked with a mouthful of bread.

She smiled then handed me a cup of water, " impatient are we?"

She has been like a mother to me for the last ten years. She took me off the streets and taught me how to fight, along with virtually everything I know. Her name was Hope.

I swallowed and nodded gingerly.

She took out a small black box "I do. But you owe me for this one."

I gave a confused look, then she nodded at the messes on the tables.

I looked at the tables, then at her, and thought for a second. Then grinned "worth it. Now gimme!"

She smiled then handed me the box. I opened it, and inside was a sparkling sapphire. I gave out a cry of joy then tackled her, hugging her with my fore hooves. "thank you so much!!! This means a lot me." my voice was full of joy.

She nickered," I'm glad you like it." she hugged me back then I got up and noticed that everypony was staring at me.

I blushed a little, picked up the box with my teeth, and hurried off to the hall leading to the back room.

The hall was lined with pictures of previous owners, each one inherited the bar from the last. I trotted up to the door at the end of the hall and opened it.

This was my room, my "hideout". The air was musty, and there was one lamp giving light to the rest of the room. I walked up to the table against the wall that had pictures of my mom and dad before I lost them. You see, my mom left and became a dashite, and soon after that, my dad committed suicide.

When I reached the table, I stared at the pictures of my mom and dad. They looked so happy.

"hey mom and dad. Happy birthday" I said softly. I placed the box on the table" I got you guys a little something for your birthday..." I stared at them for a moment then continued, " too bad you guys aren't here to be able to get it, so I'll just leave it here." I gave a small smile then, trotted towards the wall to my left, which held my most prized possession.

My father's gun.

It was a high caliber magnum revolver, that had a red hilt that works as a mouth grip or can be attached to a battle saddle. On the hilt there was a glowing lightning bolt shape, it supposed to mean there is an enchantment on the gun, but I don't know what it is. It was supposedly given to my great, great, great, grandfather by Rainbow Dash for some reason, and it has been handed down ever since.

There is a reason I never fire it, and I could say many different excuses why not, but the simple fact is; I don't want to talk about it. That is what I tell Hope each time she asks.

I stared at the gun for awhile, then turned away. I  went back into the bar, and started cleaning the messes on the tables, I wasn't feeling very happy and the Hope sensed it. She tried to make me feel better, by telling me stories while we worked, but it didn't work.

" I need to take a walk.." I said solemnly.

She nodded " don't get into trouble, okay?"

                    *** *** ****

The cold numbed my skin, as I walked. Clouds started forming above. I kept moving my wings to keep the blood flow in them so they didn't get numb. My breath was visible in the night air.

The city is peaceful at night. The only sound you can hear is the guards patrolling, making sure that no one breaks the night time "No fly" rule (stupid rule if you ask me). The peace combined with the cool air, supposedly helps calm the soul. It's hasn't any negative effect and has had a bit of positive effect, so what the hell, im not complaining.

It's been ten years since I lost my parents. I was eight then, I'm eighteen now. The first two years, I spent trying to survive on the streets of the city. Then about eight years ago Hope, the bartender, and owner, of the "silver lining" bar, took me in.

Like I said before, she taught me everything I know, how to fight, how to steal, even a basic education (best damn teacher in the world).

And she is all I have.

                        *** *** ***

Solemn thoughts clouded my head, so much that I couldn't think.

Or see what was coming.

As walked down the street, I heard a flapping sound. I ignored it, thinking it was just one of the guards.

The sound grew louder, and louder. I looked up just in time to have something slam into me. I went sliding across the floor, into a nearby alley, and smashed into a dumpster.

I slowly rose to my hooves, my side burned with pain. I looked at my attacker. It started to rain. The cold rainwater was pattering against my coat and mane.

Not an it, a he. It was a grey Pegasus stallion, that had a dark green mane, and a bandit mask for a cutie mark.

"well lookie what we here..." he said tauntingly, as his two lackies came from either side.

I ducked my chest low and narrowed my eyes at them.

" ello poppet, long time no see" the first one said grinning.

"yeah the ol' gang just ain't the same without you." the second one said evilly.

I know these guys. They were the gang that I used to be apart of, before Hope took me in.

"I told you guys i'm not coming back, so buzz off." I stated hatefuly.

The grey stallion stepped forward. "oh don't cha worry bout that, we ain't here to get ya ta come back. We're just here for some good ol' revenge." he grinned.

I gave him a confused look, which dissapeared when I remembered what I did.

When I left, they didn't take it to well. So the boss, aka they guy in front of me, decided to teach me a lesson... Well let's just say that ended up with his junk wonderglued to the floor, and me running, laughing my head off.

The rain grew heavier, my mane now was dripping water on the ground, as my coat slowly got soaked.

I slowly backed up, as they advanced.  They outnumbered me three-to-one, not good. I wouldn't be winning this fight unless I did something very stupid. I knew it, and they knew it.

Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty stupid at the moment.

As they jumped at me, I shot up into the air. The rain hammered my coat as I flew up, they saw me and gave chase.

I sped away as fast as I could, the night guard would be here any second.

Soon enough I was right. Stun bolts filled the air, two of my pursuers were hit and fell to the slums below. I dodged left, then right, avoiding two bolts. The grey stallion wasn't so lucky.

I need to get away fast. Grey clouds covered the air above the city, pouring water on the city below, as well as on me. The rain was icy and the air was wet and cold.

I spied a promising looking door and dove for it, leaving a trail of mist in my wake. I prepared for impact, this was going to hurt.

I smashed through the door, and into one of the desk. I got up and shut the door quickly, then looked around.

Unlike all the other buildings in the city, the air in here was clean. There were desk that sat in rows, that had terminals on them whose screens gave a soft glow. Enclave propaganda posters lined the walls, they had pictures of pegisai, doing heroic things, and said things like, "The Enclave Keeps Us Safe" or "Join The Enclave Military Now!". There was a hall that led farther into the building, curiosity (and fear that leaving would result in me getting caught) pulled me into the hallway.

The hallway was just like the last room. The air was clean and walls grey. There were four doors, two on each side, and one was open.

I trotted up to the open door. It was a janitorial closet. But something was off. The supplies looked too, clean, they had no dirt on them, let alone any wear and tear. I reached out with a hoof and touched the handle of a broomstick. I was greeted by a whirring sound and the wall sliding into the ceiling revealing a passage.

Well I already got this far, why not?

I trotted into the passage. The air inside was cool, clean, like in a hospital. The walls were a dull grey, and at the end of the hall there were three doors. One was labeled "records", another "observation", and the last "lab".

I chose the one labeled "records" and entered. Inside, the air faintly smelled of smoke. The source was the ashtray that sat on the desk in the center of the room, right next to a glowing terminal that was already logged in.

I walked up to the warm glow of the terminal, and clicked on" files". There was just one choice, a file labeled "Operation 6011", so I selected it. Another file appeared labeled "Project Shining Star". I selected it, and text rolled across the screen.

< To: high command

The progress on project shining star, has been slow at best. The energies extracted from the subject, are unpredictable and highly destructive.

Not to mention, we keep accidentally extracting too much at one time, and almost killing the subject. The overload also causes an explosion. I have lost four men, this past month due to overload explosions.

However I am happy to report, that we are now able to safely extract the energies and transfer it into power cells, eight times out of ten. This is a huge improvement from last months status.

I'll keep you updated.

• professor lightning rod

< transmission end.

I backed away from the terminal.

I looked at the terminal with a confused look on my face. What the hell is operation 6011? And what is this project shining star? I have a feeling I'm about to find out about the latter.

I exited the records room, and entered the room labeled "observation". Inside the air was clean and cool like the hall, and there was a big glass window that peered into the lab. Chairs lined the room in rows, and there was a terminal on the far wall. It's warm glow brought me to it. It wasn't even locked, when I hit a key, a list of media files appeared on the screen. I selected the earliest one then watched.

The camera sat above the pegisai that sat in the chairs near the window. A stallion, with a white coat and a black and white mane, entered the lab.

"welcome fillies and gentlecolts. Today, you are going to see the fruits of the our labor here at project shining star" he told the group, which was followed with light applause.

The stallion pulled a lever, pulling up the curtain behind him, revealing a power cell that was connected to a cylindrical tube that held a beautiful earth pony mare.

My gut twitched. I didn't like where this is going.

"by using this, specially designed, energy transferrer, we are able to extract the energies from the subject into this power cell." he said with a smile. The audience watched intently. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, even though I didn't want to know what he was going to do.

He pulled a second lever, and the machine warmed up then started shocking the mare inside the tube, causing her to scream out in anguish. What's worse, is that you could see the energies being ripped from her.

I stared at the screen, horrified. I could almost feel her pain from the looks of torture on her face, and her pained screams.

I turned it off. I didn't know if it worked, and I didn't care. I couldn't watch another second.

I looked into the lab through the window. I could see her in the tube. I just had to see if she was okay. So I hurried out of the observation room, and into the lab.

The cold air in the lab made me shiver. How could anyone live in this room? Let alone work in it. I walked over to the tube, allowing me to be able to see her clearly.

She had black coat, with a white mane so bright it was like it was sparkling. Actually, it WAS sparkling. She had a cutie mark of a lighthouse with its light piercing the darkness. She groaned and rolled over, and looked at me. Her eyes were a beautiful grey, that grew darker when she looked at me.

We stared at each other for a long moment.

I then summoned up my courage and asked gently "who are you?"

She stared at me, for a bit longer then replied "why should you care? Are you not one of them?"

Her voice was gentle, and soft, even through the anger.

I smiled, then told her" you mean apart of the enclave? I might as well not be, I'm not exactly friends with the local law enforcement."

She stared at me for a moment, but this time almost as if she were peering into my soul. It made shudder. Then she gave a weak smile.

"you are telling the truth I can see it in your eyes"

I let out my breath that I was holding, then asked her " can I get your name now?"

She nickered "so impatient, my name is Polaris"

I gave her a small smile, "you sound like somepony I know," I looked at her wounds " what did they do to you?"

I had seen it on the footage, but I just couldn't  believe what I saw.

She gave me a pained look "they have been ripping my life's energies out of me."

I cringed, the sounds of her screams reverberated throughout my mind.

I looked at her with a saddened expression, "how long?"

Her eyes changed from a light grey to a bluish grey, as her head drooped, "I have been here for months, I do not know. The is no way to tell the time from my prison."

I was filled with sadness as the images of her anguished expressions, appeared in my mind. That feeling turned to righteousness, as a firm look spread across my face.

"I'm getting you out of here. I can't just leave you here to your horrible fate, when there is something I can do about it." I stated firmly.

She looked at me in astonishment. "I believe there is a button on that wall that will free me." the shock was still in her voice.

I nodded and trotted over to the wall, and saw a big red shiny button, that had the words "release subject" stenciled in white on it. I raised a hoof.

"this. Ends. Now." I stated indignantly.

The bolt slammed into me throwing me off my hooves, and into the adjacent wall.

I looked up to see an enclave officer that had a blue coat, a crimson red mane, his cutie mark was the enclave insignia, and he was flanked by two guards.

"hello lightning, how are you today?" He said calmly.

I looked at him with shock, and demanded "who the hell are you!?!? And how the fuck do you know my name?!?!?"

"well to answer your first question, I am major thunder cloud, head of the 51st division of the enclave military. To answer your second one, well it's simple, we have been watching you for sometime." he replied evenly.

That sent a chill down my spine. If they have been watching me, is hope in danger? I know these aren't good ponies.

I tried my best to collect my bearings "why?!?, and what the hell is all this?!? How could you ponies allow this!?!?"

He looked at me calmly. "well I'm afraid that's all highly classified, including this lab. Which means..." he leaned over and whispered into my ear "you've seen too much."

He backed away as the guards pointed their energy rifles at me, and prepared to fire.

My eyes went wide, as fear spread throughout my body, "you can't just kill me! I haven't committed any crime punishable by death!"

He turned to me then gave it some thought. "fine if you want to play it that way...." he turned to the guards "put her on the table and hold her down."

The effects of the stun bolt still affected me, cutting my strength in half. As much as I tried to fight the guards I was simply too weakened to be able to get free.

Polaris just watched solemnly from her prison.

"what are you do-" I stopped short as he waved a branding iron, that was in the shape of a thunder cloud at me.

I fought harder to get free, fear now being mixed with anger. "you can't do that! You have no proof!"

He looked at me at smiled. "that is were you are wrong." he hit a key on a nearby terminal and my voice filled the air.

"I'm not apart of the enclave."

My face went pale. That sounded exactly like me. Not only that, no one would question it. It's not like I am a senator's daughter.

I thrashed and bucked harder, against the guards and table, as fear started to over power anger.

My muscles tightened and I let out a scream as the brand contacted with the cutie mark on my left flank, as the lightning bolt piercing a cloud, was replaced by a brown spot in the shape of a thunder cloud.

Then I bucked HARD.

The guard was sent flying across the room, right into, the Big. Red. Shiny. Button.

As soon as the she was released Polaris sprang into action, bucking the still-standing guard against the wall, knocking him unconscious, and slamming her hooves down on the second guard, knocking him from consciousness as well. Major thundercloud just ran up the stairs.

She then walked over to me, as I breathed heavily on the table, and frowned. "at the very least.... We were able to save one side."

I looked at her and gave a weak smile. "thanks, Polaris. Hope would-" I stopped myself.

Hope. Hope is in danger.

The sudden realization spread across my face, and made me jump to my hooves.

"we need to go now!"

Polaris understood and followed me as we hurried down the hall, and to the front door.

It was raining heavily outside, you could hear thunder rumbling, and see lightning arc arose the sky.

"do you have a plan?" she asked with concern in her voice.

I looked at her.

"hop on. We are flying there."

She gave me a surprised look, then nodded.

I come from a family of strong fliers. But even so, I expected her to be heavy. However she was light as a feather.

I was filled with fear and rage as I burst out into the freezing cold rain.

The water peppered me stinging my hide, as I sped like a bullet through the air. Polaris clung desperately to my neck, barely able to hold on.

               *** *** ****

As we approached the silver lining bar, I knew something was wrong. The ceiling was caved in.

I landed on the street, my mane, coat, everything completely soaked in icy water. I dropped Polaris and rushed inside.

Bits of ceiling were all over the floor, everything was soaked. Tables were destroyed and the bar had a huge hole in it.

And in the middle of the floor, Hope lay covered in cuts and burns.

"Hope!!!" I yelled out to her, sadness and fear evident in my voice

I rushed to her side and held her soaked wounded body in my hooves, sadnesses filling my body and soul. She slowly opened her eyes, as tears began to well in my bright red eyes.

"oh... Hello... Lightning...." she said softly.

She took a weak ragged breath.

"no! Don't talk! I'll get you fixed up."

She slowly smiled " I have.. something.. to tell you.."

"no! You can tell me when I patch you up! I'm not losing you!"

She coughed up blood, then gave a weak smile.

"always.... Trying... Even in... The end.."

I looked at her, my tears dropping to the floor next to her.

"there has to be a way to save you!"

She nickered, which resulted in her coughing up more blood.

"that's.... Right.... Try....never.....give up.... And.....just to ... Let you... know..."

She took in her last breath, as I stared at her tears flowing, unable to do anything.

"I... Love.... You....."

The color faded from her eyes, as she fell limp in my arms.

Sobs wracked my body, as I buried my head in her chest.

"no, no, no!! Not again!" I looked up into the clouds above.

I cried out to the heavens in pain, and they seemed to weep with me. Thunder rumbled and cried out,as the clouds poured forth their tears.

Saddness reverberated throughout my body, and tears blurred my eyes.

Then I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

I looked behind me with tear filled eyes, to see Polaris with a gentle, caring look on her face, that said that it will be okay.

More tears flowed from my eyes. As threw myself into her embrace, sobbing into her chest.

"I jjust want to knnow why. Why the ffucking universe saw fit to ttake her from me."

"I do not know..." she just whispered into my ear solemnly.

                         *** *** ***

We packed silently.

My "hideout" was left untouched, probably as a taunt, so we gathered what supplies we could from there. Tonight, we leave the clouds. There is nothing left for me here, or Polaris. I'm done with gangs, with corrupted officials, with messed up secret projects, just done.

I had given Polaris Hope's saddle bags, which she was filling with food and water for our trip. So all I had was my worn saddle bags, that contained pictures of my mom and dad, some makeshift bandages, and hope's revolver. She never really did like using magical energy weapons.

Just one thing remained.

I slowly walked up to the wall holding, my father's gun.I stared at it for a moment, to allow the moment to sink in. I picked up the gun in my mouth, and as I did, the glowing lightning bolt on it glowed brighter. I felt a tingle travel throughout my body.

For some reason, I don't know why, I decided to look at the bottom of the hilt. On the bottom, a picture of a cloud emitting a rainbow lightning bolt, glowed.

Weird.

I put the gun into its holster, and tightened it across my chest, the gun positioned under my right shoulder.

I deposited the box of magnum ammo in my saddlebags. Then, I looked over at Polaris.

"are you sure you can do this?" she asked with concern.

I looked at here firmly. "there has to be no trace of this life." I started dumping a flammable liquid on the walls, floor, everything.

Thirty minutes later, we watched the building burn. The cold rain pattered against my coat, as I started to turn away towards the sky wagon, that Hope used use to carry groceries. Polaris stared at me solemnly and followed, as we left the burning building behind.

                 *** *** ***

Bolts sizzled past us and rain hammered us, as we sped across the sky. I flew as fast as I could. However the onslaught of rain reduced my perception, and I had to fight it to flap my wings. Not only that, our pursuers shots were getting luckier.

Polaris ducked and covered to avoid getting hit by the deadly bolts of energy.

"you must fly faster!!" she yelled out to me through the rain.

"I'm trying!!"

I saw the fearful expression on her face. Then I looked ahead and saw the edge of the city.

"Don't worry I can see the edge of-" I was cut off by a small explosion rocking the sky wagon. I looked back and saw smoke rising from under the wagon. They had gotten lucky and hit something important, because we started to lose altitude.

No we are so close.

I flew faster than I ever did before, the rain attacking me trying to keep me from my goal. I wasn't going to give up now. Not while we still have a chance.

We got closer and closer, but lower and lower. A building rose between us and escape.

The prison.

I desperately looked for a way through. Then I spotted it.

The big window that was in the warden's office.

I aimed for the window and braced for the impact. I smashed into the window. Time seemed to slow as I caught the warden's look of shock and disbelief, as we flew across the room and smashed through the opposite window.

As we emerged out from the office, and the storm cloud, I let out a cry of joy. I looked back and saw Polaris staring at the big blue sky, full of happiness, and behind her, the city of lighting hoof and all it represents under the big black storm cloud.

We looked at each other. Then at the sea of clouds below.  I grinned.

"ready?"

"when you are."

With that we dove into the clouds below.

Foot note: level up.

New perk: inherited strength: your strong will, and athletic prowess, allows you to be more resilient to most attacks. Speed +10%, you can still fly while over encumbered, +5 to dt, and cut backs caused by limb damage is cut by half.

(authors note: thanks to all my friends support, and special thanks to somber for helping in the creation of this fic, be sure to read her fic "Project Horizons". And thanks to Kkat for creating the universe of FOE for me to use. And thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, constructive criticism is welcome in the comments.)